 I can hear you. Yes, go ahead. Okay. Okay. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for this morning. Thank you for a brand new start, a brand new day, God. I pray that as we learn about you, learn your word today, God, I pray that you would help us, Lord, to not just be hearers of your word, but doers of your word too, God. And Lord, I thank you for helping us to be able to share your heart with us, God. Thank you, Lord, that you would give her the wisdom and understanding God to say the right things and learn, teach the right thing, God. Thank you for helping all of us to understand what you want us to hear and for everything else, God. Amen. Amen. Thank you so much. Alright. We've reached almost the end of the Gospel of John. So the goal is to complete John chapter 20 today and at least maybe half of John chapter 21. As these are the two final chapters, there are many details given here and also there are some things which are debated upon a lot from these two chapters. And so we would go a little slowly. So we may not be able to finish all of John chapter 21, but that's alright. We can take it up next class. So we'll begin for now with John chapter 20. And maybe we can have someone read out verses 1 and 2 and we'll begin our talk. Yeah. In Asha's translation, it just plainly says on Sunday morning, but then you know the original wording is basically on the first day of the week while it was still dark. So for them, the week would begin on Saturday evening because for them, the day always began on an evening. So evening to evening is how they would count all of their days according to their culture. So for them, technically, the first day of the week begins once the Sabbath ends. So the Sabbath day ends on Saturday and Saturday evening onwards is their new day beginning and there's a new week beginning. So early on Sunday morning while it is still dark, you have Mary coming over here to the tomb and we know from the other Gospels that she does not come alone. She comes along with another five or more ladies because it's not very clear how many of them there were totally. But you know, based on all the calculations that are made, either five women or in fact more than that came along and Mary Magdalene was one of them. So they come there as a group and they see that the stone has been removed from the entrance. So now in the culture of those days, if you have a tomb in which you are burying one generation after another of your family, so it's your family tomb and so you would have one very large stone blocking it so that it cannot be easily opened and so that no one can harm the remains of all the corpses and the skeletons which are inside because it's a family thing. So to honour the family, they would make sure that the entrance is well protected. So basically what they would do is they would just in front of the cave, in front of the tomb, they would dig a deep channel. So they would dig a deep channel and they would create a groove over there and then this heavy large stone would be placed inside that groove. So it's not easy to just simply move the stone as you wish. So which is why we see in the other Gospel, the women are discussing among themselves and they're wondering how are we going to move this really hefty stone and moreover they must have heard that a seal has been placed over there so that no one can tamper with it however they wish. So they come over here discussing how they're going to open and we see that it has already been opened. Someone has already rolled the stone away and so Mary comes here and she sees the stone has been removed and in verse 2 it says she goes running back to the disciples and reports about this. She tells them that the tomb is already open and that there is no body inside. Yes Brother Sheyi, if you could go ahead. Yes Pastor, I was just going to ask a question that was the motive of the women going based on the fact that Jesus said he was going to resurrect on the third day or was this something else that he came to do to the body of Jesus Christ. True, now it's not mentioned here in John but then when we look at the other Gospels we see that they have gone over there with spices and with other herbs and things like that according to their custom. So obviously they are going with the intention of doing further honors in showing respect to the dead because that is the way they would do things. Like we had talked last time, for the first one or two years the body would be kept in a separate place where all the moisture inside can evaporate and it can shrivel up and the organs would become dry. So they are actually trying to get that whole process going. So they would be applying different things to the dead body to prepare it for that entire burial process and then at the end of one or two years when that body has become shriveled enough then it would be moved into one of those ossearies, into one of those compartments which are there inside the tomb and another new member of the family would take their place on the table. So it's like that it would go on generation after generation and these are family tombs. So of course here we observed very carefully last time that a fresh new brand new tomb is being used. So there are no other corpses inside, there are no other skeletons inside and Jesus is the only one who has been laid over there and these ladies have now come with the spices and the herbs to perform whatever rituals they need to to prepare the body for its burial process. So no, there is absolutely no anticipation whatsoever that a resurrection has taken place. So she goes back to Peter and the other disciple who is obviously John over here because John does not prefer to name himself and we see her saying they have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have put him and then we move to verses 3 to 10. If we could have someone read out verses 3 to 10. So Peter went out with the other disciple and they were going toward the tomb, both are running together but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first and stooping to look in he saw the linen clothes lying there but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb he saw the linen clothes lying there and the face cloth which had been on Jesus's head not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in and he saw and believed for as yet they did not understand the