John 20:1-18

Gospel according to John 20:1-18

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with he linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary magdalen stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two Angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are your weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” which means, Teacher. Jesus sad to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them. “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and she told them that he had said these things to her.”

Reflections

After Jesus was crucified on the hill of Calvary, Golgotha, his body was laid to rest in a tomb carved into the stone. The location was outside the city gates in an area that is today known as the Christian quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem. (1) The mother of the emperor Constantine, who legalized Christianity in the Roman Empire in the year 313 AD, Saint Helena, located the supposed place of the tomb of Jesus, over which a small church was built, giving place to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Underneath the chapel, archeologists found a traditional stone bed structure for laying the dead according to the Jewish customs from the time of Jesus. (1)

We need to recall that the disciples did not accompany Jesus’ body to this location. They ran away after Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. John, who was nearly captured by the guards, ran away leaving behind the only robe he was wearing, a linen cloth (Mark 14:51). Peter followed Jesus all the way from a distance all the way to the courtyard of the high priest, where he witnessed that Jesus was questioned, humiliated, beaten, and sentenced to death (Mark 14:64). He broke down that night in tears, after he was questioned by some bystanders, and he denied his connection with Jesus three times (Mark 14:72). Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus, felt remorse after seeing Jesus being sentenced to death. He returned the money to the temple and hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-10).

From the high priest’s court, Jesus was taken to Pilate, where he was further questioned, beaten, publicly humiliated, and sentenced to death by crucifixion at the insistence of the supporters of the high priest. John, Mary, the mother of Jesus, the disciples, and the women who followed Jesus, knew that he carried his cross through the streets of Jerusalem. All the people who loved Jesus stood there watching, weeping, and mourning, and being kept away from helping Jesus by the Roman soldiers, who carried out the sentence. They kept hitting Jesus and forcing him to carry his cross up the hill of Golgotha, where they nailed him to the cross (Mark 15:25).

It was on the hill of Golgotha that Jesus prayed for his tormentors and for the forgiveness of the sins of the world (Luke 23:34). In his last will, he entrusted his mother and Saint John to each other (John 19:25-27). He commended his spirit into the hands of the Father (Luke 23:46).

Mary, the mother of Jesus, and Saint John were at the foot of the cross (John 19:25-27), along with Mary’s sister, Mary of Clopas, Mary Magdalene, (John 19:25), Mary, the mother of James and John (Matthew 27:55), and others who were “looking from afar” (Matthew 27:55). There were roman soldiers, members of the Sanhedrin, chief priests, scribes, and elders who were also witnesses of the crucifixion (Matthew 27:41-43; Mark 15:31-32; Luke 23:35; John 19:20).

On the same day that Jesus died, his body was laid to rest by Joseph or Arimathea, Nicodemus, and a few women who assisted them. According to the Gospel of Mark, they were Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome (Mark 16). The rest of the disciples remained in hiding in Jerusalem, “behind locked doors,” for fear of the authorities (John 20:19). Some of the followers were probably near or at the location of the last supper; according to tradition, an upper room in Mount Zion, just outside the old city walls, known as the Cenacle or “dining room” (2).

From the tomb to the Cenacle, the distance is about 5 kilometers (4). From the site of the crucifixion to the location of Jesus’ tomb thought to be under the current Temple of Sephulchre, is about 500 meters. The distance from the Temple Mount to the Holy Sepulcher is about 415 meters (4). From the former Roman fortress where Pilot resided, to the place of the Golgotha and the Holy Sepulcher, the distance is 600 meters (3). Since they ran to and from this location, it is likely that where they were hiding close to the Mount of Olives, and the Temple Mount, separated by a distance of about 1.5 kilometers, equaling a fifteen, twenty-minute run to the tomb of Jesus.

Mary of Magdala, one of the women who was present both at the crucifixion, and the burial of Jesus, was not hiding with the disciples. Early in the first day of the week, which is the Sunday after the Shabbat, she was up early before the sunrise, and went with “the other Mary” to check on Jesus’ body at the tomb (Matthew 28:1). According to Mark, three Maries; Mary Magdalene, Mary of Clopas and Mary Salome, went together to the tomb (Mark 16:1). Luke also mentions Joanna and other women who had come from Galilee (Luke 23:55). This group of women advanced cautiously but surely under the nightfall, probably led by Mary Magdalene, who knew the exact location of the tomb.

