John 16:33
Jesus Overcomes Death in this World
33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
John 20:11-29
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
But he said to them, “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.”
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. 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.”
John 14:16-17
Jesus to Ask His Father to Send Us a Helper in our Faith When He Leaves
16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
Before Jesus walked the earth, death must have seem quite final and with little or no hope...Death has a way of separating us from our loved ones...Death changes our relationship with the one who has died before us...Instead of us being able to see and feel and talk to our loved ones, we now must remember them and think about them in memories, and we have only the past with them...If there was another way to have our deceased family and friends with us, many would like that (to happen)...Many would like the old relationship back, and like it was before their death...Many of us, when we lose a loved one, would like to keep them with us...We would love to have them (back) in our current lives...
Jesus has just died and Mary Magdalene knows that she will never see Him or speak to Him or touch Him again...And now, all of a sudden, she realizes that He is alive...He, in fact, has overcame this world and even the sting of death, as He said He would -and she is elated...Her natural response would be to grab Him, and hug Him and hold Him...Maybe Mary is thinking her relationship can be like it was before He died on the cross, now that He has resurrected, and now that He is alive again...No doubt that seeing Jesus after His death, Mary is given great hope...
Thomas has a similar story to Mary Magdalene...He too, wants to touch and hold onto Jesus...But Jesus told Mary Magdalene not to hold on to Him (He would have to leave)...Thomas was not around when the other disciples saw Jesus return, after His death...Jesus returns again and tells Thomas to touch Him where He was nailed to the cross, and He was also allowing him to touch the healed and glorious wound in His side, where He had been speared, while He was on the cross...He is allowing Thomas to touch Him, but in a way is not allowing Mary to touch or hold on to Him...We are not told if Thomas (or Mary) did actually did touch Jesus...But Thomas did see Jesus, and when Thomas does realize and it sinks in that Jesus is alive, Thomas says "My LORD and our God."...
In a short time both Thomas and Mary must let go of Him...And let Him go, where He must be...He must be with His rightful place in heaven and by His Father...Both Mary Magdalene wanted to touch faith...A faith that was and is alive...I would bet both wanted to keep Him with them and with them as they lived their lives...And again, we are not told if either of them actually did get to touch Him, but they did actually see Him...And seeing Him strengthened both their faiths...Both Mary and Thomas will realize that our relationship with Him and in the future, will be a Spiritual One...It will be a relationship with Jesus, His Father, and the Holy Spirit that His Father sent in His name...The Holy Spirit is for us to help our faith, after He has left the earth...He did not leave us alone and as orphans...After His death we must continue on with our faith, but in a different way...Faith maybe is more about the Spiritual Presence, than it is about the physical presence of the One...Jesus has proven to Mary and to Thomas that He is divine...Jesus has proven to Mary and to Thomas that He is divine...