The Gospel of John: The Risen King reveals Himself to Mary Magdalene

First Baptist Church Leominster

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Galatians 6. Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.

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Keep watch on yourselves, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

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For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deserves he deceives himself.

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But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor, for each will have to bear his own load.

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One who was taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches.

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Do not be deceived. God is not mocked, for whatever one sows that will he also reap.

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For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the

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Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap.

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If we do not, do not give it up. So then as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

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See with what large letters I'm writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and not only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ, for even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised, that you may boast in your flesh.

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But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

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For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

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And for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the

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Israel of God. From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. Let's pray.

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Our Father in Heaven, we have heard these words read by the

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Apostle Paul in his letter of instructions to the church in Galatia, and these words are for us this morning.

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These are wonderful words as we approach the holiday season to remind us of how we are to treat each other.

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So this morning we bow before you, our great and awesome God. You have called us here to worship and give thanks and humble adoration.

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And with us psalmists this morning, we can say we are to lift up our eyes to the hills and ask from where does our help come from?

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Our help comes from the Lord. He's the Lord of heaven and earth. He is the one who does not slumber or sleep.

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He's the one who said, I will never leave you. We are to keep watch on ourselves, and yes, we are our brother's keeper.

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We are not in this race alone, O Lord. We are in the midst of difficult days, and we wonder what will tomorrow bring.

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Our faith and trust is in you alone. We are family, the family of God.

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Remind us, heavenly Father of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, nailed to the cross, yet he was willing to die for you and for me.

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Help us, Lord, to turn our eyes upon Jesus and look into his wonderful face, and we might ask him,

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O Lord, you did this for me? We give thanks for our pastor this morning, for his preparation this day and each

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Lord's day, for his love for each one of us to teach us the truth. So may the

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Holy Spirit rest upon him and fill him with your word of truth. Give our pastor clarity of thought, and may that same

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Holy Spirit give us clear minds to receive the message that you,

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God, have for us. Amen. Well, let's turn in our

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Bibles to John chapter 20. This is the second of four episodes that we'll consider today that comprise the conclusion of the gospel according to John, and we've been here quite a while now, over two years.

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In the previous episode, the one we dealt with last Lord's Day, the empty tomb of Jesus was the main idea, verses one through ten.

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In the pericope before us, verses 11 through 18, we read of our

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Lord dispelling the grief that characterized Mary Magdalene due to the crucifixion of her master, and particularly because she thought, of course, that somebody had stolen away the body of Jesus from his tomb.

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And so upon recognizing Jesus in his resurrected body, her grief immediately turned to joy.

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Mary is also the first one to whom the Lord began to reveal the true nature of his relationship with his people, and with his people with one another as well, due to his resurrection from the dead.

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And we'll see this also in the verses before us. Now, when we concluded last

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Lord's Day, we read that the disciples returned to their homes after some strange events had occurred, which suggested, of course, that Jesus had indeed risen from the dead.

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According to John's Gospel, Mary Magdalene, and others were with her too, but John's emphasis is on Mary Magdalene alone.

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Mary Magdalene, after arriving at the tomb of Jesus early on the first day of the week, discovered the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.

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She assumed, therefore, that the body of Jesus had been stolen, and it caused her much distress.

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She found Peter and John, and she told them what she had seen, which resulted, of course, in this footrace between Peter and John.

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They ran to the tomb, and they found it just as Mary had told them, the tomb was empty.

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But when they entered the tomb, they saw the wrappings of Jesus's dead body lying where the body had been.

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And what they saw resulted, it says, in John believing.

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John, of course, was writing the Gospel account, which suggested at this time, when

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John saw the wrappings of Jesus's body inside the tomb, he came to believe that Jesus indeed had risen from the dead.

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John had believed this because of what he saw, even though they had not yet come to understand and believe the holy scriptures.

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And John specifically states that the holy scriptures that foretold the

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Messiah would rise from the dead. Apparently puzzled by what they had witnessed, they returned to their homes, interestingly.

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And then that episode concludes with John 20, verse 10, which reads, then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

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And so up to verse 10, we have the Lord Jesus risen, of course, but nobody had yet seen him.

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And that's what we now have, beginning with verse 11 and following. And so even as the details of these early witnesses of Jesus's resurrection are portrayed as ignorant regarding the resurrection of Jesus Christ, of course, the readers of this

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Gospel know otherwise. No Gospel reader would have been uninformed of the essential

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Christian belief and affirmation that Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. And so the empty tomb was significant, is significant.

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We understand it, even though Peter and John did not understand it, neither did Mary Magdalene at the time.

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They wondered about the location of the earthly body of their master. The readers of the

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Gospel, however, are keenly aware the Christian claim he is risen. Here's a word about this, which is entitled the location of the

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Lord. And this was put together by Edward Klink, a contemporary commentator of John's Gospel, Zondervan published.

