The Woman

By

Reverend Litton Logan

Scriptures:

John 20:1--18 (NRSV)

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. 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, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 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 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, ⁷and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 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. ¹⁰Then the disciples returned to their homes.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

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, 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. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” 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.” ¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, 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.

Sermon:

            As you read and study John’s Gospel bare in mind that John’s audience, like you and I, would have known how the story of Jesus turns out.  Nonetheless, many of John’s audience and I believe many modern audiences would not have understood the nature of Jesus as the Christ of God as John understood, nor would they have understood the deeper aspects of what it meant to be a disciple of Christ.

          Too frequently, we read the stories of scripture through the lenses of knowing how the story ends.  In doing such, we frequently miss certain information that can help us understand the greater truths of scriptures beyond our self-interest and concerns. It is not uncommon for us to understand the “how” in a passage of scripture but not the “why”.  Alternatively, to understand the “why” but not the “how”.  That is the tact I would like to take this morning as we look at the resurrection event in John’s Gospel.

          One of the similarities in all the Gospel accounts of the resurrection that I would like us to look at this Easter, which I think is greatly overlooked, is the role of the women in the resurrection stories. 

A woman or the women are the first witnesses and evangelist of the resurrected Christ in all four gospels.  Given the supposed status and position of women in the cultures of Jesus’ lifetime, I find this very interesting, don’t you?

          As a side note, as many of you know the book by Dan Brown, The De Vinci Code, which is currently on the bestseller list, has caused a lot of attention to be focused on Mary Magdalene lately and her relationship with Jesus.  Dan Brown in his book, as entertaining as it is, draws on stories and myths that originated in fringes groups that we would call loosely Christians.  It is hard for the average reader to sort out Brown’s scholarship from Brown’s fiction.  Nevertheless, Brown does make a very important point about Jesus.  Jesus is very much the egalitarian in matters of race and gender.  A Samaritan woman, who wants him to heal her child, teaches him a lesson about faith; he evangelizes a woman who had been married and divorce seven times, etc.

Also, the women, who are named or alluded to in all the Gospels fall primarily into two classes—those women who were healed by Jesus and those who followed, watched over him, and supported him.  Mary seems to fall into this latter class—she followed, watched over him, and maybe even helped fund his ministry.

Over the centuries, many myths have grown up around Mary Magdalene.  Let me address a couple of the more dominate myths.  There is no evidence in scripture or elsewhere to support the idea that Mary Magdalene was a reformed prostitute.  Pope Gregory the Great in 591 C.E. gave this reputation to her, when he mixed up various “Mary” identities in the Gospels.  Nor, is there any evidence to support the notion that Mary was a converted priestess of one of the extant goddesses of the era.  All evidence supports the fact that Mary was from a town called Magdala and was a successful, independent, self-supporting businesswoman who traded in purple--indigo. 

          In today’s reading, Peter and by implication the Beloved Disciple, John, are the first to enter the empty tomb.  Mary Magdalene saw the open tomb, assumed that someone had taken Jesus’ body, and went immediately to tell the disciples.  Yet, when Peter and John entered the tomb, they saw only burial linens and nothing else.  Seeing the empty tomb both men believed that Jesus had been taken as Mary Magdalene had thought and they left the scene.

          Peter and John leave, but Mary stayed.  Soon Mary just had to look in the tomb for her self, and low-and-behold, she encounters two angels or messengers setting in the tomb.  They ask her why she was crying and she tells them some one has stolen the body of her Lord or Master, and she doesn’t know where they have put him.  Next, a man, whom Mary assumes is the caretaker of the burial ground, approaches her.  She is distraught and accuses this man of being a thief and having stolen the body of Jesus.  She implores him to tell her where the body is and she will take it with her.  Imagine Mary carrying the dead weight of Jesus, but that is grief and love for you.

Jesus speaks Mary’s name, she immediately recognizes him.  It appears that in the hearing of Jesus’ physical voice Mary’s eyes of faith behold the risen Lord.  She cries Rabbouni—the Semitic word for “my great one” as opposed to just Rabbi or teacher.  She rushes toward Jesus, to embrace him, and he forbids her to touch him. 

John in these passages of scriptures about Mary and Jesus wants us to focus on the relationship between Mary and Jesus as a disciple and teacher not as a man and a woman.  A female disciple was itself a fairly radical and scandalous thing, which I believe is another example of the Gospel breaking out of the bonds of its Jewish conventions and revealing the universal nature of Jesus’ message and salvation.  Jesus tells Mary as she is about to embrace him--an act that is indicative of their prior relationship as equals and friends--that their relationship can not be as it once was—teacher to disciple; friend to friend.  This insight may not be as sensational as some perspectives on this incident, but it is, I believe, John’s perspective on the matter. 

John sees Jesus at this time as undergoing the process of his glorification and assuming a new dimension in Mary’s life and the life of his followers.  Jesus is in the process of becoming more than their Rabbi.  He is soon to be their glorified and exalted Lord and Savior and as such, he must, and she must relinquish their former relationships in favor of the latter.  The temporal, the earthly, must now give way to the divine.

Let me give an example, which may help us understand this a bit:  When I was promoted to the rank of Non-commissioned Officer, my relationship with my peers had to change.  As the sergeant, I couldn’t fraternize with them as I had formerly.  As an NCO, I had a new level of responsibility that necessitated my former peers obeying my instructions without question just I had to obey my superiors.  I could no longer view my subordinates as pals because I may have to send them in to harm’s way and the mission couldn’t afford the emotional entanglements of friendships, which could hamper my decisions and their responses.

