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John 14:19-20 THE PROMISE OF SEEING THE RISEN SAVIOR

Introduction:
	
	In our text last Sunday Jesus promised the disciples
that God the Father would send them another Comforter in His
stead.  In our text today He promises them that they will
see Him again after His resurrection.  The unsaved world
would not see Him, but His disciples would.

I.  The world not to see Jesus after His resurrection

	V. 19, "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no
more..."  The time for the crucifixion of Jesus was very
close at hand.  It would take place in a matter of hours ---
less than twenty-four hours.  Jesus and His disciples had
already observed the Passover Supper.  At the beginning of
that meal Jesus washed the feet of His disciples.  Then they
ate the Supper together.
	About the close of the Passover meal Judas Iscariot left
and went out to betray Jesus into the hands of the Jewish
leaders.  Jesus had been in the temple daily right in the
midst of His enemies, but they did not dare to lay hands on
Jesus there because Jesus had been very popular with the
common people.  The Jewish leaders were afraid to touch Him
in public.
	Then when Jesus would leave the temple at the close of
the day, He would disappear into the great masses of people
who filled Jerusalem and all the surrounding villages at the
Passover season.  It was impossible for the Jewish leaders
to follow Him in those crowds so that they could arrest Him
out away from the crowds.
	But now Judas Iscariot was on his way to them and would
offer to lead them to Jesus at an isolated spot away from
the crowds of people where they could arrest Him without
interference from the crowds.  Judas knew that Jesus would
stop at the Garden of Gethsemene on His way to the village
of Bethany.  Gethsemene was located on Mt.  Olives near the
village of Bethany.  It was there that Judas would lead
those would go out to arrest Jesus.
	Jesus and the other disciples remained for a short while
in Jerusalem after Judas left and Jesus instituted the
Lord's Supper.  Later in the night He would be arrested.  He
would be brought back to Jerusalem for trial.  In the next
daylight period He would be crucified.
	Once Jesus was crucified and His body buried, the public
at large would not see Jesus any more until Jesus returns to
earth at the end of the age.  All men will, of course, see
Jesus in judgment.  The saved will be judged by Him at the
Judgment Seat of Christ and the unsaved will be judged by
Him at the Great White Throne Judgment.
	But what Jesus is talking about in this verse is that
the public would not see  Him in that period of time between
His crucifixion and His resurrection.  They would not see
Him even after He arose from the grave.  They could see the
empty tomb, but they would not see Jesus.

II.  The disciples to see Jesus after the resurrection

	(V. 19), "...but ye see me..."  In contrast to the
general public who would not be allowed to see Jesus after
His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples that they would
see Him.  That is, they would see Him after He was
resurrected.  There would be three days in which His body
would lay in the grave and they would not see Him.  But
after three days and three nights He would come forth from
the grave they would see Him.
	The three women, the three Marys, would be the first to
see Him.  They would go to the tomb very early on Sunday
morning for the purpose of anointing His body.  Instead,
they would find the tomb empty and they would see Jesus in
the garden and they would get to talk with Him.  Jesus would
send a message by them to the disciples that He has risen
and Peter and John would rush out to the tomb and would also
see Him and talk with Him.  Later when a group of disciples
were gathered together inside a locked building, Jesus would
appear in their midst without anybody unlocking the door to
let Him in.  He would make several other appearances to His
disciples.  Later at Galilee over 500 of His disciples would
see Him at one time.
	His last appearance to them would be out at Mt. Olives
where in full view of them He would rise up into the air and
go away into the heavens.  They would even see two angels
who would inform them that this same Jesus would come back
to this earth in like manner as He had gone away.  So at the
time that Jesus spoke the words of our text, the world, the
public, would see Jesus only for a few hours longer, but the
disciples had the promise that they would see Him again
after He has come forth from the grave.

III.  His resurrection the basis of the Christian's hope

	It is in view of His resurrection that Jesus makes this
next statement in the later part of this verse.  (V. 19),
"...because I live, ye shall live also."  The resurrection
of Jesus from the dead is the basis for the Christian's hope
of his own resurrection.
	Death is a commonly known fact.  The time had not come
for those disciples to die, but there was no doubt in their
minds that they would die.  This is true with us.  We have
not yet died.  We are still living, breathing human beings.
But the time of death for all of us is almost a certain
thing.  The only thing that could prevent our death would be
for the Lord to come so that we would be caught up to meet
Him in the air without having to die.  The Scriptures
declare that it is appointed unto all men once to die and
after that the judgment, Heb. 9:27.
	There is no chance that medical science will make such
great advances that any of us will live forever in our flesh
and blood bodies.  There is no hope that science will make
such advances that scientists will be able to raise our
bodies back to life again.  There is no hope that scientists
will discovered some means by which they can bring us back
to life again.
	The Scriptures speak of two resurrections that are ahead
for mankind.  In Scripture one is the resurrection of the
just and the other is the resurrection of the unjust.  The
only way that any human being -- man, woman, boy or girl --
can be in the resurrection of the just is to trust in Jesus
Christ for the salvation of the soul.
	It is because Jesus would arise from the grave that
those disciples could have the assurance they, too, would be
raised from the grave and would live forever in glory with
the Lord.  It is also our hope of being in the resurrection
of the just.  It is our only hope, but it is a sure hope.

