From Grief to Ecstatic Joy

Lesson #320

At the end of the previous lesson, we left Mary facing Jesus through eyes blurred with tears of grief, not realizing yet that it was Jesus. Then “Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”” (John 20:15 ESV). In John 2:4, Jesus referred to his mother as “woman” and here he is referring to Mary as “woman”. As we said earlier, this was not out of disrespect, but was like us saying “madam”. Woman was used then as madam is used by us today to address or refer to a woman in a polite or respectful way.

Notice that Jesus asks Mary the same question the angels asked, but added “Whom are you seeking?” Not only was Mary weeping over the death of Jesus, but she was concern that someone took the body from the tomb and is not properly caring for it. Mary assumed the person she was talking to was the gardener and for some reason he took the body and put it someplace else and she wanted to know where so she and close by friends could take it and prepare it for a proper burial.

At this point “Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).” (John 20:16 ESV).  Jesus breaks through to her by speaking her name in a way she was very familiar with and she explodes with expression and responds with “teacher!” What a change of emotion; from grief, born out of the death of Jesus and his missing body to ecstatic joy of him standing before her in a body full of life. This will surely cause her some deep reflection as to how this happened and some great conversation starters with others.

“Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”” (John 20:17 ESV). This is another one of those difficult verses and is open to discussion as to why Jesus asked Mary to not cling to him when later Jesus will tell Thomas to touch him so as to believe that it was him. Maybe it was because Jesus wanted her to go quickly to the disciples “and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

It is significant that Mary was instructed to go to his brothers, the disciples, because just a short while ago Peter denied him after boasting that he never would, even in the face of death, and all had fled during the crucifixion. Jesus now refers to them for the first time, not as his disciples, but as his brothers, as fellow heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) and now qualified to share in the inheritance of the saints in light (Colossians 1:12).

We still need to comment on the phrase “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” We will start the next lesson with those comments.

Prayer

Father, in this lesson we witnessed Mary coming from a position of no hope to that of ecstatic joy when she sees Jesus alive. For her it was a life changing experience, just as it is when anyone comes to salvation out of a desperate situation. Her love has deepened as living hope floods her soul, just as happens to so many coming to salvation in Jesus Christ from another religion. Father, I pray for a growing number to find salvation in Jesus, who are currently without hope, enslaved in the bondage of religion. Thank you for salvation, so rich and free to us as a gift, but which cost you the sacrifice of your only Son.