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He's a professor at Biola University, I believe in Southern California. None of the followers of Jesus, Mary, Peter, or the beloved disciple grasped the full reality of the empty tomb.

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Mary's concerns statement regarding the location of the Lord was especially revealing.

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Yet when she speaks of the Lord, she attempts to define him by the location of his body. It has been the primary thrust of the entire

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Gospel from the start that the Lord was before he became flesh.

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For he was in the beginning with God. How then could his body be misplaced or taken?

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How could the Lord be defined or confined by his body?

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Moreover, when we think of the location of the Lord, the only place that defines him is

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God himself, the Trinitarian God. For the entire Gospel message defines his location by his movement.

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Jesus is the one who came from above and the one who goes to the

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Father. The disciples, evidenced by Mary, misunderstood that this mislocation was actually a sign that he was closer than he had ever been.

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For he had now destroyed all things separating himself from them, even death itself, and was fully able to do so what he promised them in his farewell discourse.

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I will not leave you as orphans. I am coming to you. The world will no longer see me, but you will see me because I live.

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You also will live. On that day you will know that I am in the Father and you are in me and I am in you.

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That day has come. It is resurrection Sunday, known henceforth as the

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Lord's Day. And so as these men returned to their homes, they had no comprehension of what was before them.

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Of course, later that day, that very evening, Jesus appeared to ten of the apostles who were gathered together.

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But first John records that the risen Lord Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene. This is what we have recorded for us in John 20, 11 through 18, which reads as follows.

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And this is from the New King James Version. But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb.

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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.

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Then they said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them,

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Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Now when she said this, she turned around and saw

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Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her,

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Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him,

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Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.

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Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him,

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Rabboni, which is to say, Teacher. Jesus said to her,

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Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my father. But go to my brethren and say to them,

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I am ascending to my father and your father, and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the

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Lord, and that he had spoken these things to her. There are some subtle but very significant points of instruction and revelation in these few verses for us, and I'd like us to identify some of these as we work through this passage.

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And to assist us, we may consider this outline. Mary returning to the tomb, verses 11 through 13.

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Secondly, Jesus revealed himself to Mary, verses 14 through 16. Jesus then instructed

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Mary, verse 17. And lastly, we read Mary bore witness of Jesus to the disciples.

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Again, we quoted Edward Klink earlier. He sought to give the main idea of this episode, of this pericope.

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The resurrected Jesus makes the tomb a place of grace, not grief, declaring that he has fulfilled the old covenant and established the saving power and presence of the

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Lord through his death, resurrection, and ascension. The gardener has returned to reclaim his garden.

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Let's work our way through this passage. First, Mary returned to the tomb, verses 11 through 13.

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Now, Mark recorded in his gospel that the Lord first appeared to Mary. We read in Mark 16, nine.

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Now, when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he cast seven demons.

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And John has recorded the details of that appearance. This woman had been a wicked woman, possessed of the devil.

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Demons dwelt within her, and yet God had saved her. The Lord Jesus had delivered her, and she became a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ.

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Now, from verse 11 onward, we may conclude that Mary Magdalene had returned to the tomb after she had reported to Peter and John what she'd seen earlier.

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The tomb was empty. She went to them, they ran and looked at the tomb, and apparently now, although Peter and John went home,

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Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb. Verse 11, but Mary stood outside by the tomb, weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb.

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Not only had Mary been full of grief because Jesus had been killed by means of crucifixion, but her grief was compounded as she contemplated why thieves may have taken his body and where they may have taken him.

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Both the angels and Jesus himself addressed her grief when they initially came into her presence.

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Why are you weeping? The angels asked, why are you weeping? Jesus, perceived as the gardener, asked her.

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And so we read that she was quite heartbroken as she stood outside the tomb. She had previously left the tomb in order to tell the disciples the tomb was empty, but her grief had driven her back to the place that she knew the body of her master had last been seen.

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Peter and John had gone to their homes. Mary had returned to the tomb. And even as she was weeping, she stooped down and peered into the tomb herself.

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Why she did so is not stated, but it does reveal the constancy of her affection toward Jesus and a measure of its intensity.

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That she returned to where she knew his body was no longer. Matthew Henry wrote, and I quote him a handful of times in this, it's just incredible, his insight in these matters.

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He drew this application for us. Where there is a true love to Christ, there will be a constant adherence to him and a resolution with purpose of heart to cleave to him.

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This good woman, though she has lost him, yet rather than seem to desert him, will abide by his grave for his sake and continue in his love even when she wants or lacks the comfort of it.

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Now, we know that no true Christian can lose Christ, that the believer is forever united to him and when

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God joins together, he does not will that they be split asunder. But it's not an uncommon experience for a

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Christian to feel as though he has lost Christ or has become estranged from him.

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The Christian may feel that his Lord has departed from him and he knows not where to find him, kind of like Mary.

