Mary and the Risen Lord Jesus Christ
John 20:11-18
Only John’s Gospel tells us the story of Mary Magdalene meeting Jesus at the empty. I think Mary must have told John about it personally. Everything about this encounter rings true to human nature. A weeping woman lingers by an empty tomb, wondering what has happened to the body of the One she loved. When Jesus suddenly appears, she doesn’t recognize Him. Then when He calls her name she grips His feet so tightly that He has to tell Her to let go. Finally the mourner becomes a missionary, running to tell others that she has seen the Lord.
The background of her story is in verses John 20:1-10. Mary Magdalene first arrived at the tomb very early Sunday morning and discovered that the stone was taken away. Alarmed, she ran to Peter and John and exclaimed (John 20:2), “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” Peter and John immediately ran to the tomb. John got there first, but just looked in. Then Peter charged past John into the tomb and discovered the grave clothes without Jesus’ body. Then John went in, saw, and believed that Jesus was risen (John 20:8). But Peter went away still pondering what had happened (Luke 24:12). However neither man understood yet from the Scriptures that Jesus must rise from the dead (John 20:9). After viewing the empty tomb, both men returned home.
Meanwhile, Mary has returned to the tomb. We pick up her story in John 20:11:
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 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. 13 Then 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.” 14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.
Mary Magdalene is one of at least five different women named “Mary” in the New Testament. She probably came from the village of Magdala on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had cast out seven demons from Mary, setting her free from those evil spirits (Luke 8:2). She became one of a group of women who followed Christ and provided financial support for His ministry (Luke 8:3).
Some have speculated that she was the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-11), or the “sinful woman” who was forgiven much “for she loved much” when she anointed the feet of Jesus in Luke 7:36-50. But the Bible doesn’t identify her with either of those women. This much we know; she is living proof that those whom the Son sets free are free indeed (John 8:36). Having been liberated from demonic bondage, she was determined to follow Jesus.
And she followed Him to the very end. When our Lord hung on the cross, she stood nearby with Mary His mother. She witnessed them take His dead body down from the cross. Mary Magdalene was there sitting opposite the tomb when Joseph laid Jesus’ body inside (Matt. 27:61; Mark 15:47). She had prepared spices and fragrant oils to finish anointing His body for burial (Luke 23:56; Mark 16:1).
Early on Sunday morning, before the sun came up, she and the other women (Mark 16:1) ventured through the darkness to the Garden Tomb (John 20:1). If we piece together the four Gospel accounts of that resurrection day, it seems that Jesus rose from the dead sometime before dawn on Sunday. There was an earthquake and an angel rolled the stone from the tomb (Matt. 28:2). The guards were terrified and knocked unconscious. When the awoke, they fled.
When the women found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty Mary Magdalene rushed off to tell Peter and John (John 20:2). It may have been while she was gone that the other women saw the angels who told them that Jesus was risen from the dead (Matt. 28:5-7). Those women ran with fear (Mark 16:8) and joy to tell the disciples (Matt. 28:8).
Peter and John then arrive at the tomb; see the grave clothes; John believes; and they return home as we saw in John 20:1-10. At that point, Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb. She is confused, bewildered, in shock, frightened and brokenhearted. It has not yet occurred to her that the empty tomb meant that Jesus had risen from the dead.
1. Mary weeps (John 20:11-15)
So we read in John 20:11, “But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb.” John places great emphasis on Mary’s weeping. He mentions it twice in this verse and both the angels (John 20:13) and Jesus (John 20:15) ask her about her weeping. The word for her weeping means to mourn, wail aloud or lament as a sign of pain and grief (BLB).
It is not unusual to find mourners weeping and wailing at the tomb of a loved one who has died. Lazarus’ sister Mary and the Jews with her were weeping at her brother’s tomb in John 11. What is unusual in this case is that the body of Jesus was not in the tomb. If the tomb is empty, why is she still there? If you’ve ever lost a loved one who meant more to you than life itself, you know why she was there. She had loved Jesus in life, now she loved Him in death. She served Jesus in life, now she meant to serve Him in death. She is weeping over an empty tomb! What should have been good news broke her heart! Watching Jesus die that cruel death on the cross was hard enough. But for her, it was the ultimate indignity that someone had taken His body. Her unrestrained grief was immeasurable.
John 20:12 says, when she looked into the tomb, “…she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” Did she recognize them as angels? John tells us they were in white as angels are often described as appearing in white or in garments shining with light (Matt. 28:3-5; Mark 16:5,6; Luke 24:3-7; Acts 1:10) connecting them with heavenly glory and the power of God. Their very presence and position in the tomb is a message and a ministry. The position of the angels is like the two cherubim on the ark of the covenant over the mercy seat described in Exodus 25:17-22—one at the head and one at the feet of where Jesus once laid. The very presence of the angels is proclaiming that Jesus is God in the flesh, who has come out of the Holy of Holies to reveal Himself as the living Lord.
In John 20:13 the angels begin to minister directly to Mary. “Then they said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’” When they ask “Woman, why are you weeping?” the inference is that her tears were not really called for. Yes, they were tears of love, and of sorrow, but they were also ill-founded. She replies, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” In Mary’s mind, this was the darkest moment of her life, and yet her tears were based upon false assumptions: that Jesus was dead; that His body had been stolen; that she would not be able to find His body. If Mary had known the real reason why the tomb was empty, she would not have been crying. Think about what she says, “…they have taken away my Lord…” It’s an ironic complaint. If He is the Lord, no one could take Him anywhere without His consent! God is still sovereign here. Has she forgotten that?
