Come Follow Me LDS- Easter, Episode 8: Sunday- An Empty Tomb & A New Hope

- Christ's tomb as the Holy of Holies
- Mary Magdalene as the Witness
- Christ's marks are the 'Karat Berit', the 'Cut Covenant'

 

 

Come Follow Me Easter New Testament

LDS Mormon

 

all right so this is the last episode of

the Holy Week Sunday Easter day where we

focus on an empty tomb and a new hope

here we go all right so let's set the

stage here for Easter morning on Sunday

Jesus has been crucified on Friday he

his body has been laid to rest wrapped

in linen and spices by early evening

Friday night we've gone through all of

Friday night we've gone through all of

the Sabbath on Saturday and now early

Sunday morning this is right at dawn we

find Mary Magdalene according to John

and according to the other gospel

several other women where all these

women have come together at dawn to

bring spices and oil to again anoint

Jesus again it's the women that are

anointing the body of Jesus which is the

natural step here to anoint him as

someone who has moved on to another

stage of eternal life

so the synoptic Gospels has Mary

Magdalene Joanna Mary the mother of

James and Salome II who are all here

along with other women who would be here

together at dawn and I think that's

significant where we're talking about

Easter Day or the resurrection a new

life the representation here and it is

very possibly custom and tradition that

they would be here at dawn but the

representation here is that it's a new

day it is a new dawn and so they're here

right as the Sun is rising to anoint

Jesus and they can't right they're

wandering as they get there what are we

going to do

because who's going to roll the stone

away for us that's been sealed in order

to go in and anoint Jesus's body they

would have expected to see the watch

there the Roman watch and the servants

of the high priest there guarding the

tomb as well and probably thought we may

not even be able to get this done

because how are you why are they going

to let us go in to open up the tomb so

that we can learn because their fear is

of the Romans and the high priests and

the Jews is that the disciples are going

to come in and take his body out so they

probably would not have allowed this now

Matthew records that there was a great

earthquake maybe earlier that night

before or early that morning and that

the earthquake had rolled the stone away

some scholars believe that the

earthquake that happened during the

crucifixion well this would be an

aftershock right that would have

happened and this earthquake rolled the

stone away from the Sepulcher but

Matthew also mentions that it is the

angel that has moved the stone and that

the watch and the servants of the high

priests became as dead men as they see

the angel hear of the Lord white like

lightning or white as snow as Matthew

puts it in Matthew says that the angel

says to the women don't worry fear not

that I know or we know if there's more

than one angel we know that you search

for Jesus who has been crucified and

then in verse 6 here in Matthew 28 he

says something interesting the angel he

says he is not here for He is risen as

he has said come see the place where the

Lord lay and to me again I refer back to

the Seder meal where this to me is an

example of again making a looking at a

Christian approach to that Seder meal

where the afikoman is hidden by the

father

they hide this away as if it was hidden

away like in a supple cur and then the

children go around and look for it and

here are the women are

coming to look for the afikomen they're

coming to look for Jesus and they can't

find him at first and then the angel

tells the women to go and tell the

Apostles and the disciples that Jesus

has risen and give them the witness

that the Angels have given them now in

the Gospel of Mark it says also that

there was one angel but Joseph Smith

goes in and his translation says that

there were two in fact in market says

there was a young man but Joseph Smith

goes in and says that there were two

angels and I think that's an important

thing we're gonna go over that in just a

minute and as you look through the

gospels on these events on the day of

Easter keep in mind that in the book of

mark from verses 9 to 18 those verses

have no record of being in the earliest

Greek transcripts it appears that they

were added later on in there kind of a

smorgasbord a sampling of all of the

other gospels and putting together a

little bit more of a cohesive story

because each one of the Gospels tells

something just a little bit different so

the last verse in there verse 19 is

there but it is verse 9 in the earliest

transcripts so I'm not gonna pull from

those events that are in mark starting

in verse 9 so the women that have been

told by the angels that Jesus has risen

run off and go to the eleventh to the

apostles and tell them what has happened

and it says here Luke writes it don't

like this he says and their words this

is the women speaking to the Apostles

and their words seemed to them as idle

tales and they believed them not so

consider what's happening here the women

have come in they're running there

they're probably out of breath it may be

a great distance to where they got to

maybe they're hiding out in Jerusalem

but the apostles are in a position where

