Study in John’s Gospel

Study inJohn’s Gospel

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NewRelationships

Chap 20v10-18

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IntroductionThe bottom had fallen out of her world. Previously, Jesus had rescued her from bondage, from a lifestyle that had dehumanised and terrified her at one and the same time. But Jesus was crucified, pronounced dead and laid in a borrowed tomb. Then on Easter Sunday Mary and her female companions had been confronted with an empty tomb and she was dispatched to tell the disciples.

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IntroductionOn her return to the tomb Mary found herself all alone, totally deserted, and that sense of aloneness was beyond her emotional capacity. As the tears began to flow a figure asked, “Woman why are you crying?”

Mary turned around to face what she supposed to be the gardener. She asked one of the most moving questions in human literature. “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Here is love, offering to do the impossible as love always does. To carry the dead body of Jesus from where it may have been placed.

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IntroductionThen the word “Mary” is tenderly spoken. It generates an excited reply, “Master”.

In that instant Mary experienced her own resurrection, for she was reborn. Her faith which had diednow comes leaping out from its tomb. Hope which had evaporated is now gathered again around the person of Jesus.

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IntroductionAnd Mary clings to Jesus as if to say, “I am determined not to lose you again”. She believed that, physical closeness to Jesus was the solution to life’s anxieties and the way of sustaining her spiritual euphoria.

There are echoes here of the response of the disciples on the top of the Mount of Transfiguration when confronted with Jesus’ glorification:“We have got to build shelters so we can stay here and continue to enjoy this experience”.

But by so doing they had been in danger of missing out on the bigger picture: the mission of Jesus!

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A Strange ReplyJesus’ response to Mary strikes many as very strange. Jesus scolds her for clinging! “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father” Jn.20v17.

And this seems particularly puzzling, since we read in Matt. 28v9, that he allowed the other women at the tomb to touch him within the next few hours? Why then was Mary not allowed to touch him?

Notice that the context of this encounter has to do with new relationships. Mary was thinking in terms of a relationship that rested on some physical proximity to Jesus.

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A Strange ReplyI want to suggest that Mary was more distraught by Jesus’ death than some of his other followers because she was terrified by the thought of not having her Deliverer around! What was to prevent her from once again being enslaved to the sinful, demonically controlled past from which Jesus had freed her? Jesus wanted her to appreciate the wonderful, new relationship that his death had established.

Paul describes this new relationship in this way, “from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.” 2 Cor. 5v16.

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A Strange ReplyTo know Jesus from a worldly point of view was to know him as a man, who could be heard, seen and touched. What is the alternative? To know him spiritually, that is, by the internal testimony of the Holy Spirit, who reveals the Lord Jesus Christ to us as the Son of God and Saviour of men.

This new relationship is a faith-relationship with the risen Lord Jesus.

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Grasping The New RelationshipIn the C19th the German historian Adolf Harnack popularised the phrase, “the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man.” He taught we are all members of God’s family! He should have known better. God is not the Father of all men, nor are all men and women brothers and sisters.

Remember in Jn. 8v44, Jesus accused the religious leaders of being children of their “father the devil”. Yes, we are all God's creatures but only those who believe on Christ can truly call God their “Heavenly Father”.

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Grasping The New RelationshipHarnack failed to see that these relationships of which the Bible speaks are the product of the death and resurrection of Jesus. Before his death Jesus had spoken of God as Father, but not in this distinctive way as far as his followers were concerned. And he had never previously referred to the disciples as his brothers.

We are dealing here with a quite new set of relationships.

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Grasping The New RelationshipContrast what King Jesus did as he entered into his kingdom with what King Henry V did as he entered his. If you know your Shakespeare then you will know that the young prince Hal kept company with a bunch of disreputable friends, like Falstaff. Together they spent their time drinking, gambling, and running around with loose women.

When Henry ascended the throne his friends thought they had it made and that they would be ushered into the palace under the king's protection. But Henry disowned then, he turned his back on them and began to conduct himself in a manner worthy of his new position.

