Resurrection Questions - Pt 1

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 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.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for 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.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. (John 20:11-18 ESV). It is significant that Mary Magdalene was the first person to whom Jesus revealed Himself after His resurrection. She was not an especially important person, and she was a woman. In that culture, women were not considered reliable witnesses in court. You would think that the Lord would have picked some men as the first witnesses of His resurrection. I probably would have picked Peter, or maybe John. If you wanted to pick a woman, most would have picked Mary, the mother of the Lord, or perhaps Mary of Bethany, who anointed Him just before His death. But Mary Magdalene was first. The fact that the Lord revealed Himself first to Mary Magdalene gives great hope to all of us who struggle with the challenges and trials of life. If Jesus rescued this insignificant, demon-possessed woman from her life of sin and chose her to be the first witness of His resurrection, then He certainly can save us from our sin and use us to bear witness of Him to others! We see this practically applied in the questions she is asked at the resurrection. Mary Magdalene had arrived and she remained by the tomb, weeping. She wanted to find Jesus, although at this point all she expected to find was His corpse. In her thinking, someone had added insult to injury by robbing the grave. In this state of confusion, she stooped and looked into the tomb, where she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet of where Jesus’ body had been lying. They ask Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus will repeat the same question and add another, “Whom do you seek?” Neither Jesus nor the angels were asking those questions to gain information for themselves! Rather, they wanted Mary to think about the implications of those questions, because in doing so she would learn how the risen Savior would turn her sorrows into hope. Tomorrow we will begin looking into each of the questions. Today, begin to pray that the Lord would reveal himself to you so that you might see the great victory of the resurrection at work in your life. Regardless of what you circumstance, Jesus has won the final victory on our behalf! That is what we celebrate in Easter!