The Extraordinary Encouter at the Empty Tomb
Notes
Transcript
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
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.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.
The Extraordinary Encounter at the Empty Tomb
My Brothers and Sisters it’s truly a blessing to have another opportunity to gather together and praise the Lord on this day that we observe as Resurrection Sunday.
We give God honor and Glory this morning because Jesus Christ……His Son and Our Savior has been Risen with All Power in His hands and we are exempt for the penalty of sin…..death…..because of His death on the Cross.
As we celebrate this Resurrection Sunday and the close of the Month of March….which we also recognize as Women’s History Month, the month in which we highlight the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society, it is only befitting to highlight this extraordinary encounter between one of Jesus’ disciples, whose name is Mary Magdalene.
Mary Magdalene is a disciple of Jesus, who not only went to the empty tomb as we see in our text this morning, she was also present at his crucifixion and witnessed first hand the death of Jesus on the Cross.
Mary Magdalene who’s name implies that she was from Magdala, a town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, appears in all four of the Gospels as a follower of Jesus.
In the Gospels of Mark and Luke we learn that Jesus had cast out seven demons from her. In the Gospel of Mark, we see that she is one several women who followed and provided for Jesus. It is in that same Gospel, that we also learn that she helped bring spices to anoint the body of Jesus. She was a woman of Jewish descent and described as a sinful woman who became a disciple of Jesus Christ.
To set the stage for our text this morning…and I want you all to go back and read all of Chapter 20….but to give you a cliff note version of it…..
While it was still early on Sunday morning….before the sun had come up….and it was still dark outside….we see that at the beginning of Chapter 20 that Mary went to the the tomb of Jesus. And when she gets there….she notices something unusual about the tomb….let’s pause on the recap for a minute…
…you see it was Jewish custom that the tombs would be carved out a rock or located in caves or rock formations.
After the body is washed and prepared, anointed with oils and perfumes, wrapped in a linen shroud, the body is then put in the tomb, and the tomb is sealed with a large stone or heavy door to prevent disturbance by animals or grave robbers.
But when Mary arrives, she notices that the large stone was not covering the entrance.
So she runs back to tell Simon Peter and the disciple that Jesus loved about this. She had to let them know what was going on….and after they came and inspected the situation, they decided to leave…in other words…..they decided to bounce…..they threw up the deuces…..said Peace and was outta there.
Look at John 20:10
10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
Now I want you to remember what Peter and the disciple that Jesus loved did…because this is important.
And so we see in our text this morning that Mary Magdalene, a disciple of our Savior, is at the empty tomb of Jesus. The other disciples are no where to be found.
They left her behind…Simeon Peter….and John, the disciple that Jesus loved….have left the building.
Left before the benediction, went home to kick up their feet and chill at home ….and left their sister out in the cold.
Mary stayed behind….all alone at the empty tomb…..before she has an Extraordinary Encounter with Jesus the Christ.
I believe that there are several points that we can glean from this text about in this Extraordinary Encounter at the Empty tomb.
To help you following along with these points…we will see that they all start with the letter C.
I believe that if we look at the text in John 20:11-13 we will see Mary the disciple…..is Crying
Look at what it says…..
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
The text tells us that Mary is upset, she is sorrowful, she is shedding tears, bawling….crying her eyes out….sobbing and teary-eyed. In other words, someone today might say that she had the ugly cry….
It’s without question that Mary was emotional, she was sad…. She was tore up.
She stood outside the tomb….crying her eyes out….and then to make sure she didn’t overlook anything, the Bible tells us that she stoops down and while she is still crying….looks into the tomb….only to find that her first observation was still true.
But wait……she also sees that there were two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain.
The author tells us that there were two angels…two angels wearing white….and I don’t know about you saints….but I think if I saw two angels appear before me….that my tears would have paused….my sobbing would have ceased….. I would have fixed my face, rubbed my eyes to get a better view, do a double take or something…
Do I have someone this morning?
The two angels …. didn’t change Mary’s current emotional state…that didn’t stop the tears……she kept on weeping….she kept on boohooing.
And I wondered to myself….why didn’t that stop Mary from crying….look at what the angels said to her in verse 13….
John 20:13 (NKJV)
13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
So I wondered and I thought about it…..and In my theological interpretation..and hermeneutical analysis…..as I thought it through….the Lord dropped a clue in my spirit….
Let me suggest that she didn’t stop crying after seeing the two angels is because Mary was Comfortable with seeing angels…..
In other words, she had seen angels before and was familiar with them and how they looked.
I believe that she encountered angels before as a disciple of Jesus. So, this wasn’t her first rodeo with angels.
She was crying….and was comfortable with the appearance of the angels…..
I know the Bible tells us in Hebrews 13:2
2 Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.
But that text is telling us that we don’t know if we are entertaining angels…….
Mary had seen angels before…..and was comfortable in their presence……
But then we see a shift…..during this Extraordinary Encounter at the Empty Tomb…..
Look at the text in verses……14-16
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
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.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
As soon as she tells the angels that the body of her Lord had been taken and she didn’t know where Jesus’ body was taken…..