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Grasping The New RelationshipDuring his earthly ministry Jesus clearly spent his time in the company of sinners. But after his death when he entered into glory, he did not turn his back on his companions but instead established a wonderful new relationship with them.

God became their Father in a very special way, and they were granted family privileges: joint heirs, princes and princesses of the royal family of heaven.

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God Our FatherWhile the text preserves the unique relationship that Jesus alone has with the Father, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God,” it is nevertheless apparent that through faith in him as Saviour we become adopted children to whom God has granted family privileges.

If it were not here in black and white we would think it a great presumption to call ourselves God’s very own children. Paul writes, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit." 1 Cor. 2.9v10.

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God Our FatherWhat are these privileges? One is prayer. Access to God is based on this new relationship; “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand.” Rom. 5v1-2.

Access is based on our adoption into God’s family, and it is only through the Spirit of adoption that we can be assured that God is our Father who hears our prayers. Paul writes,

“You received the Spirit of sonship. And by himwe cry, ‘Abba, Father.’” Rom 8v15

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God Our FatherA second privilege is surely the security of this new relationship. We are God’s children, and nothing can ever destroy that relationship. A Minister once threatened his recalcitrant son, “If you do not behave I’ll put you out the house”. To which his youngster replied, “You can’t, I belong!” If God is our Father, then he will help us in the days of our spiritual infancy, he will take us by the hand and teach us to walk spiritually. He will lift us up when we fall down. He will care for us throughout our lives and guide us in the way we should go and eventually bring us home to heaven to be with him forever. Marvellous!

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Brothers and SistersThirdly, we have a new relationship to one another. We belong to a new family and must love each other and work together as brothers and sisters. This use of the word “brothers” is a powerful and unexpected word. It has not been used in this sense before in John's Gospel. The word occurs elsewhere but only in connection with those who were the natural children of Mary and Joseph, Jesus' adoptive father.

But here it refers to those who have entered into God's family through a faith relationship with Jesus.

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Brothers and SistersTo think of other Christians as our brothers or sisters does not always come naturally or easily. And for this very reason these are relationships we have to work at. John White writes: "You were cleansed by the same blood, regenerated by the same Spirit. You are a citizen of the same city, a slave of the same master, a reader of the same Scriptures, a worshiper of the same God. The same presence dwells silently in you as in them. Therefore you are committed to them and they to you. They are your brothers, sisters, your fathers, mothers and children in God…

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Brothers and Sisters…Whether you like or dislike them, you belong to them. You have responsibilities toward them that must be discharged in love. As long as you live on this earth, you are in their debt. Whether they have done much or little for you, Christ has done all. He demands that your indebtedness to him be transferred to your new family.”

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Brothers and SistersMembership in God's family does not mean that we will brush one another’s’ faults under the carpet. Indeed, we must be sensitive to them if we are to have any hope of helping them and improving the quality of our family fellowship.

This does mean that we will not be overly sensitive to the faults of our brothers and sisters in Christ and even less that we will be critical.

Instead, we will be intensely committed to each other with a proper family loyalty and will work to help each other live the Christian life.

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ConclusionHow fitting that Mary should be singled out to be the one to carry back the news of these wonderful new relationships to the disciples. Can you grasp what it meant to her to know that she belonged to the family of God; that she was God’s adopted child and under his protection and care? He would guide her and keep her, make her heart his home and eventually bring her safe to heaven.

Jesus gave her something much more substantial to cling onto than she could have dreamed of.

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Conclusion ‘Ah’, you say, ‘I would love to be just like Mary. No longer a prisoner tyrannised by the past, just to know that I am valued and that I belong”. Well this new relationship can be yours. Perhaps you do not feel you enjoy the support and understanding of your own family, perhaps you feel you have been isolated by them. Such experiences put you off wanting to be involved in another relationship. But to be a member of God’s own family is no ordinary relationship. It will never disappoint, it will never be severed by God and it will never take advantage of you or be insensitive to your needs. As many as receive him, welcome Jesus into their lives by faith, to them he gives the authority to become the sons of God. What a relationship!

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