It is worthy of notice that neither the end of John 19, nor the beginning of chapter 20, makes any mention of the day intervening between the crucifixion and the resurrection of our blessed Savior. It was, however, the Sabbath day, so important both to the Jews and to the disciples. It was doubly solemn too on this occasion, for it was coincident with the feast of the Passover, and it is said, "that sabbath day was a high day" (19:31).
The Jews, scrupulous observers of forms, even in putting the Son of God to death, had not been willing to enter the judgment hall the night before the Passover for fear of defiling themselves and thus being unable to eat the Passover (18:28). Then, in the evening, after having gotten rid of the One who was the light of the world, and whom they had crucified in company with two criminals, they requested Pilate that the bodies might not remain on the cross during the Sabbath, which began at six o'clock in the evening. The chief priests and the Pharisees had not so many scruples about that day when they came together to Pilate to ask him to make the sepulcher sure, and when they themselves went to seal the stone and to set a watch (Matt. 27:62-6662Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, 63Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. 64Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. 65Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. 66So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch. (Matthew 27:62‑66)). They would have liked to avoid putting the Lord to death during the feast, not because of their own consciences, but so that there would be no tumult among the people (see Matt. 26:3-53Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, 4And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him. 5But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people. (Matthew 26:3‑5)); for doubtless there was a vast assemblage from different places to celebrate the Passover. But the rulers were unable to carry out their designs because, unknown to themselves, they were accomplishing the purposes of God. And, alas! no one among the people raised a voice for Christ. On the contrary, the multitude, led on by their chiefs, chose that He should be crucified, and Barabbas released (Mark 15:11-1411But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them. 12And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews? 13And they cried out again, Crucify him. 14Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him. (Mark 15:11‑14)).
The Savior then passed into the grave and was there on this high day of a Sabbath, without the Word making mention of this day in relation to Him. 'What a seal upon the reprobation of the Jews for whom the Sabbath was the sign of their alliance with God! The death of Jesus was the end of all that which had gone before, as His resurrection was the beginning of a new order of things.
But the Scriptures also speak to us of the burial of the Lord Jesus. Paul mentions it in Corinthians 15:3, 4, and the Gospels give details on this point which are in accordance with prophecy. The earth would receive the body of God's Son, but His sepulcher should be with the rich. "Men appointed His grave with the wicked, but He was with the rich in His death." Isa. 53:99And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. (Isaiah 53:9); J.N.D. Trans. He would doubtless have been interred in the public burying place, destined, according to Jewish custom, to criminals, and it is probably there that the bodies of the two thieves were thrown. But now that man had fully gratified his hatred, God took care of the One who had glorified Him even unto death. At this solemn moment came Joseph of Arimathea, a counselor, and a good man and just, who obtained permission from Pilate to take the body. Nicodemus came also; and these two men of high rank among their nation, but who had hitherto been timid disciples, gave to the Lord an honorable resting place. At all events, we may observe, that the Sabbath being at hand, the burial was of necessity only provisional, and was to be accomplished after the Sabbath. This we learn from John 19:4242There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand. (John 19:42): "There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulcher was nigh at hand." The women who loved the Lord also prepared to embalm Him at a future moment. Mark tells us (16:1), "And when the sabbath was past" (after six o'clock in the evening), "Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint Him." The same thing is recorded in Luke 23:55, 5655And the women also, which came with him from Galilee, followed after, and beheld the sepulchre, and how his body was laid. 56And they returned, and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the sabbath day according to the commandment. (Luke 23:55‑56).
The disciples, really attached to the Person of the Lord Jesus, at the same time, as faithful Jews, clave in heart and conscience to ordinances. This hindered them from completing the burial of their loved Master, which their affection for Him would have desired.
When the disciples had fulfilled the commandment in observing the Sabbath, they hastened, at least the women devoted to the Lord, to come at dawn of the first day of the week to do honor to the body of their loved Master by finally embalming it. But they arrived too late; the power, righteousness, glory, and love, of the Father had anticipated them in raising Christ from among the dead. What a glorious beginning of an eternal era for the redeemed!
