Do You See What I See?

We are celebrating the resurrection here at Cross Connection Church, and we are considering the things that the disciples saw on that Easter Sunday morning. So, open with us to the Scriptures in John chapter 20 and follow along. Happy Resurrection Sunday! If you would take out your Bibles and open them with me to the New Testament. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers will bring you one. If you don't own one, you can keep that as a gift.

Today, we are going to be in the Gospel of John, so turn to about the middle of your Bible and turn to the right. You will find Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We will be in chapter 20. John chapter 20 tells us a bit of the story about the events that took place on the day that we are celebrating today, as more than a third of the population of the entire world celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.

In John chapter 20, we read in verse 1: "Now the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark, and she saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb." Then she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."

So Peter went out and the other disciple, and they were going to the tomb. They both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. He stooped down and, looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there, yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there and the handkerchief that had been around his head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded together in a place by itself.

Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also. He saw and believed, for as yet they did not know the Scripture that he must rise again from the dead.

Father, as we stand here rejoicing in remembering the events that took place 2,000 years ago...

Events that these eyewitnesses saw and testified of. Pray, God, that You would speak to us by the Scriptures, but also by the power of Your Spirit. Give us wisdom and understanding, Lord, that we would see what it is You desire us to see here in this passage and that we would make application from it. We pray that You'd speak to us, for we ask this in Jesus' name. And all those that agreed said, "Amen." You can be seated.

Just before Christmas in 1962, a new Christmas song was brought out, and it became a quick hit. Sorry, we've been having all kinds of problems with our audio today. The lyrics of that song said, "Said the night wind to the little lamb, do you see what I see?" How many of you have heard that song before? That's a good question, though: Do you see what I see today?

Because of technology, more than at any other time in history, we have the ability to all see an event unfolding before our eyes at the same time. We can be watching something happening on the other side of the planet, and millions of people can see the same thing at the very same moment.

The amazing thing about that is that although many eyes can see the same event taking place at the same moment, not everyone will see the same thing. For example, how many of you watched the Super Bowl this last year? Raise your hand. Come on, confess; it's okay. One hundred ten million people watched the Super Bowl between the Eagles and the Patriots, and it was a good game. Like many Super Bowl games, it came down to the final minutes, the final seconds of the game.

In fact, the last seven seconds of the game were crucial. If you were watching, you remember that the Patriots were just a little over 50 yards from the end zone. Tom Brady took the snap, stepped back a few steps, escaped a sack, rolled to the right, and unleashed a long Hail Mary pass intended for Gronkowski, who was surrounded by six Eagles defenders. When the play was done, the game was over: the Eagles had won their first Super Bowl, and the Patriots lost.

But if you were a Patriots fan, that's not what you saw. If you were a Patriots fan, you were still about as...

Deflated as a Patriots game ball, what you saw was very clear pass interference, and they were robbed by the refs. You're still talking about how they were robbed by the refs in that game. It's amazing; we can all see the same things happen, but we don't always see the same thing happen. This is exactly what a cultural commentator and author, the creator of the Dilbert comic strip, wrote in a recent book he published called Wind Bigley. He talks about two movies on one screen, how you can have people watching the same events, but they see it so completely differently.

So, do you see what I see? Well, yes, but no. Now I see something different. I was talking with Pastor Nick about this. He was called for jury duty this last week and ended up on a case that isn't even done yet; it will be finished next week. He was just describing how it's amazing to watch. You have these two different groups of lawyers—one prosecuting and one defending—and they're both looking at the same thing. You would think they're not looking at the same thing at all when they're describing what it is that they're observing. They're seeing two movies on one screen.

Both sides seem to have the same facts, but they come to totally different conclusions about what it is that they're seeing. Sometimes, the perspectives of people are so drastically different that we start to conclude that the person is either delusional or deceptive, or they're looking at alternative facts. It's kind of a new thing that you hear in our day. We wonder, are you seeing the same thing that I am seeing?

Such is the case with what is before us here in the Scriptures today concerning the resurrection. What we find here in John chapter 20, verses 1 through 9, begins with verse 1: "Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark." The other Gospels give an account of this same event. Mark's Gospel provides a little bit more information. It says it wasn't just Mary Magdalene, but also Mary the mother of James and Salome. They brought spices and came to anoint Jesus for burial.