scripture that he must rise from the dead then the disciples went back to their homes. Yes, so here there's a mention made that when Peter looks inside and yeah Peter goes inside John on the other hand just simply stands near the entrance and they see that the head cloth has been kept separately from the rest of the pieces of linen that would be verse 6 and 7. He saw the strips of linen lying there as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus's head. The cloth was still lying in its place separate from the linen. So it looks like as if all of the linen covering the body have been positioned separately and the head cloth it has been positioned separately. As if things are still in an orderly manner. Now we can make two assumptions from that. We can either say that the whole thing was still spread out as though you know there is a body inside it. Only thing of course there is no body inside it. So it's as we could read this wording as though Jesus has kind of risen out through the clothing without disturbing it at all or we can just simply read it differently where we would say the clothing has still kind of laid out on the slab and not been flung around here and there which would just indicate that no robbers have come inside and I know because if the robbers are planning on robbing the body and they went for some strange reason they do not want to take the linen along they would be stripping the linen. They would be removing all of the linen so you would have the linen scattered all over the place. So we can read it in two ways. We can either read this to mean that no one has come inside and deliberately taken off the linen and carried away the body or we can just simply say it's all very neatly laid out with a headpiece on the top the linen which was used for the body lower down below and it's also orderly as though the body has literally over was inside that linen has literally come out of it without even disturbing the clothing. So we could take it in either sense and now when John wrote out this wording I'm not sure exactly which picture which one of these two pictures he was hoping to convey and the head cloth over here of course is referring to the cloth you know which would be wrapped around the the face basically to hold the joint place because you know once the person passes away they have no longer control over the joint it tends to open up. So just to keep the jaw close they would wrap this cloth around the head and he observes Peter observes that these linen are in their original places and so we can you know we can assume from this that no grave robbers have come and said and disturbed the arrangement. There are some people who say that you know critics who say that Jesus probably had fainted and then he regained conscience and after they had put him in the tomb and that is basically what happened so he never really actually died on the cross is what some skeptics and critics would say but anyone who has actually understood the entire crucifixion process would realize that the crucifixion process is something of so terrible that it is almost impossible for anyone to survive it and even if they survive it they would not have enough strength to just get up and walk off you know like as if nothing has happened and there's this account by Josephus you know one of those early historians he was a first century Jewish historian and he talks about three of his friends who underwent that you know crucifixion process and they came out of it alive but then he says that two of them died even though they were given a lot of medical care only one managed to survive just you know just managed to survive so a person who has undergone the crucifixion process would not just simply be able to get up and walk away so the wrong allegations that are made you know against the crucifixion account they are wrong Jesus definitely did very much die on the cross it was a very much dead person who was laid in the tomb and this dead person comes back to life yeah then and yeah and of course Mary Magdalene sees that there is nobody in the tomb now there is no body over there and she quickly runs to tell about this to the disciples the disciples do not believe which is why they come running to check and see whether what this lady is saying is in fact true or not and there's a comment made in most of the commentaries you know at this point where they point out that the opinion of women was not taken too seriously as though they are incapable of observing things correctly and being able to report things correctly it was just this attitude of their times and so even in the law courts they were never regarded as witnesses you could have a bunch of people you know witnessing an incident taking place but then when the court cases going on only the men would be called as witnesses to do the to offer the testimony because it is generally believe that women probably don't have enough brains to be able to observe things correctly and be able to report things correctly I mean yeah the the status of women was not very high in those days it was only Jesus who kind of regarded them with such respect and always saw to it that he treated them most respectfully this is generally this was generally not the case in those times so it is very very you know significant that in a culture like that in times like that Jesus chooses to make his first appearance to a woman he could have quite easily chosen a respectable man he could quite easily have chosen a respectable Roman to appear to because then everyone would say ha Roman this powerful Roman influential man he was the first one to see Jesus if he is giving the testimony then the testimony must be true it must be correct so Jesus could have chosen any number of people you know to be his first witness but he chooses a lady knowing that in those times the witness of women was not accepted seriously it shows that Jesus viewed women very very differently and he deliberately chooses her to be the very first witness of course when she goes and gives her testimony to the disciples they do not believe okay and then it goes on we go into verses 11 to 13 yeah someone could read out verses 11 to 13 but Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain then they said to her woman why are you weeping yeah can't you please yes she said to them because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him