John 20:1-18
Last week, Easter Sunday, I began my sermon by talking about the traditions of my family when I was growing up. One of the things I talked about was how we would color Easter eggs on Saturday night and then the Easter Bunny would hide them while we slept. In the morning, before going to church, we had an Easter Egg hunt. The Easter Bunny had hidden the eggs in the house and we searched and searched to find them. It was great fun and year after year, the Easter Bunny had to become more ingenious to find new places to hide the eggs.
One year, perhaps it was June or July, we noticed a terrible odor coming from the living room. We looked behind chairs and sofas and could not find the source until finally we looked down under the cushions of an upholstered chair. After my parents had parties, we used to sit on the cushion and push down so we could put our hand down into the corners under the cushion and search for change that had spilled out of men’s pockets when they had been sitting there. We looked there and found an Easter Egg we had not known was missing the previous Easter. From that time on, the Easter Bunny counted the eggs that were hidden and we did not stop looking until all had been found.
Last week we unwrapped two Easter presents from John 20:1-18. Today we will open a third. This introduction does not mean that this third present is comparable in any way to a rotten egg, but the subject has, from time to time, created a stink in the church. I trust that it will not do so today.
Here are the verses that contain Easter Present 3
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
Let’s begin to unwrap the present and see what it is.
Just so you remember the scene. The disciples were in shock and dismay when Jesus was crucified and Nicodemus and Joseph took his body and put it in a tomb. On Sunday morning, Mary and some other women went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus with spices. When they got there, they discovered the tomb was empty and came running to the disciples to tell them their news. Peter and John raced to the tomb to see for themselves and left wondering at what they had seen.
Mary remained, crying, She saw a man who she thought was the gardener and asked him where they had taken the body of Jesus and then Jesus called her by name, “Mary,” and she recognized him.
This takes us up to the verse for today. If you read the script of a play but the script contains only the lines delivered by the actors, you have to use your imagination to see what is happening while those lines are being delivered. In this case, there is a line spoken by Mary and then two by Jesus. It is important to picture this scene in your mind in order to understand what is happening.
Jesus said, “Mary” and Mary cried out, “Rabboni!” And then, because of the next words Jesus spoke, it is clear that she wrapped her arms around Jesus in a hug. Not just a “Hi, how are you doing? So glad to see you,” hug but an embrace that carried with it joy, astonishment and bewilderment.
It was the hug of someone who has lost the person they most loved in the world and then against all odds, finds that person again. It is a hug that will not let go.
Mary flung her arms around Jesus as if he had been able to escape her once but this would never happen again. He had died and been buried and taken away from her, but now he was back and she would not allow him ever to leave again.
Listen to Jesus’ response to Mary and see if you can see in these lines the third Easter present from these verses?
“Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.”
Scholars have debated the meaning of this. Jesus said to her not to hold on to him, not to cling to him. Why does the resurrected Jesus tell her to not to cling to him when everywhere else in John’s Gospel he invites people to come to him?
“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”
“If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
So why now does he change his tune and tell her not to cling to him?
Is it possible that things have changed after he was resurrected? Before he wanted to have people come to him but now that he has a new resurrection body, he no longer wants people to come to him?
If that is the case, why does he give Thomas who doubted his resurrection different instructions?
Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”
Why does he encourage Thomas to come to him and tell Mary to not hold on to him?`
These are the kinds of questions that are asked when people try to figure out what is going on in this exchange between Mary and Jesus.
When you read John’s Gospel, remember that John is not writing a chronological, historical gospel so much as he is writing a literary gospel and in his gospel he has several themes that are very important to him. One of these is the Holy Spirit.
We see this in the baptism of Jesus:
32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.”
In Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus who came to him at night to ask some questions:
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.
In the teaching of Jesus at the temple:
37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
In the teaching of Jesus on the Holy Spirit in chapters 14 and 16:
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.
It is in the light of this theme in John’s Gospel that we need to understand the exchange between Jesus and Mary.
