Digging Deeper: Marah in the Cemetery

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

So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, (probably John) and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” 

So Peter and the other disciple (probably John) started for the tomb. 

Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 

He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 

Tombs in that culture were considered unclean according to Mosaic Law… not to mention they were just kind of creepy. One doesn’t just waltz on into to a tomb. Also, they were typically only a few feet high, and the body was placed on a shelf inside. That’s why John has to bend over when he peaks in.

But then Simon Peter (ever the impulsive disciple) came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. 

He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. 

Finally the other disciple also went inside and he saw and believed even though they didn’t understand. 

If a grave robber had stolen Jesus’ body, they probably wouldn’t have taken the time to unwrap it from the grave clothes… and even if they did because they were looking for jewelry or something like that, they definitely wouldn’t have taken the time clean up the place and to fold the grave clothes up neatly when they were done looting the tomb.

None of this made any sense. But they remembered that Jesus had told them about being raised on the third day… and they believed what Jesus had said… even though they didn’t understand it. They didn’t understand it when he said it, and they didn’t understand it now. But they had, after all, witnessed Jesus raise other people from the dead, including Lazarus just a week beforehand. Could he have done the same to himself? And if so, where was he?

Some scholars think that the unnamed disciple here is actually Lazarus, since he is also referred to as the one whom “Jesus loved.” We don’t know for sure, but that would make sense if Lazarus was the first one to believe in the resurrection.

The disciples leave Mary Magdalene crying at the tomb. 

As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” 

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” 

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 

Then Jesus spoke her name, and she looked at him and cried, “Rabbi!” 

Jesus tells her not to hold on to him, but to go and tell his brothers that he is going to ascend to their Father. 

So Mary goes and tells the disciples that she has seen Jesus and delivers his message to them.

And Jesus once again allows a woman with a bad reputation to be his witness, and to be the first one to spread the Gospel to the world. Jesus values what the world does not value. The world did not value this woman or her testimony… but Jesus did.