The body of our Savior then remained in the grave during the solemn day of the Sabbath, and He rose again "the first day of the week." The Jews, against their intentions, had been led into putting to death the Lord on the day of the feast of the Passover, which this year fell on the day before the Sabbath, in order that, in view of consequences precious to us, He should rise the first day of the week. This fact has consecrated this day as "the Lord's day," the day of the resurrection, the commencement of an eternal era for us believers. It is thus that it has become the solemn day of Christianity, not as an imposed ordinance, but as a day of privilege which the conscience of a spiritual Christian recognizes. Christians delight to observe this day, not, I repeat, as an ordinance, but as being the Lord's day (Rev. 1:1010I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, (Revelation 1:10)). The spiritual Christian understands that he cannot dispose of this day according to his inclinations, for his own affairs, for journeys of pleasure or other amusements, because it is the Lord's day. The day when the Lord came out of the grave was not only the first day of the week, in contrast with that which preceded it, but the fact of the resurrection set apart this day as the Lord's day. Up to this moment, the Lord's day had not existed.
What a glorious day was that of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus! It is for us the end of death, and the introduction to life eternal. For the Christian, eternal life has its starting point in the Savior's resurrection. His death is the end of our life in Adam; His resurrection is the end of death. He said, "I am the resurrection and the life," not "the life and the resurrection." He must deliver us from our first life, as well as from the death which characterized that life, and was its judicial end, in order, by His resurrection, to begin our new life in union with Him. The resurrection of
Christ has then left behind it, for us, our Adam-life and death; and this new life which succeeds death is necessarily eternal life, but eternal life in resurrection, life "abundantly" (John 10:1010The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)). We possess eternal life in present enjoyment, and soon on high it will be life in glory. We have for "the end everlasting life."
It is easy to understand why, from the time of Paul, Christians chose the first day of the week, the day of the Lord's resurrection, to come together for the express purpose of the breaking of bread (Acts 20:77And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. (Acts 20:7)). No one besides had meetings on that day. The Gentiles knew nothing of it; the Jews, scattered everywhere, had their synagogues wherein to assemble on the Sabbath day, the last, not the first, day of the week. Paul took advantage of the Sabbath day to preach Christ in the synagogues; but on the morrow, the day that only Christians knew and celebrated as that of the resurrection, he was found with them at the breaking of bread.
By comparing John 20 with the accounts given in the other Gospels, we see that after the early morning of that remarkable day the risen Savior had appeared to one and another of His own. In John we find recounted His interview with Mary Magdalene, so full of interest, whether on account of the touching way in which the Lord dissipates Mary's anxiety, or because of the message with which He charges her for His own, announcing that they were now in the same position as He is before God, and in the same relationship as He to His Father.
But on the evening of the same day we have something quite special. The occasions when the Lord had showed Himself during that day had had a character more or less individual; but in the evening we see the disciples gathered together. Whatever may have been the motive or character of their meeting—though doubtless they were occupied with what they had seen and heard-the fact remains that they were gathered together. How many things had occurred during the day! What words they had to recount to one another! John tells us (v. 19), "The same day at evening, being the first day of the week." Yes, the first Lord's day. They had shut the doors for fear of the Jews.
When thus assembled "came Jesus"-in spite of the closed doors—"and stood in the midst." No longer now a manifestation to Mary, to Simon, to two disciples; it is His presence in the midst. It was the risen Savior, ready to ascend to glory-the glory that He had with the Father before the world was, but into which He was now going to enter as Man. He was in a body of resurrection, which was superior to matter, so that whether eating fish and honey, or entering through closed doors, all alike were acts of power. He was no more a Man of sorrows; He was no longer "in the likeness of sinful flesh" (Rom. 8:33For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: (Romans 8:3)). "The days of His flesh" were over (Heb. 5:77Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared; (Hebrews 5:7)). And He expresses this change when He says to His disciples, "These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you." Luke 24:4444And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. (Luke 24:44). It is this risen Savior that the world neither can nor will see till He comes in glory, who is found in the midst of His gathered ones, sanctioning thus by His presence the first assembly of His own after His resurrection on that day-the first Lord's day.
