John 20:1 – 20:18
This morning we begin a series that will conclude my five-year study in the gospel of John. We will examine the last two chapters, which give John’s version of the resurrection and subsequent appearances of Jesus.
The passion of Jesus was unjust and brutal. The Son of God died a violent criminal death in agony. Working my way through this material caused me to ponder this question: How could God watch his son brutally tortured and killed? As a parent, that seems totally incomprehensible to me. I could not stand by if I had power to prevent the death of my own child. And yet God the Father allowed that to happen.
One answer to this question is that God loves us so deeply he allowed his son to die for our salvation. But another thought struck me: the Father knew there was going to be a resurrection. He knew his son would live even if he died. He knew there was more to the story. The gospel proclaims the fact that God raised Jesus from the dead. The Father and the Son live in the economy of resurrection life, and they invite us to do the same.
The Passion narratives are fairly integrated and compatible. Perhaps that is because the details had to occur in a certain order. But that is not true of the resurrection accounts. Each gospel has its own variation and particular emphasis. A number of the differences or discrepancies are trivial. In some cases we have too little information. Basically, each of the resurrection stories stands more or less on its own. John, in contrast to the Synoptic gospels, is quite tame. There are no dazzling apparitions, earthquakes, fear or amazement. His account is calm and unspectacular. It is almost as if he is telling his resurrection story in a whisper.
In John 20, Jesus appears to three sets of people – Mary, the disciples, and Thomas. Each is engulfed in his or her own human emotion: Mary is overwrought with grief; the disciples are paralyzed by fear; Thomas is confused with doubt. The risen Christ appears to each in order to transform them into the economy of resurrection. John’s point is to bring the disciples and us into a new relationship with him, a relationship that death cannot destroy. Will we too be transformed by the resurrection? Today we will focus primarily on the wonderful story of Mary.
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” (John 20:1-2 TNIV)
The story begins with Mary Magdalene arriving at the tomb. A couple of nights have passed since the crucifixion. The disciples and the women present are distraught. They are shocked, disillusioned, and full of grief and fear. The phrase “the first day of the week” appears in all four gospels. One might expect to read “the third day after the crucifixion.” But the gospel writers present the resurrection as something new. It’s the dawning of a new day, the first day of a new order. Sabbath has passed and now it is the eighth day.
Only John mentions that it was still dark when Mary arrived at the tomb. He seems to still be using the light/dark imagery he uses throughout the gospel. The darkness of the hour is a symbol for the darkness that still envelops Mary and the disciples. They are confused, they are in the dark, and they can’t yet see what has happened. Jesus said, ““I have come as Light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me will not remain in darkness” (John 12:46). That will soon happen for the disciples and Mary. Just as the light grows brighter in the early dawn, so the disciples will be illuminated to the reality of the resurrection.
Amazingly, the first person mentioned is Mary. If John were making up a story to convince people that Jesus was raised from the dead, he would not have started with Mary, since the testimony of a woman was not admissible in a Jewish court. But she appears at the foot of the cross in this gospel and here she takes center stage, as she does in all four resurrection stories. In each gospel Mary is mentioned first since she was the first person to see the resurrected Jesus.
Stories about women are a highlight of the gospels. Already in John we have read of a Samaritan woman, a woman caught in adultery, and Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus. Women seem to have a more intuitive, sensitive relationship to God. They are more willing to abandon themselves completely to him. God delights in choosing what the world would deem foolish and weak.
Here Mary alone is named, while the other gospels mention several women. Perhaps she was alone on her first trip but returned later with the other women; or perhaps John mentions only her by name since the “we” in verse 2 could refer to the whole group. The women perhaps bring more spices, to weep and pray, or just because there is nowhere else to go.
Mary sees the stone and assumes that someone has stolen the body. Grave robbery was not uncommon; eventually it was made a capital crime by Claudius (AD 41-54). One can imagine the jolt that rippled through her body. Mary runs to tell Peter and John (the beloved disciple) what she has seen.
So Peter and the other disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in. And so Simon Peter also came, following him, and entered the tomb; and he saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered, and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. (20:3-9)
Upon hearing from Mary, Peter and the other disciple take off running for the tomb. They are wondering what is going on. They have just experienced the most painful days of their lives and now this: someone has stolen the body. Surely the other disciple is John, the beloved disciple. John runs ahead of Peter. Some suggest this is significant, but John is just telling us what happened. John is probably younger and swifter. Imagine Peter’s state of mind and heart. He had just denied the Lord, witnessed his death, and sat around in despair for two days. He is feeling guilt and remorse. How could things possibly get worse?
