‘The Secret Disciple’- John 19:38-42

All the biographies of people who no longer walk the earth end in the same way. Their stories end with their deaths. Except in one case... In today's passage, we have John's account of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It divides into two parts.

The story starts with Mary Magdalene in v1. She had loved the Lord Jesus dearly (though not in a "Da Vinci Code" sort of way; she was not married to him). She had been pretty much the last one at the cross, and now she was the first one at the tomb. She wanted the sad consolation of anointing her Lord's dead body. But as she approaches, she sees that the stone has been rolled away from the entrance of the tomb. Mary immediately turns and flees to Peter and John. In v2 she tells them that the Lord's body has been removed.

Peter and John race off to the tomb in v3-4. John arrives first. In v5, he peers into the tomb but does not go in. He sees the strips of linen which had been wound around Jesus. But he does not see the Lord's body.

Christians come with all kinds of different types of personality and temperament. Peter arrives.

He is more impetuous than John, and he goes straight in in v6-7. He sees the strips of linen which had been wound around Jesus. He sees the burial cloth which had been around his head, folded

up a little distance away. But he does not see the Lord's body.

Two things are apparent to Peter, then. Firstly, the Lord’s body is not there. Secondly, it has not been stolen. No thief would have stripped a corpse before stealing it and-then stopped to tidy up!

Peter does not know what to make of it. But now (in v8), gaining courage from his fellow disciple, John goes into the tomb, sees what Peter has seen, and believes. He believes that Jesus has risen from the dead. He doesn't understand everything, as v9 shows. But he understands enough and believes.

Firstly, there is good evidence for the resurrection here. John had never expected to see Jesus again, so we do not have the product of an overheated imagination here. The body had not been stolen. The disciples had not hidden it. John processes all the options as he stands in the tomb in v8. And the only option which makes sense to him is that Jesus has risen. Later the Lord would appear to him to prove him right.

If you accept John's testimony, you have to take Jesus seriously. If he really rose, it means that ail his claims are true: he is the Son of God, the Messiah, the Saviour. And you need to believe in him. Do you?

Secondly, you can still trust in Jesus even if you do not understand everything. John was like that. In v9, he does not understand how Christ's resurrection fulfilled the Old Testament. He didn't understand everything, but he believed.

Sometimes as a Christian you might feel quite stupid because you don't understand certain things or because you lose an argument with someone. Take heart! It's not your IQ that matters. It's the fact that you love and trust Jesus. Seek to know everything in the Bible, but if you're not a brainy intellectual, don't worry! Rejoice that God has made you you!

Strangely, in v10, Peter and John go home! Mary remains at the tomb, though. We find her sobbing her heart out in v11. Her love made her linger at the tomb in tears. Her crying was ultimately unnecessary. But her love is a challenge to us. Are you ever moved to tears when you think of what Jesus has done for you?

She peers into the tomb and chats with some angels in v12-13. She takes the angels in her stride, not allowing their presence to deflect her from her wrong idea that Jesus is still dead! Often we cling to unbiblical ideas just as tenaciously.

Then she turns and sees Jesus himself in v14. She does not recognise him, maybe because her eyes are full of tears, perhaps because it's still pretty dark, probably because our Lord's identity was kept from her supernaturally for a moment or two, certainly because he was the last person she expected to see. They speak in v15. And then two syllables in v16 turn her grief into joy. Jesus speaks her name as only he could. She whirls round and sees him. "Rabboni!" she gasps in her native tongue. "My teacher!" Indescribable joy!

Mary must then have grabbed hold of the Lord, because his next words in v17 are literally, “Stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father”. She probably would have held onto him all day, but she did not need to because it was not yet quite the time for him to ascend finally to his Father's presence. He sends her instead with a message for the disciples. In v18, she goes and faithfully delivers the message.

Firstly, notice that the resurrection was bodily. It was not a conjuring trick with bones. The risen Lord had a body which Mary could touch and cling to. There was something different about it John's next section show that it could suddenly appear in locked rooms. But it was still a body

That is important. It shows that Christ is concerned not just with the spiritual, but also with the physical. Salvation applies not just to the spiritual, but also to the physical. Sometimes we limit the scope of what Jesus did in saving us. We think, "Well, when I die, my body will rot, but my spirit will go to heaven to be with the Lord for ever and ever." That's only half the story. Not just our spirits are saved; our bodies are saved too. Jesus' resurrection shows that.

I Corinthians 15:20 teaches that Jesus is the firstfruits of those who have died. He is the first person to have been resurrected permanently. When he ascended into heaven, he was still alive and still had a body. And I Corinthians 6:14 shows that, just as Jesus was raised from the dead, so we will be raised from the dead. When we die, our bodies will rot and our spirits will go straight to be with the Lord. But when Christ returns our bodies will be raised too and made perfect.

This is wonderful. We were never meant to exist just as spirits. So Christ has redeemed our bodies too. We will live in glorified bodies in the recreated world of our Lord God!

Secondly, Jesus' words in v17 are delightful. The last time he saw most of the disciples was when they fled in terror at the moment of his arrest. Mark 14:50 describes them deserting him and fleeing. But what is the Lord's first word about the disciples? He calls them "brothers". And that's lovely.

Hebrews 2:11 makes the same point about us. Jesus is not ashamed to call you, Christian, his brother or sister. We are so insignificant compared with him. We are so sinful. But he is not ashamed of us. When you fall, he picks you up. When you go wrong, he bears with you. When you prove unfaithful, he shames you with His perfect faithfulness. What a wonderful Saviour we have. Do you believe in him?