Jesus does not say only, “Don’t hold on to me.” He gives her a reason. He told her, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.”
The writer of Hebrews urges us to “fix our eyes upon Jesus.” We strain forward toward the time when Jesus will return. Jesus did not mean, when he spoke to Mary, that she would never or should never cling to him. We hold on to Jesus as tight as we can when we go through difficult times. That is good and we are meant to do so.
Jesus told Mary not to cling to him because it was not now the time to cling to him. He needed to return to the Father and then something would happen that would make it the right time for her to cling to him. “Don’t cling to me Mary,” Jesus said, “for I am going to my Father and when I get there, I will do something for you and then you will be wise to seek after me, to cling to me.”
This is very clear, when you stop to think about it. Look back in John’s Gospel to the teaching of Jesus in Chapters 14 and 16.
John 16
5 “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
This is the third Easter present, the promise of Jesus that he would send the Holy Spirit to us and that we would be better off with the Holy Spirit than we would be if he stayed.
So, he told Mary, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.”
Why are we better off without Jesus and with the Holy Spirit?
I have many times wished that Jesus were present here with me. I have wanted to be like John who wrote in his letter:
That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.
In times when I have doubted, I have wished I could see and touch and hear Jesus. Then I would not have doubts.
When I have longed for some friend or family member to put their trust in Jesus and follow him, I have wished that I could bring them to Jesus as did Andrew who brought his brother Peter.
When someone I care about has suffered, I have wished I could bring Jesus to that person so he could heal that person.
I have many times wished that Jesus were here and thought how much better it would be if he were here.
But Jesus said, “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.”
In what way are we better off without Jesus and with the Holy Spirit.
I cannot cover all the understandings of the Holy Spirit is just a few minutes, but let me point us to just three benefits.
The first is really quite obvious. When Mary and Martha discovered that their brother Lazarus was dying, they sent word to Jesus. The message had to travel to Jesus and then Jesus had to travel to Bethany. Jesus could not be by the Sea of Galilee and in Bethany at the same time. God is omnipresent, but Jesus gave up the rights and privileges that were his in heaven when he was born as a man. Jesus operated within limits. He could not be everywhere at the same time.
Jesus could not teach people who needed to hear from him and heal someone needing to be healed at the same time. When Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration with Peter, James and John, the other disciples were trying to cast out a demon from a young boy and not succeeding. What could they do? They couldn’t call out to Jesus for help, he was too far away. They had to wait until Jesus came down from the mountain.
The Holy Spirit is present with us all the time, everywhere. We are never apart from the Holy Spirt so we have his presence, his comfort, his help whenever we need it.
The Holy Spirit is omnipresent. Secondly, from Jesus’ teaching in John 16 we learn that the Holy Spirit convicts of guilt
8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.
Why is this a benefit to us?
The assumption is that as the followers of Jesus, we want to see his church built. We want to see more men and women brought into his church. How do we do that? We can get people into a church by having wonderful music or a famous speaker. But the only way for people to come into Jesus’ church is that they have an awareness of their sinfulness.
How do we get people to realize they are sinners? Do we yell at them and tell them how terrible they are? Do we take out ads in magazines and on television making sure everyone knows how sinful they are?
There is not a lot we can do to make people aware they are sinners. This is the work of the Holy Spirit. When I first came to a realization that I was a sinner and needed God’s help, this was not an act of brilliance on my part. This was a gift of the Holy Spirit.
The church of Jesus is built because the Holy Spirit is a presence that makes us aware that we are off the track and need to make a change in our life. We are here this morning because the Holy Spirit gave us the gift of knowing we were sinners in need of the mercy and grace of Jesus.
Jesus said we are better off with his absence and the presence of the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is omnipresent, because the Holy Spirit convicts us of our guilt and thirdly, this morning, because the Holy Spirit leads us into all truth.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.
This is something Jesus could not do. Jesus taught with authority and his disciples learned from him. But they could not understand what he meant when he was teaching about many things. John wrote in his account of the resurrection that he saw the graveclothes of Jesus and believed but that he and Peter still did not understand that Jesus had to die and be raised from the dead.