You see, a couple of days before this, when Jesus had been crucified and died, his body was taken by a man named Joseph of Arimathea and another man named Nicodemus. Because it was the preparation day for the Sabbath and the most holy Sabbath of the year for Passover, they were very quickly trying to get everything ready and have him buried.

Before sundown, it was the cultural practice of the day to be buried the same day that you died. This tradition still exists in many places around the world. They prepared very quickly for His burial, but because they had to do it so hastily, they didn't have the time to do it in the proper way. Then came the Sabbath, which meant they couldn't do any work on that day.

Once the Sabbath was over, a group of the women followers of Jesus gathered together. They said to one another, "We need to do this the right way. We need to honor Him by going in and preparing His body for burial." Mark's Gospel states that they went to the tomb early in the morning on the first day of the week, when the sun had just risen. As they approached the tomb, they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" They were concerned about how they would get in, not having thought that far ahead. They just knew they needed to do this, but the tomb had a large stone in front of it, and they wondered how they would manage to open it.

However, when they arrived, they found that they didn't need to worry. Mark 16:4 says, "But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was very large." Mary Magdalene came to the tomb on the first day of the week while it was still dark. She saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb (John 20:1). She ran to Simon Peter and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him."

Mary saw an open and empty tomb when she and the other women followers of Jesus arrived. They were concerned about this, but when they got there, the tomb was open, and the body was not inside. What she saw spoke to her and compelled her to take action. She immediately ran to find Peter and John. In the Gospel of John, when it refers to "the disciple whom Jesus loved," you can fill in "John" there. He is so modest and humble that he doesn't want to use his own name. I once saw a bumper sticker that said, "God loves you, but I'm His favorite." That's somewhat like what John is doing in this passage.

Mary observed the evidence of the open and empty tomb, and this observation led her to a conclusion.

It would seem like a totally logical conclusion. When Mary Magdalene got to the tomb, it was open and empty. She had been at the cross when Jesus was crucified; that is what the Gospels tell us. She watched him be crucified, saw his lifeless body taken from the cross, and observed it quickly prepared for burial and placed in the tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. They closed the tomb just a couple of days before she witnessed these events with her own eyes.

Mary knew something that we all understand: dead people stay dead. So, when she arrived at the tomb that had previously been occupied and closed, and found it open and empty, her conclusion was that someone had come and taken his body. After all, dead men don't open tombs and leave them.

As we will see as we go through this passage, Mary's consideration of the evidence before her was somewhat brief and inattentive. The fact is that when we think about this event, which the church has been reflecting on for the last two thousand years as the central event of Christianity—and arguably the most important event in all of human history—there are often different perspectives, ideas, and views about what has taken place. People are looking at the same data, the same testimony or evidence, but they come to different conclusions.

Maybe you are here today and have a similar conclusion to the one Mary did. You might say, "I will give you that the tomb is empty, and we haven't found any body or remains of Jesus, so it must have been stolen." In fact, this has been an objection raised by non-believers for many centuries: that his disciples simply came and stole away his body. When Mary arrived at the tomb, she assumed that must be the case.

She ran to tell Peter and John what she had seen. This brings us to point number one in our outline: the empty tomb of Jesus requires a response. There may be different ways to respond to the empty tomb, but there needs to be a response. After she had come to Peter and John, we are told in verse 3 of John chapter 20 that Peter, upon hearing this, went out.

The other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, was going to the tomb, and they both ran together. The other disciple, whom Jesus loved, outran Peter. There’s some intriguing side information here. John, as I said, so modestly doesn’t use his own name as he describes himself in these passages; he just keeps referring to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Now, he informs us that he was just a step or two ahead, or just a little bit faster than Peter.

You kind of wonder, years later, if there was a conversation about this. "So, you outran me, did you?" "Well, I am the disciple whom Jesus loves." Peter would probably have to respond, "Yeah, but did you walk on water? And who did He give the keys to the kingdom to?"

So, they ran to the tomb together, but the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first.

Point number two on your outline: the testimony of the empty tomb demands further investigation. The details—the idea that the tomb was open on that first Sunday morning after the resurrection and that it was empty—require a response. There needs to be a response to that. The testimony of individuals like Mary, Peter, James, John, and Paul, as given in the Scriptures, really calls for us to investigate this further. We need to consider these things; you can’t just casually move on from this.

The story of the resurrection of Jesus does not allow for a casual response. There needs to be a further investigation of what the Scriptures describe and what Christians have believed for the last 20 centuries. These followers of Jesus came and saw that the tomb was empty; He was not there. They gave testimony not only of that but also that they had seen Him alive.

We are told here that John got to the tomb first, and in verse 5, stooping down and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. So, the faster, more beloved disciple got there first, and when he arrived, he...

Stooping down, he looked into the tomb and saw that it was as Mary had said. However, he saw more than she did. She saw the open and empty tomb, but that was as far as she went before she told Peter and John about what she had seen.

Now, John arrives and begins to look into these things. He sees not only the open and empty tomb but also the grave cloths of Jesus, which had been wrapped around His body for burial just a couple of days before by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. He notices that those grave clothes are still there in the tomb, and they are empty. The tomb is not only empty, but the grave cloths are empty as well. It seems from what we are told in the Scriptures that those cloths, which were wrapped around His body, have simply sunk down; the body is not there, as if it has just disappeared.

John sees the grave cloths lying there, and he perceives more than Mary had seen. She had observed what she could from a distance. Many people stand at a distance from the things of Scripture. They may even know a little bit of the story. If you ask some of your friends, neighbors, co-workers, or family members what they know about this event we call Easter, they might tell you about bunnies and eggs. However, bunnies don’t lay eggs, so that presents a problem. They might know more than that; they might be able to recount the story of Jesus rising from the dead. Perhaps they went to church when they were younger and have heard these things before, but they have only seen it from a distance. They don’t have all the details.

John inspects it a little more closely. Then we read in John chapter 20, verse 6, that Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. This little statement reveals something about Peter that I can identify with. I sometimes see my own reflection in the mirror that is Peter. You could never accuse Peter of being reserved; he just goes right into the situation. There is John, and I imagine he sees John there stooping down, then pushes him out of the way and goes right into the tomb. He has to see what is there and what is not there.

So, he went into the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. If we look back at verse 5 again, we see that John, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there. Peter, in verse 6, saw the same.

The linen cloths were lying there, but verse 7 says that the handkerchief that had been around Jesus' head was not lying with the linen cloths; it was folded together in a place by itself. Apparently, the custom for burial in that day was to take the deceased body, wrap it in linen, and place it into the tomb in this way. Additionally, another piece of linen, a handkerchief if you will, was placed over the face, a shroud over the head for burial.

Now, when they looked in, the cloths that had been around Jesus were empty, but the thing that had been over His head, over His face, had been folded by itself and placed in another location. Peter sees this when he steps in. At this point, it's worth noting that there is a shift in the language that is not obvious in English. In fact, it's not only not obvious in English; it's totally invisible because this was not originally written in English. It was originally written in the Greek language.

In our English Bibles, we see the repeated use of the word "saw." Mary saw the tomb was open and then empty. John saw the linen cloths lying there. Peter saw the linen cloths lying there, but he also saw the handkerchief that had been around His head, folded in a place by itself. The repeated use of the word "saw" is significant, but in the Greek language, it's different.

It's very interesting that it's different because when we read that Mary saw the open and empty tomb and that John saw the linen cloths lying there, it is the Greek word "blepo." That may not mean much to any of us, and that's okay, but the word "blepo" simply means to clearly see a material object, to consider with the eyes. It's just a brief, casual observation of what is present.

We see this in many different contexts. Have you ever been driving down the freeway at 65 to 85 miles per hour? As you're driving, you might be triggered by something you see—a word that stands out to you, like "hope." You look around, trying to remember where you saw it, and then as you're passing by, you realize, "Oh, there it is!" It’s over on the side. How did my brain see that so quickly? It just registers very fast.

The things that we see are phenomenal. If you ever take a speed reading course, you'll find that they teach you to scan from one end of the line to the other quickly, just to see the words that are there. They have programs that will show you one word at a time, flashing faster and faster to increase your reading speed. It's amazing how quickly your mind can register something that you see without you even realizing it.

That you've seen it. Oh, she just observes something with her eyes. The tomb is open; it's empty. John just observes something with his eyes. The grave cloths are there; they're empty. But when Peter moves in, it says that Peter saw that the grave cloths were empty, and he saw the handkerchief that had been around his head folded over by itself.

It's a new Greek word. It's not the Greek word for "bloodless." The Greek word "theoretic" means to view attentively, to take a survey of. It's where we get our English word "theorize." It's to think on, to ponder. He sees what John sees, but he goes a little bit further with it, and he begins to contemplate what this means. Not just what is the detail, what is the data, but what does it mean? There's something more to it than meets the eye. He saw the grave cloths, and he saw the handkerchief folded by itself.

Point number three on your outline: the investigation of the empty tomb compels deeper consideration. Have you taken the time to consider not just the data, but what does it mean? What does it mean if it is true that 2,000 years ago a man was crucified, buried, dead, and three days later rose from the dead? What does that mean for you personally? What does it mean for humanity that the tomb was empty?

Listen, you can have questions, you can have doubts, you can have theories or objections, but you cannot just passively move on from this. You can't just step away from it and forget about it.

We continue with verse eight of John chapter 20. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first—I just love that John does that—went in also, and he saw and believed. He saw and believed. I don't think you'll be surprised to know that that's another new Greek word for the word "saw." Mary saw the open and empty tomb. John saw the linen cloths lying.

Jupiter saw the linen cloths, but he also saw the handkerchief about Jesus's head, folded in a place by itself. John saw and believed. The Greek word used here is "ido," which means to pay attention, to know the significance, to perceive, or to understand. He pays attention to what is there in that place. My dad has a saying: if you're paying anything, pay attention.

Here, John is paying attention for the first time. It begins to click; he starts to understand what is going on as he sees these things. He saw and he believed; he trusted. Things began to come together for him in that moment. However, as we look at verse 9, we see that they did not yet know the Scripture that Jesus must rise again from the dead.

Now, it's really interesting that on this very same day, which we call Resurrection Day, after Peter and John had been to the tomb, there is a story told in the Gospel of Luke about two of Jesus's disciples who were leaving Jerusalem. They were on their way to another city. As they were on their way, the Risen Jesus came and began to walk with them, but they didn't perceive who he was. For some reason, they couldn't tell that it was him.

Jesus asked these two disciples, "Why are you guys walking so depressed? You seem so sad." They said to him, "Are you a stranger in Jerusalem? Do you not know what has happened here in these days?" He replied, "What has happened?" They responded, "Come on, the things about Jesus of Nazareth. We thought that he might be the Christ, the Messiah. You don't know about this stuff?"

The Gospel of Luke tells us that Jesus spoke with them as they walked together. He said to them, "Do you not know the Scriptures?" Beginning at Moses and through the prophets, he showed them that the Christ must suffer, die, and rise again on the third day. So, as yet, they did not know the Scripture that he must rise again.

Now, they are going to begin to put two and two together. This is what John does when he sees and pays attention to what he's looking at. He starts to remember all the things that he has been taught.

Taught from his youth from the Scriptures, King David wrote Psalm 22 a thousand years before Jesus was crucified. In this beautiful poetic language, he tells the story of the crucifixion. He talks about Jesus's hands and feet being pierced and describes the Romans crucifying Him and casting lots for His garments. The words that Jesus cried from the cross, "Eloi, Eloi, Lama sabachthani?"—my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?—are the very words that open Psalm 22. These words would have reminded anyone listening to go back and read Psalm 22, which was written a thousand years before. If they had done so, they would have seen the crucifixion right there, written prophetically for them.