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But when that soul weeps over his apparent loss, it's not a true loss, he may be assured that the

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Lord himself will reappear to him as he did to Mary as she stood at his tomb weeping.

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For what specifically was she weeping? That his body was taken away. But clearly her grief must have been raised by all the events that she had witnessed of late.

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She wept at the remembrance of his bitter sufferings, wept for his death and the loss which she and her friends in the country sustained by it.

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She wept to think of returning home without him. She wept because she did not now find his body.

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But even as Mary wept, she stooped down and peered into the tomb. This may have been the first time that she herself had made an effort to look inside the tomb.

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And again the opening was probably only about three feet tall. John had looked into the tomb,

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Peter came, went into the tomb and John followed him. But apparently Mary hadn't looked into the tomb.

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She saw the stone was rolled away and she saw or perceived the body was not there.

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Why did she look into the tomb this time? Well perhaps she thought that she would see for herself his grave clothes and napkin folded and laying where his body had been placed, as Peter and John had told her.

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But no wrappings caught her attention as she looked into the tomb, for she saw two angels sitting where the body of Jesus had formerly laid.

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So we read in verse 12, she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain.

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So we read that she saw two angels within the tomb. One was sitting at one end of the level place where the body of Jesus had lain.

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The second angel was at the other end where the feet of Jesus would have been laid. They were in white which suggests purity, holiness.

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Zechariah 3 .3, the best of men standing before the angels and compared with them are clothed in filthy garments, but angels are spotless and glorified saints.

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When they come to be as the angels, not angels they don't become angels, but as the angels shall walk with Christ in white.

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That's what the book of Revelation tells us. Often tombs of this nature were carved out of solid rock.

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Tombs large enough for a number of members of a single family and so there was commonly stone benches or tables long enough to lay a body or recesses carved in the wall of the tomb were large enough to allow a body to be laid lengthwise.

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And here we read that these two angels, probably about six feet apart, one where the head had been, the other angel where the feet of Jesus had been.

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Why were these angels here and what purpose did they fill? We're not told.

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The two angels did not provide Mary any answers, but they did pose the question to her. We read in verse 13, then they said to her, woman why are you weeping?

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By this question they were not actually desiring information from Mary, but rather it suggests probably a soft rebuke.

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She should not be weeping, that's the whole point. Donald Carson wrote, the question of the angels why are you crying is not designed to elicit information, it is gentle reproof.

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By this time Mary should not have been crying. Her response shows she has still not transcended the explanation to which she had earlier gravitated.

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Now we might say a few words about angels in Shendron. You know you can't take anything for granted these days.

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Let's talk about angels. The word of God teaches us that God has created two kinds of personal everlasting beings, human beings and angels.

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The idea or belief that when people die they or their spirits become angels is not biblical.

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The whole storyline of angels in the outfield is strange. People don't become angels and certainly children that die are not transformed into angels, although you hear that all the time at gravesides.

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Angels are a distinct class of created beings who are essentially different from humans. Angels are intelligent spirit beings who are moral agents like people.

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Like humans, God had placed all angels through a period of probation of undetermined period of time and many angels had fallen into sin and in their falling condition they're servants of Satan, manifesting themselves at times in history as demons as they do the work of their master that being the devil.

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Perhaps a third of the angels fell with the devil himself who was an angel.

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Angels that persevered in holiness through their probationary period remaining loyal and obedient to God were confirmed in their state of holiness.

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They cannot sin now. They're called holy angels in several places, ministering spirits of God, Hebrews 1, and they serve

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God as messengers and executors of his will and history. They're servants.

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Here's a little word from a bible dictionary. The usual Hebrew word for angel means simply messenger, envoy.

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In patriarchal and monarchic narratives, the principal functions of such messengers are

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A, to convey the mandates of God to men. They gave the law much of the law of Moses.

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B, to harden your special events. C, to protect the faithful either individually or collectively and execute condign punishment on their adversaries.

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Sodom and Gomorrah. And D, to serve as instruments of the divine displeasure against sinners and recalcitrance within Israel itself.

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Angels are spirit beings and that they are normally without physical bodies and are therefore invisible, but they do have the ability to appear in physical form when it's in the purpose of God.

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That is in human bodies. They do not marry. They do not die.

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They can move about freely, disappearing and reappearing. And we might have added that fallen spirits or demons are of course sealed and contained in what is commonly referred to as the abyss or the bottomless pit, but God in his own purposes allows them to be released from time to time again to do

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Satan's bidding, but ultimately to further the purposes of God in history. Angels are numerous in number.

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John described what he saw of them in the book of Revelation. Then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, the elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands.

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That's a large number. God created angels to worship him and they do so in heaven continuously.

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God sends them on errands of mercy and judgment. This is what is meant by Jacob's ladder.

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We read of Jacob, then he dreamed and behold the ladder was set up on the earth and its top reached to heaven and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.

