The day the Universe changed: What happened on Resurrection Sunday cannot be described any other way. Paul tries to explain it to us when He calls Jesus the second Adam. And he does a good job by pointing out the overwhelming difference between the gift of eternal life, that the second Adam brought us, compared to the legacy of wholesale death the first Adam left behind. But even so, I think we don’t always grasp the magnitude of that contrast.

That we fall short in our understanding is not surprising. We are used to living as finite beings in a temporal world. Our imagination can scarcely conceive of the infinite. How much less then the infinity of infinities that barely begins to measure the reality of the Kingdom of God.

Calling Jesus the second Adam only gets it right insofar as it points out that He, like Adam, entered our finite timeline at a given point in time, lived that life for a span of years, and then died. And as Adam started all of us on the road to death, Jesus flung open before all of us the path to eternal life. But there, the similarity ends: Because death is infinitely inferior to life and therefore it is also an infinite number of times infinitely inferior to eternal life.

The only power death has in my life is to destroy my human body. But eternal life, is not only going to destroy death, not only going to restore my body in a new form beyond the limits of this world, but it also begins producing Life within me right now, a life that I never experienced before, insight that I never had before, the power of forgiveness that I never had before, the power to Love like I never had before.

The Resurrection wiped the slate clean for all of us. Before that point in time, every human being ever born was irrevocably condemned to die for their sins. But after that time, every human being ever born or ever to be born has access to the forgiveness of sins.

Notice the difference. The kingdom of the world enslaved everyone to their past and its consequences. No human being ever had the strength to break that chain or the will power to reject it. But the Kingdom of God not only breaks those chains, it does so for all time, from minus infinity to plus infinity, and gives everybody the power to choose. Every one of those people that died in the past were offered the same Salvation we are all offered today… It boggles the mind; but remember, God is a transcendent God, He exists outside of time. (As Peter says in his first letter – Chapter 3, verses 18-19 – Jesus reached back even all the way to the days before Noah.)

And all that, began on Resurrection Sunday.

The beginning

John 20:1-2 And on the first [day] of the week Mary of Magdala comes in early morn to the tomb, while it was still dark, and sees the stone taken away from the tomb. She runs therefore and comes to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, to whom Jesus was attached, and says to them, They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we know not where they have laid him.

It takes reading all the gospels to weave together the sequence of events that lead to this succinct introduction. Mary of Magdala and some of the other women followed Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus as they took the body of Jesus and hastily wrapped it in strips (like a mummy) as was the Hebrew custom. They saw where the tomb was and saw the large stone rolled down the channel in the rock, sealing it.

That was Friday, almost at 6PM (when the Sabbath begins). The women decided that Jesus deserved more than that. But with the Sabbath starting, they would have to wait until it was over to go buy the ointments, the myrrh, and the perfume, and more linen strips to do it right. Therefore, Saturday night, after 6PM, they went out and bought all that they needed and got their supplies ready to start out early the next morning.

On their way to the tomb, they realize they should have collected more help because there was the stone that had to be rolled away (up hill). But to their surprise, when they arrive at the tomb, the stone is out of the way. As best as we can surmise, Mary of Magdala must have rushed forward, looked into the tomb, and seeing the grave clothes empty, she turns around and starts running. This is where John picks up the story.

Some of the other gospels tell us that the other women drew near to the tomb, even stepped in to look, and they saw angels inside.

John 20:3-5 Peter therefore went forth, and the other disciple, and came to the tomb. And the two ran together, and the other disciple ran forward faster than Peter, and came first to the tomb, and stooping down he sees the linen cloths lying; he did not however go in

By the time Peter and John arrive, the other women are gone; for the angels told them that Jesus was not there: He had risen just as He had told them. John stops outside…

John 20:6-9 Simon Peter therefore comes, following him, and entered into the tomb, and sees the linen cloths lying, and the handkerchief which was upon his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded up in a distinct place by itself. Then entered in therefore the other disciple also who came first to the tomb, and he saw and believed; for they had not yet known the scripture, that he must rise from among [the] dead.

The detail that the handkerchief was not with the empty graveclothes but folded by itself meant this was not the result of someone stealing the body in haste but rather that someone calmly set about leaving things in order. That physical evidence was enough for John (and Peter) to believe that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead.  But what it all meant, we can be sure they still did not comprehend.

John 20:10 The disciples therefore went away again to their own home.

Now, Mary also was returning with them to the tomb. She just did not run as fast as they did. She sees them leave… but she cannot. Why? Because she loved Jesus deeply; her Savior, who cast seven demons out of her, who received her as a friend among his friends. She cannot bear the thought of not having Him there, present, even if it was just as a dead body.

You see: She did not hear the angels talk to the other women. And John does not give us a clue here that she believed that Jesus rose from the dead. All that she can think of, deep in her mourning, is that someone took Him away from her. And, maybe, like the woman who had been sick with the issue of blood, all she is hoping for, all she dares to believe that she deserves, is just the chance to touch Him… one more time.

John 20:11-13 But Mary stood at the tomb weeping without. As therefore she wept, she stooped down into the tomb, and beholds two angels sitting in white [garments], one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say to her, Woman, why dost thou weep? She says to them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.

The angels show up again, for her.  But their consolation is not enough for her.

John 20:14 Having said these things she turned backward and beholds Jesus standing [there], and knew not that it was Jesus.

She notices there is someone there but just as a side glance, out of tear filled eyes.

John 20:15 Jesus says to her, Woman, why dost thou weep? Whom seekest thou? She, supposing that it was the gardener, says to him, Sir, if thou hast borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.

In what has to be the deepest point of her despair, what shines forth here is her absolute devotion. What a lesson for all of us! We go through tragedies; all of us do… And in the midst of those tears, the prayer that is on our lips is invariably: “Jesus, where are you? I need you, come help me, come save me.” But I wonder what would happen if instead we cried: “Jesus, where are you? Tell me where you are and wherever that is, I will go there.”

John 20:16 Jesus says to her, Mary. She, turning round, says to him in Hebrew, Rabboni, which means Teacher.

There must be something in the way He said her name. Or maybe it took time for the sound of that familiar voice to cut through the storm of emotions that was drowning her. But, finally, as Jesus said, His sheep recognize His voice…

John 20:17 Jesus says to her, Touch me not, for I have not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and [to] my God and your God.

We can try to give some sort of mystical interpretation to Jesus’ admonition, “Touch me not.” After all, we soon see that Jesus’ body is no longer a normal, natural human body. He can go through walls. In fact, someone has said that when the angel rolled that stone away from the tomb, Jesus was already gone. The angel was simply witnessing to the world.

However, from the other gospels we know that when the other women left the tomb after the angels spoke to them, they ran into Jesus (who must have been walking this way at that point.) And they threw themselves at His feet and clung to Him. He didn’t tell them there not to touch Him but rather to go and tell His brethren (the large body of disciples) to go to Galilee where He would meet them.

Therefore, we can conclude that nothing strange would have happened if Mary had touched Jesus there. Rather, Jesus’ words were spiritual. He was addressing her heart.

“Mary don’t cling to me. The time to cling to me, here in this world, is past. You know what I taught you, I must return to my God and Father… because once I do, once everything has been fulfilled, He will be God and Father to you also, to all of you, in a new way that you cannot even imagine now.”

Remember, Jesus said He had to leave in order to send us the Holy Spirit. From then on, we can have all the fellowship we crave with Jesus in that Holy Spirit.

John 20:18 Mary of Magdala comes bringing word to the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and [that] he had said these things to her.

From the other gospels we know that the eleven didn’t quite know what to make of the report from the women. Because even if they believed that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead, as he had clearly told them, I don’t think they understood what it all meant.

Beating death would certainly be a triumph for the Messiah. It vindicated Him and in so doing it condemned the religious powers that lorded it over His people, the ones that had gone to all that trouble to destroy Him in vain. But what did that resurrection have to say about them, His disciples, and about the rest of Israel.  Did the Messiah rise, just to prove a point? Would He leave His people behind to fend off for themselves? To reap what they sowed? After all, they knew from the Scriptures (Ezekiel) that the Glory of God had once left Jerusalem and the Temple as a sign of Judgment on His people.

All these thoughts could have been going through their minds… even though many of those questions had been anticipated by Jesus and He had already given them the answers. The fact is, when we are in the middle of the storm it is very hard for us to remember to take Jesus at His word.

But even if they had remembered all those words, I don’t think they could have understood it all… what it all meant for them… or for that matter what it meant for the whole universe.