How could this be? How dense were they? We read all the teachings of Jesus and wonder why it is the disciples could not understand what seems to us to be so clear.
I was talking with a man here in Morocco who had a Bible in his salon. Two friends came over to visit and saw the Bible and asked if they could read it. He showed them the first chapter of John and they both read it. One said, “I understand,” and the other read it over again and still could not get it.
I read the Bible from time to time when I was young. I went to Sunday School and heard the stories of Jesus. I sat in church and sang the hymns of the church. But when I became a Christian, it was as if the lights suddenly clicked on. All of a sudden the Scriptures made sense to me. I was thrilled to sing the hymns of the church that had put me to sleep Sunday after Sunday as I was growing up.
The disciples stumbled along and marveled at the resurrection of Jesus. But it was when the Holy Spirit visited them at Pentecost that they exploded. These followers of Jesus who had never received an education now stood up and spoke with boldness and clarity. Where do you think the theology of Peter and Paul came from? Read Romans and marvel at the words Paul wrote and let that sense of wonder lead you to worship and a deep appreciation for the work of the Holy Spirit.
When Jesus ascended to the Father and sent the Holy Spirit, he sent a wonderful Easter present, forty days late, but an Easter present nonetheless.
If you can remember last week’s sermon, the first two Easter presents were Jesus’ resurrection from the dead and the fact that the Creator God knows us by name. Take away these presents and we have no Christian life. We have hope that we will rise to our heavenly state after we die our physical death because Jesus blazed the way for us with his resurrection from the dead. We have confidence in our relationship with God and we come boldly to him with our concerns and requests because we are known by name, our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
This third Easter present is also indispensable. Take away the Holy Spirit and we have no Christian life. We would not come to faith in Christ without the work of the Holy Spirit who convicts us of our guilt and leads us into truth. We would have no ongoing Christian life without the Holy Spirit because the Holy Spirit is the one who is working to transform us into holy beings.
If I, as an evangelical Christian, seem to talk a lot about the Holy Spirit, that is because Jesus said we would be better off with the Holy Spirit than with his presence with us. Jesus ascended and sent the Holy Spirit whom we need.
It is a tragedy to me that when the church awakened to the work of the Holy Spirit at the beginning of the 19th century, the church divided. It is a tragedy to me that the church is divided into Pentecostal and Evangelical churches. The Holy Spirit was sent to unite the church, to equip the church for ministry, to do the work of Jesus in the world. The gifts of the Holy Spirit were given, not so that we would be distinguished from one another, but so that we would be equipped to serve each other and enable each other to minister in the name of Jesus.
It does not matter if you are Pentecostal or Evangelical or any other kind of Christian, you need this Easter gift. You need the Holy Spirit and what is so wonderful about this present is that it will never be consumed, you will never become tired of it and you will never outgrow your need for it.
When we become Christians, we are filled with the Holy Spirit. This much is clear from the theology of Paul. Our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit. But the sin in our lives does not allow much room for the Holy Spirit so we need to grow in faith and understanding, confess the sin in our lives, make choices that move us away from sin and toward God. In this process we make more room for the Holy Spirit and can be more filled.
This is an ongoing process, a lifelong process. As someone said, we are filled with the Holy Spirit but we leak. We `need to continually empty ourselves of sin so that we can be more filled with the Holy Spirit. We need to seek to be filled and refilled.
You will always need a more full and complete experience of the Holy Spirit and when you open yourself more fully, you will always be blessed with great peace and joy when you receive the Holy Spirit into your life.
This is an Easter present you cannot ignore. This is a present that despite how many times you have opened it, you need once again this morning to open and receive its gift.
Hear the invitation Jesus gave
John 7
37 On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit,
Are you thirsty for the living water of the Holy Spirit? Ask God to flood you with his Spirit. Make this Easter present your present.
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Ephesians 5
15 Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
