Font Size
Mary Magdalene and several other women agreed to go to the tomb early on the first day of the week, so that they might show their love for Christ in completing the burial preparations. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had been forced by circumstances to prepare His body hastily, and the women wanted to finish the task. Their great concern was how to get into the tomb. Perhaps the Roman soldiers would take pity on them and give them a hand.
What they did not know was that an earthquake had occurred and the stone had been rolled back by an angel! It seems that Mary Magdalene went ahead of the other women and got to the tomb first. When she saw the stone rolled away from the door of the tomb, she concluded that somebody had broken into the tomb and stolen the body of her Lord. We may criticize Mary for jumping to conclusions, but when you consider the circumstances, it is difficult to see how she would have reached any other conclusion. It was still dark, she was alone, and like the other followers of Jesus, she did not believe that He would return from the dead.
She ran to give the news to Peter and John, who must have been living together at a place known to the other believers. Perhaps it was the upper room where they had met with Jesus. Mary’s use of the pronoun “we” is interesting, for it included the other women who at that moment were discovering that Jesus was alive (see Mark 16:1-8; Luke 24:1-8)! The women left the tomb and carried the angels’ message to the other disciples.
It is significant that the first witnesses of the resurrection of Christ were believing women. Among the Jews in that day, the testimony of women was not held in high regard. “It is better that the words of the law be burned,” said the rabbis, “than be delivered to a woman.” But these Christian women had a greater message than that of the law, for they knew that their Savior was alive.
Mary’s faith was not extinguished; it was only eclipsed. The light was still there, but it was covered. Peter and John were in the same spiritual condition, but soon all three of them would move out of the shadows and into the light.