they're probably hiding out they're

probably afraid of the Romans and the

high priests I mean they could be next

and you can imagine that they're all

full of grief they're full of fear the

we are in great despair over what has

happened is this incredible punch in the

gut and just gut wrenching experience

that they have all gone through to see

their Lord their Savior their master

suffer and be sacrificed the way that he

was treated the way that he was and now

he's gone and now the women come to him

and say the Angels have come and that he

is risen and at first they don't

believe him at all and finally Luke says

that Peter got up and ran toward the

Sepulcher now what's interesting here is

that in the Gospel of John John includes

himself that he also got up and ran with

Peter to the Sepulcher but of course

John and his gospel make sure that he

tells that he got there first he outran

Peter he actually says that he says here

in John 20 verse 4 so they ran both

together and the other disciple which is

himself he never refers to himself in

his in his own gospel and the other

disciple did outrun Peter and came first

to the sepulchre and he stooping down

and looking in saw the linen clothes

lying yet went he not in so he looks in

he sees that the body is gone the body

of Jesus is gone but there are the linen

clothes the linen that would be wrapped

around the afikomen of the Seder meal

the linen that would be worn by the high

priest in the Holy of Holies but John

doesn't go in why wouldn't he go in John

is a priest and he cannot go in to the

tomb with a dead body in there this is

an unclean place for him to go and he is

trained that he cannot go in this is

impure

John was a priest and probably very high

up in the priesthood in the temple and

probably had some influence there and

may have been a go-between at times

between the priesthood

and the followers of Christ but he

doesn't go in Peter finally arriving

there second he does go in at this point

and this is what John says about that

then cometh Simon Peter following him

and went into the sepulcher and seeth

the linen clothes lie and the napkin

that was about his head not lying with

the linen clothes but wrapped together

in a place by itself this would be the

shroud then went in also that other

disciple which is John which came first

to the sepulcher and he saw and believed

and then something interesting is

pointed out here in verse 9 John says

for as yet they knew not the scripture

that he must rise again from the dead so

this is a very interesting point the

Masoretic text of Isaiah that would

prophecy of the suffering servant does

not mention the Messiah as the suffering

servant but remember the Masoretic text

the earliest versions we have of this

this is the text that was used to

translate the Old Testament the earliest

findings we have of the Masoretic text

is 8 or 900 ad C II after Christ but in

the Isaiah scroll of the Dead Sea

Scrolls it does mention the Messiah so

there may have been a split here in what

is mentioned about the suffering servant

and about Jesus being the Messiah dying

and rising on the third day these things

might not have been really understood

very well and pulled together very well

in Scripture that's what I think John is

pointing out here they may have even

been told this by Jesus but I think John

is pointing out that Scripture did not

specify here specifically about what was

going to happen it had been changed

already at this point so then the

disciples finally they go back to their

homes says John but John now has Mary

staying at the Sepulcher after this

point so the women were all

there in the morning

to anoint they see the stone rolling

away they see the angels they run back

to the apostles they come back after the

apostles have been there and they're

probably talking just in you know about

the incredible event that has just

happened has someone taken him has he

actually risen they leaned toward the

former because they don't fully

understand the scripture they don't

fully understand what is happening

and we know that also from what Mary

Magdalene is about to say so Mary

Magdalene lingers behind here she stays

at the Sepulcher and this is what John

says he's the only one that gives us

this account he says but Mary stood

without at the sepulcher weeping and as

she wept she stooped down and looked

into the sepulcher so she's looking in

again wanting to see the body wanting to

know what could have happened who would

have stolen his body and as she looks in

she sees something again that the

apostles have not seen she's already

seen this but she sees this again it

says here in John 20 verse 12 and she

see if two angels in white sitting the

one at the head and the other at the

feet that's important where the body of

Jesus had lain says John and they say

unto her woman why weepest thou she

saith unto them because they have taken

away my Lord and I know not where they

have laid him so here Mary is speaking

with angels so this is kind of a truth

serum we know she's going to be very

honest here about her feelings and she

says to them I'm weeping because they've

taken away my Lord and I don't know

where to find him so that is her belief

it is not that he's been resurrected and

so you can imagine that the women and

the apostles that were there at least

