Resurrection

Resurrection
John 20:11-17

11 But [de] Mary [Maria] stood [histemi] without [exo] at [pros] the sepulchre [mnemeion] weeping [klaio] : and [oun] as [hos] she wept [klaio] , she stooped down [parakupto] , and looked into [eis] the sepulchre [mnemeion] ,
12 And [kai] seeth [theoreo] two [duo] angels [aggelos] in [en] white [leukos] sitting [kathezomai] , the one [heis] at [pros] the head [kephale] , and [kai] the other [heis] at [pros] the feet [pous] , where [hopou] the body [soma] of Jesus [Iesous] had lain [keimai] .
13 And [kai] they [ekeinos] say [lego] unto her [autos] , Woman [gune] , why [tis] weepest thou [klaio] ? She saith [lego] unto them [autos] , Because [hoti] they have taken away [airo] my [mou] Lord [kurios] , and [kai] I know [eido] not [ou] where [pou] they have laid [tithemi] him [autos] .
14 And [kai] when she had [epo] thus [tauta] said [epo] , she turned [strepho] herself [eis] back [opiso] , and [kai] saw [theoreo] Jesus [Iesous] standing [histemi] , and [kai] knew [eido] not [ou] that [hoti] it was [esti] Jesus [Iesous] .
15 Jesus [Iesous] saith [lego] unto her [autos] , Woman [gune] , why [tis] weepest thou [klaio] ? whom [tis] seekest thou [zeteo] ? She [ekeinos] , supposing [dokeo] [hoti] him to be [esti] the gardener [kepouros] , saith [lego] unto him [autos] , Sir [kurios] , if [ei] thou [su] have borne [bastazo] him [autos] hence [bastazo] , tell [epo] me [moi] where [pou] thou hast laid [tithemi] him [autos] , and I [kago] will take [airo] him [autos] away [airo] .
16 Jesus [Iesous] saith [lego] unto her [autos] , Mary [Maria] . She [ekeinos] turned [strepho] herself, and saith [lego] unto him [autos] , Rabboni [rhabboni] ; which [hos] is to say [lego] , Master [didaskalos] .
17 Jesus [Iesous] saith [lego] unto her [autos] , Touch [haptomai] me [mou] not [me] ; for [gar] I am [anabaino] not yet [oupo] ascended [anabaino] to [pros] my [mou] Father [pater] : but [de] go [poreuomai] to [pros] my [mou] brethren [adelphos] , and [kai] say [epo] unto them [autos] , I ascend [anabaino] unto [pros] my [mou] Father [pater] , and [kai] your [humon] Father [pater] ; and [kai] to my [mou] God [theos] , and [kai] your [humon] God [theos] . KJV-Interlinear

11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; 12 and she beheld two angels in white sitting, one at the head, and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 And they said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping?' She said to them, 'Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.' 14 When she had said this, she turned around, and beheld Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 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.' 16 Jesus said to her, 'Mary!' She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, 'Rabboni!' (which means, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, 'Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren, and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.' NASB

Mark 16:9
9 [Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. NASB

You'll recall that Mary was the one who had demons cast out of her, Lk. 8:5. Consequently when she brings word of her seeing Jesus, the others doubted what she said. It would appear that her credibility was in question. Mary is the first person to see the resurrected Jesus Christ. Luke also makes it clear that she is the one who had the demons cast out. He could have simply stated her name, but here adds her history.

Mary is the last person to remain at the tomb. All of the rest of the people have now left. She remains behind, probably did not go into the tomb with the other women, and therefore did not hear or see the angels that they heard and saw. The other women were frightened and headed for home. Mary comes along, following Peter and John, who have already been to the tomb and now have gone, and Mary stands outside crying. The words here indicate her deep emotional sorrow for what she thinks has happened.

She looks inside the see the two angels still positioned at the head and the foot of where Christ had laid. We studied the significance of their position yesterday (righteousness and justice).

Mary has a short conversation with the angels, but she is not frightened by them as the others were, and neither does she receive a verbal answer, but she does receive an immediate answer in the form of Jesus walking up behind her.

She hears his steps, turns to see him but mistakes him for someone else, a gardener. Remember that her last sight of Jesus was when He was on the cross, when He was taken down, and when He was placed in the tomb. His body was not in the greatest of shape, but had been virtually destroyed by the beatings He had received three days earlier, making Him virtually unrecognizable. That is her last impression of Him. Now a cleaned up Jesus, stands right behind her and this is not the one she last saw.

She has been crying, and is deep sorrow because the body is missing. Her thinking is not quite clear, so she would not recognize Him at first. Jesus simply asks her why she is crying and whom she is looking for. This helps her to stop being emotional with her sorrow and helps her to begin thinking.

Then Jesus addresses her by name and she immediately recognizes Him. Her sorrow is immediately exploded into rejoicing like riding a rocket roller coaster. Her emotions have changed gears almost in an instant, and the change is extremely dramatic.

Have you ever been in a public place, and lost someone close to you, perhaps like a child. You become frantic with worry, searching and then suddenly find them? What you do is grab them and clutch to them with a huge bear hug. Your worry turns to relief, but your heart if pumping a million miles an hour.

Here we have Mary probably collapsing to her knees and grabbing Jesus by the legs or around His waist, with a huge bear hug, clinching her arms around Him, closing her eyes, saying His name, and crying all the more. This time she is never going to let go of Him. With all the power that God has, nothing is going to separate her from Him ever again.

So Jesus has to ask her to let go, 'You know Mary, I still have to go to heaven to be glorified and sit at the right hand of the Father, and I can't do that while you are clinging to me. Ok?'

She cannot cling to a mission which is not yet accomplished. The cross was only part of the mission. Christ has to proceed to heaven, and there attend His coronation formally, and then be seated in His rightful place of power, and authority, at the right hand of the Father.

She is instructed to go to the apostles, the women, and the other disciples who have remained loyal, and tell them that He is risen, that she has seen Him, and more importantly, that He still has to go to heaven to complete His glorification.

Why would she be asked to tell them this last part? Because they all need to be directed back to thinking of the plan of God, and not of their own agenda for the Messiah, and not be thinking of their sorrow for their perceived loss of the one whom they thought was going to lead them right away to the Kingdom of God.

The cross shattered the plans the disciples had. It shattered their expectations, now they need to get back on track with and start getting back in line with the plan which God has for each one of them in particular, and for humanity in general.

All too often we grow up with expectations for our own life. We make plans. We set goals for ourselves. Then life hits us and we discover that what we expected is not going to be what God has us in this world for. Sometimes we take a long time in recognizing this difference, and we have a difficult life because of our resistance to truth. There is but one cure for that resistance and that cure is to bring us back to Gods Word. God directs us back to reality by various means. The sooner we recognize those messages, the sooner our life will turn around and in the right direction.

The more we react or resist Gods messages, the more misery and difficulty we will experience in life. As always, the choice, for making our lives better or worse, is our own.

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