MISSION GROUP QUESTIONS FROM JOHN: 7 Words + 7 Signs - 21/2/10

For our Baptism Sunday we looked at the "8th sign" - the resurrection - and Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene.

John set’s up his gospel as a trial…Jesus is on trial before us (the whole world) - is he the Christ, the Son of God and is there life in his name (Ch20.30-31)? This is the final piece of evidence which makes sense of the rest. If Jesus didn’t rise again “our faith is futile…we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Corinthians 15.17-19). So what did we learn?

(1) Our faith is based on the TRUTH of the resurrection - objective, historical truth! Mary thinks the body has been stolen (vs2), not even the appearance of angels makes her think that God might have been at work. It did not cross her mind that he had been raised on the 3rd day (despite Jesus on numerous occasions saying he would). It was inconceivable to her - he ‘world-view’ wouldn’t allow for it. Neither the Greek thought (body = evil, soul = good) nor the Jewish thought (final resurrection at the end of time of all God’s people - cf. John 11.24) allowed for a resurrection. It was inconceivable to them just as it is inconceivable to them. BUT their world-view was broken by the evidence - Jesus appears and eats and touches and talks with many people after his resurrection, including 500 at one time (1 Corinthians 15) and people therefore had the testimony of the eye-witnesses….just as we do…MARY! Why would you have a women as the first eye-witness since in those days they had no standing in a court of law. The only reason is because that was how it happened! This is so important for us because our faith does not rest on whether Christianity is ‘relevant’ or ‘works for me’ or “feels good’ but it rests on the resurrection of Jesus…and that will never change - so no matter how I feel, my faith need not waver!

(2) Our faith is an intimate relationship with the living God by his Spirit. Jesus says to Mary “do not hold on to me” (vs17). In her joy she must have grabbed Jesus (maybe fell at his feet like many other grateful women do in the gospels) thinking “I have lost you once, I’ll never lose you again” - however she must let go so that Jesus can ascend back to the father (vs17-18) and therefore send the Spirit so that it is not just Mary that enjoys the presence of Jesus and all the blessings that he brings but that all people’s at all times can know the presence of Jesus alongside them through the Holy Spirit (cf. John 16.7). A new era of intimacy with God is about to dawn (Jesus refers to his father as our father) for all those that trust in Mary and therefore Mary must let go and her relationship with Christ must now change. So our faith is (1) based on truth - it is objective and (2) real in experience - it is subjective.

We also saw how the Mary calling Jesus’ the gardener alluded back to (a) Genesis 1-3 where God was the original gardener who brought light out of darkness, order out of chaos and life from the dust - Jesus is remaking the world to be beautiful again and (b) The spice-filled garden in the Song of songs - here Mary is the one who is found by her lover and knows intimacy, security and joy.

Reflection and Application

(1) Read the whole story again, including vs4-9 about Peter and John. How do the different characters respond to the empty tomb? Which character do you most associate yourself with and why?

(2) How does the resurrection of Jesus affect you day to day?

(3) The objective and subjective sides of faith should never be separated - truth and experience belong together. However in reality we often separate them, where do you find yourself naturally tending towards? Why?

(4) If you lose the objective/truth side to your faith, what might happen? What are the dangers?

(5) If you lose the subjective/experiential side to your faith, what might happen? What are the dangers?

(6) Pray for friends or family that are not believers because (a) they do not think Christianity is true or (b) because they feel that God is far away.