John 20 - Mary's Story of the Resurrection

     John loves to tell stories of individual people's encounters with Jesus. That is what He does all through his Gospel account--Nicodemus, Jesus’ calling of his disciples, the woman at Jacob's well, the healing of the blind man, the death and resurrection of Lazarus.  John's book is composed of one story after another, laced with Jesus' teachings or John's insights about what has happened in each story.
     Even in the Passion Story we learn about Jesus' conversation with Pilate and Thomas' struggle with faith after the Resurrection. Then we read about Peter's restoration to the Apostolate by Jesus in John 21.
     Few if any of these stories are found in the other gospels, not because they didn't happen, but because John was deeply interested in people, how they experienced Jesus personally, and how they were changed by those encounters.
     So it is understandable that in telling us about Jesus' resurrection, John would focus primarily on the experience of one person, Mary Magdalene.  It is not that others weren't present; they were. John is just letting us experience the story through Mary's eyes and heart.
     Mary is already a person of interest in John's gospel (12:1-8). She is a woman who has been deeply touched by Jesus, set free from the demons that controlled her life. She appears in chapter 12 as one who is so grateful for Jesus' forgiveness that she spends all she has to thank Him, unknowingly anointing Him for His burial beforehand. As Jesus said, "Those who have been forgiven much, love much."
     There may be another reason why John chose Mary. In a profound way, Mary represents the people who Isaiah said the Messiah would come to help, the ones who would be most open to His message, and thus most devoted to His service.
     "The Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners. . .to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion--to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair" (Isa. 61:1-3).
     But Isaiah doesn't stop there. The broken people who responded to Messiah Jesus’ grace would eventually be called "oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor" (v. 3). The oak tree is one of the strongest and most impervious to disease. These sinners who had been the sport of Satan would become so strong spiritually through the grace of Christ, they would be known as “oak trees.” And miracle of miracles, they "will be called priests of the Lord. . .(and) named ministers of our God" (v. 6).
     In Mary, we meet one of these ministers of God. But then, I am getting ahead of the story. . .

Pastor Michael Brownfield