But
Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. They told her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
John 20:11-15
John 20 [3.] Therefore Peter and the other disciple went out, and they went toward the tomb. They both ran together. The other disciple outran Peter, and came to the tomb first. Stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths lying, yet he didn’t enter in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and entered into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying, and the cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths, but rolled up in a place by itself. So then the other disciple who came first to the tomb also entered in, and he saw and believed. For as yet they didn’t know the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. So the disciples went away again to their own homes.
John 20 [11.] But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. They told her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus.
John 20 [15.] Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?”
She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
John 20 [16.] Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”
Meaning:
Peter and the other disciple had gone home, but Mary Magdalene stayed at the tomb (John 20:10). Her grief kept her there. In these verses she meets angels and then Jesus himself, but she is so overwhelmed by sorrow that she does not recognize him. Mark tells us plainly that the risen Lord “appeared first to Mary Magdalene” (Mark 16:9).
- “But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping”
Mary’s tears are the tears of love. She had seen Jesus die, and now it seemed that even his body had been taken from her. The Bible does not despise such grief. Jesus himself wept at the tomb of Lazarus: “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). He had told his disciples, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy” (John 16:20). Mary is about to experience exactly that.
- “She saw two angels in white sitting”
The other Gospels also speak of heavenly messengers at the tomb: “a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe” (Mark 16:5), an angel whose clothing was “white as snow” (Matthew 28:3), and “two men” who “stood by them in dazzling clothing” (Luke 24:4). John notes where they sat: “one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” They mark the empty place where the Lord had lain.
- “Woman, why are you weeping?”
The angels’ question is gentle. There was no need to weep, because the one she was looking for was alive. Yet Mary does not seem startled by the angels. She is focused on one thing: “they have taken away my Lord.” In her first message to the disciples she said “the Lord” (John 20:2); now she says “my Lord”. Her grief is personal.
- “She turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus”
Mary was not the only one who failed to recognize the risen Jesus at first. The two disciples on the road to Emmaus walked with him, “but their eyes were kept from recognizing him” (Luke 24:16). Her tears, the early light and the last thing she expected to see, a living Jesus, may all have played a part. The risen Lord was the same Jesus, yet his resurrection body was not simply the old life restored.
- “Who are you looking for?”
Jesus repeats the angels’ question and adds another. His first words in John’s Gospel were a similar question to two disciples of John the Baptist: “What are you looking for?” (John 1:38). In the garden of Gethsemane he asked the soldiers, “Who are you looking for?” (John 18:4). Now, in another garden, he asks Mary the same question. She is looking for a dead body, but he is calling her to find a living Lord.
- “Supposing him to be the gardener”
The tomb was in a garden (John 19:41), so a gardener would be the natural person to meet there early in the morning. Mary offers to carry the body away herself, an offer that shows more love than strength. In a sense she was right: the one standing in the garden is the Lord of all life.
The Significance of John 20:11-15
- The Lord meets us in our tears
Jesus did not wait until Mary had stopped crying. He came to her in her grief and spoke to her. “Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Those who mourn are not forgotten; Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).
- Seeking the right thing
Mary was seeking Jesus, but in the wrong form: she wanted a body to anoint, not a Lord who was alive. We too can seek Jesus with limited expectations. He often gives far more than we ask, if we keep looking for him.
- Faithfulness is rewarded
Mary stayed when others went home. Her persistent love was rewarded with the first appearance of the risen Lord. God honours those who keep seeking him.
Cross-References:
Mark 16:9: "Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene," Mark confirms she was the first to see him.
Luke 24:16: "But their eyes were kept from recognizing him." Others also failed to recognize the risen Lord at first.
John 16:20: "You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy." Jesus’ promise fulfilled in Mary.
Revelation 21:4: "He will wipe away from them every tear from their eyes." The final end of all sorrow.
Conclusion: Mary Magdalene stayed weeping at the empty tomb, saw two angels, and then met Jesus without recognizing him, thinking he was the gardener. The risen Lord came to her in her grief and asked, “Who are you looking for?” Her story assures us that Jesus meets those who seek him in sorrow and turns their tears into joy.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible