John 20 | The Upward Way | Bible Study with A. Z. Adams — Transcript

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1. 0:00John chapter 20. Now on the first day of
2. 0:02the week, Mary Magdalene came early to
3. 0:06the tomb while it was still dark and saw
4. 0:09the stone already taken away from the
5. 0:12tomb.
6. 0:13So she ran and came to Simon Peter and
7. 0:17to the other disciple whom Jesus loved
8. 0:20and said to them, "They have taken away
9. 0:23the Lord out of the tomb and we do not
10. 0:25know where they have laid him."
11. 0:28So Peter and the other disciple went
12. 0:30forth and they were going to the tomb.
13. 0:35The two were running together and the
14. 0:38other disciple ran ahead faster than
15. 0:40Peter and came to the tomb first.
16. 0:44And stooping and looking in, he saw the
17. 0:48linen wrappings lying there, but he did
18. 0:51not go in.
19. 0:53And so Simon Peter also came following
20. 0:56him and entered the tomb and saw the
21. 1:00linen wrappings lying there.
22. 1:03And the facecloth which had been on his
23. 1:06head, not lying with the linen
24. 1:08wrappings, but rolled up in a place by
25. 1:12itself.
26. 1:14So the other disciple who had first come
27. 1:16to the tomb then also entered and he saw
28. 1:21and believed.
29. 1:23The other disciple is John, the one
30. 1:26writing the story.
31. 1:29John gets there first and he shows his
32. 1:32own restraint in that he's looking in to
33. 1:35the tomb, but he has a little bit too
34. 1:38much hesitation to go in. But Peter, in
35. 1:41true Peter fashion, he pushes past John
36. 1:45and walks in. And he notices not only
37. 1:49the empty linen wrappings, but the
38. 1:52facecloth is neatly rolled by itself.
39. 1:58This is noticeable. This shows
40. 2:00intention. This shows behavior that a
41. 2:05robber wouldn't do or a crazy person
42. 2:07wouldn't do. and it means something to
43. 2:10them. So the other disciple who had
44. 2:13first come to the tomb, John wants us to
45. 2:16know
46. 2:17also entered and saw and believed. There
47. 2:21was something about seeing not just the
48. 2:23empty tomb but the empty grave clothes
49. 2:26and the intentionality in the detail of
50. 2:29the facecloth that was meaningful to
51. 2:32them. For as yet they did not understand
52. 2:35the scripture that he must rise again
53. 2:38from the dead. So the disciples went
54. 2:41away again to their own homes. But Mary
55. 2:43was standing outside the tomb weeping.
56. 2:47And so as she wept, she stooped and
57. 2:49looked into the tomb. And she saw two
58. 2:52angels in white sitting, one at the head
59. 2:55and one at the feet where the body of
60. 2:57Jesus had been lying.
61. 3:00And they said to her,"Woman,
62. 3:03why are you weeping?"
63. 3:05So, we have the disciples have left.
64. 3:08They're in a days. They don't know what
65. 3:11to do, but they believe when they see
66. 3:12it. They just can't bring it all
67. 3:14together. They don't yet understand how
68. 3:16it fulfills the scripture. Mary stays in
69. 3:19the garden. And she finds herself
70. 3:22looking back into this empty tomb. But
71. 3:25upon the second look, there's an angel.
72. 3:27There's two angels there. And they said
73. 3:30to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?"
74. 3:32She said to them, "Because they have
75. 3:34taken away my Lord, and I do not know
76. 3:37where they have laid him."
77. 3:40When she had said this, she turned
78. 3:42around
79. 3:44and saw Jesus standing there and did not
80. 3:49know it was Jesus.
81. 3:52Jesus said to her,"Woman,
82. 3:55why are you weeping? Whom are you
83. 3:58seeking?"
84. 4:00Supposing him to be the gardener?
85. 4:03She said to him, "Sir, if you have
86. 4:06carried him away, tell me where you have
87. 4:09laid him, and I will take him away."
88. 4:12Jesus said to her, "Mary."
89. 4:17She turned and said to him in Hebrew,
90. 4:20"Raboni,"
91. 4:23which means teacher.
92. 4:26Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to me,
93. 4:29for I have not yet ascended to the
94. 4:31Father, but go to my brethren and say to
95. 4:35them, I ascend to my Father and your
96. 4:39Father, and my God and your God."