verse 14 now when she has said this she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know where it was Jesus we know that was Jesus okay so first she sees two angels sitting inside the tomb where Jesus body had been lying I know on that slab over there they see she sees these two persons and then when she looks outward where she is standing she also sees Jesus so the two angels are inside and Jesus is standing outside and she sees him and she does not recognize him and then Jesus speaks to her so yeah if we can also have and then and yeah she very clearly refers to Jesus as Lord she says they have taken my Lord away you know so she uses that respectful term and so she sees Jesus standing just behind her and she does not realize that this is Jesus she assumes that it is a gardener so if we could have someone could read out verses 15 to 18 please Jesus said to her woman why are you weeping who are you seeking supposing him to be the gardener she said to him sir if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away Jesus said to her Mary she turned and said to him in a Ramayik Rabboni which means teacher Jesus said to her do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to the father but go to my brothers and say to them I am ascending to my father and your father to my God and your God Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples I have seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her in it yes now regarding this passage you know there are some very negative things which are said again coming from a very I don't know very different mentality because in KJV it says in 1720 you know the translation goes as Jesus say unto her touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my father and in KJV tries to you know to tries to straighten out that translation and make it a little more accurate by saying you know rather than touch the word is more clinging holding on to so which is why even in our NIV you know we have the translation saying do not hold on to me so Jesus was not forbidding her from touching him she he was just simply saying don't go on holding on to me because there is more to be done I now need to go to the father and complete this process this entire process of you know redemption which has been started off I need to complete it so do not hold on to me do not clutch on to me so Jesus is not implying that he's going to be contaminated by being touched by a human being no there's there's no such indication here rather he is using that Greek word over there to say don't go on holding on to me because there's something more very something very important that needs to be done and so that is why all the translations now you know are very careful to use the word do not hold on or do not cling rather than saying do not touch alright and yeah yeah brother Shay go ahead yes I have a question and I have an observation the first question is you touched on the the way they would I say buried dead people in those times and in a way it looked like it's something they learned from Egypt but my question is was Jesus covered up because I'm thinking okay he resurrected what where did he of course the Bible doesn't give us detail but I'm just thinking maybe if you have an idea or based on other sources like what was he wearing what did he wear after resurrection if he was covered up most likely was mummified because that was how that's what the Israelites where they were Egypt and that was what they took out of Egypt and you can see the parallels in the way they bury their dead people the observation I'm just making again is that for Jesus to tell Mary not to touch him sorry not to hold on to him rather like you pointed out it shows that this was a bodily resurrection this was a physical resurrection I just wanted to also point that out so just clarification of my question ma'am thank you yeah now the Egyptian mummification process rather elaborate and I really doubt whether they did it for all the people who died it was only for the royalty I think that they did it and maybe for the nobles and on the aristocrats who could afford the entire procedure because you would have specialists working on that you the average person would not even know how to do that because you know they would make certain cuts in certain portions and remove those organs because others it leads to a lot of decay you know the internal organs would would decay and you have all those gases you know being released and the whole thing the whole cops get puff gets you know puffed up and it loses its shape and a lot of terrible things go on so they would remove all of the internal organs out and and they would talk about how they would remove the brain right I mean they they go in through the nose cavity and they very carefully remove the brain material without cracking the skull because if they crack the skull the face gets de-shaped so that was an elaborate process which went on for like weeks these people did not do any of that but what they did do is that they would wrap the entire corpse in you know linen I'm assuming it white I don't know that they specifically used white colored linen or not but yeah they used linen to wrap it from head to toe so to that extent they followed the egyptian process but they did not meddle with the internal organs and all of that all that it was wrap spices and herbs and things like that around the you know they would they would they would place spices and herbs and all of that to slow down the decay process and even as the decay happens the moisture would be absorbed by these things you know by these spices and herbs so that the you know the desiccation is the word that they use you know with the way the whole thing kind of dries up to aid that whole process of the drying up of the corpse so then they would put those spices herbs and then wrap the linen around that so what happens over here in this case is that it's there in a hurry you know because they want to celebrate the Passover and all of that so they are not able to go through that entire procedure correctly so they just very quickly wrap him in linen and put him off inside and now you know on Sunday morning now they are coming over here to you know maybe so I think maybe their basic idea would have been to remove the linen put those spices and herbs and then rewrap him up you know so that the whole thing is done