I want to look at three Bible characters and investigate how their lives were changed because of the Resurrection. The first is a woman whose name is Mary Magdalene.
The Bible doesn’t give us a lot of details about her. There are only a few things we know for sure about her, but what we know is compelling. She is one of the central figures of the Resurrection story. The first thing we learn about Mary Magdalene is that she is someone from whom Jesus drove seven demons. That’s not something you just drive by and forget about. That is no small thing! No one who knew Mary would forget the way she was when seven demons had a hold of her. 7 is the number of perfection or completion in the Bible, so when we read in Luke 8:2 that Mary had been, pre-Jesus, possessed by 7 demons, we understand that Satan possessed Mary completely.
Her life was in turmoil before Jesus delivered her. We don’t know the ways that Satan tormented her. We don’t know how the demons in her harassed or abused her, but needless to say, being controlled by demons would not have been a quality or a peaceful way to live. When Mary encountered Jesus, she found freedom from everything that bound her. Anyone here know what I’m talking about? Jesus set her free, and because of that transformation, she faithfully followed Jesus and helped fund His mission.
She wanted Jesus to have a proper burial. She didn’t even know how she would gain access to His body since it was heavily guarded and was sealed with a stone that was hundreds of pounds, but she was determined to get to Him. But when she got there, His body was gone. This grief-stricken woman panicked, and despair set in. Who had stolen His body? How could she stay connected to Jesus if she didn’t even know where He was? How could she honor Him? The thought of Resurrection never occurred to her. She was in a bad place emotionally, physically and spiritually. She was desperate to know what had become of Jesus, and she was crying pretty hard when someone she believed to be the Gardener spoke to her. It wasn’t the Gardener, but it was Jesus, Himself, who stood before her.
He asked her why she was crying to which she replied, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.” She was so desperate to find Jesus she thought she could somehow carry His body back to its resting place. Only when He called her name did she see Him for who He really was.
Jesus commissioned Mary Magdalene to go and tell the others that He had risen from the dead. She went and exclaimed to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” Oh friends, The Resurrection changes everything! Mary went from desperation and without hope to declaring that Jesus was alive! And Mary Magdalene learned that not even death could separate her from Jesus.
The second person is Thomas. Thomas was one of the twelve disciples. I don’t know where he happened to be when Jesus showed Himself to the rest of the disciples, but Thomas missed the big reveal in John 10:19-23. When the other disciples came to him and told him what he had missed, he said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
Thomas was disillusioned. His followship was over. It had all been for nothing. In his disillusionment, he had isolated himself from the other disciples. His isolation had done something detrimental to his faith. I believe he let the voice of defeat play over and over in his head. Why would he not believe ten other disciples who obviously had just had a transforming experience with Jesus?
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them.
Maybe he reasoned, “If Jesus really had appeared to the rest of them, He might show up again,” and Thomas at least positioned himself to have the encounter that could reignite his faith in Jesus.
Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” 28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
Thomas’s “My Lord and my God!” statement was spoken with resolute conviction. Disbelief had been transformed into devotion. History tells us Thomas didn’t waiver from that moment on. He was martyred for his faith in Christ. Jesus would ascend to the Father, making it impossible for others to see Him in the flesh at that point, but Thomas would make sure as many people as possible would see the risen Christ in his devotion to Christ.
The third character I want to highlight is the disciple named Peter. He was one of three in Jesus’ inner circle. Based on the confessions he made, more than once, Peter would have been voted least likely to abandon Jesus. He talked a good talk, and I believe when he did, he believed and meant what he was saying.
In Matthew 26:31-35, Jesus predicted that all the disciples would desert him, and that included Peter. Peter boldly asserted he would never disown Jesus. He vowed to die with Him. And yet, when Jesus was arrested, Matthew 26:58 tells us that Peter followed Jesus at a distance. It is an important detail. He distanced himself from Jesus, and that distance became the first of several steps by which he would distance himself even further.
While Peter was hanging outside of where Jesus was on trial with the religious leaders, he was challenged by someone who asked if he was a disciple of Jesus, and Peter caved. He didn’t even hesitate. He said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He followed that with some kind of an oath, perhaps something like, “I swear by Heaven” or “I swear to God. I don’t know the man!” The third time he was pressed to answer regarding his affiliation with Jesus, we read, 74 Then he began to call down curses, (on himself) and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!” Matthew 26:74
What a pendulum swing in just a few hours. From, “I’ll die for you” to “I don’t know you, and may a curse fall on me if I am lying” is quite a change of allegiance.
Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
The realization of what he had done hit him hard. Really hard. He wept bitterly. He regretted what he had just done. There was no time to tell Jesus he was sorry. Jesus would go to the cross, and Peter couldn’t make things right.
Fast-forward to John’s last chapter, chapter 21. It is the commentary on a post-Resurrection conversation between Peter and Jesus. Even though he knew, by this point, that Jesus had risen from the dead, Peter felt unworthy of the title of disciple. He had failed. He would simply return to his old life as a fisherman.
But Jesus showed up while Peter and some of the others were fishing, and the first words out of Jesus’ mouth were, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?” Friends. Not, “Deserters.” Not, “Back stabbers. Not, “Jerks.” “Traitors.” When they recognized that it was Jesus, Peter jumped out of the boat and into the water. He couldn’t get to Jesus fast enough.
Jesus had started a fire and asked them to bring some of the fish they had caught, and He invited them to a meal on the beach. The text says it was the third time Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection. Peter had denied Jesus three times. Jesus showed up three times to invite Peter to reengage as a disciple.
And in a grace-filled and loving conversation, Jesus invited Peter to a fresh start. Because of the Resurrection, Peter went from disconnected and even disavowing Jesus to being a dedicated disciple again.
Resurrection brings transformation to all who will engage with Jesus.
For Mary, it was inconceivable that Resurrection was the answer for the empty tomb.
For Thomas, it was unbelievable that death hadn’t had the final word on Jesus.
For Peter, he thought his relationship with Christ was irretrievable after his failure.
But the Resurrection changed everything for each one of them, and today, it can change everything for you!
