Read John 20:1-31

“Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: ‘I have seen the Lord!’”. 

John 20:18a

John 20 is the resurrection story about Jesus Christ and it is the key fact of Christian doctrine and hope. By rising from the dead, Jesus Christ fulfilled His own promise to do so and solidified the pledge He made to His followers that they too would be raised from the dead to experience eternal life (John 14:19).

Women’s rights have been a hot topic for many years now. They couldn’t vote until 1920 and black women could not vote until the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

This was much the same environment in Jesus’ time. That makes it all the more impactful that a woman – Mary from Magdala – had the privilege of being the first eyewitness to see Jesus Christ following His resurrection; she not only saw Him, she heard Him and actually touched Him (1 John 1:1-4).

Mary came to the tomb and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance. So, she ran and found Peter and John.

When they got to the tomb, Peter looked in and noticed the linen wrappings and the cloth that had covered Jesus’ head were folded up and lying apart from the other wrappings. They went in and looked around and started to believe how the previous comments Jesus made were coming true!

A little while later Mary was at the tomb and she was crying because of her need for Jesus. And that is where she saw Jesus, although she did not recognize him initially. She thought He was the gardener. Then Jesus said, “Mary” and she recognized Him.

What a moment.

So, she found the disciples and told them.

This astounding story was told by a woman who had had a broken life before experiencing healing from Jesus (Luke 8:2).

In what way can you, like Mary, share with others what God has shown you and done through you? In what way can you share the good news of the resurrection with those around you?

Without the resurrection, there is no gospel.

Tom Weckesser