Easter Sunday, Year A

Acts 10:34-43 or Jeremiah 31:1-6

Psalm 118:1-2, 14-24

Colossians 3:1-4 or Acts 10:34-43

John 20:1-18 (or Matthew 28:1-10)

John 20:1-18

Outline:

The Text from the Gospel reading for Easter Sunday, year A, which includes extensive textual, exegetical notes (at the very end).
Line-by-line commentary,
Sermon suggestions.

Enjoy. Comments always welcome.

(Mt 28.1—10; Mk 16.1—8; Lk 24.1—12)

The Resurrection of Jesus

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark,[1] Mary Magdalene came²So[2] she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken[3] the Lord out of the tomb, and we[4] do not know where they have laid him.”[5]
to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.

³Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. ⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings[6] lying there, but he did not go in.

⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there,[7] ⁷and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with[8] the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.[9]

⁸Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; ⁹for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.[10] ¹⁰Then the disciples returned to their homes.[11]

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

¹¹But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look^a into the tomb; ¹²and she saw two angels in white,[12] sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

¹³They 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.” ¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus.[13]

¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?”[14]

Supposing him to be the gardener,[15] she 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!”[16]

She turned and said to him in Hebrew,^b “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher).[17]

¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me,[18] because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.[19]

Line by line notes, Commentary

First Scene: Mary at the tomb

¹Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.

Mary Magdalene is accompanied by other women in the synoptic Gospels (Matt 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10), but in John she comes to the tomb alone (NIB)

In addition to her role in the passion and Easter narratives (see Matt 27:56, 61; Mark 15:40, 47; John 19:25; cf. Luke 23:49), Mary Magdalene appears in Luke 8:2, where she is identified as a Galilean woman from whom Jesus had exorcised seven demons.(NIB)

The nearest of kin would remain home mourning for seven days; Mary Magdalene, who would have grieved as much as the family, might have remained inside had it not been necessary to complete the work left unfinished due to the Sabbath (19:42). But Jewish mourners as well as pagans were often known to visit tombs within the three days after the burial.

That Mary would approach the tomb before daylight demonstrates her eager devotion to Jesus. (IVP)

²So 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,

Note that she seems to think that grave robbers took the body, but later when she sees Jesus she mistakes him not for a grave robber, but for the gardener. It probably is because she would not assume a grave robber to be back.

and we do not know where they have laid him.”

Many interpreters, including Raymond Brown[20] believe the “We” in this passage indicate that John is drawing from a synoptic tradition in which there were more than one (woman) witness to the empty tomb. The IB disagrees. “The first-person plural pronoun (“we”) in her report suggests that Mary understands herself to be expressing the puzzle of the empty tomb for all of Jesus’ followers, not for herself alone (cf. v. 13).”

Second Scene: Peter and John at the Tomb (3-10)

³Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb.

Ancient Jewish men did not accept women as reliable witnesses for most legal purposes (their witness was limited, but less so, in Roman courts), and this cultural tendency may further move John and Peter to look for themselves. (IVP)

The disciple “whom Jesus loved” is singularly identified with the events of Jesus’ hour (see also 13:21-30; 19:26-27, 35). He is always identified by his relationship to Jesus and never by his name. Peter has many roles in the Fourth Gospel, but the beloved disciple has only one role: to embody the love and intimacy with Jesus that is the goal of discipleship in John. (NIB)

⁴The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first.

Most interpreters through history interpret the slowness of Peter and the speed of the Beloved Disciples as due to the age of Peter and the youth of the BD.

⁵He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in.

Similarly, illustrating his probable youth, the BD defers to Peter when he gets there and lets him look into the tomb first. Many more recent interpreters see the difference as being a symbolic division between Jewish Christianity vs. Gentile Christianity (Bultmann) or Petrine and Johannine followers of Jesus (Brown and Barrett).

⁶Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there,

⁷and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself.

"the burial cloth" - The sudarium (Latin) is a small towel for personal use. The word is used of a small towel, or large handkerchief, used to wipe the face. It is quite possible that this was of better material than the linen sheets. "Handkerchief", Phillips; "napkin", REB. (Lectionary Studies)

Had robbers stolen the body (a rare practice) they would have taken it in its wrappings; had they left the wrappings, they would have left them in disarray. Whoever left them, left them there neatly. The face cloth separate from the linen is not merely “folded up” (NIV) but “rolled up” (NASB, NRSV, TEV), which could be an indication of neatness, or that it was still rolled the way it had been when it was wrapped around Jesus’ head—that his body had risen straight out of the wrappings and cloth.