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The Lord Jesus identified himself as the ladder that bridges earth to heaven and heaven to earth.

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Jesus said, most assuredly I say to you hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man.

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In other words, he's sending them to further the purposes of God that he's accomplishing in the world.

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God sends angels to protect and preserve his elect, the promised heirs of salvation.

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If you are a Christian or one day you will become a Christian, you're one of the elect, God has had his angels preserving you even in your lost condition.

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And I imagine numbers of us could testify that was a supernatural deliverance or I'd be a goner.

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God, we attribute God to that work of course, but he may have used the instrumentality of angels.

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They may have a particular ministry to protect children. Their angels do always behold the face of their father in heaven,

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Jesus said. Angels are watching and learning of God and his ways. They're not omniscient, they're learning about God, who he is, what he's like, how powerful he is.

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As they watch and observe God's dealings with people in history, angels are sent to escort believers to heaven upon their death and presumably to deliver the lost to hell upon their death.

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And one day God will send forth his angels at the end of the age to escort his people to heaven. God uses angels to execute his judgment among the nations of the world.

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One important role they serve is that of a messenger. They are often sent forth in scriptures to be delivering a message from God to his people.

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Gabriel told Mary she was going to give birth to the Messiah. Gabriel informed

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Zacharias that he and Elizabeth were going to give birth to John the Baptist. Interestingly, here in John 20, the two angels do not communicate a message to Mary, however, other than inquiring of her why it was that she was grieving.

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Perhaps they were stirring her to consider the fact that the body of Jesus had not been stolen, but that Jesus had risen from the dead.

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I forget whether I put it in my notes or not, but again, Matthew Henry noted the reason the angels, this was his interpretation, the reason the angels did not communicate with Mary or give her any new information is because that age has passed now.

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God used to speak through angels, but now he speaks through his son. So she turned from the angels and looked to Jesus and he's the one who addressed her.

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Clever. It is great error to worship angels. It is forbidden to pray to them, serve them or show any undue regard to them as though they were independent agents free to act irrespective of God directing them.

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The apostle wrote to the church at Colossae where there had been this heretical teaching in that region in that time in history.

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He wrote, let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vaguely puffed up in his fleshly mind and not holding fast to the head that's

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Christ from whom all the body nourish and knit together by joints and ligaments grows with increase that is from God.

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There are some professing Christians who fall into this error. They give too much attention and focus to angels and some even worship or venerate angels in the form of idols or statues.

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That is totally wholly unbiblical. Again, John does not provide us with direct word of explanation or meaning of these two angels.

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However, this is the kind of narrative detail that's not without many efforts to discover and propose the meaning and commentators are quick to inform us what they think.

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Augustine, for example, suggests that their position, that is the way the two angels were seated, signified that the gospel of Christ was to be preached from head to foot from the beginning to the end.

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Thomas Aquinas, 13th century, suggests that two further things are also signified by the two angels, the two testaments,

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Old and New Testament, and the two natures in Christ. When angels are discussed, much speculation arises.

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The Lord's people should focus upon the Lord, not the Lord's angels. That's the bottom line.

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Matthew Henry wrote of these two angels in John 20, they sat as it were reposing themselves in Christ's grave for angels, though they needed not a restoration, were obliged to Christ for their establishment.

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He's the one that confirmed them in holiness. These angels went into the grave to teach us not to be afraid of it, nor to think that our resting in it a while will be any prejudice to our immortality.

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Death is not the end of us. No, matters are so ordered that the grave is not much out of our way to heaven.

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It intimates likewise that angels would be employed about the saints, not only at their death to carry their souls into Abraham's bosom, but at the great day to raise their bodies.

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These angelic guards, and angels are called watchers, Daniel 4, keep in possession of the sepulcher when they had frightened away the guards which the enemies had set, represents

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Christ's victory over the powers of darkness, routing and defeating them. Thus, Michael and his angels are more than conquerors.

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They're sitting to face one another, one at his bed's head, the other at his bed's feet, denotes their care of the entire body of Christ, his mystical, in other words, the mystical body of Christ, the church, as well as his natural body from head to foot.

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It may also remind us of the two share of being, place one at either end of the mercy seat, looking one at another.

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Christ crucified was the great propitiatory at the head and feet of which these two cherubim, not with flaming swords, again, there were two cherubim that guarded the garden of Eden after Adam and Eve were excluded.

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They had flaming swords preventing Adam and Eve from coming back into the garden, not these angels, however, we say, but rather they welcomed messengers to direct us to the way of life.

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Matthew Henry made that parallel idea of, you know, the two cherubim that were over the mercy seat in the tabernacle and temple, and actually that is not a very common or popular view of commentators, but Edward Klink went with it and gave an extended couple pages of it.

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I was quite amazed, I'd never seen it before, never read it before, but I found it quite interesting, and so here are his words.

