Carey's Bible Study Notes
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burial and resurrection
life of christ: John 19.38-20.18
burial and resurrection
the burial
As evening approaches, Joseph of Arimathea, a member of the Sanhedrin who also happened to be a secret follower of Jesus, approaches Pilate and requests permission to take Jesus down from the cross and bury Him. Joseph has a burial plot (hewn out of the rock) which he had designed for himself and which also was near the site of the crucifixion. Speed was of the essence because the Sabbath of the Passover�a high Sabbath�was about to start any minute. Upon ascertaining that Jesus indeed is dead, Pilate grants Joseph his request.
Joseph is not alone in this request. He is accompanied by Nicodemus, the Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin who had come previously to Jesus one night to discover Jesus� true identity (John 3:1-21). Luke informs us that Joseph had not agreed with the Sanhedrin�s decision to execute Jesus; in fact, he and Nicodemus had probably not been summoned to the convening of the Sanhedrin to declare Jesus guilty of blasphemy. Up until this time, both these men had been secret followers of Jesus. Now at this most critical stage in the ministry and life of Jesus, Nicodemus and Joseph come out into the light and proclaim their loyalty to Jesus Christ. You might object that this was no big deal since Jesus was now dead, but you need to remember that the Sanhedrin was intent on not just killing Jesus but also intent on squashing His movement. The reason they placed guards around the tomb was to insure that no one stole the body and claimed that He had risen from the dead (see Matt. 27:62-66). Such an action would have given tremendous impetus to the Jesus movement. What Joseph and Nicodemus did was an act of great love and courage on both their parts.
Joseph and Nicodemus take Jesus down from the cross and wrap Him in linen cloths, much like they did the mummies in Egypt. As they wrapped the body with the linen wrappings, they sprinkled precious spices (myrrh and aloe) on the wrappings in order to cover the stench of the decaying body. John informs us that Nicodemus brought along 100 pounds of these precious spices, an impressive amount since normally this much or even less was used in the burial of kings and famous rabbis. After they prepared Jesus� body, they laid Him in the tomb. After the men had rolled the stone in front of the tomb, Mary Magdalene and another woman named Mary stayed beside the tomb for a little while longer to mourn Jesus� death (Matt. 27:61).
What is the significance of Jesus� burial? First, it points to the fact that Jesus really did die. What we see 3 days later is not resuscitation but resurrection. Second, John highlights the amount of the spices used in order to stress the fact that even in His death and burial, Jesus is truly the King. Only kings and great rabbis were buried with this amount of spices. John stresses this to show that Jesus was no mere man but God�s anointed King to rule over His kingdom. Third, the burial is significant in order to stress the fact that the disciples knew exactly where Jesus was buried. Jesus was not buried in some pauper�s grave which would soon be forgotten as was commonly the lot for those criminals who were crucified. He was buried in Joseph�s own tomb, the location of which Joseph undoubtedly knew. Moreover, the ladies themselves accompanied the men as they took Jesus� body to the tomb. When the disciples found an empty grave, they didn�t go to the wrong grave as some skeptics have declared. They went to an identifiable place�a tomb which indeed was empty because Jesus had risen from the dead.
first discovery of the empty tomb (John 20:1-10)
It is early on Sunday morning when Mary Magdalene along with 2 other women come to the tomb in order to finish anointing Jesus� body for burial. (Two things need to be noted here: (1) there is more than just Mary because she uses the plural "we" in v. 2; (2) they had to finish anointing Jesus because the preparation of the body on Friday afternoon had been a rush job due to the approaching Sabbath). When Mary arrives at the tomb, she is stunned to find the stone rolled away from the tomb and the tomb empty. Mary immediately assumes that somebody has stolen Jesus� body.
There are 2 important points about this aspect. First, Mary does not assume that the body has been raised from the dead. That was the last thing that the disciples thought would happen to Jesus. Many Jews later claimed that the Christians had concocted the story of the resurrection, whereas all the documents show that resurrection was the furthest thing from their minds. Only the reality of the resurrection convinced them that Jesus had actually risen from the dead. Second, it was not strange that Mary had assumed that the body had been stolen. Grave robbery was such a common offense in the 1st century, that Caesar had to issue an imperial indict condemning such a practice. Mary assumed the most natural explanation for the empty tomb, it had been pillaged.
Mary immediately rushes off and informs Peter and John about her discovery. The 2 immediately hurry from the city to the tomb. (Note once more that there is no question about the exact location of the tomb!) John, being younger than Peter, arrives at the tomb first but fails to enter, instead waiting for Peter. When Peter arrives, he doesn�t hesitate but instead rushes into the tomb. Behind him follows John.
When John enters the tomb, he sees the linen wrappings which had been wrapped around Jesus still lying there. The napkin which had been tied about Jesus� head in order to clamp the mouth shut had been neatly folded and set apart from the linen wrappings. First, John surmises that this is not the work of grave robbers. Grave robbers would not have unwrapped the body first because of the time it would have taken and thereby increase the chance of being caught and second because the site of a naked body being carried about Jerusalem would have naturally aroused suspicions. When John sees this, he knows that this is not the work of grave robbers but instead the work of God. God has raised Jesus from the dead.
Whereas John understands the significance of the event, Peter does not. Why one and not the other? Throughout this chapter John emphasizes that he was the disciple who loved Jesus. It�s not that Peter did not love Jesus but that John�s love was so much deeper. His deep love for Jesus gave him the spiritual insight to understand what had happened.