97. 4:43Mary Magdalene came announcing to the
98. 4:46disciples, I have seen the Lord and that
99. 4:51he had said these things to her.
100. 4:58We have this scene of somebody coming
101. 5:00early in the morning. It says
102. 5:02specifically it's before daylight. So
103. 5:05even if an hour has gone by, it may
104. 5:08still be dusk.
105. 5:10and she sees two angels and she asks
106. 5:13them what they've done. And then she
107. 5:17comes back and she's looking in the tomb
108. 5:19again and she hears somebody talking
109. 5:22behind her.
110. 5:24Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you
111. 5:26seeking?
112. 5:28And she does not recognize that it is
113. 5:32Jesus until she hears her own name in
114. 5:37his voice. When he says Mary,
115. 5:43which in Hebrew probably would have been
116. 5:45Miriam, when she hears that in his
117. 5:48voice,
118. 5:50she turns.
119. 5:52She apparently was facing away from him,
120. 5:55gazing into the empty tomb, gazing into
121. 5:59the void, into the place where she
122. 6:02thought the last memory of her Lord
123. 6:06would be.
124. 6:08As she turns, she pivots away from the
125. 6:12death, away from what the enemy and the
126. 6:16cruelty of man and judgment has done.
127. 6:20And she looks at the risen Lord
128. 6:23and he says, "Stop clinging to me."
129. 6:26Which means she was clinging to him,
130. 6:30for I have not yet ascended to the
131. 6:32father. And in this he's saying,
132. 6:36don't hold on to this fleshly
133. 6:40expression of me. Don't act like this is
134. 6:44all that it is because when I go to the
135. 6:46father, you're still going to have me.
136. 6:48It's just going to be in the mode of the
137. 6:50Holy Spirit.
138. 6:53And that's why he says, I ascend to my
139. 6:56father and your father.
140. 7:00It's not just going to be the
141. 7:02relationship I have with God. You can
142. 7:04have it as well to my God and your God.
143. 7:08He's trying to connect that the reason
144. 7:11he's ascending is to release the spirit
145. 7:15upon them.
146. 7:17So when it was evening on that day, the
147. 7:20first day of the week, Sunday, and when
148. 7:24the doors were shut where the disciples
149. 7:26were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came
150. 7:30and stood in their midst and said to
151. 7:33them, "Peace be with you."
152. 7:38And when he had said this, he showed
153. 7:41them both his hands and his side. The
154. 7:44disciples then rejoiced when they saw
155. 7:47the Lord. So Jesus said to them again,
156. 7:51"Peace be with you. As the Father has
157. 7:56sent me,
158. 7:58I also send you."
159. 8:03The entire story of the book of John is
160. 8:06to show us who Jesus was as the one sent
161. 8:12by the father. As the one in whom the
162. 8:15father was dwelling.
163. 8:17As the one speaking the voice of the
164. 8:20father doing the works of the father. As
165. 8:23the living visible manifestation of God
166. 8:28the father.
167. 8:30So he says, "As the father sent me, I
168. 8:33also send you." And when he had said
169. 8:36this, he breathed on them and said to
170. 8:40them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you
171. 8:44forgive the sins of any, their sins have
172. 8:47been forgiven them. If you retain the
173. 8:49sins of any, they have been retained."
174. 8:53So in this they are not receiving the
175. 8:56spirit in that moment but he is
176. 8:58prophetically releasing it upon them.
177. 9:01We know that they're not receiving the
178. 9:03spirit because in chapter 7 John says
179. 9:07the spirit was not yet given because
180. 9:09Jesus was not yet glorified. So anything
181. 9:12that happens before he ascends to the
182. 9:14father is not the giving of the spirit
183. 9:17but he's releasing it.
184. 9:20When was the last time he spoke about
185. 9:22binding and loosing?
186. 9:24It was when Peter answered the question,
187. 9:28"Who do men say that I am?" And then,
188. 9:30"Who do you say that I am?" Peter had
189. 9:32said, "You are the Messiah, the son of
190. 9:34the living God." And Jesus had
191. 9:37introduced the church and said, "Blessed
192. 9:39are you, Simon Barjonah, because flesh
193. 9:42and blood didn't because flesh and blood
194. 9:44didn't reveal this to you, but my father
195. 9:47who is in heaven and upon this rock of
196. 9:50hearing from the father, I will build a
197. 9:53church and whatever you bind on earth
198. 9:56shall have been bound in heaven and
199. 9:58whatever you loose on earth shall have
200. 10:00been loosed in heaven." So he's saying
201. 10:03if you all can hear from the father and
202. 10:07speak according to what he says that's
203. 10:10the foundation. That's the the beginning
204. 10:12of the church.
