John 20:1-10
THE MESSAGE IN THE GRAVECLOTHES
Intro: Several years ago, I was watching a documentary
concerning the death of Medgar Evers, a black civil
rights worker who was shot to death in his own driveway
in Mississippi in 1963. In the early 90's, at the request
of his son, the body of Mr Evers was exhumed. It was
the hope of the family that a new autopsy might shed
more light into his death. I watched as they opened that
casket that had been sealed for 30 years. Inside was
a body that was remarkably preserved. The body and
the clothes it wore were in excellent condition.
As I watched that program, I immediately thought
about another time when another grave was opened.
It was a grave that was opened, not by the will of man,
but by the will of God! In that grave, those who looked
in saw the clothes the body wore, but they saw no body!
Why? Because it was the body of the Lord Jesus Christ
and He had risen from the dead and had walked out of
that tomb. All that remained in that tomb, the only
evidence that He had ever been there, was the
presence of His graveclothes.
Now, there are many aspects of the resurrection that
we could consider this morning. All of them are
important and are a blessing and an encouragement to
the children of God. But this morning, I want to look at
the message that is contained in the graveclothes left in
that tomb by Jesus. I want us to see today that Jesus
left His graveclothes behind for a reason. He left them
behind so that they could preach a message to all those
who saw them early on that Sunday morning. It is that
precious message that I would like for us to try and
grasp today. Let's look into these wonderful verses and
experience The Message In The Graveclothes.
I. V. 5-7 IT IS A PEACEFUL MESSAGE
A. After Jesus died on the cross, Joseph of
Arimathaea and Nicodemus took the body of
Jesus and prepared it for burial and placed it in
a new tomb that belonged to Joseph, John
19:38-42. After they placed His body in the
tomb, the Jewish leaders asked Pontius Pilate to
seal the tomb and place a detachment of Roman
soldiers at the tomb to prevent the Disciples from
stealing the body, Matt. 27:62-66.
Of course, the Bible tells us that early on the
Sunday morning some strange things began to
occur near that Garden tomb, Matt. 28:1-4. A
supernatural event happened and the stone that
was used to seal the tomb was rolled back by
the angel of the Lord. This was done, not by the
Disciples. No! They were off in their upper room
hiding in fear, lest they too be arrested and
crucified, John 20:19. This was done, however,
to allow all those who came by to see that the
body of Jesus was gone.
Now, when Mary finds the tomb in this
condition, she runs to tell the Disciples and Peter
and John race to the tomb. Surely Mary went to
the wrong tomb. Surely, there must be some
mistake! Yet, when they arrive at the scene, it is
the right tomb. But, the tomb is empty! All that
they see when they look in are the graveclothes
of the Lord Jesus either collapsed in a pile as if
His body came right through them, or having
been hardened by the chemicals used by
Joseph and Nicodemus, in the shape of His
body, resembling a cocoon that He had merely
exited. Either way, it paints quite a picture!
Then they see, in a place by itself, the napkin
Joseph and Nicodemus had used to wrap
Christ's face and head.
The tomb is a perfect picture of absolute
order!
B. After the news of the resurrection became public
knowledge, the Jewish leaders concocted a story
to try and conceal the fact that Jesus was alive,
Matt. 28:11-15. However, the condition of the
tomb proves their tale to be a lie. Consider:
1. If it was the Disciples that had removed the
body of Jesus as the Jews claimed, how did
they remove the body without disturbing the
wrappings? Would they have taken the time
to be so orderly? Would they have even
attempted such a thing, after all, they had all
forsook Jesus and fled away the night He
was arrested, Mark 14:50.
2. If it was grave robbers as others have
suggested, how did they remove the body?
Would they have taken such pains? Of
course not!
3. If it was the Jewish leaders that took His body
for fear of what the Disciples might use His
corpse for, or the Romans for that matter,
they would not have taken the time to remove
the body from its wrappings. In fact, they
would have simply produced the corpse
when the Disciples began to proclaim the
resurrection and Christianity would have
dissolved like and Alka-Seltzer in water.
C. The only logical conclusion to the matter is that
the tomb was a scene of order and calm
because Jesus had merely passed through His
graveclothes. He had folded His own napkin and
laid it aside. He left a scene of peace so that all
those who look in and believe might have peace
in their hearts that He is alive and well. That is
the kind of peace that Jesus alone can give,
John 14:27!
I. It Is A Peaceful Message
II. V. 5 IT IS A POWERFUL MESSAGE
A. That empty cocoon of graveclothes preached a
powerful message early that Sunday morning. It
told a vivid story of a risen Savior. Those
garments lying there in that fashion proclaimed
to the world that everything Jesus Christ had
claimed, everything He had preached, everything
He had promised was true!
Just three days before, the Disciples had
watched their Lord be arrested, tried, convicted
and crucified. Now, they had tangible proof that
Jesus was alive and well!
B. The fact that Jesus lives gives power to His
promises! It validates His claim to be the only
way to God, John 14:6. It is powerful in that is
gives hope to all those who come to Him for
salvation, Heb. 7:25; John 6:37-40. It gives
confidence to those who are lost in sin! It tells
them that they can run to Jesus and there find a
living Lord Who is the Friend of sinners.
C. It is a powerful message because it tells us that
the Father accepted the death of Jesus on the
cross as the payment for the sin debt of man.
The New Testament tells us some 35 times
that Jesus was raised up from the dead by
God the Father. If Jesus had been another
man, His bones would have rotted where they
placed His body. But, because He was the
sinless Son of God, it was not possible that
death could hold Him, Acts 2:24. And, because
He died a sinless death on the cross, God
accepted His sacrifice in the place of ourselves
and gives us the promise that we too shall rise
from the dead, ***2 Cor. 4:14***. All that
because He left His clothes behind!
