RebeccaMallinson

The evidences of the resurrection presented in this passage are the thorough description of the gruesome death of Jesus and burial afterwards, all witnessed by his devoted followers. Then, the rolling away of the stone, careful folding and placing of the burial clothes, witness of John, who was quick to believe, the conversation of Mary Magdalene with two angels and finally Jesus himself speaking to Mary Magdalene. The truth of the resurrection is indispensable to our Christian faith, because it is proof of Jesus’s deity. He was not just an exceptional social teacher, he is God himself in human form. Jesus’s resurrection is my hope of everlasting life. It is possible to take massive leaps if you are sure of a loving God who gives us the promise of salvation. I feel like a small child who has to make a big leap to reach his/her mother, who is standing with arms open, ready to catch the child.

Mary was confused and grief-stricken. When she realised it was Jesus, not a gardener, she swooped on him and hugged him tightly in great joy. He asks her to go and tell the disciples that he has risen from the dead and that he would be returning to his Father. I think he probably asked her not to ‘hold on’ to him because he didn’t want her to dwell in her own emotions, but take action.

Everything was very orderly. This demonstrated that this was not a grave robbery. I think it was difficult for Peter to believe because he was still deep in grief and guilt. His mind was not working properly.

We know that she was healed from demon possession by Jesus and that she became an ardent follower. I don’t think Jesus discriminated in that way. In one way he did comply with the times: all the disciples were men, but not in all ways. He laid out the same rules for both sexes in cases of divorce. He took the side of Mary, Lazarus’ sister, when she wanted to sit and listen with the men. I don’t think it is possible to know why a woman was particularly chosen to see the risen Christ first. Men and women are both created and loved by God. They may have different roles to play, but that is all.

It is important to die realising that death is a gateway to life everlasting. We should all die praising God and looking forward without fear. To me, this is glorifying God. This is my ideal and I hope I live up to it, both in my day-to-day life and in my death. I was always taught to live each day as if it is my last, for a similar reason. God will always have foreknowledge because he created time, and lives outside it. He can see our past, present and future all at once. This passage reflects that.

Jesus repeats the question and command three times. This mirrors Peter’s threefold denial of Christ. It is a form of absolution (as in a penance after confession). I think this teaches us that we should be highly aware of our sins and try to compensate for them by an amended life. I don’t see that it is particularly about repeating lessons. God is very merciful and is always overjoyed to welcome repentant sinners back into the fold.

Jesus preparing breakfast shows care of his disciples’ physical needs, and his sharing of the human enjoyment of sitting together with others at a meal. Peter was so happy and eager to be back with Jesus he couldn’t wait for the boat to come even a very short distance back to land.

Jesus told the disciples to cast their net to the right in an exact echo of the first miracle they had experienced from him. This was to aid their recognition. The disciples obeyed both times, although this time, they didn’t quibble (‘We have been fishing all night and didn’t catch anything’). They have become more obedient. The result was a super-abundant catch and full recognition of Jesus.

John chose what to put in his Gospel on the basis of showing us that Jesus is the Messiah and to point us towards eternal life. He knew that readers would most probably already know the synoptic Gospels where they could find more information. Belief is not enough. We are expected to live our lives according to that belief. James says that even the demons believe and shudder (James 2:19). Faith and obedience to Christ’s example must follow. Only then our lives culminate in Eternal Life.

Maybe it simply seemed too good to be true. If you have witnessed a dearly loved friend cruelly murdered and even buried afterwards, you are unlikely to believe someone who says that person is now walking around meeting people, none the worse for the experience. He must have been completely dumbfounded. Thomas said ‘My Lord and My God!’, a strong affirmation that he believed now. Jesus said that Thomas believed because he had seen for himself, but those in the future would be blessed who had not seen and yet believed.

The Church has the power to forgive sins if the sinner is truly repentant and is going to strive not to reoffend in the same way. I once knew a woman who used artificial contraception and thought she was fine as long as she confessed it each week. The priest told her that there was no point confessing to something she had no intention of changing. We also have a duty to forgive one another (e.g. “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us”, forgiving “seventy-seven times seven times”) without which God will not forgive us. I think therefore that conferring forgiveness (as in confession of sins) and declaring it (forgiving others) are two sides of the same coin. Pardon me if I have misunderstood something here!

He knew that we are incapable to fulfilling the great commission without help from the Holy Spirit. I think the reason the concept of the Holy Spirit is neglected and misunderstood in our day is because it is difficult to understand. Without a physical body, the Holy Spirit is much harder to explain to people who are very physical. I struggled for years! We can visualise Jesus easily because he lived on Earth and there is a great deal of writing about him, we can conceptualise God the Father, because we all have fathers, but the Holy Spirit is a much more difficult concept.

As with all Jesus’s teaching, we are taught by example. Jesus tells us how he was sent by the Father, he now sends us in the same way. I try my best, sometimes more successfully than other times. I do this through prayer, reading scripture and devotional writings and talking with other people also trying to do the same.

I think this is a mystery which we have no right to know as humans. I therefore do not expect to know about the relationship of Jesus’s physical and spiritual bodies. Yes, Jesus was resurrected bodily. His body remained similar in still carrying the scars of his death, ability to eat, ability to walk. It is different in that he could now do things which an ordinary body cannot do, such as appear in different places, disappear suddenly, come into locked rooms, remain unrecognised to people who were very familiar with him until he decides.