John looks into the tomb and sees the linen wrappings but does not enter. Peter catches up and, true to his impetuous nature, bolts into the tomb. He not only sees the wrappings but also the headpiece off by itself. Their sleep-deprived minds are foggy, but they begin to focus. If someone had stolen the body, they would not have left expensive linens lying there, neatly rolled up. They remember the raising of Lazarus and how someone had to unwrap him. But there was no one there to unwrap Jesus.
John enters the tomb, and he sees and believes. Even at this point the disciples were in the dark. They didn’t understand the Scripture that Jesus had to be raised from the dead. Perhaps the reference is to all the Scripture. But Hosea 6:2 catches our attention:
“Come, let us return to the Lord.
For He has torn us, but He will heal us;
He has wounded us, but He will bandage us.
He will revive us after two days;
He will raise us up on the third day,
That we may live before Him.
So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord.
His going forth is as certain as the dawn;
And He will come to us like the rain,
Like the spring rain watering the earth.” (Hosea 6:1-3)
Notice that the word “see” is used four times in our text (verses 1, 5, 6, 8). Three different Greek words are used, but John uses different words synonymously in several places. He says that Mary, John, and Peter “see.”
John sees and believes. “Believe” is used 98 times in this gospel, always as a verb. This is the point of John’s gospel. John had not seen the resurrected Jesus, but began to believe based on the empty tomb and the linen wrappings. He keeps these convictions to himself, thinking it best to remain silent until he has further evidence. He does not say what Peter was thinking. Luke records that Peter went away wondering what had happened.
The sight of an empty tomb would have been remarkable. It had never happened before or since. I have lost several family members, so I know that the day of the funeral is always tough. It is filled with both sadness and wonderful memories. The next day there is the trip to the grave site. I could never have envisioned coming to the cemetery and seeing a hole in the ground.
The empty tomb is crucial to the story. It supports the fact that Jesus was raised bodily. It is evidence. The witness of two men is admissible in a Jewish court. This is history. The resurrection of Jesus happened. “No anti-Christian writer of the first two centuries seems to have denied that the tomb was empty.”1
The empty tomb and the resurrection is the fact upon which the faith of early believers was based. This is what changed the world. The atoning sacrifice is not enough. There has to be a resurrection. The resurrection proved that Jesus was vindicated by God and therefore was the Jewish Messiah. Easter, not Christmas, is the greatest day of celebration for a Christian. John saw and believed. And for centuries people have believed in his witness and the witness of those who had seen the risen Lord. It is possible to believe without having seen. But it is also possible to see and not believe or to hear the evidence and not believe. The empty tomb forces every person to make a decision.
The empty tomb also means that death and suffering are not king. The empty tomb means the power of the grave is nullified, it is empty and void. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1Cor 15:55). The economy of death is totally eclipsed by the economy of resurrection. Resurrection is not a bailout program. It is not an attempt to salvage the human condition as it is. It is a replacement program, creating a new humanity.
This truth is what allowed the early Christians to live boldly and confidently without the fear of death. And it works the same way for us. We no longer have to live in fear, seeking to avoid suffering and dying. We live in the economy of resurrection. God raised Jesus. God brings life out of death. God is bigger than our difficulties and sufferings. Our ultimate hope is based on an empty tomb.
For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, much of our fleeting lives is not passing but lasting, not dying but coming to life, not temporary but eternal. Amid the fragility of our lives, we have wonderful reason to hope. … Hope rather has to do with God. We have hope and joy in our faith because we believe that, while the world in which we live is shrouded in darkness, God has overcome the world. …The basis of our hope has to do with the One who is stronger than life and suffering.2
So the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” (20:10-13)
Peter and John return home, but Mary comes back to the tomb. We are not told the reason. But she is weeping, still engulfed in grief, still thinking that someone had stolen the body.
When Mary bends down and looks into the tomb, like John in verse 5, she “sees” two angels in white. The other gospels also mention the appearance of at least one angel. The angels capture Mary’s attention, not the grave clothes. The white garments are symbols for visitors from the heavenly realms. “John’s point is that the empty tomb cannot be explained by appealing to grave robbers; this is nothing less than the invasion of God’s power.”3
The angels ask, “Why are you weeping?” They weren’t seeking information but offering a reproof. By this time Mary should not have been crying but rejoicing.
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom 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 Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.” (20:14-18)
What an amazing scene! It is without parallel in the Synoptic gospels. Numerous artists have depicted this encounter between Jesus and Mary, and many of these works are entitled “Don’t touch me.”
