By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
April 05, 2026
Click here to join our Meeting for Worship
John 20:1–18 (ESV)
1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
“They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
I feel that we have become so comfortable with the message around scripture, that we begin to overlook and miss things. We skip parts to get to most exciting parts. But I do not think we should do that. Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb. This is something that each of the gospels mention. Some include other women, but John only says Mary. This is why some people have entertained the idea that maybe Mary and Jesus were romantically involved. Which seems scandalous to some, but for me it is a pointless thought experiment because we cannot know. What we do know is that Mary was a disciple.
When Jesus came to their house in Bethany, Mary would sit with the other disciples at Jesus’s feet, listening and participating with the discussion. This was, in fact, scandalous, because it was not proper for a woman to be formally educated in that era of history. That does not mean that they did not learn, it was just not proper for them to participate in the group, it was not uncommon for Rabbis to teach their daughters but this was informal. Martha was also a great friend of Jesus, but she most likely being older had accepted a more traditional role within society, and she chastised her sister, going so far as demanding that Jesus put a stop to this scandalous activity of allowing her sister to learn. We forget history. We forget culture. We often just overlook that because it is no longer scandalous.
We forget that Jesus challenged commonly held cultural norms. He challenged them and said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
What does Jesus mean when he says this? I personally believe that Jesus was honoring and encouraging Martha. She loved serving the guests, she found meaning and purpose in that role. It is traditional sure, but for her it was her calling. Mary was not like Martha, scripture often depicts her as being much more forward and active. Martha was anxious not about the service, she was more than capable of serving the guests and could probably have organized a party at a moment’s notice. She was anxious about what people might think. She was worried about how people might regard her sister. She was worried about her sister’s spirit getting hurt by others. “Martha, Martha you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.”
What is the one thing? Listening to the calling within your life. Finding the one thing that inspires, fuels your passion, and gets you excited. That one thing is becoming the person you were created to be.
Mary chose the good portion. She was listening to the spirit within her and was pursuing it. Jesus does not say that Martha was not choosing the good portion, he only says that Martha was anxious about Mary. Jesus was telling Martha that her sister was not like her, she has her own path and her own passions. We cannot make those we love fit into our story for them, they must pursue themselves.
Jesus challenges the cultural norms. He encourages those around him to consider that what we once knew may not be the complete story.
I want us to think about Mary today. I want us to remember all the times in our lives that someone told us we cannot do something. How did you feel in that moment? When I was a child I was told that I could never serve in the military, at the time I did not care, but I loved jets and rockets. I would get up early on a Saturday morning and watch the Right Stuff. I loved to watch the science and the passion of the test pilots and I wanted to be an astronaut. Needless to say I was watching the Artemis II launch because I took me back to those Saturday mornings. But then it dawned on me, all of those heroes of mine were in the military, and I would not be able to follow in their footsteps. It broke my spirit. For quite a while I just drifted. Nothing really got me excited. Genetics almost did, but I soon lost interest in that too.
When I was in high school, I took several college classes as dual credits. One of those classes was English Composition. I struggled with that class. I would stay up late at night with my uncle pouring over each of my assignments, writing and rewriting everything. I thought it was well written but when the paper was returned to me, I would have a D. I used take pride in my intelligence, but I felt like a failure. The teacher even wrote on one of the assignments that I would never accomplish much if writing was involved.
That teacher broke me. It sent me into a spiral. I did not know what I wanted to do, I once thought I would pursue genetic engineering but I threw that idea out the window because what if I had to write something? So I did what I thought I could. I studied crop science and thought I would become a crop consultant, but I hated it. Then I went on a mission trip to Ukraine, a trip to teach English of all things. And something ignited again. I came home, and entered ministry. I found that I was missing certain skills in that field, so I enrolled into a graduate program. I did not even seem to remember that a master’s degree would require writing, because I needed something more. The interesting thing is that the professors in that program were not like the teacher I had in high school. They comment about my unique style of writing, and they encouraged me to continue to pursue it. Just so you know the one that made that comment is going to be the keynote speaker at Yearly Meeting this summer, so I encourage you to attend if you are able.
