Day - 1202 "O Mary Don't You Weep For Me!"

John 20:1-18 is the Evangelist’s description of the resurrection. (Many people who have studied this gospel refer to its author as  "The Evangelist.”) This passage has the honor of extremely numerous pages of discussion in commentaries. Raymond Brown’s commentary uses 48 pages. Many of my comments are drawn from his exposition.

If one places the resurrection narratives of the four gospels side by side, the message of resurrection is clear but we see a lot of discrepancies.  This might be expected from eyewitness accounts, or from recording of an oral tradition/history by persons who were not there as witnesses (see Luke, for example).

Those who study early documents of the gospels and Pauline writings quickly come to the realization that the Evangelist and other who composed John drew on very early Christian traditions. See the hymns at 1 Cor. 15:3-4; Phil 2:6-11, Acts 10:36-43. The Philippians passage, a profoundly moving passage,  predates the gospels and shows that there was a well established tradition expressed in hymns very soon after the resurrection. (Paul’s letters predate all the gospels, and obviously the hymn in Philippians predates Paul’s letter to the Philippians.)

       There are a number of points that can be made about this passage but I am only going to comments on a few to emphasize its significance rather than dull your attention.  Given the title of this post, you can imagine one of them.

When did the resurrection occur and who were there to discover it?

The first half of verse 1 says the discovery was made early on the first day of the week while it was still dark. One major point of commentary discussion is that John says the resurrection occurred at the first day of the week, not the third day after the crucifixion (1 Cor. 15:3-4) described in the early Pauline writings. Raymond Brown suggests that the time of finding the tomb empty was fixed in Christian memory before the third-day symbolism evolved. (Bear in mind, however, the third-day language in Jesus’ passion predictions - See Mark 8:31 for example. Also the third day has significance to contemporary Jewish thought, Hosea 6:1-3, for example. The third day imagery is present in Old Testament deliverance Midrash, for example on Gen 42:17 Midrash describes Joseph’s treatment of his brothers who have discovered him, saying, “The Holy One, blessed be he, never leaves the righteous in distress more than three days.” ) 

So the first day of the week or three days is not nearly as significant as the empty tomb (and empty cross).

We should note two other things in this verse. The woman who goes to the tomb is Mary Magdalene not Mary the mother of Jesus and she has gone alone at 3-6AM. The language of v2 reverts to “we” suggesting she had companions, but even this is argued to be a linguistic plural usage indicating a singular meaning (or the work of multiple editors).

The second point of historical significance is her alarm at seeing the stone rolled away. Grave robbers were a common problem at the time.  A decree of the emperor Claudius (AD 41–54), a copy of which was found at Nazareth, ordered capital punishment for those destroying tombs, or removing bodies, or displacing the sealing or other stones. Disturbing a tomb was also considered highly offensive to Jews.  

It is useful to read Luke 24:1-53 and Mark 16:1-8 as you consider verses 3-7.  Mark, most probably the earliest gospel, tells us only the women observed the empty tomb and heard the message of resurrection. They were told to go tell the others.

A major ploy by Jewish leaders at the time was to refute the claim of resurrection by arguing the body was stolen by someone, even the gardener. However the presence of the burial clothes and expensive spices reminds us robbers likely were not the cause because they would have taken everything of value.

The earliest Christian writing noted the apologetic implications. Chrysostom saw their pertinence to the notion of robbery of the tomb: “If anyone had removed the body, he would not have stripped it first, nor would he have taken the trouble to remove and roll up the napkin and put it in a place by itself.”

The apologetic significance of the narrative could have a different perspective. In Jewish tradition, the testimony of women was unacceptable, but if two men report an event it meets the Jewish requirement of valid testimony according to Deut. 19:15.

note: “Apology” used here does not have its meaning usual for us. Here “Apology” means explanation.

We do come to an important point in verses 8-9.

The Beloved Disciple saw a different dimension to the mystery. Unlike Peter and the others, on entering the tomb “he saw, and believed.” For him the wrappings had a significance of resurrection and he “believed”!

Many scholars hesitate to give that statement full value. But the Greek is clear, “believe” used here means genuine faith (John uses the same word in  5:44; 6:47; 19:35; 20:29). Seeing and believing the empty tomb means Jesus is risen is akin to the seeing and believing the “signs” of Jesus.

From much of the previous Gospels we know the disciples had difficulty grasping the true meaning of the words of Jesus. The disciples and others have been on an unimaginable roller-coaster the last week. They had high hopes for the onset of this new Kingdom of God as they approached Jerusalem.

They were crushed by fear at the crucifixion and fled way. It is entirely likely whatever faith they may have had, the finality of the crucifixion truly challenged all they had thought of Jesus. Yet, for this disciple whom Jesus loved something special happened.

We come to the heart of the pasage in verses 13-18 when Mary meets Jesus. These are remarkable verses that repeat a common understanding in all four gospels. The scene carries with it both a mix of sadness and grief and one of intimate joy occurring in the space of barely an instant.  For this reason verse 17 has generated much ink. Upon recognizing Jesus, Mary Magdalene grasps him. His retort to release him because, “I have not yet ascended to the Father” raises the question, “Is the resurrection and ascension to the Father different things, and if so, how?”

Reflection:

Does the extensive commentary remove us from the real significance of the event John describes? The Evangelist himself may have had a simpler interest by using the  the grief and joy of Mary to reveal the significance of the empty tomb.

Jesus has forsaken his burial clothes forever. This is not like the resurrection of Lazarus read a few chapters earlier in John when Jesus bade Lazarus to come forth from his tomb. The wrappings of the dead still bound Lazarus hand and foot, and even the napkin on his head had to be freed for him to take up life again in this world.

 Jesus on the contrary left his wrappings in the grave as a sign of his resurrection into the life of God’s eternal order. This was plain to the Evangelist, and finally to Mary as Jesus told her not to weep for him.

The message Mary’s experience brings us is more than the simple announcement that Jesus has been raised and ascends. Jesus says, “Go to my brothers, and say, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God.’ “

We may understand brothers as all believers of the “lifting up” of Jesus and the impending bestowal of the Spirit as Jesus shares his “sonship” with the Father.

Raymond Brown, perhaps with Lazarus in mind, reminds us of Ruth’s declaration in Ruth 1:16: “Your people shall be my people and your God my God.” Ruth chose to come under Naomi’s God. Now, here in this tomb the Redeemer has chosen to come to us, living, dying, rising and ascending to make us the sons of the Father and the people of God.

“O Mary don’t cry for me!” is at its core the greatest and most joyful proclamation we will ever hear.

Christ is arisen, indeed!