At the risk of sounding crass, let me just say in these scriptures Jesus has been promoted and the ways of teacher and friend were no longer appropriate, nor in the interest of the universal mission of God’s salvation.

Nevertheless, again, why do the women play such a dominant role in the resurrection event?  Where was Jesus when Peter and John arrived and went into the tomb?  Why didn’t he reveal himself to these disciples?  Wouldn’t his voice have prompted the opening of the eyes of faith for these men also?

          Before I try to answer these questions, let us recall for a moment that most of the people that Jesus encountered, taught, healed, and cared for were marginalized, discounted, and generally oppressed people.  The most marginalized, discounted, and oppressed of the marginalized, the discounted, and oppressed would have been women.  Therefore, throughout the Gospels it appears that Jesus was extremely sensitive to their need of God’s affirmation and love.  Again, I say, the inclusion of women in the inner workings of Jesus’ life and ministry point to the universally nature of God’s love and salvation to include the “whosoever” of John 3:16.

I also believe, and this may sound chauvinistic, but I don’t mean it to be, that women were far more sensitive and understanding of Jesus’ radical message of self-sacrificing love than most men would have been as evidence by verse 9 in the scriptures we heard read this morning.

The women, the oppressed, the disenfranchised sought Jesus out because he brought them real hope in this life and the one to come not as a political hopeful and power-broker, but as God’s self-sacrificing, divine presence in word and deed.  They bonded with Jesus as a divine person from God, who affirmed them as valuable people before God and humankind in the “now” of their lives.  He did not turn the women away.  He did not tell them to have hope in coming governments, insurrections, or in the reflected status of their fathers, husbands, or sons.  No, in fact, he embraced them, healed them, elevated them, and made them equals, intimates, and a part of something divine on earth rather than excluding them because of their female disorders, race, or gender.

          Let me review: The Angels did not speak to Peter, the Rock, or to John, the Beloved Disciples.  Jesus did not appear to them at the tomb.  Where were the angels when Peter and John looked in?  Where was Jesus when they were all there together?           The Angels waited until the men had gone.  Jesus waited until the men were gone.  Why? 

In John’s Gospel, I believe Jesus came first to one who had honestly loved him, stood by him, supported him, and served him when all the male disciples had either quibbled over their positions in the kingdom to come, deserted him, or denied him.  Jesus went first to one of the most faithful.  He went to one who had truly loved him, not because of some vague promise of fame or power, but because of the power of God’s affirming love in him for her.

John tells us clearly that the reason Jesus did not appear to the disciples was because, “⁹ for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead…”  The male disciples were still dealing with their disappointment that Jesus hadn’t been the hoped for earthly Messiah.  They couldn’t have seen him even if he had appeared before them.  The disciples were blinded to Jesus’ true nature in his death as they had been in his life by their earthly expectations.  Only the eyes of love and faith can see and know the resurrected Christ.  The men may have loved Jesus, but they did not have faith in him or in his message of self-sacrificing love as God’s way of salvation.

          Let me point out something very profound:  The male disciples believing Mary’s words of the resurrected Jesus further reinforce her—a woman and all other women--as valid and trustworthy disciples of Jesus.

Nothing has changed.  The Christ still only makes himself known first and foremost in the lives of those who truly and openly love him and have faith in him and his words.  He is a living presence to those who are willing to be servants and genuine in their care and concern for the needy, the poor, the marginalized, and disenfranchised.  Jesus comes in power to those who see the true nature of God in love and servanthood.  He comes to the loving-faithful well ahead of those who would seek him for support of their cultural, social, political, economic, or religious agendas like the male disciples, who wanted Jesus to be the warrior-king and redeem Israel through earthly power models.

Many psychologist have advocated that we men need to get in touch with our feminine side—our kinder, gentler, emotional nature—for the sake of our mental and physical health.  I would say the scriptures we’ve heard today tell us it might not be such a bad idea for our spiritual health as well. 

I would also say to many of the modern women—the Xenas, the warrior-princesses, the successful, powerful, and self-reliant women who try to emulate aggressive, hardnosed, male stereotypes—that they also need to realize that their spiritual and physical health, like the self-reliant Mary Magdalene, depends upon embracing the truth and love of God in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  Success models—male or female—are of this world and therefore transitory and illusionary. 

Look again at the conversation between Jesus and Mary on that first Easter morning—

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

The woman, the loving-faithful, saying nothing more than “I have seen the Lord” proclaims the Good News of the resurrected Christ to the brothers. In John’s Gospel, Mary, the woman, becomes the first voice of one of the greatest spiritual realities ever known to humankind.

Therefore, all you women go and do likewise.  What about us men?  I don’t know.  Do you think we can live by love and faith, not power and might?  Not very manly, I admit, not very John Wayne, but very, very, Christly.

Question:  Man or woman, girl or boy, have you seen the risen Lord this Easter?  If not, maybe you are not looking through the eyes of the loving-faithful.  The eyes of faith are opened to the living reality of the Christ only by love.

The only commandment that Jesus ever gave that was unique to him was that the disciples should love one another as he had loved them.  We know how much God loved the world—He gave his only begotten son.  We know how much Jesus loved his disciples and friends-he laid down his life for them.  What about us? 

For John, loving as Jesus loved means the true disciples is living in the “now” of God’s kingdom on earth. 

            Happy Easter, welcome to God’s kingdom on earth all you loving-faithful.  Christ is alive; he lives in you and me, as we love beyond ourselves.