Scripture: John 20:1-18
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 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.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Questions
- Why Does Mary linger at the Tomb?
Background
Related Scriptures: John 10:1-18; Acts 10:34–43
Gregory the Great: Mary Magdalene, who had been a sinner in the city, loved the Truth and so washed away with her tears the stains of wickedness. Her sins had kept her cold, but afterward she burned with an irresistible love.… When even the disciples departed from the sepulcher, she did not depart. She looked for him whom she had not found.… But it is not enough for a lover to have looked once, because the force of love intensifies the effort of the search. She looked for him a first time and found nothing. She persevered in seeking, and that is why she found him. As her unfulfilled desires increased, they took possession of what they found. … Holy desires, as I have told you before, increase by delay in their fulfillment. If delay causes them to fail, they were not desires.… This was Mary’s kind of love as she turned a second time to the sepulcher she had already looked into. Let us see the result of her search, which had been redoubled by the power of love.[1]
Reflection
Reading John’s Gospel I am struck by the differences between this account of the Resurrection and those in Matthew, Mark, and Luke. The other three Gospels speak about a group of women going to the tomb, John only mentions Mary. The others have the angels provide a message to the women for the disciples, in John Mary encounters Jesus himself. In the other Gospels the disciples seem hesitant to believe, in John they readily accept Mary’s words and rush to the tomb and believe. Tome John’s account reads like a first-hand account about an individual while the other accounts seem to focus on the group. These accounts differ but they are not irreconcilable, they simply promote different stories for different reasons. And when we respect the different stories, we can come away with a deep appreciation for them and a deepened desire for relationship with the risen Jesus. These stories are not contradictions they are ways of highlighting different elements of the encounters the early Christians had with the risen Jesus.
John’s retelling of the story omits the group of women and embalming spices and instead focuses on Mary’s grief and love for Jesus. Not that the group or their duty is unimportant but because when he focuses on Mary alone we can see how Jesus’ death impacted Jesus’ followers personally. It is Mary’s love that compels her to visit the grave. It is not simply a duty that compels her to visit it is her desire to be close to Jesus much like how we visit the graves of loved ones. John does this to help us understand what it means to be a disciple, Mary’s love for Jesus is so great that she risks being identified with him after he has been condemned for treason. Being a disciple of Jesus is about identifying with him when it is difficult. It is Mary’s love that causes her to linger by the tomb when the others had gone away. It is in this level of devotion that Mary sets herself apart. She remains at the grave when all others are gone. And it is because of her devotion that Jesus himself appears to her first. Jesus rewards the diligence Mary has shown.
What I love about this is that Mary does not recognize Jesus until he speaks this echoes back to Jesus’ words that he is the good shepherd and “the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” (John 10:1-18). Further it is the disciple who Jesus loves who enters the tomb sees the folding burial shroud and leaves believing before he saw (cf John 20:29). John is trying to highlight that those who seek Jesus find Jesus. It might be tempting to think that Jesus was just playing favorites with two disciples but his words to Mary show us otherwise. He tells her not to hold on to him because he needs to make himself available to all. He needs to ascend in order to send the Holy Spirit and to be connected with all believers. He is telling Mary that she cannot cling to him but must allow others to find him as well. She must give others the chance to encounter the risen Lord the way she has. But then even more she must proclaim the risen Lord she has encountered. Mary must proclaim her story to the disciples and to all who will listen. She is to become the first witness to Jesus’ new life telling the world what she has seen and the relationship that is open to them.
Mary became the first witness to Jesus but certainly not the last. For centuries people have been encountering the risen Lord. Every person is given the opportunity to hear Mary’s message and to seek for Jesus. And many seek and find Jesus, they hear his voice and follow. These are the ones who find their fulfillment in life and then like Mary share their encounter with Jesus inviting others to follow the same path toward the risen savior.
[1] Joel C. Elowsky, ed., John 11–21, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture 343.
Squinting in the Light 
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