After seeing inside the tomb, that it was empty, Peter and John went on their way to their own homes. Mary, however, remained. The things not understood, that left her weeping outside of the tomb, would soon not matter. Mary Magdalene sees not through her eyes, filled with tears, but rather through her ears when the voice of Jesus calls her name. In John 20, the apostle John writes how Mary encounters angels, sees the risen Jesus, and tells the news.
Encounters Angels
With tears falling, Mary looks into the tomb. There she sees two angels dressed in white sitting, one at the place his head was and another at the place where His feet had been. They ask her “Why are you weeping? She tells them Jesus has been taken away and she doesn’t know where He has been taken.
Sees the Risen Lord
Then she turned around. In front of her stood the risen Lord. There was no revelation of Jesus. She thought He was the gardener. This gardener was asking her not only why she was weeping but also whom she was seeking? Again she uttered the concern of her heart. Then in that instant, the lamb heard the voice of the Shepherd call her name, “Mary.” She recognized His voice. It was the voice of He who had delivered her from seven demons. Mary answered and called Him, teacher. She must have tried to hug him for He stopped her by giving her a directive. “Go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and to your Father, and to My God and your God.”
Tells the News
Following the instruction of the teacher, Mary went and found the disciples just as Jesus had told her. Then she tells them about seeing Jesus and the things He had told her. Mary, a woman, weeping at the empty tomb becomes the first witness to the risen Lord. She went from weeping to joy in the blink of an eye. In John 20, the apostle John writes how Mary encountered angels, saw the risen Jesus, and told the news.