This has been my interpretation of this since childhood. John wanted us to understand Jesus as rising straight through them, in stark contrast to Lazarus still having them wrapped around him. See in text notes above where Lectionary Studies discounts this.

⁸Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed;

But what did he believe? There is no object of his belief. Augustan thinks that he simply believed Mary’s story about the missing body. But that is unlikely since John has so much theological freight in the word throughout the rest of the Gospel.

What the beloved disciple believes, then, is the evidence of the empty tomb: not merely that the tomb is empty, but that its emptiness bears witness that Jesus has conquered death and judged the ruler of this world (12:31; 14:30; 16:33).

“The beloved disciple’s faith is as complete as faith in the evidence of the empty tomb can be. To say that the beloved disciple believes in the resurrection is to rush the story, however, as v. 9 reminds the reader. Jesus’ glorification is not yet over; the disciples have not yet experienced Jesus’ resurrection, nor has Jesus ascended to the Father (cf. 20:17). Only after Jesus is glorified, when the Paraclete is given to the community, will the disciples understand and remember the Scripture (2:22; 12:12; cf. 14:26). It may be for this reason that the story notes that the disciples simply return home from the empty tomb (v. 10). Jesus has not yet appeared to give his post-resurrection commissions and instructions (vv. 17, 21-22).”(IB)

⁹for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead.

John 20:9 is a parenthetical note by the author. The author does not explicitly mention what OT scripture is involved (neither does Paul in 1 Cor. 15:4, for that matter). The resurrection of the Messiah in general terms may have been seen in Isa 53:10-12 and Psa 16:10. Specific references may have been understood in Jon 1:17 and Hos 6:2 because of the mention of "the third day." Beyond this it is not possible to be more specific.(Oxford Commentary)

“A second problem concerns ‘the scripture’ that is referred to. (A few witnesses omit ‘the Scripture,’ and thus avoid the problem.) John’s implication that only after the appearances of Jesus was the import of the OT prophesies understood agrees with Luke 24:25-27. It runs contrary to the thesis of the Synoptic Gospels that Jesus made three detailed predictions of his resurrection…Is John’s ‘Scripture’ a general reference similar to I Cor. 15:4: ‘He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures”? Does John mean a number of passages? Or does he mean a specific passage, for example, Ps. 16:10 (so Bernard, Hoskyns), or Hos 6:2, or Jonah 1:17, 2:1? We cannot be sure of the answer; but we do not find plausible a third proposal made by Freed OTQ, pp. 57-58, that ‘Scripture’ refers to Jesus’ own words as written in another Gospel (Luke 24:46). We have no evidence that the Johannine author or editor knew the written Gospel of Luke, nor that he would classify Jesus words as Scripture. Bultmann, p. 53, regards vs. 9 as an addition by the Ecclesiastical Redactor, in part because interest in a prediction of the resurrection is reflective community theology. But we cannot assume that the earlier stage of the Gospel were devoid of the influence of community theology. The verse resembles closely 12:14-16, which Bultmann takes to be original.”[21]

¹⁰Then the disciples returned to their homes.

Third Scene: Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

The witness of women was worth little in Judaism; that Jesus first appears to a woman would not have been fabricated and shows us how Jesus’ values differ from those of his culture. Even the later church did not always maintain Jesus’ countercultural stance, and they would hardly have chosen such initial witnesses in an environment where this account would reinforce pagan prejudices against Christians ^{^[22]}

¹¹But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹²and she saw two angels in white,

Black was for mourning, and white was for death (and beyond death).

sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

¹³They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”

Did you notice in the text that the same question is repeated twice? The angels ask Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping?” (20:13). And Jesus asks Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping?” (20:15).
On Easter Sunday, perhaps it’s still the question before us: “Why are we weeping?” Why is there still such anguish in the world? Why are we laboring on, burdened and living as though there has been no resurrection? (From Homiletics web page, no citation)

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

Supposing him to be the gardener,

That he could be a tomb robber does not occur to Mary; tomb robbers were unlikely to come during the mourning period, when visits to the tomb were still frequent, and he would have reacted with more fear or hostility at seeing her if he were one.