It was in their midst that He said, "Peace be unto you." What words to proceed from the mouth of the One who came from the cross, where He had made peace!-who came in all the power of resurrection, a proof of the full acceptance of His sacrifice by God. Then the Lord showed them in His resurrection body the marks of the death to which, in grace for them, He had subjected Himself.
Following this-let us notice an important statement- "Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord." The sight of the risen Lord in their midst is the subject of their joy. Thomas was not with them; and when the other disciples saw him, they gave him, in five words, a summary of that remarkable scene—"We have seen the Lord." The following Lord's day-the second Lord's day- the Lord is again in their midst.
How many principles are to be found in these verses! (John 20:19, 2019Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord. (John 20:19‑20)). What a beautiful type of our present gathering in the name of and around the Person of the Lord! Let us remark four things which are unfolded successively here. First, the presence of the risen Lord in the midst of His own when assembled; second, the peace which He announces to them on His road from the cross by way of the resurrection; third, the marks which He shows them in His resurrection body, and which witness to the fact that He has been down into death for them, but with that death now behind Him (see Rev. 1:17, 1817And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. (Revelation 1:17‑18)); fourth, the result produced in the heart of His disciples after the unfolding of all these marvelous things, when they suddenly find themselves assembled around Him. "Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord."
In our day, in spite of the evil which has come in, in spite of the ruin of the testimony of the Church on earth, in spite of the great weakness of those who by grace are gathered to His name, we can, on this same footing, experience these four things which we have just considered.
What grace to us! When on the Lord's day we are gathered for the breaking of bread at the Lord's table, spread-need it be said?-on the ground of the one body, we have (may we realize it more!) all that the disciples had when gathered that first Lord's day. Yes, Jesus risen is personally present in our midst, although in a spiritual way (Matt. 18:2020For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)).
We enjoy the peace He brings and h a s made. (Compare Rom. 5:11Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: (Romans 5:1); Eph. 2:1717And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. (Ephesians 2:17).) We have before us the touching tokens which remind us of His death for us; that is, the Lord's supper, which corresponds so well with the third thing which we have considered-Jesus showing His disciples His pierced hands and side. And if we know and appreciate all this blessing, the result will be deep joy. We can rejoice in having the Lord in our midst. How desirable it would be to realize this presence, so that we might be able to say to any absentees, "We have seen the Lord"; and not, Such and such a brother spoke so well-useful and precious as such ministry may be when given of the Lord. The absent ones, on the other hand, would ask, Did you enjoy the Lord's presence? not, What brother spoke?
May the Lord Jesus so attach our hearts to Himself that our gathering together, having Himself for motive or object, may become increasingly what it really is, the most precious thing in the world for us collectively. May we know how to appreciate the mercy which in a time of ruin gives us the possibility of having a special meeting, as in Acts 20:77And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. (Acts 20:7), to remember our precious Savior together, and to enjoy His presence in the midst. How sweet to the heart of the Christian who comprehends the thoughts of God on this subject! We go there as being invited by the Lord, to remember Him while waiting for Him. Therefore the intelligent Christian will not readily miss such a meeting, except for reasons which hold good before the Lord.
Yes, the Lord Jesus Himself is the motive and the end of our gathering together on the first day of the week, the day of the resurrection. The great thing is to be occupied with Him and not with ourselves; but if then our thoughts do turn to ourselves, they should include all the members of the body of Christ on the earth, a body whose oneness is expressed at the Lord's table: "One bread,... one body" (1 Cor. 10:1717For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. (1 Corinthians 10:17)).