properly so I think that's the intention with which they now come over here so what would Jesus have been wearing of course they would have removed you know they would have cleaned you know wiped off all the blood and all over there and they probably would have put him put a robe on him I'm not sure and I'm sure for all their dead they would do that you know they would put on some fresh clothes on the corpse before the burial process so yeah it's different from the Egyptian mummification which is a very elaborate ritual this is something more and more brief and also of course like you pointed out she is able to cling on to him because he has a physical body so he's not vapor he's not a ghost he's very much a physical person and that is why she's either holding on to his arm or she's holding on to his feet and she's you know so so happy not able to let go and he says don't cling to me because I have something very important to do and what is that important thing he says I have not yet ascended to the father so this is something that he needs to do but it's interesting to see that he waits immediately after the resurrection he could have just gone away to the father ascended to the father and finished the redemption process but he first wanted to inform them first he wanted to assure them that he's alive and well and there's something so beautiful about this you see now these people are all his family they're not just his disciples and his followers they are his family and you let the family know that you're fine that things are okay you know things are fine so he first wants to give them that assurance that you know I'm back everything is fine it's all right and then after giving them that word of assurance then he goes to the father and so we have this very beautiful wording over here where he's saying go instead to my brothers and tell them I am ascending to my father and your father and to my God and your God and there's so much beauty in these verses you know so they're all one family now and he's saying you know go tell my brothers he could have just simply you know refer to them as disciples or whatever but he says go to my brothers and he's using the word brothers here very specifically because he goes on to say my father and your father indicating that now they are one family and now God is you know because that's what he had told them earlier you know when during in John chapter 15 and you know 16 17 where the discussion was going on there Jesus very clearly says to them he says the you will be loved by the father in the same way he loves me the same way the father loves me he will love you as well and so here Jesus gives the instruction to Mary go tell them this good news you know that I'm alive that I'm well and then talking about my father your father saying all of that then he leaves okay so that is significant now the next verses would be verse 19 onwards so before we actually get into verse 19 let's look at you know the sequence of events because this is where a lot of debate goes on so we're kind of you know delaying this a little bit and we're going to get into some details regarding how exactly what for the sequence of events which took place just so that you know we would have us little more clarity because when we usually do our devotional reading we read these passages differently and we don't really think about the sequence of events you know we're just basically looking for the meat for the main learnings which we can gain and that's an excellent way of going about you know looking at the Bible but then those who also are interested in historical details and the and the order in which the whole thing took place the events and all of that they point out and say oh look look at the number of disparities there are here it says one thing and there in the other gospel it says another thing and it looks like these people have no clue what they are talking about so maybe it's just this whole thing is just a story that they fabricated because they wanted to act as if Jesus has been raised but actually Jesus never did rise from the dead so is what the is the allegation which skeptics make so it kind of helps us to have a clearer picture of what happened first what happened next what was the sequence of events okay so this may take up a little time but I think it should be useful down the line because you know we'll always be studying the gospels and these questions will always arise so it helps if we have a little bit of clarity in our mind on how these events might have proceeded one after the other okay so now if you look at Matthew chapter 28 where it talks about you know the women going to the tomb there it talks about an angel who speaks to the women okay that would be Matthew chapter okay maybe you can just write down these four you know passages so that you can look them up at your leisure later on you have Matthew chapter 28 verses 5 to 8 and then you have Mark 16 2 to 8 then you have Luke chapter 24 verses 1 to 8 and then of course now here you have John 20 so in Matthew 28 it says that the women go over there and then an angel speaks to you know it talks about one angel speaking to the women and he says you know he's no longer here he has risen and it says in verse 8 they left the tomb quickly with the good news and they go back okay to the disciples now we're coming to Mark chapter 16 there it talks about they saw that the stone was rolled away in verse 4 and then Mark 16 verse 5 over there it says they saw a young man sitting at the right wearing a white robe so over here again we seem to have one single person speaking one single angel speaking and again he gives the news saying you know he's no longer here he has risen and so then they leave now we come to Luke chapter 24 in Luke chapter 24 again in verse 2 they see that the stone is rolled away and in verse 4 it says while they were wondering what's going on you know then you have two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing and they say to him he is not here he has risen and yeah then we come to this John chapter 20 so in some places you see two angels being mentioned in some places you have one angel being mentioned kind of makes you wonder what's going on you have a clue in Luke chapter 24 verse 4 okay verses 3 and 4 Luke 24 3 and 4 when they entered they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus while they were