Peter and John are talking to each other

and in this commotion wondering what has

happened

certainly the thought would be that he

might have risen but overall they're

feeling even then is not one of

hope it is in his despair look what

they've done to him even further have

they not done enough to him and here

they've disrespected him even

more and taken his body away so that's

the belief at this time among the

disciples and the followers of Christ

but there's something really important

to understand here I think about this

scene let's back up a little bit from

the beginning of Easter morning when the

women come and the earthquake had

happened and the stone is rolled away so

let's start putting some of these pieces

together to see how the narrative shows

something about Christ and as we talk

about one of those filters scriptural

filters is temple imagery and drama

here's what week might see the stone is

being moved away from the sepulcher so

think of the stone as the veil so

previously on the cross as Jesus dies

the veil is rent in the temple or he's

pierced on the side his veil his body is

pierced on the side that's the same

thing the body in the veil are the same

thing the veil is our bodies or our

physical material and here the stone is

acting as a veil and it has been pierced

or removed from what if it's the veil

what is it being removed from what is it

veiling its veiling the Holy of Holies

let's go back even further to Jesus's

birth it is very likely that Jesus was

born in a cave in Bethlehem there are

many many caves in this area and he

could very well have been born in one of

these caves it would have been a place

of shelter when they couldn't find a

place at an inn in town and the stables

are oftentimes put into these caves

where there is a natural shelter built

in and who comes to visit Jesus and Mary

and Joseph

the three wise men

and what do they bring they bring gold

and frankincense and myrrh and a lot of

times there's this assumption that is

made and kind of repeated often times

because you're trying to figure out well

why would they bring gold and

frankincense and myrrh

remember the authors have a very

specific reason for mentioning things

it's not just an account that they're

going to run down a checklist of some

crock chronology and historical

events they are telling you story

something that is very important with

very profound meaning and so the three

Wiseman come with gold frankincense and

myrrh to a cave to a Holy of Holies

where the high priest the email kiss

Adak is sitting in his throne in a

manger and he is wrapped in swaddling

clothes just like the body of Jesus in

the Sepulcher is wrapped in linen and

the gold would represent the inside of

the Holy of Holies which it was

completely covered in gold it's like a

cube plated with gold and the myrrh

would represent the oil which would be

the anointing of the king and the high

priest and the frankincense would be

what is burnt in front of the veil and

inside of the Holy of Holies

representing the glory of God and

prayers going up to God so the birth of

Christ is a temple setting in a cave

very possibly very likely and here you

have the Sepulcher also representing the

Holy of Holies remember in the temple

drama that we talked about with the with

Palm Sunday where Jesus comes in in the

procession as what as the king and he's

going where he's going to the temple and

what happens with the king there the

Melchizedek King in the temple what

happens is what happens on the Day of

Atonement the ritual of the Day of

Atonement the King comes out of the Holy

of Holies

through the veil as a newborn king he is

born again as the new king

so in Jesus's birth he's born and here

Jesus with the stone rolled away the

veil pierced Jesus comes out of the Holy

of Holies born so to speak with a new

life as it with as a resurrected being

and that's why the angels that's why

John specifies with this detail about

where the angels are there's one at the

head and one at the foot well what does

that represent where do we see two

angels on either side of something it is

the Ark of the Covenant and where Jesus

is laying here is a representation of

the throne of God of the mercy seat

those two angels are the cherubim that

sit on the sides of the throne of God so

we have the stone rolled away as the

veil we have the cave as the Holy of

Holies we have the linen which

represents the afikomen and the garb of

the high priest which is left behind

just like you would do in the Seder meal

where you fold it up and put it on the

table after you have taken the afikomen

out you have the cherubim on either side

of where he is laying the Sepulcher of

Joseph of Arimathea is the Holy of

Holies where the king is born again as a

new resurrected being so back to Mary

Magdalene here she is focused on

speaking with the Angels

inside the sepulcher and she is

distraught where is the body of my lord

where has he gone where have they taken

him and that is why I'm weeping it has

her focus is inside the Sepulcher

speaking with the Angels she terms

facing away from the sepulcher and sees

Jesus but does not recognize him

thinking that he is the gardener and

here's how John puts this and when she

had thus said she turned herself back

and saw Jesus standing