Next John writes that the disciples did not understand the significance of the Scriptures. Why this remark here? Again, one of the charges the Jews leveled against the early Christians was that they used the teachings of the OT about the resurrection in order to concoct the story about the resurrection. John though claims that the exact reverse was true. Throughout his Gospel, John claims that the disciples including him did not understand the OT until after Jesus had risen from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is what shed light upon the meaning of the OT and not vice versa. What convinced the disciples of the resurrection of Jesus was nothing less than the resurrection itself. It was only after the resurrection and they read the OT again did they understand that the Messiah was to suffer an ignominious death and then rise again (Isaiah 53 and Ps. 16) The two then return to their homes.
mary's encounter with jesus (John 20:11-18)
Whereas John and Peter return back to their homes in the city, Mary Magdalene stays at the tomb. When she looks into the tomb, she beholds 2 angels dressed in white, one sitting where Jesus� head had lain and the other sitting where His feet had reposed. The angels ask Mary why she is weeping. She replies that she is weeping because "they"�the grave robbers�have stolen Jesus� body and she does not know where they have laid it. (Again, notice that she and the others are not bound up with the supernatural who always assume a miracle has taken place; they are like us who believe too much in the natural and have to be hit over the head in order to know that a miracle has occurred).
When she turns around, she beholds Jesus standing beside her. Jesus asks her why she is weeping and whom she is seeking. Thinking that Jesus� body has been stolen, she naturally does not realize that this is Jesus. She very naturally assumes that Jesus is the gardener in charge of keeping the burial grounds. She wonders if perhaps this gardener has taken Jesus� body and removed it to some place else.
Jesus responds, "Mary." She turns and says to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni," which means "Master." She recognizes Jesus immediately when He calls her by her name. At this point, she grabs Jesus and holds on tightly to Him. Jesus commands her to stop clinging to Him because He has not yet ascended to His Father. Instead, she is to run to the disciples and inform them that He is in the process of ascending to His Father who is now their Father because of their relationship with Jesus God�s Son, that He is ascending to His God who is now their God because of their relationship with Jesus.
Several observations need to be noted here. First, the validity of the account. Many claim that the early Christians concocted the story of the resurrection. The witness of Mary Magdalene argues against such skepticism. In the first century, the witness of a woman was held to be inadmissible in a court of law; women just simply were not to be believed. If the early Christians had concocted this story, they would never have claimed that a woman was the first person to encounter the risen Jesus. For example, when Paul lists the official witnesses of the resurrection, he does not even mention Mary Magdalene (1 Cor. 15:5-8). Why do the Gospels mention the woman and Paul does not? It�s not that Paul did not know about her; he just knew that the Corinthian congregation wasn�t interested in the testimony of women. The Corinthians would have wanted the "official" list. The Gospel writers on the other hand were writing about the history of the resurrection. In order to be true to history, they had to mention the women, otherwise they would have falsified the resurrection story. They were faced with the dilemma of either telling the truth about the role of the women in this story which would be hard to defend or else leave out the women and make it more palatable to 1st-century listeners but thereby lie. They chose to tell the truth.
Next, look at the point in time in which Mary recognizes Jesus. Only after He calls her by her name does she recognize Him. This seems to illustrate a teaching Jesus gave earlier about the relationship between the Good Shepherd (Jesus) and His sheep (His followers). "When He (the Good Shepherd) puts forth His own, He goes before them, and they follow Him because they know His voice" (John 10:4). It�s only when Jesus calls Mary by her name does she recognize Him. This proves to Mary that she is truly a follower of Jesus.
Next, note that it is only because of our relationship with Jesus that we have a relationship with the Father (20:18). Moreover, note that Jesus claims that because of our relationship with Jesus, we have the exact same relationship with the Father that He has. God is not simply Jesus� God any more; He is also ours because of our relationship with Jesus. The same applies with God being Jesus� Father and our Father. Understand though that this kind of relationship with God is based solely upon our relationship with Jesus. It is true that every person has a relationship with God, that of creature to Creator; however, only Christians have a parent-child relationship with God because and only because of their relationship with Jesus Christ. That is one of the essential themes of Christianity. Strip Christianity of this and you destroy Christianity of its essence.
Finally, and although this may be hard for women to teach this before a group of men, it still needs to noted that the primary proclaimers of the resurrection were women. They were not only the first witnesses of the risen Lord, they were the first proclaimers of the good news about the resurrection. Luke, Mark, and John all three claim that Jesus first appeared to the women and then instructed them to tell the men that He had risen from the dead. It is by no means surprising that women in Christian cultures have attained a status unparalleled in other cultures. That elevated status is due to the fact that Jesus appeared to women first and to the men second. This did not elevate women above men; rather it placed them on par with men.
This should not surprise us in light of the fact of the role that women played in the ministry of Jesus. The 12 male disciples were not the only ones who accompanied Jesus throughout His ministry. Luke informs us that women, likewise, accompanied Jesus from Galilee to Judea. Go back and look at the cross event itself. Whereas all the disciples except for John abandoned Jesus at the cross, because of their love for Jesus the women remained faithful, staying as close to the cross as possible. None of what has been said does away with the role the woman should exercise in the home and in relation to her husband; however, neither does it relegate her to being a second-class citizen of the kingdom Jesus throws a few crumbs to. They are on par with men, equally endowed and filled with the Spirit, and equally able to perform the task God has assigned to them. Peter makes this even more clearer in his first sermon in Acts because he declares that God gave the Holy Spirit not just to men but also to women and that not only were men now equipped to be prophets but that women likewise were entrusted with the prophetic ministry (Acts 2:17-18). Paul with his deep insight brought all this to its logical conclusion when he claimed that "in Christ Jesus there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor freeman, neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal. 3:28).