Fully Devoted: JesusSample

A New Beginning 

Something we often take for granted as modern readers of the Bible is the fact that we know how the story ends. The people we read about didn’t. Because of this, it can be really easy to miss all the emotion taking place in the story of Jesus’ resurrection. For those women who arrived at the tomb on that Sunday morning 2,000 years ago, the sight of the empty tomb wouldn’t have filled them with hope. It would have probably left them feeling violated. Kind of like if you were to arrive home one evening and see that your house has been broken into and you’d been robbed. For these women, they very likely thought the tomb had been broken into and Jesus’ body had been stolen. 

This is exactly the scene that John invites us into in his Gospel. He zooms in on Mary Magdalene, a woman who had been liberated from demon possession by Jesus and had been following Him ever since. She was an eyewitness to His death on the cross, and now here she is, with some of the other women, preparing to anoint His dead body with oil. When they arrive though, the stone has been rolled away and Jesus’ body is missing. 

Once again, they do not assume Jesus walked out, they assume someone stole the body. Here’s what John writes: 

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” John 20:11-13 NIV

Her last act of generosity toward the man who freed her is a failure. The emotion of all that’s taken place over the last several days, weeks, months, and likely years hits her all at once. The hope that Jesus inspired in her and so many others has been extinguished. All that’s left is pain and heartache and regret. 

Then, she turns. Jesus is standing there. But she doesn’t recognize Him. She thinks He’s the gardener. Until He says her name. “Mary.” At the sound of her name, she recognizes Jesus and cries out, “Rabboni!” (which means teacher). 

Jesus sends her to tell the disciples what had happened. That evening, Jesus appears in the middle of the locked room they are cowering within. He brings them peace and He offers them power. 

… Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:21-22 NIV 

Peace that comes from being in His presence. Power that comes from being filled by His Spirit. 

Twice John tells us that all of this takes place on the “first day of the week.” He has intentionally crafted his version of the resurrection narrative to parallel the events of Genesis 1 and 2 to show us that the resurrection of Jesus is the first day of New Creation. 

John makes note of the fact that Jesus’ tomb is in a garden, and He points out Mary mistaking Him for a gardener. Just like how Adam and Eve are placed by God in the Garden of Eden. 

In Genesis 2, God forms Adam “from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.”

John is trying to help us see how significant the resurrection of Jesus is. Yes, someone coming back from the dead is a big deal. But this is so much more than that. The stranglehold of sin is being broken. The decay of death is being undone. The evils of this world are being eradicated. 

Heaven is on the horizon. Goodness is drawing closer. Shalom is coming. 

Because of the Resurrection, everything has changed. All of creation has entered a new chapter. Destruction is no longer the end of the story. Now, salvation is possible. Restoration is promised. 

And God always keeps His promises. 

Journaling Questions

• What verse or passage stands out to you the most from today’s reading? Write it in your journal.
• What do you think it would have felt like to show up to Jesus’ tomb to find it empty, not knowing that He had risen from the grave? What would you have done? What would you have thought?
• If Jesus’ death and resurrection really did usher in new creation, how should that change the way we live our everyday lives?