Isaiah 53 also describes the suffering servant, the one who was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to our own way, but the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He would die in our place, but not only that—He would rise from the dead. Psalm 16, verse 11, says that You will not leave my soul in the grave; You will not allow me to see corruption. You will show me the path of life. A thousand years before Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead, these prophecies were given. This is just a few of the many prophecies in the Old Testament that predict the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

Not only are there prophecies in the Old Testament, but at least three times, Jesus said to His disciples, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, that there are three specific events where He tells them, "We are going to Jerusalem. I’m going to be betrayed into the hands of the chief priests and scribes, and I will be crucified. On the third day, I will rise again." He told them Himself: "I’m going to be crucified, buried, and I’ll rise again three days later."

At the very beginning of His ministry, the story is recorded for us in the Gospel of John. Jesus went to Jerusalem and cleansed the temple. When He did, He caused quite a stir. The religious leaders came and asked Him, "By what authority do you do this? What sign do you give us?" He replied, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will lift it up." They responded, "This temple has taken forty-six years to build, and you say you will raise it up in three days?" But John clarifies that He spoke of His own body, which they did not understand until after He had raised from the dead. He predicted His own death, burial, and resurrection, and we find this in the New Testament. If you'd like, turn to the Gospel of John.

Turn to the right, and you'll find First Corinthians. You'll see Acts and Romans, and then First Corinthians, chapter 15.

In First Corinthians, chapter 15, verse 1, the Apostle Paul writes, "Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which you also received and in which you stand, by which you also are saved, if you hold fast to the word which I preached to you, unless you have believed in vain."

For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. He was seen by Cephas, that's Peter, and then by the twelve. After that, He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen

That belief brings us to a crucial question: the decision to believe or not to believe. You cannot be idle in this matter; you have to make a decision. There is no in-between, no passivity, and no apathetic indifference to the testimony and the evidence. The evidence and the testimony lead us to a place of decision.

Point number five on your outline is that I believe the most logical decision is faith in the risen Christ. This is the most logical conclusion: to put your trust in Jesus. If you take the time to further investigate the evidence and the testimony, and if you consider what these things are and what they mean, I believe that the most logical decision is to put your trust in Jesus.

Many of you have already done that. You have heard the word of the gospel, the good news of your salvation, and you have put your trust in Jesus. The evidence and the testimony point to the fact that Jesus, who was crucified two thousand years ago on a hill outside of Jerusalem, was buried in a tomb in which no man had ever laid. Three days later, the tomb was empty, and five hundred plus witnesses saw Him alive. Their lives have been radically changed by the resurrection power of Jesus.

There are many of you here today, two thousand years later, whose lives have been radically transformed by the resurrecting power of Jesus. I want that to be true for every one of you. So, I’m going to ask our worship leaders to come back up, and we will stand and close in prayer. I want to give you an opportunity today to make that decision to put your trust in Jesus for salvation.

As Paul said in First Corinthians chapter 15, Christ died for our sins. All we like sheep have gone astray, as Isaiah says; we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. We cannot, by our religious efforts or rituals, deal with our own sin. Jesus died to deal with it. Amen.

Would you stand with me as we close in prayer? Father, we thank You for Your great grace. As the Gospel of John says, the cross is the demonstration of Your love. God, You loved this world so much that You gave Your only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. Lord, we cannot deal with our own sin.

Failures and sin are burdens we cannot bear by ourselves. But Jesus, you on the cross cried out, "It is finished." It is paid in full. Because of your death in our place and because of your power demonstrated in the resurrection, we can know that saving power in our lives. We thank you for your grace, Lord.

As we stand here this morning, it may be that you have never put your trust in Jesus. As you think about the evidence and the testimony, you may realize that it's time to make that decision. If you would like for your failures and your sin to be forgiven, remember that Jesus died in your place to deal with them. With the heart, one believes unto salvation; with the mouth, confession is made.

If you would like to receive a free gift of grace today and the forgiving power of Jesus, would you just lift up your hand while we're in an attitude of prayer? Is there anyone here this morning? Praise the Lord, I see a hand over here on the right. Is there anyone else? If you want to receive that forgiveness and grace, just lift your hand up. If that's you, just where you're at, would you pray with me out loud?

Dear Jesus, I know I can't deal with my own sin, but I thank you that you died in my place. I thank you that you are not still in a tomb, but that you are alive. I pray that you would come into my life, forgive me of my sin, help me to follow you by faith, and to live in your resurrection power.