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Mary Magdalene · Lesson 3 of 3

She Had Seen the Lord

John 20:11-18 · Read 3 min · think and write 20 min

← Mary Magdalene For leaders

The last lesson read that Peter and the other disciple went to see the tomb, and then “the disciples went away again to their own homes” (John 20:10).

This lesson reads what happened after they had gone.

Read TogetherJohn 20:11-18

11But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb,

12and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

13They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.”

14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus.

15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” 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.”

16Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him, “Rabboni!” which is to say, “Teacher!”

17Jesus said to her, “Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

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

Think It Through

What do you see?

  1. After the two disciples went home, where was Mary? What was she doing? (v. 11)
  2. When she looked into the tomb, what did she see? What did the angels ask her? How did she answer? (vv. 12–13)
  3. When she turned around, whom did she see? Whom did she suppose him to be? What did she say to him? (vv. 14–15)
  4. When Jesus called her, how did she answer? What did Jesus send her to do? What did she do? (vv. 16–18)

If I were there

  1. Imagine you are one of the two disciples who had already gone home that morning (v. 10): what you saw was an empty tomb and linen cloths; now she comes to pass on Jesus’ words, and what Jesus said was, “go to my brothers and tell them” (v. 17). What would you be thinking? (The passage does not record what the disciples thought when they heard this. This question asks you to put yourself in their place.)

What is God like?

  1. She supposed him to be the gardener; “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned” (v. 16). Reading that Jesus called her by name, what comes to mind?
  2. Jesus gave her these words to pass on: “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (v. 17). Reading this, what comes to mind?

What does this mean for me?

  1. The angels and Jesus both asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” (vv. 13, 15). If someone asked you that today, how would you answer?
  2. She “came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord” (v. 18). Is there something about Jesus that you would like to tell someone?
  3. Look back over these three lessons — that day, she watched from afar, and saw where he was laid; when the Sabbath was past, while it was still dark, she came to the tomb; then Jesus called her by name, and she “told the disciples that she had seen the Lord” (v. 18). Which moment makes you most want to stop and look a little longer?

Notes

Standing outside, weeping. The two disciples had gone home (v. 10); “But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping. So as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb” (v. 11). The passage begins the verse with ‘But’.

Two angels. She “saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain” (v. 12). “They asked her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him’” (v. 13). In the last lesson she said to the disciples, “we don’t know where they have laid him” (v. 2); this time she says, “I don’t know where they have laid him” (v. 13).

Supposing him to be the gardener. “When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, and didn’t know that it was Jesus” (v. 14). Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?” (v. 15). The tomb was in a garden (John 19:41); “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’” (v. 15).

Mary. “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned and said to him, ‘Rabboni!’ which is to say, ‘Teacher!’” (v. 16). Jesus called her by name, and she turned.

Go to my brothers. “Jesus said to her, ‘Don’t hold me, for I haven’t yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”’” (v. 17).

She had seen the Lord. “Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her” (v. 18). She went, and she passed on Jesus’ words as he had given them.

Another book. Luke’s Gospel, recording this day, also gives her name: “Now they were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. The other women with them told these things to the apostles” (Luke 24:10). After this, the New Testament does not name her again.

For Them Then

Matthew’s Gospel records that on that morning Jesus met several women: “As they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, ‘Rejoice!’ They came and took hold of his feet, and worshiped him” (Matt 28:9). “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Go tell my brothers that they should go into Galilee, and there they will see me’” (Matt 28:10).

Readers can see this: what John’s Gospel records Jesus saying to Mary is, “go to my brothers and tell them” (v. 17).

For You Today

Perhaps you too are standing somewhere now, weeping: the others have gone home, and you are still there; what you are looking for, you cannot find; what you are asking, has no answer yet.

This lesson does not say that weeping means your faith is weak; nor does it say that if you only wait long enough you will surely get what you want. What it shows you is this: the disciples went home, “But Mary was standing outside at the tomb weeping” (v. 11); Jesus asked her, “Who are you looking for?” (v. 15), and then “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary’” (v. 16); she turned, and was sent, and she “came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord” (v. 18).

This week: This week, find a quiet time and tell Jesus, just as it is, what you are weeping over or what you are looking for; then read verse 16 once, and pause where Jesus calls her by name.

Scripture: World English Bible.