One teacher crushed my spirit, and another taught me to dream again.
This is what I want us to see in Mary. She goes to the tomb that morning after the Sabbat, and she walks to the tomb and the stone had been taken away. She sees this thing and she drops everything and she runs. She runs to Simon Peter and the other disciple. She just bursts in and immediately starts to speak. Again, stop and think about this, she is an unmarried woman going directly into the group of disciples and she speaks with them as an equal. And these men do not scoff at her or question what she has shared with them. They know who she is and they trust her. When she says, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” they believe her.
They instantly respond. Peter jumps up, probably knocking multiple things to the floor, and because he is impulsive and could probably be diagnosed with ADHD, he probably let the door bagging open. And the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, followed closely. And probably the most hilarious verse of this passage, “but the other disciple out ran Peter and reached the tomb first.” Who does that? It is hilarious because it is probably a running joke surrounding the early church, and it was saved for generations in the pages of scripture. Proving that there is and always has been some healthy forms of competition.
They listened to Mary. They heard the pain in her voice. They heard the voice of this passionate woman that defied social norms and joined them in the discussion, crack in horror and fear. Jesus gave her permission to pursue her dreams. He gave her a place within the community not merely as a servant but as an equal. She loved this teacher because he did not limit her, instead he encouraged her. The other disciples heard that crack, and lightening pulsed through their nerves, and they could not contain themselves, and they went immediately to that tomb, for a couple of reasons. The first is to protect their friends, both Jesus and Mary. And because they like Mary we once individuals in the cogs of society. They were once men bound by cultural norms. They were common men. Peter was a fisherman, and the other disciple, the one tradition calls John, was also the son of a fisherman. They had left their nets to follow Jesus. They were told by their society that they were not special, that they needed to just go home and do what their family has always done. They were rejected by the teachers, they were labeled common, but Jesus called them. He saw something within them that they may not have even seen themselves. He ignited a flame, gave them a chance, and encouraged them to pursue something everyone else said they were not cut out for. They ran because they too were seen by this man, this teacher, this messiah and he became everything to them.
What would become of them if the body was stolen? Where they being framed? Where the gentiles desecrating their faith like they did during the days of the Maccabees?
We often forget the despair the disciples would have felt. We often forget that the moment the tomb was sealed, their hope and dreams were also dead and buried. We have been there. A word was said without thinking and our dreams come crashing down. An email lands in your inbox and your heart sinks. You open the mail box and see another bill and payday is still a week away.
John outran Peter, he stops at the entrance and looks inside. He sees the linen cloths lying there, and he is incapable to move, paralyzed. Peter came, following him, and he went into the tomb. I imagine he probably hit his head against the ceiling in the rush to see. He too sees the cloths and then he sees something else. He sees the face cloth, or napkin, folded up in a place by itself.
This puzzled them. St John Chrysostom, the Bishop of Constantinople, also known as the Golden Mouth, says this about this event:
They see the linen clothes lying there, which was a sign of the resurrection. For if they had removed the body, they would not have stripped it first, nor, if any had stolen it, would they have taken the trouble to remove the napkin and roll it up and lay it in a place by itself apart from the linens. They would have taken the body as it was. Therefore, John tells us by anticipation that it was buried with much myrrh, which glues linen to the body not less firmly than lead. He tells us this so that when you hear that the napkin lay apart from the linens, you may not endure those who say that he was stolen. For a thief would not have been so foolish as to expend so much effort on a trifling detail.i
Chrysostom, served as bishop within a generation from when the Nicene Creed was formed. This was the one statement of faith, the only statement of faith the entire Church agreed upon. Over 1000 years ago, they already faced the same criticism we face today, where is the body, surely it was just stolen. And John, both Johns actually, point out that had anyone stolen the body, or taken the body they would not have taken the time to unwrap it. Chrysostom points out that as they wrap a body they would have been using a mixture of myrrh, which would have basically made the wrappings as stiff as concrete. And the fact that they mention the face cloth folded in a place by itself expresses some token of extreme care.
