John Chapter 20
It is beautiful that Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene after His resurrection. She had followed Jesus as a true disciple and Jesus had cared for her, spent time with her, and loved her just as He had with all of the men who were His disciples.
Mary had gone to the tomb carrying perfumes to anoint the body of Jesus but did not find a body in the tomb and the stone had been rolled away. She was upset. Someone had moved the body of Jesus, and she didn’t know where He was.
When she did step down into the tomb and to really look for His body, she found two angels sitting there. This was so unexpected. I’m sure that they startled her. She probably quickly wiped the tears from her eyes to clear her vision and to be sure she was seeing what she thought she was seeing. The angels assured her that Jesus was not there. Of course He was not there, she knew that. What she wanted to know was where His body was taken. Mary turned around and saw a man but didn’t know who He was until He spoke her name and said, “Mary.”
Let's Reflect
1. John begins with Mary arriving at the tomb, then moves forward to the arrival of Peter and himself (the other disciple that Jesus loved); and then moves back in time to the experience that Mary had. Peter and John did not see angels when they looked into the tomb, but what did they see?
2. What truth had finally been realized by Peter and John as they stood inside the empty tomb?
3. John compares the different experiences they had with the experience Mary had. He was not being critical of Mary, but He was pointing out that it took a bit of a different experience for Mary to come to belief that Jesus was alive. Was it seeing the angels in the empty tomb that caused Mary to believe? I think this points to the fact that there are different life experiences that will be the catalyst for people to come to faith in Christ.
4. When was it that Mary realized Jesus was alive?
5. There has been a lot of speculation about when Mary saw Jesus and He said, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father…” A better understanding can be gained when we look at the tense of the verb used. It actually was in the tense of “stop doing something you are doing” rather than “do not do it.” I believe that Jesus was simply recommending that she could stop hugging Him because He was going to be around for a bit longer, He was not going to ascend to His Father immediately. What did He also want Mary to do?
6. The evening of the first day of the week, the day that Jesus arose from the dead, He appeared to other disciples who were in a locked room. Why were they in a locked room and what did Jesus say to them?
7. What evidence did Jesus offer to them and later to Thomas to show He truly was the risen Savior?
8. Jesus then did something wonderful. He gave the disciples new life as He breathed on them. When He breathed on them what did they receive?
9. Now that the Holy Spirit had been given to the church, they were now empowered to do what?
10. The disciples including Thomas were blessed because they were able to see and touch the resurrected Jesus with their own eyes and hands and it gave them belief. What did Jesus say about those people who would believe having never seen Jesus with their eyes?
11. In the last verse of this chapter, we learn that there were many other signs that Jesus did which weren’t even recorded. The ones that we do have record of, were written for what purpose?
12. Have you placed your faith in the resurrected Savior?
Devotionals
