Beyond Belief: A Fresh Perspective on the Story of Jesus' Triumph Over Death
What’s up beautiful people, I hope you’re all well.
In Today’s conversation, we will look at a few scriptures that I believe the lord revealed to me freshly, as we reflect on easter, and what it signifies for believers. So get your bible out and prepare to look closely.
Before I begin, let’s pray.
Lord, I pray that you go before us today, that you make what you desire to be known, clearly in the scriptures we look over. I pray lord for the grace to share what you have shown to me with care. I pray lord to communicate your words in the way you desire for them to be heard. And most importantly lord, I pray that Your spirit will breathe over every word, that it will reach every heart and it will speak to the deepest parts of our lives, revealing You, and You alone.
Thank you for this honour, to share a moment that you shared with me to everyone hear, make us more like you— Better stewards of your voice, and that you in the midst, in the beginning, and in the end—Alone, be glorified.
Before I begin, I encourage you all to watch our easter service by Pastor Joe at Ramp church.
If you’ve been a close follower of my life, then you’ll know that the lord moved me to Manchester to go deeper, specifically letting me know that I will run my best life here.
I wrote about that encounter here.
But the reason I want you to watch this video is not just to promote my church, but that word took me on this journey. Not only was it powerful but it frames a little better some of what I will share today. So in case you wonder why I reference certain things, this video may just add a little oil to some of what I discuss.
The Resurrection Story.
For those that may not know, Easter isn’t just about easter eggs, hunts and bank holidays, but it’s a powerful event, where On the cross, He bares our sins, is crucified, buried and on the third day resurrects.
We see in John 20, Mary Magdalene, finds the stone rolled away. And in the belly of the darkness, the Tomb is empty.
Jesus is alive.
Now if you read this like a story, it sounds cool, but what’s even crazier is that this event is real. So real that there is no other significant event in history that has contested, and continues to contest on the hearts of man than this.
Through every age, we find theologians, historians and atheists agree on the one simple fact— There is far too much historical evidence of Jesus’ resurrection to not believe on that day, something supernatural indeed happened on that morning.
Nicholas Thomas (N. T.) Wright a new testament and Pauline scholar says this;
“We are left with the conclusion that the combination of empty tomb and appearances of the living Jesus forms a set of circumstances which is itself both necessary and sufficient for the rise of early Christian belief. Without these phenomena, we cannot explain why this belief came into existence, and took the shape it did. With them, we can explain it exactly and precisely.”
God whilst fulfilling his words, sparked a fire that continues to burn in the hearts of man— You and I. Whether weak or robust in faith, the fire persists. Drawing us to pursue the meaning of this moment we call life, wherein we found ourselves, amongst others.
Whilst sat in church listening to the words of Pastor Joe describe the impact of this moment, I found myself astonished. I’m a Christian and often with the way the world makes sense of easter, I often find myself not tuned in, but this time, this Sunday I found myself wanting to listen.
I didn’t want to believe a story I had read, I wanted to see the King alive in his words. Here’s where things get interesting for me.
I went through the first service and after a deeply moving service, the young adults all got together to eat and burn time before the next service at 6 pm.
I found myself heavy like a seed had been planted.
Whilst sitting at that table, I found myself thinking about the structure of the moment that Mary encounters the Tomb. I was astonished at the penmanship and the specificity of some details.
I later headed to the second service, listening to the teachings again, I began to deeply explore as I sat down listening.— As I read the story, it’s like something drew me deeper.
In today’s write-up, to begin to explore both details, I want to go back to Genesis 20, and look at a few interest patterns I noticed whilst investigating.
Now stay with me.
So throughout the bible we continually see the foreshadowing of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, signifying God's commitment to his promise. The Ressurection is the raising of the New Adam— Jesus, and to really understand the point of a new Adam, you have to revisit the story of old Adam.
In reading the Bible with the rule of first mention, I had to look at the first time we ever hear about Adam, so the journey began in Genesis 2.