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There is another option that finds sufficient wart from the narrative, in his opinion, the location of the angel at each end of the place where Jesus had been lying intends to signify the two angels of the mercy seat on the

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Ark of the Covenant. The narrative's emphatic particularity of the location of the angels in relationship to the place where Jesus had been lying is remarkable in its resemblance to the instructions given to Moses regarding the

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Ark. Make two cherubim, and by the way, the I am at the end of cherubim is a plural form, cherub is singular, cherubim is plural, make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the end of the cover, make one cherub at one end, the second cherub at the other, make the cherubim of one piece with the cover at the two ends.

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The place between the two angels was the place of propitiation or the mercy seat, the body of Jesus.

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The cover of the ark that was associated with the sin offering on the day of atonement, it is the place where God authoritatively atones for sins.

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For this reason, Luther's translation of the term in Exodus 25 is the most fitting description of the place, the throne of grace.

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It is important to state that our interpretation is driven by the emphatic particularity of the narrative itself, which like elsewhere in the gospel creates for the reader an impression that qualifies as such as being rooted in the deep structure of the narrative.

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Such impression find their impulse from macro themes in the

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Old Testament and surface as a demonstrable theme in the gospel as a whole.

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And then he went on for another page or two given all kinds of little evidences why this seems to be appropriate, very interesting.

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John's gospel had referenced angels on two other occasions earlier in the gospel. And way back in chapter one,

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Jesus said, most assuredly I say to you hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending, descending upon the son of man.

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Again, an allusion to Jacob's ladder. And then in John 12, we read

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Jesus, now my soul is troubled. What shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. For this purpose,

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I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again.

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And therefore the people who stood by heard it said that it thundered. Others said an angel has spoken to him.

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Those are the only two references to angel in the gospel of John until we come here to John chapter 20 verse 11.

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Here they are talking to Mary Magdalene. They serve as characters within the story.

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They express concern for Mary who's weeping. But again, the manner that they queried her may indicate they were implying there is no reason for her to be filled with grief.

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It was the place of grace, not grief. We then read her response to them.

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She said to them, because they've taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.

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Verse 13b. She apparently knew that they were angels, but that did not settle her heart.

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Or it would seem it didn't trouble her heart. She was already sorely troubled regarding the body of Jesus.

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She was so distressed that even the appearance of two angels did not settle her soul.

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Think about that. This suggests the severity of her distress. It perhaps also reveals the weakness of her faith at this stage of her life.

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She was grieving needlessly, although she did not realize it at the time. She failed to see things in faith, believing what

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Jesus had taught his followers, but which she had apparently not understood. But it also reveals the deepness of her love for the

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Lord. Yes, weakness of faith, but deepness of love. And so it is that often true

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Christians can be nearly overcome by sorrow so that they fail to assess matters rightly.

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They fail to keep matters in proper perspective and in right priority. We're not unlike her.

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One wrote, those that have a true affection for Christ cannot but be in great affliction when they've lost either the comfortable tokens of his love in their souls, or the comfortable opportunities conversing with him and doing him honor in his ordinances.

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In other words, Christians can get distressed. Mary Magdalene is not diverted from her inquiries by the surprise of the vision, nor satisfied with the honor of it, but still she harps upon the same string, they have taken away my

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Lord. A sight of angels and their smiles will not suffice without a sight of Christ and God smiles in him.

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Nay, the sight of angels is but an opportunity of pursuing her inquiries after Christ.

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All creatures, the most excellent, the most dear, should be used as means, but as means to bring us into acquaintance with God in Christ.

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The angels asked her, why weepest thou? I have cause enough to weep, she says, for they have taken away my

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Lord. And like Micah, what have I more? Do you ask why

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I weep? My beloved has withdrawn himself and is gone. And so there are times when even devout

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Christians can be brought to the point of despair if they believe themselves to have been abandoned or deserted by the

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Lord. And we should take to heart the words of Isaiah, who among you fears the

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Lord, who obeys the voice of a servant who walks in darkness, has no light.

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That was Mary. Let him trust in the name of the Lord, rely upon his God. I think the

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Lord wants to bring each of us at different points in our life to the point of despair where we've got nothing but his word to rely upon.

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Everything else visible, everything physical is no problem. And he wants us to believe his word.

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Adam and Eve refused to believe his word. He wants his people to believe his word, regardless of what you see.

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Well, now Jesus revealed himself to Mary. Verses 14 through 16. The angels don't respond to her further, but rather the

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Lord Jesus reveals himself to her. We read in verse 14, now when she had said this, she turned around and saw

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Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. John did not tell us why it was

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Mary did not know that it was Jesus. Perhaps she was so filled with grief, still thinking that the body of Jesus had been stolen, that she was not expecting to see

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Jesus and did not see him here clearly enough to recognize him. However, there were other post resurrection appearances of Jesus to others, to whom

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Jesus purposely prevented them from recognizing him. This was the case for perhaps an extended time with two disciples that very afternoon who left

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Jerusalem on the first Lord's day, traveling home to Emmaus. Jesus, you'll recall, joined them on the way.

