Exploring the Unique Portrayal of Mary at the Tomb in John's Gospel
Each gospel writer tells a similar story about Jesus and the disciples, but each have their own unique fingerprints on the ordering of the events, the specific events used, and even the lens by which those events are told with. John’s gospel stands apart from the other three gospels due to its unique layout from beginning to end, not to mention the unique content within it that does not appear in any of the other three gospels. One of those unique moments is found in John 20, during the telling of Jesus’ appearance to Mary Magdalene at the tomb, after his resurrection. John’s version of the story differs in a three key ways from Luke and Matthew’s telling of the story. Let’s look at the differences and why they are important to John’s story.
Difference #1: Who was at the tomb
According to the Gospel of John, only Mary went to the tomb early on the first day of the week, but mentions no one else being with her. Luke says that “the women” took spices to the tomb on the first day. Matthew says that Mary and “the other Mary” went to the tomb on the first day. Why does John emit the others from the story? It’s possible that it’s a both/and situation with John though. When Mary sees the stone rolled away and runs back to tell Peter and the disciple whom Jesus loved what had happened, she says in John 20:2, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” John includes the plural in Mary’s statement to the disciples, acknowledging that there was others with her. So, why does John focus the whole story on Mary then?
After the two disciples leave the tomb and go home, Mary is left alone at the tomb. After seeing two angels inside the tomb, she sees Jesus himself, but does not recognize him. She instead thought he was the gardener. This “mistake” was very useful for John, as it immediately brings back memories of the Garden of Eden. Mary was staring at the creator, the last Adam who takes away the sins of the world. I believe John was making a point here. Just as one women, Eve, was the first person to be deceived by the serpent in the garden, leading to the birth of sin in the world, one woman will also be responsible for witnessing the victory of Jesus over death, leading to the beginning of the New Creation. This was the shifting point for humanity, and a complete reversal of what happened in the Garden of Eden.
Difference #2: What Mary saw
When Mary arrives at the tomb in Luke and Matthew’s accounts, she is not only accompanied by others, but also sees something different than John’s gospel. In Matthew’s account, the women arrive and there is a violent earthquake as an angel of the Lord appears to roll back the stone. What’s more than this, there are Roman soldiers present who are afraid of what happens when the angel arrives. This angel goes on to tell the women that Jesus is not there and has risen as he told them. In Luke’s gospel, the women are investigating Jesus’ disappearance and suddenly two angels stood beside them. The angels share a similar discourse to the one found in Matthew, minus a specific commission to go and tell the disciples what they’ve heard. In John’s gospel, Mary looks into the tomb and sees two angels sitting at the head and foot of where Jesus’ body had laid.
Again, John is making a point here, and he’s using an image that would ignite other imagery in the mind of the hearer’s. Mary sees two angels and the head and feet of the where Jesus was. This imagery is most notably found on the Mercy Seat, which was part of the Ark of the Covenant, which resided in the Holy of Holies. The two cherubim were imaged on each side of the Mercy Seat, where forgiveness for sins was made. Mary is now looking in and seeing two angels encompassing the Mercy Seat of God where the sins of all humanity were forgiven through the broken body of Jesus. Isn’t it interesting that he chose Mary to be the one to see the angels in that manner?
The takeaway for this difference is similar to the first one. Where one woman saw sin come into the world, another woman is now seeing the final atonement for sin being made.
Difference #3: What the angels said
This is probably the coolest part. In Matthew and Luke’s gospel’s, the women see the angels who then tell them what happened to Jesus. In these accounts, the angels are the bearers of the good news of Jesus’ resurrection, similar to how the angels were responsible for telling Mary that she would give birth to Jesus. Angels are messengers sent by God to deliver the messages of God. In John’s gospel, it happens quite differently.
When Mary sees the angels sitting at the head and feet of where Jesus had laid, all they ask of her is, “Woman, why are you crying"?” This is it! Nothing else. Not a word about the resurrection or anything about what Jesus told them before he died. After this, Mary turns around to find Jesus standing there. Once he speaks her name and her eyes are opened to see that it’s Jesus, he tells her to go and deliver a specific message to the rest of his disciples: “…Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Jesus not only wants her to share what she has seen, but also share that the disciples have been adopted into the family of God! Jesus chooses Mary to go and deliver the most important news in the history of mankind, that creation once again has access to God the way that God originally intended!
For Jesus to allow Peter and the other disciple to leave before he reveals himself to Mary shows a concious decision to choose Mary to be the bearer of this good news. Mary was the first evangelist to carry the good news of the resurrection!
Listen to the message
If you’d like to hear more about Mary at the tomb, check out the full message.
