The moment that changes everything – John 20, Part 2

Mary Magdalene has been having a difficult morning. What happens next is nothing short of world-changing. 

“Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 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.”

Think with me for a moment about Mary’s morning so far.  Mary had already visited the tomb, found it empty, then she went back to the room where they were staying, and told the disciples.  Now we learn that when Peter and John ran to the tomb, Mary followed them back.  But when Peter and John return to the room, Mary remains at the tomb. 

Makes you wonder if Mary was doing some investigating.  It seems she is more bold, more curious, and more willing to put herself out there.  Perhaps the male disciples are truly more under the microscope because of their patriarchal culture. The Roman and Jewish authorities would be primarily thinking that only the males mattered.  Mary can fly under the radar a bit.

She’s also crying, weeping really.  Maybe just because Jesus’ body is gone.  Maybe her emotion stems from the whole roller coaster of events of the last week.  No doubt this situation is charged with all sorts of feelings.  

And in the middle of her weeping, she finds angels sitting in the tomb!  That would be astounding.  I hardly know what to say about it.  

I do wonder why Peter and John didn’t see the angels.  Maybe it is simply that only after Peter and John leave that the angels show up. 

Meeting angels probably has Mary, who is already crying, feeling even more emotion.  Usually in Scripture when angels appear, people express fear.  We do not read that Mary is fearful, only that she is weeping.  My guess is that you have been in a situation like Mary.  One of those situations when it’s just one thing after the other.  In a short period of a few days, you experience the loss of a loved one, friends who turn out to be betrayers, issues with government authorities.  It’s a lot.

So I wonder if she hears the angels ask, “Why are you crying?” and thinks, “You guys have no idea.”  Or maybe she knew they were angels and thought, “Uh…you guys are angels…how do you not know what has been going here these last few days?”  Obviously, we’re not really sure about Mary’s theology of angels, what she thinks about how much it is possible for angels to know. 

What we do now is this: the angels know that Mary doesn’t need to be crying.  But Mary doesn’t know that yet.  She is forlorn.  And then it happens.  Look at verse 14.

“At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

What a moment. Mary, in the middle of weeping, mourning, confusion, seeing angels!, she turns to hear another person ask her why she is crying.  Thinking about it, it is quite normal for people to ask, “Why are you crying?”  If you don’t know the person crying, it is a way of saying, “Are you okay?”  You want to be helpful. 

Mary answers the question.  She’s crying because the body of her Lord has been moved, and she wants to know where, so she can return it.  Maybe, she thinks, someone has mistakenly moved it.  Maybe the religious leaders have stolen it.  So many maybes.  Maybe this gardener knows.

But this person is no gardener.  This person knows her name.  “Mary.”  At that moment we read,

“She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 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.’ ”

Instantly Mary is aware.  When Jesus says her name, she immediately knows it is him.  The body hasn’t been moved; the body is moving because he is alive, and she hugs him.

This changes everything.  Not just for Mary, but for all people.  Jesus is alive.  How does this change everything?  Check back tomorrow for the next post, as we begin to learn how the resurrection of Jesus changes everything.