Easter Resurrection - Mary Magdalene & the empty tomb

John 20:1-18 

This must be one of the most intense scenes in the whole Bible

Last Easter we considered the extraordinary chain of events which lead up to our Lord’s Crucifixion. This Easter I thought we would consider awe inspiring detail of the discovery of Our Lord’s resurrection to help us to be actually with Mary in the garden of the tomb

From his brutal, criminal crucifixion our Lord went to a royal burial. Normally executed criminals were not buried but left in the open to be devoured by vultures.

However once Joseph of Arimathea had requested Jesus’s body, he laid Him in his own freshly cut tomb. He was joined by Nicodemus. Its worth remembering that both were members of the Sanhedrin - the very council which had conspired to convict Jesus

Joseph’s tomb was in a garden conveniently close to Golgotha. This was important as the Sabbath was approaching and would have delayed the burial

Nicodemus brought 75 pounds of (34 kg) of embalming spices – enough for a king. Incidentally they included a myrrh/aloe. Myrrh was one of the gifts of the wise men.

They wrapped Our Lord’s body in the traditional grave clothes of strips of linen with a cloth for his head and face – pouring the spices in as they went.

The tomb must have had an extraordinary aromatic !

Mary Magdalene made two trips to the Garden Tomb on that Sunday The first in sadness and a second which ended in great joy. She found the stone rolled away from the entrance of the tomb. It was heavy and required two men to remove it – or divine intervention.

After the first visit Mary returned and ran to tell Simon Peter and John

2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 

Interestingly ‘the other is universally thought to be John’ who would have been very young and probably athletic at this time. He easily out ran Peter who would have been older and perhaps a little portly?

5 The other disciple (John) bent over and looked into the tomb and at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 

Perhaps he was a little respectful or even afraid to go in. However, Peter had no such reservations and he just plunged in - true to form!                                

He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen.

This suggested that Our Lord simply disappeared from the grave wrappings leaving them where they were. (Unlike those of Lazarus who when He raised from the dead had to be released from his grave clothes)

Finally the other disciple John, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside … . 9 … 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.                                                                                                    

11 Now Mary stayed standing outside the tomb weeping. 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

Perhaps Mary was in a more reflective or spiritual mood at that time? It was she who saw the vision of the angels and then of Jesus himself.

13 The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have laid 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?

(A 'woman' in Aramaic (Gynai) is wife / partner)

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”).

This scene is of course so intense partly because of what Mary Magdalene had just been through the 36 hours before – of having to watch the love and the focus of her life be crucified in front of her for six hours!

Now she had seen her Lord rise from the dead – as He always said he would. Her joy must have been unbounded – unimaginable

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

As Mark Twain said fact is always stranger than fiction

Never was a truer truth told

In Jesus’s name

Amen

 

 

John 20:1-18  New International Version

The Empty Tomb

20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

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.