We know the story of creation where God calls light out of darkness, we see the creation of the earth and the people who will inhabit the earth—Adam & Eve.
In Genesis 2, we see that Adam was put in a garden after being created (v8) and his job was to cultivate and keep it (v 15). Later being named for the first time ad Adam in v 19.
We see him name all the animals in the garden, eventually being put to sleep after God finds it not good for him to be alone— We are in the moments where Eve was created.
So natural I read this nodding along like yeah this is the story I know. I then began looking for when Eve’s name was first mentioned and I don’t know why this was such an intriguing thing, but to my shock, I found that the first time her name is mentioned is in chapter 3, where we see Eve disobey God’s orders after being deceived by the devil.
The fall.
Verse 3 shows that they eat the apple and suddenly realise their nakedness. They hear the Voice of The Lord walking through the Garden (crazy I know), they hide and he looks for them.
We are deep into the story of the fall of Man. From verses 13-17, we see the serpent is cursed, then Eve, then Adam. We then see Adam name his wife. Verse 20 says this:
Eve throughout the story was without a name!
I had always thought that she was named immediately after her creation but no! To my surprise, I realised that it was after the fall— after the curse.
I don’t know about you but I have so many questions.
Now who knows whether her name was given before it was mentioned, but it’s by no mistake that the Author finds it necessary to let us know that at that moment precisely after the curse that Adam gives her a name.
As we know very well— In literature, no word is a mistake. Every author precisely orchestrates every sentence for a reason. A reason which can only be revealed by the story alone. The Author not only puts forward his ideas, but he decides what words live and what ones die, so you can imagine my intrigue as to why this, made the final copy.
Once again, I see the Author wanting my attention.
I began pondering on this as I sat in the back of the second service. I reflected deeply as I found myself in a whirlwind of thoughts.
A few things popped up in my head in remembrance of the morning service.
Let’s briefly revisit John 20.
Mary Magdalene finds the Tomb rolled away.
She runs and finds Simon Peter & John.
John outruns Peter, arrives there first, and stoops but doesn’t go in.
Peter arrives and then goes in (I love Peter because he’s so mischievous)
John enters the Tomb and looks. He believes
The disciples go home, but Mary waits.
She sees two angels whilst weeping.
The Angels speak to her saying “Woman why are you crying?”
She answers, then turns to leave but she sees Jesus (she doesn’t yet recognise him) and he speaks to her.
Thinking He was a gardener she persists in asking where Jesus was
He calls out “Mary!” and she cries out Teacher.
From verse 1-18 we see the story famously known, but point 10 & 11 made my hairs stand up again. Like, why did the Author find it important to let us know that Jesus whom we know to be able to walk through walls had an open Tomb?
Why did she think the man there was a gardener, as in, what was this man doing that made her think that he was gardening? Or better yet how did the writer know her mind? I have so many questions.
But before I investigate, here are a few thoughts and striking similarities I want to share before I continue.
Why the open Tomb?
I think the open Tomb is such powerful imagery. Who moved the stone, was it a man, or an angel? A group of people? Who?
The tension is held.
And as a reader, I find myself on the edge of my seat— curious. I want to walk in and inspect the place myself, maybe he left a clue, maybe there’s a map— Maybe there’s an explanation.
Here’s mine:
I don’t think the stone being rolled away is really about Jesus leaving, but more as a symbol of direct access. In the darkness of the Tomb, we are invited to a personal investigation, our own knowing— A relationship.
Pastor Joe elucidated this also (watch the video!)
The Stone being rolled away was not just to leave me confused, but rather an invitation to tell me—Tell you, to come and see for yourself, that he has risen!
The Gardener?
We see in the story that Mary pleads with this mistaken gardener.
He asks her who she’s looking for and pleads for Jesus (if you noticed she does not even say his name.), He answers with her name “Mary!” and she replies with Rabboni — Teacher in Hebrew.
