Shining Faith (20:11-18) - Part 1 of 2

Shining Faith (20:11-18)
​Part 1 of 2

I think of Proverbs 8:17, “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me," when I see Mary Magdalene alone in the garden. The love of Mary for her Lord brought her early to the garden. When Mary went back to the tomb, Peter and John had gone home and did not tell her what conclusion they had come to based on the evidence they had seen. Mary still thought Jesus was dead. Another verse comes to mind, Psalm 30:5: “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

Mary's weeping was the loud lamentation characteristic of the Jews in the expression of their sorrow (John 11:31, 33). There is surely nothing wrong with honest grief, for God created us to shed our tears, and weeping is good therapy for broken hearts. But the Christian's sorrow must be different from the hopeless sorrow of the world (1 Thess. 4:13-18), for we have been born again unto “a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3). We do not cry because our believing loved ones have gone to heaven but because they have left us and we miss them.

Mary looked into the sepulchre and saw two angels in white. Their position at either end of the shelf on which the body had lain suggests the cherubim on the mercy seat (Ex. 25:17-19). It is as if God were saying, 'Now there is a new mercy seat! My Son has paid the price of sin and opened wide the way into the presence of God!' Mary was apparently not disturbed at seeing these men, and there is no evidence that she knew they were angels. The short talk didn’t dry her tears nor quiet her mind. She was going to find the body of Jesus.

Why did Mary turn round and not go on with her talk with the two strangers? Did she hear a sound behind her? Or did the angels stand and know the presence of their Lord? Either of these speculations may be true, or neither may be true. She knew the Lord’s body was not in the tomb, so why remain there any longer?

Why did she not see the One for whom she was so earnestly searching? Perhaps He hid Himself from her, as He would later do when He walked with the Emmaus disciples (Luke 24:13-32). It was still early; maybe it was dark in this part of the garden. However, her eyes were probably blinded by her tears.

Jesus asked her the same question the angels asked: “Why do you weep?” How sad that she was crying when she might have been praising had she known her Lord was living! And He said to them, “Whom are you seeking?” (He asked the mob the same question in the garden—John 18:4.) It is encouraging to us to know that “Jesus knows all about our sorrows." The Savior knew that Mary’s heart was broken and her mind confused. He did not rebuke her; He manifested Himself lovingly to her.

He had only to call her name, and Mary knew Him instantly. His sheep hear [know] His voice; and He calls His own sheep by name (John 10:3). Mary had evidently turned away from Jesus, and when He called her name, she had to turn again to look at Him. What a blessed surprise to behold! The face of her beloved Master!

She could only say, "Rabboni—My Master, My Teacher.” Elsewhere in the Gospels, the title "Rabboni" is found only once, in Mark 10:51 (in the Greek text, “Lord” is “Rabboni”). "Rabbi" and "Rabboni" were interchangeable terms of respect. The Jews in later years recognized three levels of teachers: 'rab' (the lowest), rabbi, and rabboni (the highest).

Mary talked to Him, yes, and she took hold of His feet and clung to Him. This was but natural.

Now that she had found Him, she did not want to lose Him. There was still so much for her and the other believers to learn of His new state of glory. They still wanted to relate to Him as they had in the years of His ministry before the cross.

Jesus did not forbid the other women to hold His feet (Matt. 28:9), and they did. Why did He say to Mary, “Do not touch me”? Partly it was that she would see Him again, for He had not yet ascended to the Father. After His resurrection He stayed on the earth for forty days and appeared to the believers to instruct them in spiritual truth (Acts 1:1-9). Mary did not have to panic; this was not her last and final meeting with the Lord.

Secondly, she had a job to do. To go and tell His brethren that He was alive and was going to ascend to the Father. He is not ashamed to call them brethren (Heb 2:11). "I will declare thy name unto my brethren" (Ps. 22:22). He had called His own servants (John 13:16) and friends (John 15:15), but now brethren. I believe this meant that they had shared in His resurrection power and glory.