Mary Story: Bible Study
Morning: The Garden
The Gospels offer several accounts of women near the tomb. Piecing together the stories, it would seem that a group of women came together, but that Mary ran back to tell the apostles of the missing body, and then had a personal encounter with the Lord upon returning to the garden. We’ll be following the story of Mary.
The Story: John 20:11-18
The sky was still dark as Mary Magdalene approached the tomb of Jesus; her eyes swollen with tears, her head ringing with the sound of hammers and the screams of dying men. Quietly, her feet tapped along the garden path where she knew the Lord had been buried. As his follower in Galilee, she had experienced his healing power, and not even death could keep her away. Already he had been wrapped and buried with over a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, but she wanted to add her part.
With a sharp gasp, Mary stopped short in her tracks, rubbing her eyes to see if they misled her. The sealed tomb had been broken: the guards were gone. A gaping hole stared back at her in the gray light of morning.
Terrified, she fled the garden and ran back to the other disciples. Her feet pounded on the cold streets of Jerusalem until she reached the Upper Room. Beating on the door with urgency until it opened, she stumbled inside.
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,” she gasped, “and we don’t know where they have laid him!”
Peter and John bolted to their feet. Shaken from their grief, they followed her into the misty air. John, the youngest and quicker on his feet, outran them all and stopped at the empty tomb. Peering in, perhaps as the light of dawn started to slowly rise over the garden, he saw wrapped linen clothes in a heap. His eyes darted to the folded cloth that covered the corpse’s face and saw it folded and set apart. John saw it all… and believed. The Lord has risen, he thought.
Without pausing for a breath, Peter stumbled past John and into the tomb. To his shock, there was nothing there but the grave clothes. Both of them, numb with grief and wondering what it all meant, simply left and went back to the Upper Room.
Mary was quite overcome. Openly sobbing, she walked back to the tomb and peered inside. This time, the grave was not empty: two angels stood at the site, one at the head, the other at the foot. Woman, why are you weeping? they asked. Mary wouldn’t be comforted (sometimes even angels aren’t helpful!).
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she managed, between tears, “and I don’t know where they have laid him.”
Turning around, she saw a man approaching and assumed he was the gardener.
“Woman, why are you weeping?” The voice came to her in the hushed garden, echoing the question of angels before adding another, “Whom are you seeking?”
In the gray light of dawn, her eye still blurred with tears, Mary plead with the stranger.
“Sir, if you have taken him, tell me where, and I will take him away.”
Jesus offered a single word -- he spoke her name.
“Mary.”
A shock went through her. She had heard that voice before: it’s the Lord walking with her in the garden.
“Master!” She cried out, ready to run to his side, but he halted her with a word.
“Don’t touch me, for I haven’t ascended to the Father yet.”
What an odd thing to say! Yet, to paint the context, we must understand that for the Lamb’s blood to be effective, it must be applied to the altar by a pure priest: if the priest was defiled, it could render the sacrifice ineffective. Perhaps the Lord was ascending to heaven as the Great High Priest, ready to take the blood of his own sacrifice to atone for our sins. On his way, he may have paused ever so briefly to comfort Mary. Just a word, a quick note of encouragement, and then he was on to the throne room of heaven to finish the business!
“Go to my brothers,” he urged, “Tell them that I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God, and your God.”
Even Christ’s first words spark a hint of the community to come: the family of God was uniting, not disbanding. They had not been abandoned. There was more to come!
Mary rushed back to the disciples. Flushed with excitement, she managed the simple words,
“I have seen the Lord!”
In this first encounter, we observe a fascinating exchange. Angels often accompany the resurrected Lord, and starting at this time, Jesus’ followers are allowed to see them more often. This would be important for them to understand, since the Book of Acts is filled with supernatural visitations of angelic encounters.
Other accounts in the Gospels tell us that several other women came to the tomb and encountered the two glorious, shining angels who spoke of Christ’s resurrection and life. Yet, the angels didn’t seem to help Mary. The encounter seems unplanned, like he was quite busy with other very important business, but goes out of the way to stop and comfort her. This brings us to the first moment we have to ponder: the visitation of Jesus to a weeping woman who refused to be comforted by any other but himself.