There is so much here to unpack honestly, but the detail was too stark to ignore. So I looked between John 20 and Genesis 3:20, and I found a distinct pattern of details.
Eden was a place that hosted the presence of God directly, similarly, the Tomb did the same thing.
Adam was a gardener in the Garden of Eden, and we see Mary mistake Jesus to be a Gardener.
After the fall of Man, 3 v 24 shows Adam and Eve driven out of the garden, with two angels guarding the entrance “To Keep the way of the tree of Life”. We see the same detail in John 20:12 with Angels guarding the entrance of the place that held the resurrected Jesus— The New Adam
Eve is named after a curse, and here Jesus begins his sentence to Mary with her name.
I don’t know about you, but that blows my mind. Is it that in some way we are seeing that God is not only showing us a fulfilled promise, but he wasn’t to show through his writing that Eden is now open, that we can now have direct access again?
Let me break it down.
Throughout the Bible, we see the significance of a name change. Abram who worshipped other Gods, named Abraham when he began following the one true God, Sarah his wife (formerly Sarai) was renamed after the annunciation of Isaacs coming. We see the pattern continue with Jacob (who became Israel), Simon who became Peter etc.
We see that in the identification of a name, It usually came under a new consequence, a new promise, and by no mistake now do I find that Eve was named after the curse, but also in almost such a beautiful way, Jesus picks up the story we see left off in Genesis 3, in his resurrection by acknowledging Mary first with her identity—her name.
In almost a victorious manner as so to say— I’m not exactly just the Jesus you knew, but I walk out as a new man, A new Adam. And as he has risen, we — Mary, we are no longer the same as we were.
When he dies on the cross, our sins died with him. So the call of her name— A name signifying devotion and repentance, we answer with a celebration of a new life, and a promise fulfilled in Christ.
It’s also fitting that Mary had been touched by Jesus. The Bible says that she was cured of 7 demons, in other words, she was completely filled with sin. But Jesus made himself known first to her, and her name known to us as his answer.
There is so much to unpack that I probably will have to unpack in words, but there’s a story for us to see in that interaction.
We see not only a simple picture of God’s divine promise, but also his commitment to draw man unto himself, through his death, and in his resurrected life. We see this completion of man through that interaction— This rise of this former fallen picture we see in Genesis 3.
The story is powerful and it signifies so much to us.
Andrew Loke a well-known Christian theologian puts it like this;
“God maintains a delicate balance between keeping his existence sufficiently evident so people will know he’s there and yet hiding his presence enough so that people who want to choose to ignore him can do it. This way, their choice of destiny is really free.”
How beautiful to have a God who in his scars revealed himself to be perfect, that alone is beautiful. That the image of beauty and perfection is in the holes enclosed in his palms.
Deep it.
Your imperfections and your holes are but a part of his perfect image. You are beautiful because He has chosen to empty the grave and make a home deep in the cavities of your heart.
The Tomb is rolled away, and the angels stand, this time not to guard the path to the Tree of Life, but to show that he was indeed there— He has Risen.
To round up this read, I want to first apologise because I know my thoughts may not be entirely well put together. I’m currently writing this at 3 am, with Joy and excitement. I admit there’s so much to unpack that my thoughts keep running away from me, nonetheless, let’s keep the conversation alive.
I’d love to host a conversation about this, for anyone who wants to talk further, so if you find yourself with questions, leave a comment below or vote below.
We’ll unpack.
In Closing.
Before I go I’d love to leave you with this beautiful quote by Craig. D Lounsborough;
“Everything that God does is nothing that He needs done, for He is eternally complete. Yet, He is never still and He is forever working. Therefore, I am left with both the conviction and the evidence that God’s agenda is nothing other than that which is incomplete in you and I.”
If you’re questioning whether he wants to know you, well the answer is simple— Yes, he does! Open your heart and say yes.
Happy easter family, and my apologies for such a late entry.
Love you guys!
Best, Josiah