John 20:1-18: My Thoughts

Part 1 – JOHN 20:1-18

Why do you think none of the Gospel writers include a description of the actual resurrection, but rather only of the discovery of an empty tomb?

Although the names are different, in all of the Gospels the first to arrive at the tomb of Jesus and discover that it was empty were women. In John, it’s only Mary Magdalene. What is the significance of this?

What image do you have of Mary Magdalene?

Why do you think John includes such intricate details about the grave clothes of Jesus?

Can you think of anything important about the fact that Mary refers to Jesus as “Rabbouni” (or Teacher)?

MY THOUGHTS:

None of the four Gospel writers offer any actual description of the resurrection – reasonably enough, since no one saw Jesus leave the tomb. Exactly how it happened, or what Jesus’ own experience of resurrection was like, is never discussed. It seems that the Gospel writers were content to leave the details of the resurrection as a mystery. They took as a given that it did happen, and what mattered to them was not exactly what happened but what the impact of it was. What we’re looking at is John’s account of the first day of resurrection. You might notice that it’s basically divided into two parts: the first part deals with the discovery of the empty tomb and the second part deals with the first recorded encounter with the risen Jesus. Both parts of the story have the same “central character” if I can put it that way: Mary Magdalene. In the first part the supporting cast are Peter and John, and in the second part the supporting cast is (and I would rarely call him “the supporting cast” but in this case he is) the risen Jesus. But Mary is central to both halves of the story so we have to really focus on her when looking at this passage. What was her mood on that day? What were her expectations?

John was the last of the four gospels to be written, but John is the one who often hearkens back to the opening of the Bible; to the story of Creation in Genesis. He begins his Gospel with the words “In the beginning …” which is clearly a reference to the first words of Genesis, and his Gospel has a common theme of contrasting darkness and light, with light always being victorious – just as God overcomes darkness with the words “let there be light” in Genesis 1. In the account of the resurrection, John starts with the words “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark …” No doubt that’s a time reference, but I think there’s a deeper spiritual meaning here as well. At that moment, it was dark. Mary had gone to the tomb where Jesus’ dead body had been laid. There’s nothing here to suggest that she had any expectation of discovering a resurrection. She went to a tomb. Jesus had been the light of the world – and, certainly, Jesus had been her light. Now he was gone. This was without doubt a time of spiritual darkness for Mary, a time when her hopes were shattered and her future looked bleak, so as is often the case with references to darkness in the Bible, this is probably a bit of a double entendre. It was a dark morning – both literally and spiritually.

Mary Magdalene herself is an interesting figure. There are a lot of theories and stories about Mary. Some believe she was the woman caught in adultery who was forgiven by Jesus in John 8, but the text doesn’t say that. Some associate her with the sinful woman of Luke 7 who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair – but again she isn’t named in the text. It’s a common belief today that she was a prostitute, but nothing in the Bible suggests that – it originated with Pope Gregory I in the 6^th century. In more recent years there’s been a movement to suggest that she and Jesus were married, but that’s completely without any evidence. What the Bible does tell us is that she had seven demons driven out of her – which probably means that she suffered some serious physical or psychological illnesses that were healed, and the Bible tells us that she supported Jesus financially – which probably means that she was fairly wealthy by the standards of the day. The Gospels tell us that she accompanied Jesus and the disciples from a fairly early time and that she was a witness to the crucifixion – one of the women who stayed at the cross. And, according to John, she is the first to encounter Jesus after the resurrection. So she plays an incredibly important role in the Gospels and in Jesus’ life and we probably know as much or more about Mary Magdalene as we do about the 12 disciples who get most of the attention.