The Gospels offer several accounts of women near the tomb. Piecing together the stories, it would seem that a group of women came together, but that Mary ran back to tell the apostles of the missing body, and then had a personal encounter with the Lord upon returning to the garden. We’ll be following the story of Mary.
The Story: John 20:11-18
The sky was still dark as Mary Magdalene approached the tomb of Jesus; her eyes swollen with tears, her head ringing with the sound of hammers and the screams of dying men. Quietly, her feet tapped along the garden path where she knew the Lord had been buried. As his follower in Galilee, she had experienced his healing power, and not even death could keep her away. Already he had been wrapped and buried with over a hundred pounds of myrrh and aloes, but she wanted to add her part.
With a sharp gasp, Mary stopped short in her tracks, rubbing her eyes to see if they misled her. The sealed tomb had been broken: the guards were gone. A gaping hole stared back at her in the gray light of morning.
Terrified, she fled the garden and ran back to the other disciples. Her feet pounded on the cold streets of Jerusalem until she reached the Upper Room. Beating on the door with urgency until it opened, she stumbled inside.
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,” she gasped, “and we don’t know where they have laid him!”
Peter and John bolted to their feet. Shaken from their grief, they followed her into the misty air. John, the youngest and quicker on his feet, outran them all and stopped at the empty tomb. Peering in, perhaps as the light of dawn started to slowly rise over the garden, he saw wrapped linen clothes in a heap. His eyes darted to the folded cloth that covered the corpse’s face and saw it folded and set apart. John saw it all… and believed. The Lord has risen, he thought.
Without pausing for a breath, Peter stumbled past John and into the tomb. To his shock, there was nothing there but the grave clothes. Both of them, numb with grief and wondering what it all meant, simply left and went back to the Upper Room.
Mary was quite overcome. Openly sobbing, she walked back to the tomb and peered inside. This time, the grave was not empty: two angels stood at the site, one at the head, the other at the foot. Woman, why are you weeping? they asked. Mary wouldn’t be comforted (sometimes even angels aren’t helpful!).
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she managed, between tears, “and I don’t know where they have laid him.”
Turning around, she saw a man approaching and assumed he was the gardener.
“Woman, why are you weeping?” The voice came to her in the hushed garden, echoing the question of angels before adding another, “Whom are you seeking?”
In the gray light of dawn, her eye still blurred with tears, Mary plead with the stranger.
“Sir, if you have taken him, tell me where, and I will take him away.”
Jesus offered a single word -- he spoke her name.
“Mary.”
A shock went through her. She had heard that voice before: it’s the Lord walking with her in the garden.
“Master!” She cried out, ready to run to his side, but he halted her with a word.
“Don’t touch me, for I haven’t ascended to the Father yet.”
What an odd thing to say! Yet, to paint the context, we must understand that for the Lamb’s blood to be effective, it must be applied to the altar by a pure priest: if the priest was defiled, it could render the sacrifice ineffective. Perhaps the Lord was ascending to heaven as the Great High Priest, ready to take the blood of his own sacrifice to atone for our sins. On his way, he may have paused ever so briefly to comfort Mary. Just a word, a quick note of encouragement, and then he was on to the throne room of heaven to finish the business!
“Go to my brothers,” he urged, “Tell them that I ascend to my Father and your Father, to my God, and your God.”
Even Christ’s first words spark a hint of the community to come: the family of God was uniting, not disbanding. They had not been abandoned. There was more to come!
Mary rushed back to the disciples. Flushed with excitement, she managed the simple words,
“I have seen the Lord!”
In this first encounter, we observe a fascinating exchange. Angels often accompany the resurrected Lord, and starting at this time, Jesus’ followers are allowed to see them more often. This would be important for them to understand, since the Book of Acts is filled with supernatural visitations of angelic encounters.
Other accounts in the Gospels tell us that several other women came to the tomb and encountered the two glorious, shining angels who spoke of Christ’s resurrection and life. Yet, the angels didn’t seem to help Mary. The encounter seems unplanned, like he was quite busy with other very important business, but goes out of the way to stop and comfort her. This brings us to the first moment we have to ponder: the visitation of Jesus to a weeping woman who refused to be comforted by any other but himself.