An Open Gate

(Back to Study Home Page) (Sermon March 23, 2008)
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March 23, 2008 - John 20:1-9

Open It

1. What is one dark moment of your life that ended happily?

2. Why do people visit the grave sites of close friends and family members?

3. About what sort of news would you get excited right now?

Explore It

4. What did Mary Magdalene discover when she went to Jesus' tomb? (20:1)

5. What did Mary Magdalene tell Peter? When? (20:2)

6. Who responded to the news Mary brought? (20:3)

7. How did Peter respond to what Mary told him? (20:3)

8. Who examined Jesus' tomb? (20:4-5)

9. What did John discover when he arrived at the tomb? (20:4-5)

10.What did Peter discover when he arrived at the tomb? (20:6-7)

11. What did John do after he looked in the tomb? (20:8)

12.How did John respond to what he found in the tomb? (20:8)

13. What did Peter and John not understand even after they visited Jesus' empty tomb? (20:9)

Get It

14.Why do you think Mary went to the tomb?

15. If you had been either Mary, Peter, or John, what thoughts would have run through your mind when you discovered the empty tomb?

16.When have you made an exciting, unexpected discovery?

17. How do you usually respond to life's unexpected events?

18.What motivates us to share our surprises (both pleasant and unpleasant) with other people?

19.When has a positive happening in your life appeared at first to be a confusing, unfortunate, or tragic event?

Apply It

20.What truths of the gospel do you want to investigate more closely over the next few weeks? How can you?

21.Whom do you need to tell about the empty tomb of Christ? How?

22.How can you celebrate the resurrection of Christ next Easter?

Notes

John 20:1ff: Other women came to the tomb along with Mary Magdalene. The other Gospel accounts give their names. For more information on Mary Magdalene, see her Profile.

20:1 The stone was not rolled away from the entrance to the tomb so Jesus could get out. He could have left easily without moving the stone. It was rolled away so others could get in and see that Jesus was gone.

20:1ff People who hear about the resurrection for the first time may need time before they can comprehend this amazing story. Like Mary and the disciples, they may pass through four stages of belief. (1) At first, they may think the story is a fabrication, impossible to believe (John 20:2). (2) Like Peter, they may check out the facts and still be puzzled about what happened (John 20:6). (3) Only when they encounter Jesus personally are they able to accept the fact of the resurrection (John 20:16). (4) Then, as they commit themselves to the risen Lord and devote their lives to serving him, they begin to understand fully the reality of his presence with them (John 20:28).

John 20:7: The graveclothes were left as if Jesus had passed right through them. The headpiece was still rolled up in the shape of a head, and it was at about the right distance from the wrappings that had enveloped Jesus' body. A grave robber couldn't possibly have made off with Jesus' body and left the linens as if they were still shaped around it.

John 20:9: As further proof that the disciples did not fabricate this story, we find that Peter and John were surprised that Jesus was not in the tomb. When John saw the graveclothes looking like an empty cocoon from which Jesus had emerged, he believed that Jesus had risen. It wasn't until after they had seen the empty tomb that they remembered what the Scriptures and Jesus had said-he would die, but he would also rise again!

20:9 Jesus' resurrection is the key to the Christian faith. Why? (1) Just as he said, Jesus rose from the dead. We can be confident, therefore, that he will accomplish all he has promised. (2) Jesus' bodily resurrection shows us that the living Christ, not a false prophet or imposter, is ruler of God's eternal kingdom. (3) We can be certain of our own resurrection because Jesus was resurrected. Death is not the end-there is future life. (4) The divine power that brought Jesus back to life is now available to us to bring our spiritually dead selves back to life. (5) The resurrection is the basis for the church's witness to the world.

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