perplexed about this behold two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing and then you have the wording so the sequence of events probably is something like this where you have the women going over there to the tomb and when they go over there they do not see the body of Jesus and in some places it says one angel appeared and they and gave the explanation in some places it says the two angels appeared and gave the explanation so I'm kind of wondering you know did the ladies kind of disperse and start searching looking to see whether the body of Jesus is you know has been hidden somewhere else so because they all seem to have had separate encounters and they all come back giving different reports some of them talk about seeing one person some of them talks about seeing two persons and this so I get the idea that they would not just stand there as one group they were kind of moving around you know maybe looking and then they go and they report saying you know the body is missing you would have to look at a few more verses to get this whole sequence you know together but just keep the keep this in mind let's look at Mark chapter 16 verses 9 to 14 where you have more additional details being given and now things kind of you know we start getting a bit clearer so actually if we could have someone read out for us please Mark chapter 16 verses 9 to 14 and I say unto you make to yourselves friends of the with marks mark chapter 16 sorry sorry yes 9 now when Jesus was raised reason early in the first day of the week he appeared first to Mary Magdalene out of whom he had cast seven devils and she went and told them that had been with him as they mourned and wept and they when they had heard that he was alive and had been seen of her believed not after that he appeared in another form unto two of them as they walk and went into the country and they went and told it unto the receipt residue neither believed they them afterward he appeared unto the 11 as they sat at meet and upgraded them with their unbelief and hardness of heart because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen okay so here you it's very clearly pointed out that Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene and then later he appears to the two men who are walking you know on the road to Emmaus and then next he appears to the 11 now all of these events are happening on Sunday itself okay on that first Sunday one after the other these are the appearances so first you have the appearance to Mary and then afterwards the two men who were on the road to Emmaus and then later in the evening Jesus appears to the 11 or rather I should say 10 because only 10 of them are present on that occasion Thomas is not with them so now let's again look at another passage Luke chapter 24 verses 9 to 16 now again here you have some additional details which will kind of help us to make the entire picture clearer so Luke 24 9 to 16 if someone can read out so they rushed back from the tomb to tell his 11 disciples and everyone else what happened it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, the mother of Jesus and several other women who told us what happened but the story sounded like nonsense to men so they didn't believe it however Peter jumped up and ran to the tomb to look stupid he appeared in and saw the empty lion wrapped in legs then he went home again wondering what had happened that same day two of Jesus followers were walking to the village of Emmaus seven miles from Jerusalem as they walked along they were talking about everything that had happened as they talked and discovered the things Jesus himself suddenly came and began walking with them okay so now you know if you put all of this together we see that the ladies go together to the tomb they do not see the body and they're wondering where it is I'm assuming they you know start looking around and these two angels go around informing them you know so maybe they approach the ladies separately or maybe they were two of them together and then one man approaches them and another man goes to you know the other angel goes to speak to the other women don't know exactly what is involved but it looks like they were kind of spread out and then after the angels have told them you know go back and inform the disciples that he is risen now they all come back to tell about this you know and it looks like Mary does not go back immediately with them she seems to be continuing to stand over there outside the tomb and she is weeping because she has not heard what the others have heard I know from the other the angels because it looks like she's alone by herself when this particular incident takes place but we also very clearly know that Jesus that the angels have appeared to the ladies and the ladies have departed know to talk about it so which means she is kind of maybe separated from the rest of them and she's still standing over there weeping and when she looks and she on her own sees the two angels over there and then you know she starts talking to them and then she sees Jesus so the first appearance of Jesus happens you know with her he speaks to her then she quickly goes running and okay okay earlier so sorry if you see in the very beginning she does not see his body and then it says over there she went running back to tell them that the body was not there and then the Peter and John come running to find out whether this is true or not okay but here in Luke it says the women go and inform what they have heard then Peter and comes running in Luke chapter 24 verse 12 so either Peter and John came running to see what happened in the beginning before the angel encounter or Peter and John come running after the angel encounter is finished and the ladies have finished telling the entire story so that we do not know whether Peter and John went running before the ladies spoke to the angels or Peter and John went running after the ladies had finished speaking to the angels okay there's no clarity on that but the rest of the story seems to be that Mary is somehow separated from the other crowds and from the rest from the rest of the ladies and she has a personal encounter with Jesus at this particular point okay so all of these events are taking place on Sunday one after the other and finally in the evening Jesus comes to the room where all these you know disciples are gathered uh yes yes brother