Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
Hello, I'm Josh.
[00:00:24] Speaker B: And I'm Gabriel.
[00:00:26] Speaker A: And today on reading the Gospel, we are studying the event, Mary at the tomb.
This is found in John, chapter 20, verses 1 through 18.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: Follow along with us now. On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark and saw that the stone had been taken away 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.
So Peter went out with the other disciple and they were going toward the tomb.
Both of them were running together.
But the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.
And stopping to look in, he saw the linen cloth lying there.
But he did not go in.
Then Simon Peter came following him and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloth lying there and the face cloth which had been on Jesus head, not lying with the linen cloth, but folded up in a place by itself.
Then the other disciple who had 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 went back to their homes.
[00:02:06] Speaker A: But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. And as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb.
And she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain. One at the head and one at the feet.
They said to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him. Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing. But she did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?
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 Aramaic, rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and. And your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord and that he had said these things to her.
So we're revisiting this event, the resurrection, to focus on Mary and her interaction.
We didn't have time in the last episode to do this, and we believe it's important what we find Mary comes to the tomb, and when she gets there, she doesn't find Jesus.
There's no angel, there's no Jesus, which is an empty tomb. So she turns around and goes home and gets the disciples.
And so the disciples come back, look in, and then we have this interaction. Why did she have to go twice?
[00:04:08] Speaker B: The first time, she was maybe surprised.
She was the first to discover that the stone was not there. The stone that was sealed with a Roman seal as requested by the leaders of the Jewish nation.
And she was, you know, she realized that Jesus is not there. And she went straight to Peter and John.
She considered those the leaders of the. Of the group and told them, look, Jesus is not there. I don't know where he is, and let's go together or let's see what's going on.
And the second time, it seems that she's there in a reflective way. She's sitting and crying and trying to sort out her feelings, what is going to happen.
She was a disciple with the teachings about Jesus Christ who told her about the resurrection.
But she expects the resurrection to happen.
[00:05:14] Speaker A: Sometimes later as they go, you know, she goes back to tell Peter and the one whom the other disciple is with John.
So they go running to the tomb. You know, they want to see this.
Mary is not saying Jesus has risen. She's saying they've taken him. And so they get there and they're looking inside the tomb, they're looking for Jesus. And they don't see Jesus, and they assume that he's been taken, right? It says they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.
So they decide to go home.
It's like, oh, well, I guess he's not here. Let's just go home.
Now, granted, they were probably fearful for their lives. You know, later on we see them, the door is locked.
They don't go look for Jesus.
However, Mary, as you said, she's here, she's broken and she's weeping and she's mourning this loss.
I think God's heart goes out and I wonder if Mary didn't do that, how Jesus would have revealed himself.
But I wonder, you know, if Jesus was like, oh, I can't stay back any longer. I've got to. I've got to come and make myself known.
Where was Jesus at this time, like before?
So he had risen from the dead.
Where. Where did he go? Was he in heaven?
[00:06:49] Speaker B: I wish I have the answer to this question for sure. He did not go to heaven because he said to Mary, I did not go to the Father and in fact, she was entrusted with a message to be communicated to the disciples.
I go, I'm ascending to my Father and your father, my God and your God.
[00:07:10] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:12] Speaker B: Beautifully connecting their hope with a plan of God which will be synchronized as prophesied in the Old Testament.
But what is very interesting is that while Mary was lingering by the tomb, Jesus was there kind of waiting for this encounter.
[00:07:36] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:07:37] Speaker B: And Mary had to do something and had to do it twice to be able to experience the presence of Jesus Christ.
The first time, I think is verse 14. Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. The first time she turned around and supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid it and I will take him away.
And Jesus said to her, Mary, she turned and said to him an Aramaic rabbone, that is, teacher, there are two turnings.
This is a technical term, turning around from the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we don't have the word repentance, that was a made up word in Greek by the disciples to communicate this experience of turning around inside of your mind, of your heart. It's a spiritual turning around.
[00:08:49] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:08:51] Speaker B: And Mary experiences this turning around in a physical way, which represents the inside dimension, the spiritual dimension of turning around. The first time she turn around and she saw the person, but she thought that it is the gardener.
Very interesting how our expectation plays in life.
Our expectations sometimes define the reality and we see two different eyes.
But the second time she turned again after hearing the voice that she knew that she trusted.
Exactly as John said In John chapter 10, my sheep know my voice and they follow me. Mary knew his voice and right away she responded, my teacher.
[00:09:45] Speaker A: Yeah.
My thought is, how many times do we have encounters with God or with angels or in the spiritual realm and don't even realize it.
I think of Moses as Moses is herding his sheep. There's a burning bush, but he has to turn aside to see it. It's not like right there in front of him. He has to make the choice to go over to it.
And I wonder how many blessings from God we miss out on each day for not even looking for them.
[00:10:19] Speaker B: And how many times we have to turn around because we miss it the first time and the second time.
And how many times God has to come around us so we can encounter him.
[00:10:31] Speaker A: Yeah. And that is faith.
Faith is the evidence of things not seen.
When we look back in our lives, we see the way God has been working. And I can't sit down here and scientifically prove that God did the things in my life that I believe he did.
But I have no, there's no doubt in my mind that it was God.
And so when we, when our mindset is looking for God, interacting with us, we see him more.
And I know, you know, scientific people would love to tear that apart, but that's kind of what faith is. And even in the scientific realm, they need faith as well. And everyone uses faith at some point.
[00:11:19] Speaker B: One more question.
[00:11:20] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:11:20] Speaker B: Why Jesus says, do not cling to me.
[00:11:26] Speaker A: Yeah. So he had not ascended to his father, he's not yet made that trip to heaven. And there's something that happens in this trip, right?
So for some reason, for whatever reason, he was not to be clung to.
[00:11:45] Speaker B: That means, I imagine that Mary kind of jumped on his feet the same way she did in that room when she was, you know, anointing Jesus feet and wiping them with her own hair. She jumped on his feet as a form of worship, as a form of respect and adoration.
And Jesus said, look, let me go, then touch me. The other translations say that don't touch me yet because I have not present myself before the Father, that Jesus Christ on that Sunday of resurrection, went to his father to present the first fruits.
In the same way the high priest in the Old Testament on the third day of this week long holiday, Passover, would present a sheaf of the new harvest before the Lord.
[00:12:46] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:12:47] Speaker B: When Jesus Christ died on Friday, the tombs of many saints opened, but they did not resurrect until the Sunday of resurrection. Because Jesus Christ is the first fruit, right, Number one.
And now Jesus went to his Father to present them.
He's saying, father, in the virtue of my death and my resurrection, I present these people who have trusted you throughout centuries, who have lived for you, who have died for you. Please receive them as my first gift.
[00:13:23] Speaker A: Let us have a prayer.
Father God, we're so thankful that as Jesus comes back and presents this first gift, it was accepted that his death on the cross was enough for our sins to be forgiven.
And just as Jesus rose from the dead, we can have that hope that when he comes again, if we are not alive on this earth, that we will be raised as well if we've accepted his gift.
And so we want to accept that gift today and we want to live like we accept it, having Jesus dwell within us. In his name we pray. Amen.
[00:14:01] Speaker B: Amen.