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And so they traveled along the way for apparently some distance. Luke 24, now behold, two of them disciples were traveling that same day to a village called

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Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. They talked together of all these things which had happened.

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And so it was while they conversed and reasoned that Jesus himself drew near and went with them, but their eyes were restrained.

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So they did not know him. He was a stranger. In fact, when he asked them, you know, what troubles you?

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Are you a stranger? Don't you know what's gone on? We thought we had the Messiah. We thought he was a prophet, but they killed him.

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We don't know what's going on. And then he opened the scriptures to them. They didn't know it was

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Jesus. He spoke with these two disciples for apparently some time, some distance.

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They became quite acquainted with one another in their discussion to the point these two men, again not recognizing him, nevertheless invited him and he consented to dine with them.

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And then we read, they finally identified Jesus by an action that was familiar to them.

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So we read in Luke 24 30. Now it came to pass as he, Jesus sat at the table with them.

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He took bread, blessed, broke it, gave it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they knew him and he vanished from their sight.

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Then there's another strange description in Mark's gospel. It's in the longer ending of Mark.

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It talks about Jesus. After that, Jesus, he appeared in another form to two of them.

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Another form? What's that mean? And they walked and went into the country and they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

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It's most likely Mark was of course referred to that account in Luke 24 with the two disciples on their way to Emmaus.

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But the point is this, the risen Lord Jesus purposely presented, prevented some from identifying him in order to further his purposes with them.

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Luke 24, he wanted to show them you can experience his presence through the scriptures and through fellowship with one another.

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After the fact, did not our hearts burn within us when he spoke to us out of the scriptures of the way? That's the whole point, is that the resurrection of Christ, the part of Christ, does not mean we cannot enjoy his presence and his fellowship as Christians.

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But again, we do not know if Mary failed to recognize Jesus here in John 20 because Jesus appeared in a form she did not immediately recognize or if due to grief, perhaps lack of clear vision of him, she failed at first to identify

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Jesus. And so when she turned to Jesus, whom he had not, she had not yet recognized,

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Jesus first spoke with her. Verse 15a, Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping?

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Whom are you seeking? And just as he called his mother from the cross, woman, this was not a derogatory term in any way.

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It was a way that you addressed ladies. Woman, why are you weeping? These are the first recorded words after Christ's resurrection.

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Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Mary thought that he was the gardener.

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Again, it's not apparent why Jesus did not immediately reveal himself to her, but rather he sought to draw her out in this way.

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So verse 15b records Mary's reaction to this gardener. She supposing him to be the gardener said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you've laid him.

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I will take him away. Which is really a physical impossibility. Jesus probably was, you know, a good sized man or you know, certainly a mature man, but also a hundred pounds of spices and wrapping.

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She's not going to carry that body away. Obviously she's going to have to get help. Matthew, Henry, he stood as a common person.

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She looked upon him accordingly. She stood expecting an answer to her complaint from the angels, either seeing the shadow or hearing the tread of some person behind her.

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She turned herself back from talking with the angel, sees Jesus himself standing the very person she was looking for.

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And yet she knew not that it was Jesus. And here are the comments of Donald Carson on Mary's reaction and on the post -resurrection appearances of Jesus.

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Probably weird to think that Mary suddenly becomes aware of someone else near the tomb, turns to that person with the same intent to find out if anyone knows what happened to Jesus's body.

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As so often in the resurrection narrative, Jesus is not immediately recognized. The couple on the

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Emmaus road were kept from recognizing him. The long ending of marks as he appeared to them in a different form.

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The disciples in the boat on the lake of Tiberias, that would be Galilee, did not recognize the man on the shore.

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Mary did not realize it was Jesus. In this instance, it's possible that Mary is blinded by tears.

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Taken as a whole, however, the resurrection accounts provide a certain tension.

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On the one hand, Jesus's resurrection body can be touched and handled, bears the marks of the wounds inflicted on Jesus's pre -death body, and not only cooks fish, but eats it.

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On the other hand, Jesus's resurrection body apparently grows through the grave clothes, appears in a locked room, and is sometimes not recognized.

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The closest we're likely to come to an explanation is 1 Corinthians 15 35 and following. I included that passage, we'll not read it here, but there

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Paul is talking about the nature of the glorified body. So Mary thought it was, he was the gardener, probably thinking he was responsible for taking the body of Jesus.

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But then Jesus revealed himself to Mary, verse 16. Jesus said to her,

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Mary. She turned and said to him, Rabboni, which is to say teacher.

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Again Matthew Henry drew an application note. First, those that will be condemned with nothing short of Christ shall be put off with nothing less.

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He never said to the soul that sought him, seek in vain. Is it Christ that thou wouldest have?

