Woman, Why are You Weeping?

Jesus Christ was betrayed to the death by one of this twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot. He was then arrested and placed on trial for a crime he did not commit. He was beaten, mocked, spat upon, had a crown of thorns placed on his head, and sent to a cross to hang there and die for our sins. And then he was buried in a tomb. But on the third day God the Father resurrected him from the dead, and now the stone in front of the tomb was removed. 

So, when Mary Magdalene saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb, she ran to tell Simon Peter and John, two of Jesus’ disciples. So both of them ran to the tomb and they saw that Jesus’ body was gone. But as of that time they still did not understand the Scriptures, that Jesus must rise from the dead, even though Jesus and the Scriptures had told them that he was going to rise from the dead. Then they went back to their homes.

John 20:11-18 ESV

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 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.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 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.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Mary deeply loved the Lord. And she was very sad that he had died and that now his body was not in the tomb. For she didn’t really comprehend Jesus’ predictions concerning his death and resurrection, either (Matthew 17:22-23; Mark 9:30-32). 

And sometimes we may get sad over things going on in our own lives, and part of the reason for our sadness is because we don’t fully comprehend the words of our Lord, either. We understand to a point, but not with total clarity. We believe him. We believe his words. But we don’t really get the vastness of their meaning and how widespread is the meaning of what he said. And some of that is just because we live in flesh bodies and we are not yet in our heavenly bodies, so here on earth we only know and understand in part.

And what is jumping out at me here are the words of the angels and the words of Jesus to Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping?” We weep for many different reasons but sometimes it is because we don’t fully understand what is going on and why and where it is all going to lead. But we don’t have to understand it all to serve Jesus with our lives. We don’t have to have all our questions answered. Some things we are not going to understand until we get to heaven, and that’s okay. We just need to rest in Jesus.

But I love the way that Jesus comforted her. He was so gentle with her. He was so tender with her knowing that she didn’t understand what was going on but seeing her tender heart and how much she loved the Lord. And then what did he do? He sent her, a woman, to go tell his disciples (men) what Jesus had said to her. And what was her response? She believed him, and she did what he said to do, and she told his disciples what he had told her to tell them.

So, what is the lesson here? What can we learn from Mary’s encounter with Jesus? For one, what stands out to me here was Mary’s tender heart toward the Lord, her love for him, and her childlike faith. She trusted the Lord and she did what he said, although I am certain she did not have all her questions answered. And the Lord used her to speak his words to his disciples, even though she was a woman. So, why did Jesus use her? Why did he entrust to her the task of giving his message to his disciples? Because he knew she would obey him.

So, what else can we gain from this? I think one of the things is that we don’t have to understand everything. We don’t have to be able to explain everything. Now this is not an excuse for willful neglect of God’s word nor for deliberate disobedience to the truth of God’s word, claiming ignorance. This is just saying that we don’t have to understand it all to serve the Lord and to obey him. And we don’t have to be biblical scholars before we can share the good news of our salvation from sin. But we should be students of God’s word. And we should be seekers of truth.

For Jesus Christ used Mary to share his words with his disciples because she was a woman of simple faith who believed the Lord and who trusted him even when she didn’t understand everything, and even when she was hurting inside. He used her because of her tender heart towards the Lord and because of her love for him. And those are admiral qualities. For far too many people are full of head knowledge and the wisdom of this world, and so they are often resistant to having childlike faith which trusts the Lord and obeys him. So we need to be people of childlike faith who obey our Lord.

No Less  

An Original Work / March 19, 2012

I can do no less than praise You,

Lord, for all You’ve done for me.

You died for my sins to save me,

So I would be set free.

I adore You! Lord, I praise You!

Jesus, Savior, King of kings!

You provided my redemption.

Your grace has pardoned me.

I can do no less than serve You. 

Lord, Your witness I would be,

Telling others of Your love,

And why You died on that tree.

Tell of how You gave of Your life,

So from sin we’d be set free,

So we could worship You forever,

And live eternally.

I can do no less than love You,

Lord, for You have first loved me.

You gave of Your life so willing,

Because You cared for me.

Turn from my sin! Obey freely!

Live for You each passing day.

Read Your word, and follow Your lead,

Lord, as I humbly pray. 

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