Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.
For the past few days, we have been looking at the time between the death of Jesus and Sunday morning. Finally, we have arrived! Mary is the first to discover the open tomb. We do not know what she expected to find or do on this amazing morning, but we know what she wasn’t expecting. She did not expect to find the tomb open and empty.
Think about the implications of this event: Jesus’ body was gone. What was she to think?
She must have looked. It was still dark, but she must have looked inside the tomb. In the gloom of the early morning light, she peered into the dark tomb. Perhaps she had an oil lamp with her? Whatever she saw convinced her that the tomb was empty.
Was it the Jewish leaders who had taken Jesus? Did someone else take him? Why couldn’t they just leave him alone?
Application: Jesus had told the disciples what would happen, but they did not understand. Mary herself, who had seen her brother, Lazarus, walk out of his tomb after being dead four days, did not understand. How could the man who raised Lazarus raise himself from the dead? The important thing to remember is that God is God. We are only His children. There is much we do not understand.
Food for Thought: Imagine that you are in the garden that morning. You see Mary approach the tomb. You hear her gasp and then she sobs. She turns to leave, panic written on her face. What do you say to her?
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I don’t think I would say anything, even if I knew the truth. I remember that Jesus did not say anything about raising Lazarus from the dead before He did the act. He simply grieved with those who were grieving. They would see the truth for themselves soon enough. The same would be true for Mary. Of course, for those who need the truth today, we need to let them know that Jesus is not dead.
Thanks Rich!
As I thought about this question I imagined that it would be natural to try and calm her. To tell her that everything is okay. But she would not trust or believe that information at this point. As you point out, she will need to see for herself in order to have her fears truly calmed.