I. It Is A Peaceful Message
II. It Is A Powerful Message
III. V. 7 IT IS A PROMISING MESSAGE
A. John calls our attention to the fact that the
napkin that was used to cover His blessed face
in death was folded neatly and laid to one side.
There is a possible message in this action that we do not
want to miss.
***NOTE***
The following illustration cannot be proven to be true. The source is unknown and it may or may not speak to an actual tradition. Use at your own risk.
(Ill. The oriental custom of the napkin. When a
man with servants was eating a meal, he would
often use his napkin to signal them during the
course of the meal. If he left the table and
wadded his napkin up, it meant that he was
finished and would not be back. If, however, he
neatly folded the napkin, it told his servants that
he was stepping away for a moment, but he
would be back! Jesus was telling His disciples, "I
may be out of your sight right now, but I'll be
right back!" When Peter and John arrived at
the tomb, they feared the worst. Perhaps they
thought robbers had come, or that the Jews had
taken His body away. Even Mary missed the
napkin and supposed the gardener had moved
the body of the Lord, John 20:15. Yet, John,
who had been raised with servants, Mark 1:20,
probably knew this custom and quickly grasped
the meaning, v. 8.)
B. Now, this morning, you and I are among those
who accept the Gospel message of the
resurrection by simple faith. We did not see
Jesus live. We did not see Him die and we did
not see the tomb. However, that folded napkin
is still preaching today. It is reminding each of
us this morning that even though we do not see
Him right now, He's coming right back and we'll
see Him then, Rev. 22:20.
C. Therefore, don't lose hope dear friends! Our
Master has left us His assurance that very soon
He will return and take us to be with Him in His
Father's House, John 14:1-3. Because He lives,
we have a future in His heavenly home!
I. It Is A Peaceful Message
II. It Is A Powerful Message
III. It Is A Promising Message
IV. V. 5-8
IT IS A PERSUASIVE MESSAGE
A. These verses tell us about what Peter and John
did when they arrived at the tomb. It is
interesting to dig into the words used here just a
little. Note three thoughts:
1. V. 5 - The word "saw" means "to take a
glance at something." It refers to a brief,
fleeting glimpse. This is what John did when
he got there. He took a quick glance in the
tomb and saw that Jesus was gone, but that
the graveclothes were still there.
2. V. 6-7 The word "seeth" means "to
scrutinize" It carries the idea of looking
around with a keen eye to catch all the facts.
It brings to mind the eye of the investigator.
This is what Peter did. He saw the
graveclothes and the napkin lying by itself.
3. V. 8 the word "saw" means "to look with
understanding." It carries the idea of
grasping what you see. When John took the
time to take a closer look, he saw the truth in
the graveclothes and understood that Jesus
was alive!
B. If a lost sinner looks at the empty tomb, he can
come up with dozens of reasons why it cannot
be true. After all, when men die, they are gone.
They do not get up, and even if they did, they
would not pass through their graveclothes! They
would do like Lazarus and they would have to be
set free, John 11:44.
C. But, when an honest heart takes the time to
scrutinize the evidence they will come to the
place John came to. The resurrection must be
real. There is no other logical explanation. Have
you been persuaded?
(Ill. The Jews still believe to this day that the
Disciples of Jesus took His body away. If they
did, would someone please explain to me why
every one of His Disciples, with the exception of
John, died for preaching the resurrection of
Jesus from the dead. Men do not die for
something they know to be a lie! The will to live
is so strong that they would have confessed their
lie to the authorities to save their hides.
However, they all, without exception, went to
their graves proclaiming the fact of a risen Lord!
To me, that speaks volumes!)
I. It Is A Peaceful Message
II. It Is A Powerful Message
III. It Is A Promising Message
IV. It Is A Persuasive Message
V. V. 1-29 IT IS A PERSONAL MESSAGE
A. As this chapter unfolds, each person who is
confronted with the empty tomb and the
graveclothes is forced to make a decision. For
John, believe was instant, v. 8. For Peter, the
truth came a little more slowly. Mary Magdalene
finds that her heart is still gripped by grief, 11-17.
Yet, she is convinced when she sees the Lord
Himself. The other Disciples are unsure of what
is happening until Jesus appears in their midst
with a message of peace and assurance, v. 19-23. However, Thomas, the perpetual doubter
was not there and he refuses to hear a word they
are saying, v. 24-25. His doubts are also laid to
rest by a personal appearance of the risen
Savior, v. 26-28. Obviously, this is a message
that affects people in different ways. Of course,
there are really only two ways to respond to the
message: 1. By Accepting It 2. By Rejecting It.
B. To their credit, all of these responded by
accepting the message of the risen Jesus. The
question we are left with this morning is: what
about you? Have you accepted the fact the
Jesus Christ died on the cross, shed His blood to
pay for your sins and rose again from the dead
three days later in a literal, physical body?
Some are telling us today that it isn't important to
believe the resurrection is real. We need only
accept it symbolically! Well, the Bible has a
different idea, Rom. 10:9-10. In fact, if you
remove the linchpin of the resurrection from the
doctrines of Christianity, then our faith falls apart
like a house of cards.
C. Have you believed on the risen Jesus?
Conc: I dare say that no other suit of graveclothes in
history has preached such a glorious, timeless message
as did the graveclothes of Jesus. I am thankful that He
lives this morning and that He left perfect, indisputable
evidence in His tomb that He lives! Is His resurrection
real in your heart this morning? Have you experienced
the power of His resurrection in your life? You see, a
risen Savior has the power to radically affect all who
come to Him by faith. This was what Paul said, "That
I may know him, and the power of his resurrection,",
Phil. 3:10a. Is that power active in your life this
morning?