Joseph of Aramathea and Nicodemus were both members of the Sanhadrin but secretly they were disciples of Jesus. Generally speaking we should be willing to openly proclaim one’s faith, however, I think this was a special case. Jesus had instructed both men and he did not rebuke or reject either of them. Presumably the reason was to have them available for the specific purpose of organising his burial. A thought has struck me that perhaps when Jesus spoke to Nicodemus (John 3), where he mentions his death and resurrection, he is preparing the ground for this role. They incurred the risk of losing their jobs and possibly their lives, so in spite of their previous secrecy they were putting everything on the line at this point. The burial account is important as it shows that a real burial took place, in an identifiable place, with all the respect due to a king. It also shows that the disciples still believed that Jesus was permanently dead in spite of all Jesus’ previous foretelling. It tells us that Jesus was truly man as well as truly God. The disciples were in an excellent position to report to us as eyewitnesses.

It is likely that he died in a relatively short time because of loss of blood from his scourging. Also, I don’t think he clung to life as he was about to ‘enter his Glory’. Others ‘fight’ against illness and death, but he knew he was going home. I hope to have the grace to do the same. I am not a medical person so I don’t know exactly what the water and blood indicated in medical terms. Spiritually, I have heard that the water symbolises the water of eternal life and the blood, Christ’s sacrifice. As Pastor Ralph mentions, this piercing fulfils several Old Testament scriptures, Exodus 12:46, Psalm 34:20 and Zechariah 12:10.

Jesus means that his mission on earth is finished. The Father had given him the mission of reconciling us to God, setting us an example of right living, proclaiming God’s Kingdom to us and finally to die for our sins and redemption.

Scripture does not tell us, but it must have been devastating for her to see her beloved son treated in this way. What mother would be able to bear the sight of her son’s execution by torture? Mary must have felt every possible anguish as it happened to him. Jesus demonstrates his care for his mother by giving John, the disciple who speaks most powerfully of love, his mother to care for. Love and concern for others is Jesus’ primary value, even while in excruciating physical pain.

The psalm describes Jesus’ human sufferings, rejection, extreme thirst, piercing, lots cast for his clothing, being surrounded by enemies. The Psalms passage says that he felt abandoned. I think he did have a last ‘human’ moment when he felt abandoned, as he said, again quoting Psalm 22: “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Pilate feared that Jesus might actually be a god. Pilate feared for his career and even for his life as Tiberius was a very bloodthirsty emperor. Fear for his career won. In the past, fears of not being able to support my family by giving myself wholeheartedly made me serve weakly. Two years ago my life was transformed so that that is no longer the case. I am now free to give myself freely as never before.

I think Pilate was in a very difficult political situation. I read somewhere that at that time he was under political pressure from Rome at the time due to the killing of his patron Sejanus. He wanted to be everybody’s friend, Romans and Jews. However this was not possible. Clearly Jesus was innocent and Pilate knew it, but at the same time he wanted support wherever he could find it. Therefore, if the mob wanted blood, he was prepared to scourge Jesus. In other words he was a weak character. I don’t know my capacity for persecution; I have surprised myself in the past by being unexpectedly brave or cowardly at different times. Of course, I will not give up my mission if I can possibly help it. I think it helps to remind oneself that we are never given more suffering than we are able to bear.

When we declare the Gospel to be the truth, we are often greeted with disbelief. At best people listen politely but do nothing, at worst they become enemies. If people reject the truth we bring, we need to do what Jesus himself advised the 70 disciples: to shake the dust from our feet and move on, but don’t give up!

The Jewish leaders charged Jesus with setting himself up as a king and being a threat to Rome. Palestine was part of the Roman Empire, so this would have to be taken seriously as a rebellion. Jesus says that his kingdom is not of this world. The source of his kingship is his Father. The danger to our gospel message when we politicize Christian causes is that we lose the spiritual importance, which is actually the most important part of the message. We might as well be Communists!

Peter’s acts of courage were to try to physically defend Jesus when he was arrested and then to follow after Jesus even into the place where Jesus was being interrogated at the risk of being treated similarly. I think he ended up denying Jesus because his courage deserted him when he was actually in that position. I would be very sympathetic and try to help him regain his courage. A couple of years ago, when I was in the Islamic part of Sudan, the security police were starting to make their presence felt towards me. I panicked. My reaction was to phone the priest at the church I was supporting. He is wonderfully courageous himself and helped me simply by saying, ‘Courage, Rebecca. Courage.’ He definitely had (and has) the gift of the spirit of gentleness mentioned in Galatians 6:1. So my advice to anyone is ‘phone a good friend’.

I had never considered this question before. I think Pastor Ralph is right that it is the tangible presence of God that affected them so that they fell. I suspect that John tells us this detail for the same reason that he has written the whole Gospel: to show that Jesus truly is God. Jesus rebukes Peter because he is (yet again) using worldly thinking in trying to defend Jesus. Jesus knows that he must ‘drink the cup’ given by his Father. He does not resist for the same reason.