Wednesday 19 April 2017
- Bible Book:
- John
“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘they have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” (vv. 1-2)
Psalm:
Background
John was the last of the Gospels to bewritten, around AD100. It is believed to have been written by John,the brother of James. They were the sons of Zebedee. John's Gospelis very different from the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark andLuke. One of the Gospel's characteristics is that various themesrecur, such as light and darkness. In
At the end of previous chapter we readthat Jesus had been wrapped in linen cloths and had been buried ina tomb in a garden (John 20:40-42).
John 20 opens with Mary Magdalene, awoman whose life had been transformed by Jesus, going to the tombto anoint his body. This was common as a sign of homage. She wantedto get there early. The first day of the week would have beenSunday; the Jewish Sabbath was Saturday. The darkness just beforedawn (verse 1) may symbolise the darkness of her mood; her belovedLord had died. And to make matters worse, when she reached thetomb, the stone had been moved and the grave clothes were neatlyfolded; he was not there. Someone must have taken his body. She hadbetter fetch Peter and John.
The disciples came. Peter was notsure; John believed (verse 8). And they went home. But Mary couldnot rest. In the verses that follow we read of how Jesus appearedto her, called her name and how she ran to tell the disciples thatshe had seen the Lord (
To Ponder
- When Mary saw the empty tomb, she assumed Jesus' body had beentaken. To what extent do we easily jump to conclusions in difficultsituations?
- The two disciples went back home. Why might they have donethat? How would you have responded in a similar situation?