John 20:19-21 When therefore it was evening on that day, which was the first [day] of the week, and the doors shut where the disciples were, through fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and says to them, Peace [be] to you. And having said this, he shewed to them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced therefore, having seen the Lord. [Jesus] said therefore again to them, Peace [be] to you: as the Father sent me forth, I also send you.

Now Jesus is reminding them of His discourse and prayer of that last night they spent together. He told them then those same words: As the Father sent Me, I send you. But more than that: it was also that night that He fully revealed to them the ultimate consequence of His plan: That He would send them the Holy Spirit and that from then on they would be able to have communion with the Father and the Son forever, in their hearts.

John 20:22-23 And having said this, he breathed into [them], and says to them, Receive [the] Holy Spirit: whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted to them; whose soever [sins] ye retain, they are retained.

Is Jesus all of a sudden instituting here a “sacrament” called confession? Is He giving the apostles (plural, as the “ye” and the Greek construction suggests) the unique power to forgive sins? Does this mean that they have the authority to decide whose sins are forgiven and whose are not?

I think the meaning of Jesus’ words here is straightforward to understand. It follows directly from the mission He has handed over to them (in verse 21). Soon, Jesus will no longer be physically on the Earth. He has completed His part in the mission.  But the overall mission is not over. The Plan of Salvation has been successfully set in place, but someone has to keep carrying it on. And only human beings can carry it on.

Remember: This is why the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. The message of Salvation, the forgiveness of sins through faith in Jesus, has to be spread from person to person. Jesus, fully indwelled of the Holy Spirit (remember His baptism), began the work. Now, His disciples, once filled with the Holy Spirit, are meant to continue it.

It is in this sense that we have the power to forgive the sins of the people of the world: We tell them about Jesus, we give them the Word of God, and the Holy Spirit is there present for them to recognize the Truth and accept it or for them to reject it. If they accept it, their sins are forgiven. If they reject it, they are not forgiven. That is it.

Remember, Jesus already told us that once He leaves and sends the Holy Spirit, the world will no longer be able to ignore Him.

John 16:7-11 But I say the truth to you, It is profitable for you that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Comforter will not come to you; but if I go I will send him to you. And having come, he will bring demonstration to the world, of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe on me; of righteousness, because I go away to [my] Father, and ye behold me no longer; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

Thus, the stage is set. The age of the Church is about to start.

Our mission will be very much like His…

Like Jesus, we will have to contend with a humanity that is fully aware of its free will. That means that even in this radically altered universe, where the Holy Spirit speaks to the entire world, human beings will always have a choice: to believe, or not to believe.

And when we choose not to believe we are more than able to come up with all sorts of excuses… or with “tests” like the Pharisees, who kept throwing all sorts of demands at Jesus… “Well, if God wants me to believe, then He needs to do this and that and that…”

It sounds reasonable… until you realize that the Holy Spirit is already here, just like, in the Pharisees’ days, Jesus was already right there in front of them, and in Their Presence, the Truth of Their words, cannot be (honestly) denied by the spirit that dwells within us which was made in the image of God. When we reject the Truth we do it knowingly.

John 20:24-25 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, We have seen the Lord. But he said to them, Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.

Thank God that He is as merciful today as He has always been. Just as Jesus did not give up on those Pharisees, He never gives up on us.

John 20:26-29 And eight days after, his disciples were again within, and Thomas with them. Jesus comes, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst and said, Peace [be] to you. Then he says to Thomas, Bring thy finger here and see my hands; and bring thy hand and put it into my side; and be not unbelieving, but believing.

Thomas answered and said to him, My Lord and my God. Jesus says to him, Because thou hast seen me thou hast believed: blessed they who have not seen and have believed.

I am sure, if you have ever heard the story of Jesus, you have heard the story of “doubting Thomas.” But it is certainly not there for us to feel superior. It is there so that we know that those first disciples, whom Jesus entrusted with carrying out the rest of His mission, were people just like us: fallible, weak.

Jesus knows it, He understands it, but He doesn’t just accept it. Instead, he tells us He expects more of us; that we can do a lot better than that. Why? Because we have the Holy Spirit with us! And we are blessed if we live our lives willingly and fully under His guidance.

He will give us all the power that we need to believe in the unseen Kingdom of God.