JOHN 20
It was fitting that the first person to meet the Lord after his resurrection was Mary Magdalene, who had shown him so much devotion previously, and who had risked arrest and death by sticking so close to him during his trials, crucifixion and at the tomb. She arrived at the tomb at the first available moment, as the sun was coming up on the first non-Sabbath of the week. Her plan was to assist the other women in anointing Jesus’ body – a final act of adoration and respect. Arriving early, she saw a missing stone and ran immediately back to Peter and John, who ran back to the tomb and entered it.
John, the only male eyewitness to both the death and resurrection, again itemises carefully the evidence for Jesus having risen from the dead. John seems to indicate that the ‘cocoon’ of heavy, saturated perfumed linen was still in place (but collapsed in the absence of the body) and the head covering was also exactly where it had been. It would have been impossible for anyone to remove the body and leave that evidence – and nor would they have tried to. The dead body had to have been removed by God, at the same time as Jesus was resurrected miraculously. In John’s eyes, such was the power of this evidence that “He saw and believed”.
Mary Magdalene retraced her steps and arrived back at the empty tomb – after Peter and John had left it. She saw two angels, where others had only seen one; then she met the man himself – Jesus ‘Not the Gardener’! He was risen, yet in a kind of physical body, looking pretty much like he always had, and yet somehow very different. Later, his disciples thought the same, as they worshipped their master and their friend.
For a while, the Eleven had to rely on Mary Magdalene’s account of seeing the risen Christ. (We also rely upon eye-witnesses.) But then Jesus appeared later that evening (despite the locked doors!) and revealed himself personally to them all. His newly resurrected body still carried the marks of crucifixion as a badge of honour. These ‘body piercings’ would last for all eternity and save the lives of billions! He breathed life-giving breath into everyone present, anticipating the events of Pentecost 50 days later.
Thomas was not especially cynical or prone to doubting; it was simply that they had seen him, and he had not. He was probably very annoyed to have missed this amazing meeting. Perhaps slightly stubbornly he declared that he wouldn’t believe until he had had the same experience. A week later, Jesus obliged him. The result: “My Lord and my God!”. (And that is the essence of every true believer’s confession.) Jesus pointed out to Thomas that he had had the opportunity to gain greater spiritual blessing by choosing to believe before he had seen – rather like our situation, then. How blessed are we!
It is possible that John chapter 21 (in tomorrow’s reading) was originally an afterthought in the mind of the Beloved Apostle – but not in the mind of God! Certainly the chapter 20:30-31 reads as if it were the original ending and is perhaps a more fitting ‘bookend’ to the gospel since it mirrors John 1:1-5. John ends this chapter with the key statement: 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
2 SAMUEL 1, 2, 3 and 4
Saul and his claims to kingship over Israel are both emphatically dead – as is his son Jonathan. It now remains for David to claim what his previous anointing has prepared for him – kingship over all Israel. But David was a man of patience and planning, as well as having a fierce sense of justice. He firstly made it clear to all that he regarded the position of ‘The Lord’s Anointed’ (i.e. the King) as beyond reproach. When an Amalekite came to David and claimed the credit for Saul’s death (falsely as it happens), he hoped to gain David’s favour and a large reward; David was so zealous for the one whom the Lord anoints (being so zealous for the Anointer) that he was scandalised that anyone would harm the king. So he had the hopeful claimant executed!
In the next chapter, the obvious thing for David to do would have been to have marched on Jerusalem and taken the kingship over all Israel. Instead, realising that Saul’s family still had some degree of support, he sought the Lord, who commanded him to go to Hebron – a Judean city – and become king over just Judah for the first seven years. David’s patience and obedience is shown up so well in this incident – as well as his willingness to seek God’s will in every key decision; something that we would do well to emulate! So David continued to battle the forces of Saul’s family, and in particular, the honourable and decent Abner, who was commander of their army.
In all three following chapters, the stabbing of men in the stomach as a means to their death seems to be the preferred execution method. The killing of Abner himself was the only occasion when such a death was murder and David himself was filled with righteous anger that even an enemy had been treated in such a way. Joash, his own commander was the guilty party, and David ensured that eventually he would pay for such underhand behaviour. God is no respecter of persons and will not tolerate illegal behaviour by his own people.
Eventually, Abner (obviously, before his untimely death) brokered a deal that meant that David would become king over all Israel. This took place in fulfilment of earlier prophecies by Samuel. Like David, we must wait patiently for the Lord’s declared will to prevail, not forcing our destiny ahead of time. David was not idle during these ‘waiting years’ and married another four wives and had at least six children! Eventually, with all rival candidates to the throne removed by various means, the time had come for David to be exalted to the role that had been prepared for him by God before the beginning of time. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for in due time we will reap a harvest”.
The Big Picture 