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The Empty Tomb

John 20.1-18

Good News Translation (GNT)

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  1  Early on Sunday morning, while it was still
   dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and
   saw that the stone had been taken away from
   the entrance.
  2  She went running to Simon Peter and the
   other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and told
   them, "They have taken the Lord from
   the tomb, and we don't know where they have
   put him!"
  3  Then Peter and the other disciple went to the
   tomb.
  4  The two of them were running, but the other
   disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the
   tomb first.
  5  He bent over and saw the linen cloths, but he
   did not go in.
  6  Behind him came Simon Peter, and he went
   straight into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths
   lying there
  7  and the cloth which had been around Jesus'
   head. It was not lying with the linen cloths but
   was rolled up by itself.
  8  Then the other disciple, who had reached the
   tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed.
  9  They still did not understand the scripture
   which said that he must rise from death.
10  Then the disciples went back home.

   Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11  Mary stood crying outside the tomb. While she
   was still crying, she bent over and looked in
   the tomb
12  and saw two angels there dressed in white,
   sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one
   at the head and the other at the feet.
13  "Woman, why are you crying?" they asked her.
   She answered, "They have taken my Lord
   away, and I do not know where they have put
   him!"
14  Then she turned around and saw Jesus
   standing there; but she did not know that it
   was Jesus.
15  "Woman, why are you crying?" Jesus asked
   her. "Who is it that you are looking for?"
   She thought he was the gardener, so she said
   to him, "If you took him away, sir, tell me
   where you have put him, and I will go and get
   him."
16  Jesus said to her, "Mary!"
    She turned toward him and said in Hebrew,
   "Rabboni!" (This means "Teacher.")
17  "Do not hold on to me," Jesus told her,
   "because I have not yet gone back up to the
   Father. But go to my brothers and tell them
   that I am returning to him who is my Father
   and their Father, my God and their God."
18  So Mary Magdalene went and told the
   disciples that she had seen the Lord and
   related to them what he had told her.

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Commentary taken from
'The Applied New Testament Commentary'
(Kingsway)

The Empty Tomb

    John Chapter 20 v1-18

On the first day of the week, that is, Sunday, Mary of Magdala left her dwelling before dawn. According to Mark 16:2, she and two other women reached the tomb just after sunrise.

She found the stone rolled away from the entrance of the tomb.

Mary of Magdala ran to Peter and John- and told them that Jesus' body had been taken away. The thought that Jesus had risen from the dead didn't enter her mind

When Peter and John heard Mary's report, they at once ran to the tomb. Notice the small details that John remembers here. Surely this was the most important day in his life.

Indeed, it was the most important day in the history of the world!

Notice also that the burial clothes were laid neatly. If the body had been stolen, the clothes would have been taken away with the body, or they would have been scattered about. But Jesus' body had not been stolen. He had risen!

After Peter had entered the tomb, John went in also. John saw it was empty and believed. He believed that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead. Jesus had told them He would rise from the dead after three days.

And here, on the third day, it had come to pass just as Jesus had said. But Peter at first did not believe. He went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

That Jesus would rise from the dead was also prophesied in the Old Testament, but Peter and John had not yet fully understood those prophecies. John's belief in Jesus' resurrection came first from his own eyes, not from the Old Testament.

Prophecies of Jesus' resurrection are found in Psalm 16:10, Isaiah 53:10-12, Hosea 6:2, and Jonah 1:17.

Jesus Appears to Mary of Magdala (20:11-18)
When Peter and John ran to see the tomb, the women followed after them. After the two disciples had gone home, Mary remained standing by the tomb.

She saw two angels.
Mary and the other women had earlier seen the angels when they had first come to the tomb. Then Mary saw the two angels again. They asked her why she was crying.

After she answered them, she saw a man standing there, whom she supposed to be the gardener. But it was Jesus. There was something different about His resurrection body; as a result, she did not recognise Him at first.

She thought that perhaps this "gardener" had carried Jesus' body away. Then Jesus called her name, and at once she recognized Him.

Mary had been hoping only to find Jesus' dead body; instead, she found His living body!

Mary probably fell on her knees and clasped Jesus' feet. Jesus told Mary, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Fattier." Jesus' meaning here is not certain.

Some Bible scholars believe He meant that Mary didn't need to cling to Him, because He was not ascending to heaven immediately. She would have other opportunities to see Him before He left the earth.

Other Bible scholars believe Jesus was trying to tell Mary that things had now changed; He was not like He used to be. One could not hold on to His body as before.

Lazarus had also been raised from the dead, but he had received his old earthly body back. He would die again. But Jesus had received a completely new body, a resurrection body, which would never die.

Then Jesus told Mary to tell His disciples that He was going to return to His Father. He was going to prepare a place for them. Notice here that Jesus calls God my Father and your Father...
my God and your God.

God was Jesus' Father in a special way. Jesus was God's Son by nature from the beginning. We are God's adopted children by grace, not by nature.

According to Matthew, Jesus also told Mary and the other women with her to tell His disciples to go to Galilee, where He would meet them. Jesus calls His disciples brothers.

He had called them his friends before the resurrection. Now they have become His brothers. And all of us who believe are also counted as Jesus' brothers. Jesus was the firstborn among many brothers.

According to Matthew, not only Mary but also the other women with her saw Jesus at this time. Mary met Him first. Then, perhaps, she went at once and called the other women. Or perhaps Jesus appeared to the other women a short while later.

Whatever happened, the women went a second time to tell the disciples the new news: They had actually seen the risen Lord!.

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