John Chapter 20 (incomplete)

The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.

2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him."

3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.

4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.

6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there,

7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.

8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;

9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.

First appearance of Jesus

12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.

13 They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."

14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

Jesus resurrected body

15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."

16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).

17 Jesus said to her, "Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"

This parallels the High Priest on the Day of Atonement (Lev 16).

If anyone touched the high priest between the first and the second immersion, it rendered him unclean, and he could not enter the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the goat’s blood upon the mercy seat; he could not make the atonement with the blood. Therefore, until the ritual was completed, the high priest was un­touchable.

Yeshua, in His function as the perfect high priest, ascended into heaven at some point to sprinkle His blood in the heavenly tabernacle to cleanse it (Heb. 9:11, 12, 24; 10:12). Ezekiel 28:11-19 explains why this tabernacle needed to be cleansed. Satan, a cherub, the highest order of celestial beings, had defiled it.

When He encountered Miriam, His comment suggests that He had not yet cleansed the heavenly tab­ernacle, making Him untouchable. Once He performed His duty as the perfect high priest, He could return and people could touch Him.

Note change from disciples to ‘my brothers’.

18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"--and that he had said these things to her.

It is noticeable that the first appearance of the resurrected Messiah was to a woman, not a man. This was significant because by Jewish law, women could not serve as witnesses. The two or three witnesses necessary in a court of law had to be men, never women, as a woman’s testimony was not considered valid.

Those who do not believe that Yeshua rose from the dead often claim that the Gospels are fabricated. If that were true, then it was a Jewish fabrication, because the apostles were all Jewish. However, they would not have fabricated the story like this. They would have tried to make it as believable and acceptable to their audi­ence as possible, making sure that all the witnesses were men, not women.

But they had to report it the way it really happened, with a woman as the first witness to the resurrection. This fact is a strong ar­gument for the authenticity of the resurrection account. (CS)

Jesus Appears to the Disciples

19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you."

Fifth appearance

20 When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

21 Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you."

First commission: authority

22 And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

Receiving Holy Spirit

23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld."

Extension of apostolic authority

This forgiving and retaining of sins is in the sense of church discipline and church order. This concerned binding and loosing in a judicial sense, in the sense of punishing or freeing someone from punishment. This is the area in which the apostles had authority. (CS).

Legislatively, to bind meant “to forbid,” and to loose meant “to permit.” Judicially, to bind meant “to punish,” and to loose meant “not to punish,” or “to set free from pun­ishment.” That was how the rabbis used binding and loosing in the context of the Second Temple period, and the usage of these terms in the Gospels must be interpreted in the light of first-century Israel.  (Matt 16:19)

Thus, the Messiah gave to Peter, and later to all the apostles, the authority to bind and loose both legislatively and judicially. Since there is no such thing as apostolic succession, the authority was not passed on beyond the apostles. Later, in the Epistles, the Apostles exercised binding and loosing, meaning they permitted things that were formerly forbidden, and they forbade things that were formerly permitted. Legislatively, this authority was limited to the apostles only. The church has no authority to bind and loose legislatively. It has no authority to bind, meaning to issue further rules and regulations for believers to follow. Likewise, it has no authority to loose, meaning to release believers from the rules of Scripture.] (CS)

Jesus and Thomas

24 Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.

25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe."

26 Eight days later, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you."

Sixth appearance

27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe."

28 Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"

With these words, he affirmed the truth that the resurrection proved Yeshua to be the Son of God (Rom. 1:4).

The Purpose of This Book

29 Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.