Kristin Saldine, writing in Lectionary Homiletics,[23] suggests that Mary was so devoted to Jesus the person that she was unable to see Jesus the Christ. She was only able to see him in his human role and wasn’t prepared for his exalted role.

she 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 in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher).

Both words mean teacher, but Rabouni means something more like “My teacher” making it come across somewhat more personal.

Notice that she didn’t recognize him in the beginning. B ut when he called her by her name, then she knew who he was.

¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me,

The KJV has “Touch me not.” But it’s stronger than that. Probably more like “Do not cling to me” NASB. “The reason she must release him is that she must go testify for him in the short time remaining in view of his coming ascension.”^{^[24]} This is in spite of the fact that women were not supposed to do such a thing.

...because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Potential outline for a sermon on this:

“Who Do You See?”

First, read the commentary above or others. This is a must. You won’t be able to grasp the underbelly of the passage without studying deeply the text and its background.

Then, do some thinking about the four principal characters in John 20. It’s likely that the people of your congregation worshiping on Easter Sunday are represented by one of these four people.

1. John: He saw and believed. Period. That is, he saw the empty tomb. He got it immediately. He knew that Jesus was the risen Lord!

2. Thomas: He didn’t see, and he didn’t believe. He didn’t get it. He could not get his head or his heart around an alleged resurrection without some kind of empirical evidence.

3. Peter: He saw the empty tomb, but was confused. Had no idea what it all meant. But, oh well, it wasn’t going to stop him from getting on with his life. He returns to Galilee, his old job and moves on.

4. Mary: She saw the empty tomb and, like Peter was confused, but totally immobilized. It was hard to think about how she was going to live without Jesus in her life. It is she who, when Jesus calls her by name, is able to utter the great resurrection affirmation: “I have seen the Lord.”

End Notes

[1] “While it was still dark” (πρωῒ σκοτίας ἔτι οὔσης, prōi skotias eti ousēs) Perhaps the writer has added darkness to incorporate his scene into the light symbolism of the gospel. [NJBC] (Haslam, http://montreal.anglican.org/comments/aeasdm.shtml?).

[2] “So” (oun) “therefore.” “We are not told what actually prompts Mary's dash into the city. What does she see? The stone rolled aside, or the empty tomb, or both?”

[3] “They have taken” (Ἦραν, ēran) aor. v., act., indic., third per., pl. they took. An emphatic reading prompts the question who are the “they.” Possibly read as equivalent to the English passive, “has been taken,” Brown.

[4] “We do not know” (οιδαμεν/οἶδα, eido). Verb, First Person, Plural. The plural verb indicates to some interpreters that John may have been accessing a (synoptic?) tradition that originally had more than one person at the tomb.

[5] “Where they have laid him.” (ποῦ ἔθηκαν αὐτόν, pou ethēkan auton) Verb, Aorist, Active, Indicative, Third Person, Plural. They have put, they placed. “Mary is probably saying, ‘we don't know where they have buried him’” (Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, www.lectionarystudies.com/studyg/easterdayig.html).

[6] “Linen wrappings” (ὀθόνια, othonia) pl. strips of linen. “Pieces of linen cloth. Shroud-like sheets are most likely what is intended. Strips, as in the wrappings of a mummy, is certainly not intended. ‘He saw the linen grave-cloths lying there,” Barclay.” (Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons).

[7] “He saw the linen wrappings lying there” (κείμενα, keimena, pres. mid. Part). Note the difference from Lazarus: he needed unbinding (11:44); Jesus does not. In the synoptic gospels, the grave clothes are not mentioned, so presumably they were absent: see Mark 16:6; Matthew 28:6; Luke 24:3, 23. (Haslam). “The word here may not be indicating anything about the position of the linen sheets, but rather just that they are ‘there.’ Some commentators argue that the wrappings are as if a body has passed through them and they have sunk to the bench where the body lay. This is an interesting theory, but can't be derived from the text. Cast to one side, as if a person were rising from their bed, would be more likely. What is clear, is that the scene is not one that would be left by grave robbers with everything is strewn around. ‘He saw the strips of cloth lying inside the tomb,’ CEV.” (Lectionary Bible Studies and Sermons, www.lectionarystudies.com/studyg/easterdayig.html).

[8] “With” (meta) “That the sudarium (the linen cloth) was not ‘with’ the sheets is the most accepted meaning, but ‘like,’ referring to condition rather than place, or ‘among,’ are other possibilities” (Lectionary Bible Studies).