and knew not that it was Jesus and Jesus

saith unto her woman why weepest thou

the same thing that the angels had just

asked her whom seekest thou seems like

he's almost being a little bit coy here

and she supposing him to be the gardener

saith unto him sir if thou have borne

him then hint in other words have you've

taken him away tell me where thou hast

laid him and I will take him away so

again this is what she thinks has

happened and Jesus saith unto her Mary

she turned herself and saith unto Him

rabboni which is to say master so here

now she recognizes that it's him what

would go through her mind at this point

realizing that this is Jesus and that he

is alive and verse 17 Jesus saith unto

her touch me not for I am not yet

ascended to my father I'm not an expert

at all a Greek guy I don't know Greek at

all but I have read that this might also

mean you know don't keep holding on to

me so I don't know if it's a matter of

whether that he could touch he could

touch him or not but he had to go maybe

but Jesus saith under where touch me not

for I am not yet ascended to my father

but go to my brethren and say unto them

I ascend unto my father and your father

into my god and your God so a couple

things here first of all again it is the

women that came to anoint him it is the

women that the Angels spoke to none of

the Apostles saw the angels either

before or after Peter and John had run

to the tomb it is Mary Magdalene that

John has seen Christ first the risen

Lord who has not yet ascended with his

body to the Father

because women represent this step women

represent the steps toward eternal life

and Mary Magdalene becomes the first

witness of the risen Lord I also think

it's significant his words to her

Jesus's words to her he says I ascend

unto

my father and your father unto my god

and your God so here he is this

incredible miracle the miracle of

miracles has happened but he still says

my father and my god

right he still puts in place that fluid

hierarchy which is so crucial to our

understanding and his place in it and

that he is one of us the best of us the

savior of all to be worshipped by all

but he is ascending to his God and his

father which is our God and our Father I

think that's an important point that

John makes here and so Mary goes and

tells the other disciples what she has

seen now there are a couple of different

accounts here in the in the Gospels of

what happens here and where Jesus

appears Matthew simply says that there

was a place appointed for all of them to

meet in Galilee upon a mountain and that

makes sense

Luke gives the story of the road to

Emmaus where at least a couple of the

Apostles and other disciples are

traveling to Emmaus which is about seven

or eight miles outside of Jerusalem

they're on the road and Jesus somehow

subtly appears and starts talking with

them and asking what's the commotion

about maybe having a little fun with

them I don't know and they're saying

well haven't you heard of Jesus of

Nazareth haven't you heard of everything

that has gone on here everybody knows

what has just happened in Jerusalem this

week one of the men asking Jesus about

this is Cleophus or Cleopas this is

probably Jesus's uncle so even his uncle

a family member who would know him

pretty well you would imagine doesn't

recognize him and then we get an idea

again of the state of mind of the

Apostles and the disciples at this point

Cleophus says to Jesus that a lot of the

women had gone and seen a vision of

angels and that said that he was

alive that he had risen that now it was

the third day but he's obviously saying

this in a doubting way because Jesus

then responds to him and says o fools

and slow of heart

to believe all that the prophets have

spoken ought not Christ who have

suffered these things and to enter into

his glory and beginning at Moses and all

the prophets he expounded unto them in

all the Scriptures the things concerning

himself this is so important to

understand we are oftentimes in a

position even scholars Christian

scholars and even LDS scholars sometimes

we get into a mode where we think that

we're trying to fit Christ into the Old

Testament I don't mean that generally I

think most of us realize that this is

Christ that is there but a lot of times

those that really dig deep into this

thing start believing that we're trying

to fit Christ into something that

doesn't exist there and you hear this

even sometimes from LDS scholars that

we're putting a square peg into a round

hole but that's not what's happening

this is the testimony of the Gospels

right here this is what is being stated

by Luke he's saying look Jesus came back

and said don't you realize everything

that has been prophesied about me and

about these exact events of this week

and of today from Moses to every other

prophet these are all the Old Testament

they have all prophesied about this they

have all prophesied about my crucifixion

about my death about me going to the

other side of the veil and teaching the

dead about my resurrection and here it

is the third day and here I am and so we

would understand also that through these

prophecies that also the rituals that

would have taken place which is what we

mostly see in the Old Testament

everything about the temple everything

about the visions that the prophets have