There were Roman soldiers stationed there two days earlier on Friday, a few hours before the Jewish Shabbat was to begin (Matthew 27:62, Mark 15:42, Luke 23:54, John 19:42). They had placed a large seal over the tomb at the request of the Jewish authorities who wanted it secured, lest the body would be stolen and false rumors about the resurrection to be circulated (Matthew 27:62-66). The women were wondering how they will roll away the stone and put some ointment of Jesus’ body, given that the presence of the guards, the heavy stone, and the seal, made it humanly impossible to enter the tomb without help.

However, when they arrived, they found that the stone had already been rolled away. The soldiers were gone, and the seal was broken. The entry to the tomb was open. Naturally, they suspected that someone else took the body of Jesus before their arrival to the tomb.

According to the account of Matthew, an angel descending from heaven came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. “His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing was white as snow” (Matthew 28:3). The soldiers were mortified by the sight of the angel who spoke to the women and told them that Jesus is raised, as he said he would be. The angel showed them the place where he lay.

John, who heard the first-hand account from Mary Magdalene herself, that the tomb was empty, alludes to the fact that Mary did not understand that Jesus has been raised from the dead. She ran to inform the disciples that the body of Jesus was missing from the tomb. After Peter and John verified that this was so, and recalled that Jesus had said that he will rise from the dead, they returned to the house where they were staying, pondering these events, while Mary Magdalene stayed behind, weeping and looking for clues as to where Jesus’ body could have been.

Through her tears, she saw the silhouette of someone behind her, who she supposed was the gardener. Begging him to let her know where they took the Lord’s body, Jesus addressed her by her name. Turning around and sawing that it was the Lord, she wanted to hold on to him, but he said to her to not to, for he must ascend to the Father. Jesus asked Mary Magdalen to go, instead, and let the disciples know what she saw and heard. So, Mary Magdalene ran immediately, again to the disciples, this time, telling them that she had seen the Lord and that he had asked her to tell them that He was alive.

The entire Easter message unfolded in a matter of a few hours. From mourning, weeping, and grieving, hiding in fear, and terrified by what they have seen, and weighed by the sorrow for the passion of the Christ, the disciples received the news that angels have unrolled the stone of the tomb, and that Jesus was walking in the garden. Mary Magdalen was the first who brought the news that Jesus was alive. Peter and John, recalling his words, according to which, on the third day he will rise, were now starting to believe that Jesus’ words were fulfilled. It is possible, they started to understand that he was no longer in the tomb because he had been raised by the Father. His body was not lying on that, or on any other burial stand of a tomb, because he broke the bonds of sin and death, any finiteness and vulnerability. --He was risen; risen indeed.

After the resurrection, Jesus showed himself to the disciples and promised to remain with them always, “…to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). The same way as he rose from the dead, he promised that all who believe in him will rise with him on the last day.

Walking with us in the garden of life, Jesus accompanies us in our own suffering and pain, whenever we call on his name. The Good News is that death and suffering do not have the final say, for goodness, love, and mercy conquered the greatest depths to occupy the heights, from which we can expect salvation.

According to Viktor Frankl, in the dimension of the Ultimate Meaning, every life experience, even unavoidable suffering, pain, and guilt, can have meaning, for when they are handled with courage and dignity, even these aspects of the tragic triad can be turned into a human victory. In other words, as there are individual ways in which every person must suffer at some point and in some ways, just by the fact that we are mortals, and therefore, fallible, finite, and vulnerable, there are infinite and individual examples of carrying our cross in a way as to bring the most out of even a desperate situation.

Suffering is not necessary to find meaning but suffering prompts us to seek meaning. Meaning is not something abstract, lofty, or philosophical, but a concrete way of living and being that can be seen, touched, and witnessed, even when the conditions are less than favorable, and the chances less than ideal. Despite all chances, despite all predispositions, or facts of fate, we have been granted a spirit to look beyond the immediate and instinctual necessities, to a response that offers the self in the actualization of values.

-- When psychology bridges theology, then the message of the Good News of the Gospel is the highest spiritual good that one can aspire to.

Sources:

1. Reich, A. (2022). The Church of the Holy Sepulchre: Is this where Jesus was buried? —explainer. The Jerusalem Post. www.jpost.com

2. Dospel, M. (2023). Did Jesus’ Last Supper Take Place Above the Tomb of David? Undertanding the Cenacle on Mount Zion. Biblical Archaeology Society. Biblicalarcheology.org

3. Wall, K. (2024). The Way of Sorrow: How Far Did Jesus Carry The Cross? Bible Study. www.biblekeeper.com

4. Holy Land Site (2024). Church of the Holy Sephulcre. Holylandsite.com