[9] “By itself” (chōris). Adverb, “apart,” “separately.” in one place. “‘In the same place [as the linen sheets]’ rather than a ‘different place.’ is the natural reading of the phrase. That is, the linen sheets have been pushed aside as if a person were getting out of bed, but the sudarium is folded neatly and placed with/beside the linen. It is clear that there is a point to these details, details for John at least, that prompted faith” (Lectionary Bible Studies).

[10] “The scripture”: There is no particular scriptural that says this. Perhaps John is saying that Jesus’ fulfills salvation history. BlkJn points out that “scripture” is in the singular, so a specific text is intended. He suggests Psalm 16:10, “For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the Pit.” (Haslam) Here is the comment from NET Bible: “John 20:9 is a parenthetical note by the author. The author does not explicitly mention what OT scripture is involved (neither does Paul in 1Co 15:4, for that matter). The resurrection of the Messiah in general terms may have been seen in Isa 53:10-12 and Psa 16:10. Specific references may have been understood in Jon 1:17 and Hos 6:2 because of the mention of ‘the third day.’ Beyond this it is not possible to be more specific.”

[11] “To their homes” (troV autouV) Lit., to their. “The disciples returned to their homes.” Why? What were they thinking? “The real purpose in this verse is to get the disciples off the scene and to give up the stage to Magdalene.” Brown, Anchor Bible, JohnXIII-XXI, p. 988. “So the disciples went back home,” Barclay. On Vv. 3-10 as a whole: “The description of the Peter and the other disciple has been seen as a reflection of a contest for leadership in the early church. They both looked in, then the other disciple went in and ‘he saw and believed’ (cf. 9:37-38: Jesus said, ‘You have seen him’…. He said, ‘Lord, I believe.’)” (Dan Nelson, http://sio.midco.net/danelson9/yeara/easter1a.htm).

^aGk lacks to look

[12] Mary sees “two angels in white” but apparently Peter and the other disciple did not (at vv. 6-7). (Haslam)

[13] “She did not know that it was Jesus”: Mary also fails to recognize Jesus in other resurrection stories: see 21:4, 7, 12; Luke 24:16ff; Matthew 28:17. See also Luke 24:37-41. [BlkJn] Why didn’t she recognize him? “John’s report should be joined to the other Gospel instances of failure to recognize the risen Jesus because he has been transformed” (Brown, p. 989).

[14] “Whom are you looking for?” “this question is a rare parallel in John to the Synoptic tradition of the conversation between the angels and the women” (Brown, 990).

[15] “gardener” (κηπουρός, kepouros, n m.). Note that this is the only use of ho kepouros in the New Testament.) A Jewish cemetery was much like a garden, so the confusion could be made. However understandable it was that she might mistake him for a gardener, why was she not startled by his lack of clothes? Vv. 5-6 indicate twice that his clothes were removed and folded neatly on the bed.

[16] “Mary” (Mariam). Maria would have been the more normal form for Mary Magdalene, but Mariam is found here in the best witnesses. Some have proposed that John is quoting here from “Hebrew” (i.e. Aramaic) sources as he did with Rabbouniin 16b.

^bThat is, Aramaic

[17] “Rabbouni” is a variant form of Rabbi, meaning teacher. Sometimes said to be an endearing form of the name “Rabbi.” Mary wishes to resume the relationship she has previously enjoyed with Jesus. [BlkJn] Some have seen in it evidence of a special relationship of Mary with Jesus.

[18] “Do not hold on to me ...” (μή μοῦ ἅπτου, mē mou aptou). Lit. “don’t touch me.” In Matthew 28:9-10, the women grasp the risen Lord’s feet in a gesture of worship. [NJBC] Note that the use of the present imperative means literally ‘Stop touching me,; probably implies that she is already touching him and is to desist” (Brown, p. 992).

[19] Verses 11-18: May well be that the evangelist has reworked a traditional story in which the risen Christ appeared to either Mary Magdalene alone or in the company of other women near the tomb. (Haslam).

[20] Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John (XIII–XXI), AB 29A (Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1970) 984, 1000.

[21] The Gospel of John, Anchor Bible, Raymond Brown [Doubleday], pp. 987-8

^{^[22]}Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary : New Testament, electronic ed., Jn 20:11 (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1997).

[23] Vol. XIX, No. 2 (2008), p. 63.

^{^[24]}Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary : New Testament, electronic ed., Jn 20:17 (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 1997).