Kennedy please go ahead you okay um you have a question it says that you have raised your hand um brother Kennedy otherwise we'll we'll carry on maybe you know he accidentally pressed the thing so okay we move into verse 19 if someone could read out verse 19 can i proceed oh yes yes yeah your voice is coming and going if you could you know start the question again yeah i'm asking whether Jesus died when he was in the tomb he died on the cross because it is you know established they are checking all the three bodies of the people hung on the cross and they break the bones of the other two because they have not yet died but when they come to Jesus body they realize that he's already dead and so they do not break his legs you know to because they want to quicken the process of dying because we a person can hang on that cross for three four days before they actually die but now they're in a hurry because Passover has to be celebrated and so where they the other two robbers who have been hung on the cross their bones are broken to hasten the process of death but when they come to the body of Jesus they see that he's already dead and so they don't bother breaking the bones but just to be on the safe side they pierce on the side with a spear and when they pierce him with a spear you have blood and water coming out you know showing that he's already dead so no he did not die in the tomb he was already dead on the cross where it says you know in one of the chapters that after having finished everything he you know gave up his spirit so the process of death happens on the cross when Jesus decides to give up his spirit he does not die in the tomb later is that in Christology we are taught that Jesus was a hundred percent God hundred percent man does he mean he can die does that see mean God can die because in Christology we are taught that Jesus is a hundred percent God hundred percent man so if you tell us he died on the cross does it mean God can die yes the human part of him which chose to become human it died as our representative you know so which is why it was necessary for God to be Trinity to be triune so that he could you know accomplish this entire thing and so we only catch glimpses of that we do not know all of the details but one thing is for sure you know God did not cease to exist when Jesus died on the cross God was still very much there because God is a triune God he was very much still very much alive and continuing to exist so he he never died God never died but there was one aspect of him which chose to become our representative and die on the cross for us so that aspect of him very much went through a death so did God himself die no he's a triune God and he was alive he continued to be alive and he'll always be alive but this aspect of him where he chose to become a human and take on a human body and live with us and you know suffer along with us that aspect of him yes most definitely died now how do we reconcile this this aspect of him with the triune Godhead which continued to always exist those details are not given in the bible there's no explanation given of how we are supposed to reconcile the humanness of Jesus with the triune God who always existed the details of it are not given but the facts are set out that the human aspect of him with the son who chose to become one of us he did die that fact has been established and God having always been there from beginning to end that also is established how these two facts can be explained that has not been given to us in the bible so those details we do not know yeah yeah thank you yes um so yeah if maybe one of us could read out verses um verse 19 yeah maybe maybe just verse 19 if someone could read out please that sunday the disciples were meeting behind love girls because they were afraid of the jewish leaders suddenly Jesus was standing there among them please be with you he said yeah so um they have uh afraid of the jews of what action the jews may take against them they have already finished uh crucifying their master and lord so now they do not know what they're going to do with the followers so these people are very scared and they have you know closed themselves behind doors and Jesus appears to them um you know by entering through the door i mean he doesn't ask them to open the door he literally comes into the room even though the door is closed and the words he speaks to them is peace be with you so they are very terrified they're very scared but he's speaking peace to them and he says you know you don't do not need to be afraid um and so um they are given the assurance that uh everything is under control and they no longer need to fear because he is with them they were feeling abandoned they were feeling afraid they did not know how things were going to go now onwards now that jesus is no longer there and they are living in this much fear and they are that terrified because they have refused to believe the loving report which Jesus sent them in the morning even before ascending to the father what's the first thing that he does he first wants to assure them give them that that comfort you know tell them that now everything is okay i'm alive he sent them that word but these guys refuse to believe it uh again and you know that it so clearly brings out this in mark which we read mark chapter 16 first you have made come in giving giving the report along with the women they refuse to believe then it says in mark 16 12 the two people on on the road to m most again they give the report and it says over there they did not believe and then uh then it says in verse 14 of mark 16 no mark 16 verse 14 it says then jesus appeared to the 11 and he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal so we see that these people are trembling over here and full of fear not because they were not given the good news it's just that they chose not to believe it and so now jesus appears to them in the room and he says peace be with you why are you scared i get sent you a good report you should have believed it why have you not believed it so peace be with you don't be scared there's nothing to be scared of we'll continue this after the you know after we take our 10 minute break so at 10 o'clock if all of us could rejoin please uh yeah and we have people who have raised their hands we'll deal with that once we come back with from our break at 10 o'clock thank you