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Christ thou shalt have. And second, Christ in manifesting himself to those who seek him often outdoes their expectations.

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Mary longs to see the dead body of Christ and complains of the loss of that.

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And behold, she sees him alive. And thus he does for his prayed people more than they are able to ask or think.

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And further, he wrote, with what liveliness of affection she gives this title to Christ, she turned from the angels whom she had in her eye to look on to Jesus.

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We must take off our regard from all creatures, even the brightest and best, to fix them upon Christ for whom nothing must divert us and with whom nothing must interfere.

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When she thought it had been the gardener, she looked another way while speaking to him. But now that she knew the voice of Christ, she turned herself.

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The soul that hears Christ's voice and has turned to him calls him with joy and triumph, my master.

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See with what pleasure those who love Christ speak of his authority over them, my master, my great master.

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We read our Lord's words recorded in John 10, in which he spoke of himself as the good shepherd.

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He said, there, the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

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And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them and the sheep follow him for they know his voice.

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Mary knew his voice, didn't she? And addressed him,

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Rabboni, as one wrote, it was said with an emphasis in the air of kindness and freedom with which he was want to speak to her.

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Now he changed his voice and spoke like himself, not like the gardener. Christ's way of making himself known to his people is by his word.

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His word applied to their souls, speaking to them in particular. When those whom

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God knew by name and the counsels of his love are called by name and the efficacy of his grace, then he reveals his son in them as in Paul, Galatians 1.

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When Christ called to him by name, Saul, Saul, Christ's sheep know his voice.

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This one word, Mary, was like to the disciples in the storm, it is I. And then the word of Christ does us good when we put our names into the precepts and promises.

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In other words, when you read the scriptures as though it's written to you, is what he's saying. When you put your name in the precepts and promises of scripture, in this

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Christ calls to me and speaks to me. And that's how we ought to read the Bible. Christ speaking to us.

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Of course, we're familiar with the term rabbi, which means teacher. Rabboni is the Aramaic term, which was the common language of the common people.

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It may not have been the highest Christological confession, but at this point, Mary is enthralled by the restored relationship, not contemplating its theological implications.

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She knew him as the teacher. Notice John provided the meaning of this word to his readers.

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This is another indication John was writing principally his gospel to Gentiles. He explained what rabboni meant.

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Let's take a moment, put ourselves on the place of Mary Magdalene. Can we imagine the surprise and joy that Mary immediately felt when she saw

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Jesus, whom she thought was dead, but now sees him alive. And she exemplifies what

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Jesus had said to his followers not long before. Most assuredly, say to you will weep and lament.

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Mary did, but the world will rejoice and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.

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A woman when she is in labor has sorrow because her hour has come, but as soon as she has given birth to the child, she no longer remembers the anguish for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

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Therefore you now have sorrow, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and your joy no one will take from you.

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This is played out here, is it not, in John 20, 11 through 18.

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King David wrote in Psalm 34, the Lord is near to those who have a broken heart and save such as have a contrite spirit.

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And that was Mary. The Lord is nearer to us than we know when we see our need of him and long for him to be with us.

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He was not far from Mary, though Mary did not know so as yet. Before we pass on from this and we have to begin wrapping things up obviously,

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Vita sent me some words of Sinclair Ferguson on this matter of Jesus as a gardener.

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And we've talked about this theme before, how John's gospel is really the genesis reiterated through the life of Jesus.

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And Sinclair Ferguson wrote on this matter, recall what Adam was created to be, the gardener in the garden of Eden.

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Everything God made was good but everything was not yet garden. God wanted Adam to exercise dominion by expanding the garden.

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Having given him a garden to begin with, God would say, now Adam, I've given you a start, now you go do the rest to the world.

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Adam was to garden the whole earth for the glory of the heavenly father, but he failed. Created to make the dust fruitful, he himself became part of the dust.

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The garden of Eden became the wilderness of this world. But do you also remember how

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John's gospel records what happened on the morning of Jesus's resurrection? He was the beginning of the new creation.

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The firstborn from the dead, but Mary Magdalene did not recognize him. Instead she spoke to him, supposing him to be the gardener.

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Well, who else would he be at that time in the morning? The gardener?

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Yes indeed, he is the gardener. He is the second man, the last Adam, who's now beginning to restore the garden.

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In the closing scenes of the book of Revelation, John saw the new earth coming down out of heaven. What did it look like?

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A garden in which the tree of life stands. And one day all this will come to pass.

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But there is still a long way to go before the end and there is much more to learn about Christ if we are to know him fully.

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Already we have hints of what he will need to be. Someone who speaks the truth that counters Satan's lies, that is a prophet.

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Someone who's able to assure us that our sins are forgiven, that is a priest. And someone who's able to subdue us and reign over us, that is a king and much else.

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Jesus the gardener. And we have Jesus instructing Mary in verse 17.