She turns around…..and sees Jesus standing there….but she didn’t know it was Jesus.
Her tears are still flowing…..she’s weeping all the more….I believe Mary’s face was tore up……and if I can be real with you for a minute…..let me suggest that…..the snot had started running from her nose. She had the Ultimate Ugly Cry by this point…
She confuses Jesus as being the gardener….and makes her plea to Him, If you know where His body is…..bring it back here and I will take it away…..
And then we see the shift take place in verse 16….
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
As soon as He Called her name…..He calmed her cry……
All of the weeping ceased…….all of the crying came to an end……
The boohooing took a back seat…..
And that’s just how Jesus is to you and I……
Listen…..
Let me tell you Saints….. when our hearts are broken…..and in the midnight hour when the tears are soaking our pillow…..that is when the Lord will come and calm our souls.
He will Calm Us……
He will Comfort Us…..
He will Console Us…
He will Counsel Us…
He will Cast Away Fear…..
He will Create an everlasting Peace
He will show His Compassion for Us
Jesus Called Her Name……and Calmed her Spirit…..
Psalm 30:5 (NKJV)
Weeping may endure for a night,
But joy comes in the morning.
Jesus didn’t come to her….when the initial tears began to drop…..But He came to her right on time……Called her name…..Calmed her Soul……
He may not come when we want Him to, but He’s always right on time.
She Cried….She was Comfortable……Jesus Called…..And Calmed Her Spirit…
I believe that we can glean more from our text…..
Look at verses 17-18……
17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.
I believe that Mary is Commissioned by Jesus……
He says…..Go to My Brethren …..and say to them….”I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.”
Jesus Commissions Mary to tell the other disciples the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection…..and ascension to the Father….
Mary is the first disciple to receive a commandment from Jesus, after His death and resurrection.
She is go and tell her Brothers……Of His resurrection….
Without haste…..she went to tell the other disciples that she had seen the Lord…..
But let me take a pause and say this…….
I believe there is a lesson here….. in Mary staying at the tomb…..
She waited and wept……and in her waiting and weeping….
We see that the Lord……revealed Himself to her…….
I don’t know who I’m talking to this morning…….but I believe if you’re waiting on the Lord……..to move that mountain……
I believe if your waiting on the Lord…….to heal your sickness…..
If you’re waiting on the Lord……to save your loved one…….
If you’re waiting on the Lord……to turn your midnight into day….
If you’re waiting on the Lord……to break strongholds….and break chains….
If you’re waiting on the Lord……to bind up something and give you a breakthrough
If you’re waiting on the Lord…..to show up and show out…..
It’s okay to wait…….because in the end…..He will reveal Himself….
He will manifest that Breakthrough…..
He will bring forth the His healing……..
The Bible says…….
31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
It’s okay to wait on the Lord……..
Mary cried……Was comfortable ……was called…..Jesus calmed her Spirit…….and He Commissioned Her to Tell the Good News….
I’m about to take my seat…….but there is one other thing about Mary I believe we can take home with us…….
Now remember I told you that Simon Peter and the disciple that Jesus loved……had already come…..to check out the tomb…..saw that it was empty and left……. the Bible says….John 20 verses 8-10
8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
But why did they go home…..and left Mary Magdalene out there by herself….and go back home.
One thing we must remember is….that this is a volatile time….
Look at John 20:19
19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
In John 20:19 we see that the disciples feared the Jews….
Why….
They were afraid of persecution and violence or being thrown in jail for following Jesus..... they even could have been crucified for being associated with Jesus… In other words, let’s keep it real…..they were scared.
Peter had already denied Jesus….before He was crucified….after telling Jesus….he would be loyal to Him.
27 Peter then denied again; and immediately a rooster crowed.
That’s why they left Mary outside the tomb….by herself…..because they didn’t want to be associated with Jesus….
But look at Mary…..she wasn’t concerned about persecution……
She did care of the possible imprisonment……or violence…..
I believe that this shows us that Mary had courage…….
She showed courage in the face of possible punishment by being a follower of Jesus….
She Cried……She was Comfortable…….She was Called….She was Calmed……and Commissioned by Jesus…..and we know She had Courage.
Because she stayed around and waited at the Empty Tomb…..she had an Extraordinary Encounter…..with the Master…...
She had an Extraordinary Encounter….with the Messiah
She stuck around…….and Met……
A Friend that Sticks Closer than a Brother….
She stuck around…….and saw……
The Great Shepherd of the Sheep
She stuck around…….and saw……
Our Blessed Hope.
She stuck around…….and saw……
Immanuel
She stuck around…….and saw……
The Lamb of God
She stuck around…….and saw……
The Prince of Peace
She stuck around…….and saw……
Our Redeemer
The Image of the Invisible God
The Bishop of Our Souls
The one whose Faithful and True
The First Begotten Son
Jesus….the Way the Truth and The Life
Our Guide Even Until Death
Head of All Principality and Power
The Resurrection and the Life