All of the Gospels agree that the first to discover the empty tomb were women. That is actually an important thing, because in the context of that time women were not considered reliable witnesses. Since the Gospels were clearly written to convince people about the truth of the resurrection, it would have been expected that if the story were just concocted, the authors would have chosen men as the witnesses simply because in that society having men as witnesses would make the story more credible. To me, the fact that women are recorded in all the Gospels as the first to encounter the mystery of the empty tomb and that a woman was the first to encounter Jesus and that they served as the witnesses who ran to share the news with the disciples gives a feeling of authenticity to the story. There’s no logical reason in that era to portray women as witnesses unless women were, in fact, witnesses. It’s almost as if the authors are all saying, “I know this is hard to believe, but …”

But we can’t focus exclusively on Mary Magdalene, because there are the supporting characters. First you have Peter and John. John is the disciples whom Jesus loved. That’s how he references himself. Some think it’s because he’s too humble to name himself as the one whom Jesus loved; others think he’s very proud of it and wants people to know. We don’t know enough about John to be able to say which is correct, although I tend to lean toward the humble. Peter and John hear from Mary Magdalene that the tomb is empty. They both run to check this out for themselves. They have different reactions when they arrive. John is the faster of the two and reaches the tomb first. As an aside – and make of this what you wish – one of the early church fathers names Ishodad of Merv said that the reason that John was faster than Peter was because John wasn’t married. I have nothing more to say about that! John seems hesitant. He arrives at the tomb, looks inside, sees the grave clothes but doesn’t go in. Perhaps he’s trying to process what he’s seeing. Peter on the other hand races past John right into the tomb. This is typical of the portrayal of Peter in all the Gospels. He’s often the one who jumps in without thinking everything through – and sometimes he regrets it. Once Peter enters the tomb, John follows him. They both see the same thing – neatly folded grave clothes. The resurrection doesn’t seem to have been some chaotic event. I don’t mean to be flippant, but it seems that Jesus tidied up before he left the tomb. The details about the grave clothes also seem to provide some degree of authenticity to the story. Had someone (Roman soldiers or Jewish priests) removed the body they probably wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of removing the grave clothes from the body and folding them neatly. After they discover all this, the passage tells us that John believed (presumably that Jesus had been raised) but says nothing about Peter. By the time John’s Gospel was written (in the late 1^st or early 2^nd century) the church had already started to develop a hierarchy. The Bishop of Rome had already started to claim authority over more than just Rome and did so by tracing his authority back to Peter, who was called the first Bishop of Rome. Lots of people in the early church rejected the claim of the Bishop of Rome to wider authority, and some think this story might be a deliberate if subtle attempt to slight Peter. John believed right from the start – Peter, we’re not too sure about. So this may be a reference to an early church conflict.

And then, of course, there’s Jesus in the second half of the passage. Mary’s first encounter after Peter and John left was with two angels who ask why she’s weeping. Obviously, Mary doesn’t believe Jesus has been raised at this point. She just knows that Jesus’ body is missing. But when she turns around she sees Jesus. Why doesn’t she recognize him? That’s the obvious question. She thinks he’s the gardener. Maybe she’s crying so hard that she can’t see clearly, maybe she just can’t believe her eyes, maybe Jesus looks different. Any of those are possibilities. What we do know is that Mary comes to know Jesus because he speaks to her – more than that he says her name! He calls her “Mary.” And she in turn finally recognizes him, calling him Rabbouni.” Not “Lord,” but “Rabbouni.” That’s an interesting choice. “Rabbouni” means “Teacher.” By calling him that she’s effectively equating herself with the disciples – she, too, is a learner, a follower. She’s not just a needy woman hanging on to the group – she’s part of the group. She is a disciple. Simply by identifying Jesus as her “Rabbouni” or “Teacher” she’s making a claim to a status that women perhaps wouldn’t normally be so bold as to claim. And she is the first of the disciples to be entrusted with a mission by Jesus – “Go and tell everyone else” is basically what he says to her. She is the first witness to the resurrection – both in terms of seeing Jesus and telling others that he had risen.

Mary Magdalene was with Jesus from close to the beginning of his ministry to the very end of his life and then on the morning of his new, risen life. Any understanding of the Gospels that restricts itself to just Jesus and the Twelve (or even one that includes Jesus’ mother) is an incomplete understanding until it affords Mary Magdalene the significant place that all the Gospels give her.

So those are my thoughts. I’ll be interested to see what the rest of you have to say. Again – if anyone wants to connect by Zoom to talk about this face to face (or screen to screen) send me an email at stevendavis@pvuc.ca and I’ll send out an invitation with instructions and a link for how to connect. Put “Bible Study” in the subject line. We’ll go for Thursday night at 7:00.