John 20:1-18, “I have seen the Lord!”
On this Easter Sunday, celebrating our Lord’s resurrection, we want to reflect on John 20:1-18, which is about Mary Magdalene, one of the most important disciples, but has not been recognized as such in our Christian history. In our text and in Mark 16, Mary Magdalene is mentioned as the first person to see Christ resurrected. She was a woman apostle “sent” by Jesus Christ to announce his resurrection to his disciples.
Who was Mary Magdalene? She was set free from the seven demon spirits. She was known as a notorious sinner who had been forgiven for her sins by Jesus (Luke 8:2 and Mark 16:9). In the early tradition, she was believed to be Mary, a sister of Lazarus and Martha, and Mary Magdalene was just another title for her. That makes much sense because from John 11: 2, we know that Mary was the one who anointed Jesus twice with the expensive ointments; first was in the early part of Jesus’ ministry, as a notorious sinner she anointed Jesus from behind weeping and wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair for being forgiven of her sins, and the second anointment was right before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion as a burial rite for Jesus. Mary Magdalene had been a strong supporter of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee (Luke 8:1-2).
That said, we will explore what was so particular about her, becoming the first person to see the resurrected Jesus and becoming Jesus’ apostle, telling His disciples the resurrection news.
First, Mary had faith in Jesus’ resurrection on the third day. Although it is not mentioned in the Bible, I strongly believe that she had faith in Jesus’ resurrection on the third day after His death because she understood that Jesus had to die. That was why she prepared an expensive ointment of pure nard for Jesus’ burial. Jesus even acknowledged that the pure nard was prepared for his burial in John 12:7. It seemed that only Mary truly understood that Jesus had to die. For someone who understood Jesus’ redemptive work, how could that person not have faith in Jesus’ resurrection, especially when Jesus Himself taught that person about His role as the Savior, His being the Passover Lamb, atoning for the sins of all humans, and that he would resurrect after His death? Remember, Mary sat at the foot of Jesus and learned from Him? She also experienced her brother, Lazarus, being raised from the dead. She could not doubt that Jesus was God and that death could not keep Him in the tomb.
At this point, one might question and say that Mary went to the tomb early in the morning and cried because the body of Jesus was not there to be anointed. That proves that she did not believe Jesus would be resurrected. According to our text, however, we do not know why she went to the tomb. All we know is that she alone went to the tomb, and there is no mention of her bringing spices to anoint the dead body of Jesus.
There are different accounts in the four synoptic gospels, mentioning different names and numbers of women who went to Jesus’ tomb. We often wonder why there are discrepancies among the four gospels. We must know that each writer of the gospels presented the events in the Bible in their own style: some presented a certain event in ways that put everything together as if all happened at the same time, some presented an event in detail, giving accounts chronologically, and some presented a clip of an event without explaining what followed next. In John’s gospel, Mary alone went to Jesus’ tomb without bringing any spices, which might have been followed by two or three women bringing spices to anoint the body.
If she did not bring spices to anoint Jesus’ dead body, then why did she go there, we might question. The only reason I can think of is that she went there to witness Jesus’ resurrection because she knew that Jesus would be resurrected on the third day. But since she did not know when Jesus would be resurrected, she went there very early in the morning, only to see that the tomb was open but no one was there, not even the watch guards. She did not know what to make of that, so she assumed that the guards must have taken Jesus’ body. She was panicked; she thought her full anticipation of witnessing Jesus’ resurrection came to nothing. All her hopes and dreams of seeing her resurrected Lord were in vain. She cried and cried. That was why Jesus appeared to Mary first, because of Mary’s faith in His resurrection. Jesus rewarded her faith by making her the first witness to His resurrection, which was recorded in the Bible for everyone to remember, along with her anointing Jesus with the expensive oils.
Second, Mary was a woman of loyalty and love. She loved Jesus; she did not give up on seeking Jesus’ body. In vss. 1-2, when Mary found no one at the tomb with the stone rolled away, Mary ran to Peter and another disciple to inform them. Upon hearing it, Peter and this other disciple ran to see whether that was true in vs. 10. When they saw that Jesus’ body was not there, what did they do? Nothing! They just “went back to where they were staying.”
But Mary lingered there by the tomb site and wept, searching and searching for Jesus, vs. 11. She looked here and there, crying broken-hearted. As she wept, she bent over and looked into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where the body had been in vs. 12. At the same time, Jesus came to Mary, who was seeking him, crying in desperation in verses 13- 14.
Only those who seek Jesus wholeheartedly will meet Jesus, as in Mary’s case. Mary was the only one who sought out Jesus ‘ body among His disciples wholeheartedly and desperately. Jesus, who knew Mary’s love and loyalty to him, came to Mary on Easter morning, who was crying in despair. We should never give up on seeking Jesus in our desperate situations. We must persevere until we meet Jesus. Jesus never ignores those who seek him wholeheartedly.
Third, Mary was Jesus’ sheep; she recognized her Lord’s voice. John 10:27, “My sheep recognize my voice, and I know them.” Mary’s eyes were clouded with sadness and despair; she did not know that Jesus was standing right before her, but she immediately recognized her Lord’s sweet voice when Jesus called her name, “Mary.” She exclaimed, “Rabboni!” “Teacher.” Do we recognize our Lord’s voice? Can we tell the voice of Jesus apart from the voices of the world? Only to those who recognize His voice, does Jesus come and comfort them, “Who is it you are looking for?” I am here, Mary; why are you crying? Do we hear Jesus’ voice calling our name when we are in distress and despair, looking for Jesus?
Another important thing I want to point out is that when we are deeply distressed, we might not recognize Jesus, who might be in front of us and talking to us. We might think they are just clerks at the shopping center, mail delivery persons, neighbors, or strangers. Jesus never leaves us nor forsakes us, but is always with us. We might not recognize Jesus and think he is someone else, but Jesus is around us and talks to us.
Lastly, Mary became an apostle, the first to witness the resurrected Jesus, and announced to the world that Jesus is alive because she had seen the Lord. Vs. 18, she returned and told the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” The tomb was empty not because his body was stolen but because He is risen. Her voice was full of conviction when she reported Christ’s resurrection because she had seen the Lord.
Unless we have seen the resurrected Jesus, we cannot tell people that Jesus is a living Savior. We cannot tell people that Jesus is not dead but alive if we haven’t met the resurrected Jesus. We are sent to the world to spread the good news about the Savior Jesus. If people ask, ‘How do you know He is living?’ Can we say, “I have seen the Lord”?
2025-04-20
