John 20:11-18
Chapter 20
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb; as she wept, she bent down to look inside.She saw two angels dressed in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the feet.
They said to her:
“Woman, why are you weeping?”
She replied:
“They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.”
As she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not recognize him.
Jesus asked her:
“Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener and answered:
“Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her:
“Mary!”
She turned and said to him:
“Rabboni!”—which means Teacher.
Jesus told her:
“Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father, and your Father, to my God, and your God.”
So Mary of Magdala went and told the disciples:
“I have seen the Lord, and this is what he said to me.”
Commentaries
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene.
Mary Magdalene is described as “the faithful woman.” Peter and the beloved disciple go to the tomb and find only emptiness: the sheets on the ground and the rolled-up shroud. They begin to believe, then each one goes home. However, Mary remains at the tomb (11). Unlike the weary, inconsistent disciples, her steadfast perseverance stands out. Mary Magdalene represents “the Beloved of the Song.” As such, she can be seen as mad or lovesick, which is why she perceives Jesus everywhere, even thinking that the gardener has taken him away and wanting to fetch him herself (15). But the Master appears and calls her by name. She wants to hold on to Jesus (17). She does not yet understand that the risen Lord is a living gift for all humanity; she cannot keep him for herself alone. True love is never selfish or possessive; it always manifests in self-giving and pure generosity. Mary receives a great revelation: Jesus has risen, and she shares the wonderful gift from God the Father — that Jesus’ Father is now our Father, and his God is now our God (17). Finally, the Lord makes her a missionary (18): she must go to her brothers and sisters and proclaim her faith experience — that she has seen the risen Jesus and that he has shared all these things with her.