Read | John 20:11–18
But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’s body had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put him.”
Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus. “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?”
Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve put him, and I will take him away.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”—which means “Teacher.”
“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what he had said to her.
Click here to listen to the Scripture in ESV.
Focus
In preparation for today’s sermon, read this devotional from Kraig McNutt, M.Div.
You Found Me!
based on John 20:1–18
“...Who is it that you’re seeking?" —John 20:15
In Mighty Joe Young (1998), Harry is terrified of the ginormous gorilla—Joe—so he hides behind a tree, thinking his life is in imminent danger.
However, Jill is well aware that Joe is merely playing with Harry, so she instructs her friend to jump out and say, “You found me!”
Convinced that this advice is an introduction to his likely demise, Harry protests, “Well, he knows he's found me! That's the problem!”
At risk of portraying the events in John chapter 20 as mere “Hollywood,” what takes place in this passage between Mary and Jesus is the all-time, epic hide-and-seek story.
We know the story all too well. Mary has arrived at the tomb of Jesus—who has just been crucified and was buried in the tomb—and the story unfolds. Utterly shocked, she finds the stone rolled away.
Mary runs to Peter and tells him and John, the “other disciple.” John outruns Peter and finds what appears to be an empty tomb. Peter arrives, goes in, and confirms Jesus’ body is gone. Peter and John return home.
Meanwhile, Mary stays at the tomb’s entrance, sobbing.
Suddenly, two angels appear before Mary in the tomb itself. They ask her why she is crying.
She mistakes her Rabbi for a gardener. The next voice she hears comes from the One who seems to be hiding—“Mary.”
She turns to see her Lord and the hide-and-seek is over. Mary runs to the place where Peter, John, and most of the other disciples are, exclaiming, “I have seen the Lord!”
Beautiful story, right? But who finds whom in this story?
It is very clear that the mighty Son of God wasn’t hiding, he found Mary.
Turns out Mary was confused, as were Peter and John—and perhaps you, me, and Harry!
Ever since he rose from the dead in mighty power, Jesus has been seeking out the confused, and well, the lost!
He welcomes us in his open arms of love, and he calls us by name…Mary…Harry…and you.
Not only is he not hiding from us, but we don’t need to hide from him, either.
So, jump out from the tree you’ve been hiding behind and yell for everyone to hear, “You found me!”
And go tell somebody!
Find a way to encourage a family member or another congregant to be obedient wherever they spend most of their time. How can you apply something from the sermon to your week?
Pray
Pray for ways to encourage each other to be obedient.
Going Deeper
If you are also following the BibleProject’s One Story That Leads to Jesus reading plan, complete today’s reading.