205. 10:15And that binding that he spoke of was
206. 10:16the binding and loosing of sin. Well
207. 10:19here again he says receive the Holy
208. 10:23Spirit.
209. 10:25Receive the Holy Spirit. If you can
210. 10:27receive into yourself what has been in
211. 10:30me. what has been in Jesus without
212. 10:32measure. If you can receive your measure
213. 10:35of it, then if you forgive the sins of
214. 10:38any, their sins have been forgiven them.
215. 10:43Not will be, have been. You will start
216. 10:45to reflect on earth what the father
217. 10:48reveals to you from heaven. If God is
218. 10:51forgiving their sins, you forgive them
219. 10:53also. If God is retaining their sins,
220. 10:56you retain them also.
221. 10:58But how do we do this? through the
222. 11:00outpouring of the spirit. The spirit is
223. 11:03going to be what the church is
224. 11:05manifesting in its power to bind and
225. 11:07loose. But Thomas, one of the 12 called
226. 11:11Ditimus, was not with them when Jesus
227. 11:14came. Where was he? So the other
228. 11:18disciples were saying to him, "We have
229. 11:22seen the Lord."
230. 11:24But he said to them, "Unless I see in
231. 11:28his hands the imprint of the nails and
232. 11:31put my finger into the place of the
233. 11:34nails and put my hand into his side, I
234. 11:39will not believe."
235. 11:42He's saying, "I saw this guy die. I saw
236. 11:45them drive spikes through his hands. I
237. 11:48saw them pierce his side. And I am not
238. 11:51going to settle for what you're saying.
239. 11:53I want to see it for myself.
240. 11:57After 8 days, his disciples were again
241. 11:59inside and Thomas with them. Jesus came,
242. 12:03the doors having been shut, and stood in
243. 12:06their midst and said, "Peace be with
244. 12:08you." It's exactly the same thing. John
245. 12:11tells us that in both instances, the
246. 12:12doors were shut. They were locked. But
247. 12:15somehow he passes through those doors
248. 12:17and is in their midst. But this time,
249. 12:20Thomas is there. Then he said to Thomas,
250. 12:25"Reach here with your finger and see my
251. 12:28hands,
252. 12:30and reach here your hand and put it into
253. 12:33my side. And do not be unbelieving, but
254. 12:38believing."
255. 12:41Jesus said, "You want proof?
256. 12:44Come over here.
257. 12:46Look,
258. 12:48I mean, John wants us to know that there
259. 12:51was doubt because it was impossible that
260. 12:54someone could be alive after what they
261. 12:56did to him.
262. 13:00And John wants us to know that Jesus
263. 13:02didn't say, "Oh, just believe." He
264. 13:05opened up. He said, "Okay, come check it
265. 13:08out."
266. 13:13Do not be unbelieving, but believing.
267. 13:16Thomas answered and said to him, "My
268. 13:19Lord
269. 13:21and my God."
270. 13:25My Lord refers to the humanity of the
271. 13:28master he's followed all this time. But
272. 13:31he doesn't just say my Lord. He says my
273. 13:34Lord and my God.
274. 13:39Jesus would have rebuked him for
275. 13:41blasphemy except that that is exactly
276. 13:44what it means to believe. He's obeying
277. 13:48Jesus's command. Do not be unbelieving
278. 13:51but believing. Jesus was not some lesser
279. 13:55being. Jesus was not merely a human
280. 13:58being. He was fully human. He had flesh
281. 14:01and bone. He had scars.
282. 14:04But he was my Lord and my God.
283. 14:09Jesus said to him, "Because you have
284. 14:12seen me, have you believed? Blessed are
285. 14:15they who do not see and yet believe."
286. 14:19Therefore, many other signs Jesus also
287. 14:23performed in the presence of the
288. 14:26disciples,
289. 14:27which are not written in this book.
290. 14:31But these have been written so that you
291. 14:34may believe that Jesus is the Messiah,
292. 14:37the Christ, the Son of God, and that
293. 14:41believing you may have life in his name.