John 20:1-23
The Empty Tomb
1Early 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. 2So 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!"
3So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8Finally 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.)
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
10Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13They 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." 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15"Woman," he said, "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."
16Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
17Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
18Mary 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.
Jesus Appears to His Disciples
19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Jesus has just died a long, painful, suffering death on the cross...He was buried by Joseph of Arimathea (Nicodemus helps Joseph, by bringing myrrh and aloes)...Women were first to the tomb the day after His death...Mary Magdalene was among the women at the tomb on the first Easter...
Mary Magdalene is mentioned in all four gospels...This is interesting that the women were first to witness the empty tomb...In Jesus' times the role of women was not the same as man...A woman's testimony was of low regard...Women could not even testify as a legal witness in the Jewish court of law...The women, who came to His tomb, were grieving of His death...They were going through the grieving process...They followed Jesus and loved their teacher...Women's role in first century Israel (as well as the first century world) was very low in the social authority stratum...Why would all the writers have Mary Magdalene and His women followers first to the tomb, instead of men?...It is because it is the truth...
Mary Magdalene saw the stone was removed from the tomb...So she went running to Simon Peter and John, the disciple whom Jesus love...She tells them that someone has taken the LORD out of the tomb and they don't know where the have put Him...Peter, John, and Mary Magdalene run to the tomb to find it empty...John arrives first found strips of linen outside the tomb, but did not go in...Peter arrives and goes in the tomb and finds strips of linen cloth, as well as the burial cloth that was wrapped around Jesus' head...This cloth was found folded up by itself, separate from the linen...Finally John goes inside...John saw and he believed...Peter and John still did not understand for Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead...
Peter and John, scratching their heads, go back to home...They would be wondering, where is His body, or maybe who took it, still not understanding...
Mary stays at the tomb crying...She bends over crying and looks into the tomb...There, now, are two angels sitting where Joseph and Nicodemus laid Jesus...One is sitting, where Jesus' head would have been, and the other was sitting where His feet would have been...The angels ask her, "why are you crying?"...Mary says they have taken my LORD and I do not know where they have put Him... Another figure appears and Mary thinks it is the gardener...He asks "Woman, why are you crying?"...She answers, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him."...Jesus turned to her, and said "Mary."...She turned and yelled, "Rabboni.", which means teacher...Jesus tells here "Do not hold Me, for I have not yet returned to the Father...Go instead to My brothers and tell them, I AM returning to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God."...Mary went to the disciples with the news, "I have seen the LORD."...And she told them that He had said these things to her...
No doubt they would be questioning her testimony with great wonder and hope...But another interesting point...Jesus could have shown Himself first to Peter and John...Yet He lets them leave the tomb and shows Himself first to a woman, Mary of Magdalene...
That evening Jesus appears to the disciples (except for Thomas, who was not there)...The disciples were together thinking, talking, and wondering what has happened...What is happening?...The disciples had their door locked...They were afraid of the Jews...Jesus came and stood among them and said "Peace be with you."...After this He showed them His hands and His sides...His wounds were wounds of glory...The disciples were overjoyed, when they saw the LORD...Again, Jesus said "Peace be with you...As the Father has sent Me, I AM sending you."...Then Jesus breathed on them and He said, "Receive the Holy Spirit...If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."...
His tomb is empty...His body is gone...He is out of the tomb, moving around...Jesus has risen...Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene and then to the disciples...Questions and doubt surrounded Jesus after His death...Even the disciples, and His closest followers, wondered what was happening after His death...They had seen Him do many miracles before He died...Would He do one more, and defeat death?...
The resurrection is very important...It is the most important fact in human history...Without it, St. Paul tells us if the dead are not raised, then Jesus has not been raised...And more than that we are false witnesses, preaching about the resurrection, when it did not happen...And if Jesus is note raised then our faith is futile...It would be that it is only this life to live for...Then we are to be pitied more than all men...But God did raise Jesus from the dead...In Adam we die, but in Jesus we shall live (1 Corinthians 15:13-21)...
The disciples must think and study what has just happened...His disciples soon would understand...His resurrection culminated all His teachings and His life...Jesus appears to them over a period of forty days (Acts 1:3)...Over five hundred people would see Jesus after His death (1 Corinthians 15:6)...The disciples after Jesus' resurrection take Jesus teaching to a new level...The Twelve now understand the Truth...The whole world would learn about Jesus in the next many years...Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away (Matthew 24:35)...