Mary senses someone else in the tomb. She turns and sees Jesus, but she doesn’t know who it is. She thinks it might be the gardener. On other occasions the disciples didn’t recognize Jesus either. On the one hand Jesus’ body can be touched: it bears the marks of his wounds; he cooks and eats fish. On the other hand, Jesus’ body rose through grave clothes, enters locked rooms, and at times is not recognized.
What we are led to understand is that Jesus had a different body, a resurrection body, different from his earthly body. The Jews believed in the resurrection of the body, but they believed that this would happen at some time in the future. For Jesus to appear in a resurrection body to the disciples would have been a great surprise, and one of the reasons why they had a difficult time grasping what was taking place.
Jesus addresses Mary exactly like the angels did: “Woman, why are you weeping?” Again, this is a mild rebuke. And then he asks, “Whom do you seek?” Perhaps this is an invitation to reflect on the kind of Messiah she was expecting. She was devoted to Jesus, but perhaps her estimate of him was far too small.
Mary addresses Jesus as “Lord” (Sir) out of respect, not as a confession of faith. She seems to want to find the body so she can give it a proper burial. When Jesus speaks her name, she recognizes him. We recall the passage about the good shepherd in chapter 10. Jesus calls his own sheep by name and they follow because they know his voice (10:3-4).
Apparently Mary had fallen to her knees and was grasping Jesus’ feet. Jesus commands Mary to let go of him. He gives her a message for the disciples and she leaves to deliver it. The passage begins with Mary seeing the stone and ends with her seeing the Lord. Her full name brackets the text.
The significance of this scene hinges on the command of Jesus: “Stop clinging to me.” Why is Mary told not to touch him, when Thomas is invited to do just that later in the chapter?
The verb tense is present, which means she is stop what she is doing –– holding or clinging onto him. Jesus indicates the reason for her to stop: He has not yet ascended, but he is going to soon. He seems to say, “Stop crying and let go. You have work to do.”
Perhaps Jesus is telling Mary that he isn’t going anywhere yet. But it is more significant than that. Mary is instructed to let go, to let go of the earthly Jesus she has known, to let go of an earthly Messiah. She can’t hold onto what she has known of him in the past. Jesus had been with her physically. Now all this must change. Her relationship with Jesus will now be different because of the resurrection. It won’t be the old relationship of teacher and follower. They can’t continue to hang out together. He must ascend to the Father and send the Spirit.
Like Mary, we too have to let go. We must let go of our earthly expectations, let go of what we want Jesus to be here and now. Jesus has ascended to the Father. He is no longer present in body. His kingdom is not of this world, as he told Pilate. Our act of believing leads us to a new relationship. We now “see” our life of faith through a different lens. If we use the old lens we see a gardener. The new lens allows us to see the new creation.
This is what Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians: “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come” (5:16-17) .
This truth affects every area of our life. The reality is that we hold on tight to this world and cling to Jesus to make the world what we want it to be. “Our belief that we should grasp tightly what we need provides one of the great sources of our suffering.”4 When we hold on tightly, we live controlled by our fears and insecurities. When life turns out different than we expect or want, we are controlled by disappointment.
Believing in the resurrection invites us into a life of faith in which we are not in control. But when we let go we are no longer held in the clutches of fears and insecurities. Our grief and weeping are transformed into a life of mission and purpose and freedom in the new creation. “… letting go of possessions and plans and people allows us to enter, for all its risks, a life of new, unexpected freedom.”5
Trapeze artists are a good illustration of this truth. The flyers have to let go of the bar, hang in mid air, and trust that they will land safe and secure in the hands of the catcher. “Before they can be caught they must let go. They must brave the emptiness of space. Living with this kind of willingness to let go is one of the greatest challenges we face.”6
This is a challenge for all of us. We have a hard time letting go, hanging in mid-air, and believing that God will catch us. We have a hard time letting go of family, children, dreams, relationships or people that we lose along the way. We have a hard time letting go of resentments, anger, and disappointments. But Jesus says to us, “Stop clinging. Join me in resurrection.” If we do this, we will experience a life that is superior to the life we wanted. The resurrection of Jesus urges us into a life, from holding tight to letting go, to see life through the lens of a new creation and enter it with joy.
Notes:
1. Lesslie Newbigin, The Light Has Come (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1982), 262.
2. Henri Nouwen, Turn My Mourning Into Dancing (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2001), 48, 52, 53.
3. D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans), 640.
4. Nouwen, Turn My Mourning Into Dancing, 26.
5. Nouwen, Turn My Mourning Into Dancing, 25.
6. Nouwen, Turn My Mourning Into Dancing, 25.
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