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Jesus said to her, do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brother and say to them,

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I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God. This is a tremendous statement.

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Donald Carson wrote of this verse. This verse belongs to a handful of the most difficult passages in the

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New Testament. The King James Version has resulted in a strange interpretation of our

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Lord's words. It records the words of Jesus in this way. Jesus saith unto her, touch me not for I am not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brother and say to them,

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I ascend to my father, your father, to my God, your God. It's been commonly taught based on this translation, touch me not, that Jesus has not yet ascended into heaven in order to offer his blood as an atonement for sin.

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And therefore, Mary, the sinner, must not touch him lest it defile him and his offering before he can be presented to his father in heaven.

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And then when this idea is coupled with what is recorded in John 20, 27, in which

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Jesus encouraged Thomas to touch him, but here he says, Mary, touch me not.

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Then it is said that between the times of Mary not to touch him and a week later when

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Jesus told Thomas to touch him, Jesus must have ascended to his father. This whole line of thinking is nonsense.

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Actually, it's best to understand Jesus is telling Mary to stop what she was already doing.

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And the way the Greek verb with the negative particle in front of it negating it, he's causing her to stop doing what she was already doing.

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He was not commanding her, don't touch me. He was commanding her to stop clinging to me, is basically what you're saying.

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When Mary recognized Jesus, she must have come, thrown herself at his feet, clung to his legs out of joy, not wanting to turn loose of him, but he told her what he was to do, namely to ascend to his father.

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Jesus taught her that she could not cling to him as before. He was now risen and he must, she must relate to him accordingly.

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She must believe on him as exalted, glorified, and enthroned. She could not relate to him as she had formerly, but now she may do so in a far greater, grander manner.

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John Calvin wrote on this, the meaning of these words is that Christ's date of resurrection would not be full and complete until he should sit down in heaven at the right hand of the father.

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Therefore, Mary did wrong in satisfying herself with having nothing more than half of his resurrection and design only to enjoy his presence in the world.

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But there's another quite significant matter here in what Jesus told Mary to announce to his disciples. Again, Jesus said, do not cling to me for I've not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren.

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See that expression, go to my brethren, first time, first mention. He called them his disciples, he called them his friends, first time he refers to his disciples as my brothers.

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That's significant. I'm ascending to my father and your father, to my

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God and your God. This is the first occasion when Jesus referred to his disciples as my brethren.

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His death and resurrection on their behalf brought his people into a new and deeper relationship with him.

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He regards his disciples, meaning both male and female disciples, as his brothers and sisters. There's a new family relationship with God's son and with God the father through the suffering death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that is for those who believe on him.

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They and they only may call themselves the children of God, the brothers and sisters in Christ.

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In the Old Testament, the people of Israel could call God as father of their nation, but it was never individualized, except for the son of David who was enthroned because he reigned on behalf of God his father.

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He was the son of God, ruling as though his father were king. So a significant transforming relationship is now communicated to Mary.

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You go tell my disciples, my brethren, I'm ascending to my father, your father.

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You and I can call God my father. Jesus said when you pray, pray my father which art in heaven.

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That's new because of what Christ, who Christ is, and what he accomplished on our behalf through his cross.

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And we're to regard one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. Well Mary bore witness of Jesus to the disciples.

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Verse 18, Mary Magdalene came told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her.

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Earlier she had departed from Peter and John in tears, sad, confused, despondent as she pondered the disappearance of the body of Jesus.

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But now she came among the disciples with a glorious tale to tell. She had seen, spoken with, and had clung to their master.

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She gave the disciples, his brethren, a faithful report, an eyewitness account. And though it came forth from her, a woman, they could not reject her testimony but must respect and regard it as valid.

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How else could they explain her countenance? As one wrote, she had joy at her sight of the master herself and was willing to communicate of her joy for she knew it would be good news to them.

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When God comforts us, it is with this design that we may comfort others. And as she told them what she had seen, so also what she had heard.

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She had seen the Lord alive of which this was a token, and a good token it was, that he had spoken these things unto her as a message to be delivered to them, and she delivered it faithfully.

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And it would be the same as others toward them. After they see and speak of their risen Savior, they would tell others what they would see after they saw

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Jesus. And of course it sets the stage for our Lord's appearance to his disciples that would take place later that Lord's Day evening.

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And we'll address this next week, Lord willing. Let's pray. Father, help us to take to heart these lessons, and by all means, our

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God, help us to have the kind of joy that characterized Mary always characterized us, because you,

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Lord Jesus, are risen, and you are with our Father, your Father, and we are brothers and sisters with you, our

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Lord Jesus, and we are children of our Heavenly Father. We pray you'd help us, our

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God, to be filled with joy and go forth from this place, Lord, believing and living according to this truth, this reality.

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We thank you, our God, for your record of Mary Magdalene having seen you and testified to them and to us through John's pen of the reality of your resurrection.