IV.  Some things which the disciples would know after they
	see the resurrected Jesus

	V. 20, "At that day ye shall know that I am in my
Father..."  The disciples would see Jesus again after His
resurrection from the grave.  When that time would come and
they would stand face to face with Jesus and they would know
for certain that Jesus had arisen from the grave that they
would also know for certain that Jesus is a part of the
Godhead.
	They already believed Him to be the Son of God.  They
already believed that God the Father had sent Him and
authorized His ministry.  They already believed that Jesus
is the Christ of God, the Savior of men.  But after they had
witnessed His death on the cross, and after they had
witnessed the fact that He has risen and stands before them
alive after Thomas has been invited to thrust his hand into
the hole in the side of Jesus then they would know for
certain that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  They
would l know that He is a member of the Godhead, the Savior
of the world.  They would no longer just believe these
things to be true; they would know for certain that they are
true.
	(20), "...and ye in me, and I in you."  This statement
can be understood only in light of the other Comforter which
Jesus had promised that God the Father would send.  It is
through the work of the Holy Spirit that the believer is in
Jesus Christ.  It is also through the work of the Holy
Spirit that the believer is in Christ.  They could hear and
believe this to be true even now, because Jesus said that it
is true.  But if, by chance, Jesus should never arise from
the grave, they would have reason to doubt that He is the
Christ and that the things He had told them are true.  But
when the time would come that they would see Jesus arisen
from the grave, they would know for certain that He is the
Christ, that He is in the Father as He said, that they are
in Him, as He said, and that Jesus is in them, as Jesus
said.
	Seeing Jesus after the resurrection would give the
disciples a tremendous boost.  It would lift their spirits.
It would challenge them to go forth to a lost and dying
world and tell them about Jesus Christ the Son of God who
came to this world and died on the cross to save lost
sinners.  It would challenge them to live their lives in
obedience to His teachings.

V.  Some observations that we may make

	But looking back upon it now, we can see that the time
would come when even the disciples would not see Jesus.  At
least they would not be able to see His human body.  After
He would rise up in the air and go away from Mt.  Olives
they would see Him no more until they themselves would die
and also go away.  But even though they would not see Him,
yet they still had that consolation that because He lives
they will live also.  They would live out their whole lives
on earth without seeing Him again with their eyes, but they
would see Him every day with the eyes of faith.  They would
know in their hearts that Jesus lives.  They would know in
their hearts that they serve a living Savior.  Furthermore
they would know in their hearts that when they breath their
last breath and leave this old world behind, they would go
into the Paradise of God and there they would once again see
the risen Savior.
	Also with the eye of faith they would be able to look
ahead to the time when Jesus Christ, would call their own
bodies from the grave and they would see Him once again with
their physical eyes.  They will see Him as they gather
around Him somewhere up in outer space.  They will see Him
as He rides a white horse and comes on down to the earth and
defeats the armies of the Anti-christ.  They will see Him as
He sits upon the throne in Jerusalem and rules the world for
a thousand years.  After the millennium is over they will
see Him as He sits upon the throne of God in the Holy City
New Jerusalem.  They will make frequent visits to that city
throughout all eternity and when they do, the highlight of
their visit will be seeing Jesus on His throne.  In fact,
the highlight of all eternity will be their privilege of
seeing Jesus and bowing before His throne and worshipping
Him who died on the cross that they might be saved.
	Even the unsaved will see Jesus in the end-time events,
but it will not be pleasant.  The Bible declares that every
eye shall see Him and that every knee will bow before Him.
The unsaved will see Him at the White Throne Judgment.  I do
not know if they will see the scar in His side where the
spear pierced His side, but they will see also the nail
prints in His hands.  And since they will see the nail
prints in His hands I assume that they will see the nail
prints in His feet and the thorn prints in His brow.  They
will be able to see how much Jesus loved them and how much
He suffered for them that they might be saved.
	In that day there will not be any doubt in their minds.
in that day whether or not there is a God.  There will be no
doubts as to whether of not Jesus is Deity God.  There will
be no doubt as to whether or not He is the Christ.  The
number one question that will plague their minds in that day
is: "Why, oh why did I not turn to Jesus and place my faith
in Him and be saved when I had a chance?"
	The number one question in the minds of us Christians
will be, "Why, oh why did I not give my best to Jesus when I
had a chance?"
	There is one more thing I want to call to your attention
before I call for our musicians to come and lead us in an
invitation hymn.  I want to point out to you that we
Christians are somewhat in the same boat as the unsaved were
right after Jesus arose from the grave.  Jesus had arisen
from the grave, but those who were unsaved did not have the
privilege of seeing Him.  Even though we are saved, we have
not yet had the privilege of seeing Him, except by the eye
of faith.
	Yet in our hearts and minds, we are just as certain that
He did come forth from the grave than we would have been if
we had been there to see Him.  We have the very word of God
to confirm that He is risen.  We know He arose from the
grave because the very word of God tells us that He did.
And with the eye of faith even now we can look upon His
face.
	But even though we have never seen Him with our eyes, we
have a great advantage all over those who are unsaved.  When
the time will come when we will see our Lord face to face
and it will be on friendly terms.  Jesus will not say those
dreaded words to us found in Matthew 25:41.  We will not
hear Him say, "Depart from me ye cursed, into everlasting
fire, prepared for the devil and his angels."  Instead we
will hear Him welcome us into His blessed kingdom.

Conclusion:

	Who will come today and place their faith in Jesus
Christ for salvation?  What saved person will come and seek
a closer relationship with Jesus Christ?  What Christian
wished to come and unite with our church?