In burial, the traditions focus on honoring the body. The face would have been covered to preserve dignity, while the women washed the body as they could not cast a lingering on the face. So the face would have been the first part of the body cleansed and covered. Every other strip of linen would have attached itself to this cloth. Yet it was carefully folded by itself. When looking at other story among this culture saying that when a master leaves a folded napkin on the table it indicates that, “I am not finished yet”, or “I am coming back”. Where a wadded up napkin would indicate they are done. This is a story, but a good story. The disciples saw the care of the different fabrics and it indicated something to them.
John, the other disciple, saw and believed. They were at the grave of Lazarus, who was raised from the dead, but Lazarus was bound by the grave clothes. But here was something different. The body of Jesus was not bound, and the care given to the clothes resembled the care of those that put them on the body. They believed but they did not yet understand. They went back to their homes, but Mary remained.
Mary stood there weeping. And only then does she stoop to gaze within the tomb. Peter and John saw only the clothes, Mary however sees two angels sitting at where the head and feet should have been. They ask her, “Woman, why are you Weeping?” She responds that, “That they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Then she turns away. She sees angels and even that does not comfort her grieving heart.
She turns and literally bumps into Jesus and He asks her the same question. And Mary being accosted by angels and Jesus gets a bit snappy and she says, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” She is basically telling the supposed gardener to give him back. So Jesus being who he is, calls her by name, “Mary”. One simple word. Mary.
Mary, being as impulsive as Peter, screams and squeals as she cries Rabboni. And Jesus tells her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to to my brothers and say to them…”
I have watched many videos of soldiers coming home from deployment and surprising there wives or mothers. I am sure you have seen them too. This is absolutely the reaction Mary had in this moment. I have often heard people say that Jesus commanded her not to touch him, but I think the meaning is more like Mary I can’t breath, let go! And once she stops hugging him, he tells her to go. This is a commanding verb. He commissions her to go to my brothers, and he commissions her to say or to speak to them, the resurrection Gospel.
Mary, like all of us was inspired, she pursued her dreams, she was encouraged by loving mentors, and she had her dreams crushed. Mary like all of us lived within a culture telling her to stop, telling her she is not good enough, or not able. But Jesus gave her the honor to be the first apostle.
What does this tell us? Dreams can die. Hope can dwindle. People around us can be insensitive and cruel. They might even take every remembrance of that passion away. But hope cannot be bound. It cannot be buried forever. Hope will return. Jesus suffered, because he challenged the norms of society. He pointed out their hypocrisy and injustice and they made him pay with his life. That is often the case with power seekers. They want to silence and control. They want to keep those that shine light into their darkness out of view. They bury it. Cast confusion and spin stories. But truth and hope will rise. And those that were once oppressed will be given greater honor. They will be the first to stand and proclaim, “I have seen the Lord.”
Jesus is risen. Hope has returned. And with a folded napkin he has proclaimed, “It is done”. Death no longer binds, it instead opens up to new life. Hope is no longer buried, it instead empowers all the more. And inspiration has returned.
Let us go now, praising the resurrection of hope. In Jesus Christ humanity is restored, and we can once again strive. We can once again stand in the light without shame and proclaim I am a child of God, because Jesus has ascended to his father and our father, his God and ours.
i Elowsky, Joel C., editor. John 11–21. InterVarsity Press, 2007, pp. 340–41.
Previous Messages:
Living Stones
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 03, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 2:2–10 (ESV) 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have…
Endure
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 26, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 4 (Faith and Practice of EFC-MAYM pg 61) Do you provide for the suitable Christian education and recreation of your children and those under your care, and…
Ransomed to Love
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 19, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 1:17–23 (ESV) 17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time…
To Donate to Willow Creek Friends Church Click here:
To donate directly to Pastor Warner click here:
Discover more from Jwquaker's Blog
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Discussion
No comments yet.