My Father and Your Father
John 20:1-18 | Sermon Recap & Discussion Questions
Jesus confronts each one of us with the fact that he is the one true Savior who has come to reveal God as the heavenly Father. If you would experience true life in the present and hope for the future, you must take him as your personal Savior.
I. Christ Delivers from this World
Peter and John had already visited the tomb and heard the news that Jesus had risen from the dead, but they had not seen Mary to tell her. Mary’s full expectation had been to find a corpse in that tomb. She expected nothing out of the ordinary.
A. Prisoner of this World:
Mary was clinging to Jesus as if he would never leave this world. However, Jesus commanded her to release her hold on him because he had another mission: to leave this world and return to the right hand of God where he would bring even greater benefits.
B. An Out-of-this World Savior:
All of our needs are supplied by Christ who reigns at the right hand of the Father. In this way, He is literally an out-of-this-world Savior so that he can provide true help to those who are oppressed by this world.
II. Christ Gives Genuine Relationships
Jesus had already explained the condition for becoming his brother or sister—it was to do the will of his Father in heaven (Mt. 12:50; Mk. 3:34), but he had not yet directly called them his brothers and sisters, because he had not yet finished the work which would make them such. Now he has, so he tells Mary to go find his “brothers.”
A. No Reason to Love
Jesus had gathered an unlikely group of people together as his disciples who had become like family to each other. These were people who would otherwise have never chosen each other, but they came together because Christ had loved them first and thus enabled them to love each other.
B. A Reason to Believe
Believers in Christ love each other simply because they belong to Christ. Sometimes there is no tangible benefit to loving each other. In fact, sometimes believers provide each other every reason not to love. But we love each other anyway because Christ has made us a family and planted an irremovable love in us.
III. Christ Secures a Relationship with the Father
Jesus rose from the dead in order to connect his people to the heavenly Father. Through Christ, God has revealed himself to us as a Father and this is the way we may know him.
A. The Deepest Search
Truth is found in Jesus. If we deny the possibility of knowing the person of Jesus Christ, then we cut ourselves off from knowing the Father whom he came to reveal to us and connect us with.
B. The Deepest Person
Jesus reveals the Father to us as he truly is, not as we may create him to be based on our preferences.
C. The Deepest Security
When Jesus connects us to his Father, it is a relationship that is eternally secure, regardless of our doubts.
Discussion Questions
- Several benefits we receive from Christ were mentioned. Which one(s) most resonated with you?
- In verse 17, Jesus says, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” What does this say about our identity?
- Read Matthew 3:16-17. If God is your father and Jesus’ father, what implications does this passage have for you? If you have/had a difficult or no relationship with your earthly father, how does this passage give you hope? Even if you have/had a great relationship with your earthly father, how does this passage give you hope?
- Are there any ways you can think of that you may be seeking the benefits or identity you already have in Christ in other places? How so?