How often have we been like Mary? We are disappointed because, like Mary, we don’t understand the big picture of what God is doing. Evil men seemed to have triumphed. They killed Jesus and now she thinks they have stolen His body. We often suffer needless sorrow because we forget that God is sovereign and that nothing in this world can thwart God’s eternal purpose for our good and for His glory.
Maybe I could ask you today, “Why are you weeping?”
2. Mary Worships (John 20:14-17a)
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
Why didn’t she recognize the Lord? The text doesn’t say but several answers come to mind. First, she was not expecting to see Him. She saw Jesus die and she thought that was final. She expected to find Him laid out in the tomb, not standing before her talking. Secondly, she had been weeping. Her eyes were blurred with tears and she was overcome with grief. Thirdly, Jesus may not have looked exactly the same as He did before His resurrection. He most certainly looked different from the way she saw Him last, from the horrible sight she could not erase from her mind—a badly beaten, bloody figure, who could hardly be recognized for all the abuse His body had taken. But perhaps the main reason was like what happened later that afternoon to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-27). Luke 24:15-16 says that Jesus Himself drew near and went with them, “But their eyes were restrained, so that they did not know Him.”
Perhaps Jesus did not want Mary to recognize Him at first so that He could teach her an important truth. Jesus teaches that truth by asking her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Jesus knew why she was weeping. He knew that the empty tomb caused her great grief. He knew that she was seeking His body. Basically He’s saying, “You are dearly loved, and you have a great Savior; so why do you weep and grieve? This Jesus you say you are seeking, who do you think He is? What kind of Messiah do you seek?” It seems that Jesus means this as a gentle rebuke. As we can see from what Mary says next, she’s focusing far too much on the body of Jesus, on Jesus as a man and not Jesus as God in the flesh. And Jesus is opening her eyes and her heart up to that.
Mary’s grief still blinds her to the truth, but she nevertheless seems to discern that this “gardener” holds the key to her quest for the Lord’s body. And it’s a bit ironic that Mary thinks this, because in a way He is the great gardener. Jesus has just shown Himself to be the true better Adam who is everything Adam failed to be. Adam disobeyed God’s will in a garden, and Jesus perfectly obeyed and submitted Himself to God’s will in a garden.
She pleads with Him (John 20:15), “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him.” Jesus answered with but one word (John 20:16), “Mary.” Then “She turned and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’ (which is to say, Teacher).” For Mary, seeing was not believing, but hearing was. Would you not love to have heard this one word just the way Mary did? That one word was spoken in the loving voice she knew so well. What love, what mercy, what grace, what healing was conveyed by this one word—“Mary.” I cannot help but recall the words of our Lord, spoken earlier in John 10:
1 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” … 27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:1-5, 27-28).
When the voice of the shepherd called Mary by name, she knew His voice. Immediately Mary recognized that it was her Lord, and called Him “Rabboni” (or teacher). We know from our Lord’s words that Mary has already locked Him in her grasp. The fact that Mary was clinging to Jesus shows that He was not a phantom. He was raised bodily from the dead. He would ascend bodily into heaven, and according to the scriptures He will return bodily in power and glory. But it is as though she intended to keep holding on to Him, so that He would never leave her again. And it is because of this that Jesus responds (John 20:17), “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father.” Merrill Tenney explains,
He was not refusing to be touched but was making clear that she did not need to detain him, for he had not yet ascended to the Father. He planned to remain with the disciples for a little while; she need not fear that he would vanish immediately. Ultimately he would return to God, and he urged her to tell the disciples that he would do so. (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, ed. by Frank Gaebelein [Zondervan], 9:191)
Mary’s problem was not that she sought Jesus or clung to Jesus, but that she was still thinking of Him from an earthly, physical point of view. Jesus was signaling a new relationship with Mary and with His disciples: “After I ascend, you will have My presence spiritually, but not physically.” He didn’t leave the grave to stay with them on earth, but so that He could ascend to the Father where He would intercede for them and ask the Father to send the Holy Spirit.
So we have seen first Mary weeps and then Mary worships. Thirdly we see,
3. Mary Witnesses (John 20:17b-18)
After telling Mary that she need not cling to Him the way she is because He has not yet ascended, in John 20:17b He commissions her saying, “but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” Now this is truly amazing. For the very first time in this Gospel Jesus calls His disciples His brothers. Although Jesus has a unique relationship with the Father (He calls Him “My Father”), God is now also “your Father” and “your God.”
How did we become children of God and brothers and sisters of Christ? The writer of Hebrews says,
10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren, (Heb. 2:10-11)
By Christ’s death and resurrection we have been placed in Christ through believing in Him. John 1:12 says, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.” This is what it means to be a Christian. Because of what Christ has done in His death and resurrection, His Father is your Father, Christ’s God is your God. This is the message Jesus gives Mary to tell.
In John 20:18 she does just that, “Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.” Mary was first at the tomb, first to see the risen Lord Jesus Christ, first to speak with Him, and first to share that good news with others. Our Lord appeared to her first. Mary Magdalene will never be one of the apostles; she will never write a New Testament book; she will never become a great church leader or preacher. Nevertheless, this woman was privileged to be the first to see and to tell the good news. God does not usually call and use greatly those who are the greatest and most powerful, but those who are weakest and most in need. Is He calling you? O weak and needy believer? Can you simply say, like Mary, “I have seen the Lord”?
If you have heard His voice for the first time today calling you to believe, to trust in His death for the forgiveness of your sins and His resurrection to give you life, don’t hesitate. Turn from your sin and selfishness. Turn from your life of sorrow. Turn to the risen Jesus, the living Lord. Believe today and be saved (Romans 10:9-10), “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”
Like Mary, your weeping will be turned to worship which will result in witnessing to others.