these are all about Jesus Christ and

he's saying o fools don't you see this

this is the fulfillment of everything in

the scriptures and so we should see it

that way as well that everything in the

scriptures in the Old Testament also is

a looking forward to these exact events

of Jesus being born again out of the

holy of holies as the new king as the

risen resurrected Lord

so then Jesus stays with them in Emmaus

and they he breaks bread with them I

don't know if this is a sacrament or not

but he eats he is a physical being

and then Luke gives us an interesting

principle here as Jesus is eating with

them he then vanishes out of their sight

whatever that means and in verse 32 this

is in Chapter Luke 24 he says and they

said one to another did not our heart

burn within us while he talked with us

by the way and while he opened to us the

scriptures I think that for Luke

why is he mentioning that I think that

that is a message for us did not our

hearts burn as he spoke speaks to us and

as the events of this week speak to us

does our heart not burn and as we open

up the scriptures looking in the Old

Testament the New Testament the Book of

Mormon the Doctrine covenants pearl of great

price General Conference does not our

heart burn and do we not know somewhere

in there with that still small voice

that these events are true we see over

and over again the events that happen

here and the doubt that surrounded all

this and it's understandable it's

understandable but these Gospels are a

witness to the resurrection of Jesus

Christ of the ultimate triumph over

mortality over sin that there is a step

for all of us to move forward into

eternity and to be free of bondage now

John has a little bit of a different

account he doesn't talk about the road

to Emmaus he talks about the Apostles

being gathered together in a place where

they're hiding out and this is where

Jesus appears the same night on Easter

Sunday here's how he says this in John

20 verse 19 then the same day at evening

being the first day of the week so this

is now

writing later on much later on as a

Christian where the first day of the

week is Sunday so this is this is Easter

Sunday 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 so

he shows up here amongst the Apostles

who were hiding out and fearing for

their lives and here the resurrected

Lord appears amongst them and this is

what he does and when he had so said he

showed unto them his hands and his side

then were the disciples glad when they

saw the Lord so I think there's a couple

of things we would look at with this

first of all the markings that he has

would act as a testimony to him being

the Christ of course and I think it is

so interesting that he hangs on to these

marks to show later on in Bountiful in

the Book of Mormon also where they come

forward and they touched the marks on

his hands and his side and in his feet

these are a direct representation of the

entire gospel and they are a testimony

that he is the Christ that he is the

Messiah that he is the new Melchizedek

but secondly and I've spoken about this

before he is the Karate bereet what that

means is the cut covenant the Jews in

Hebrew don't say make a covenant they

say cuts a covenant and the reason is

because you would cut something you

split it apart and then you may need to

work it back together at some point

that's what the whole gospel is about

that's what the creation is about but

Christ cut a covenant literally and the

cuts are in his hands his wrists his

side and in his feet so this is a

representation of the love of God not

just with his suffering on the cross but

with the entire atonement and what

Christ decided to do because he has to

decide this and be willing

go through it so it is the sign of the

love of God for us and that the pathway

has been opened up for us now Thomas is

not there with them and so the other

apostles tell him what has happened and

he doesn't believe that's where we get

doubting Thomas and eight days later the

Savior reappears amongst them and there

is Thomas and here is the lesson again

that we get something that Jesus has

been teaching throughout the entire New

Testament he says to Thomas Thomas

because thou has seen me thou hast

believed blessed are they that have not

seen and yet have believed

and so again why why is that such a big

deal it's because it is faith that

propels us it is faith that helps us

progress it's not that we're trying to

believe in something that doesn't exist

blind faith is not a good thing but the

process of trust which is what faith is

is everything it is how we learn to

trust in principles that has everything

to do with us growing and moving forward

in the plan of salvation and becoming

like the Savior and it is trust and

faith in Jesus Christ and what he chose

to do in Gethsemane on the cross and

today on Easter to rise again that

creates the path for all of us to move

forward somewhere behind him as he has

blazed that trail for us already so

today we go from an empty tomb and the

disciples in absolute despair to a brand

new hope with a risen Lord and a risen

king whose primary focus is to get us to

follow him and to be victorious as well

I hope that the events of this week

would help us to renew our commitment by

renewing our hope in Jesus Christ

I'll talk to you next time