What Do I See in the Empty Tomb?

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Short Summary
The discourse explores the different levels of “seeing” as demonstrated by Jesus’ followers at the empty tomb, emphasizing the progression from merely observing facts to truly perceiving their deeper spiritual significance. Through the experiences of Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John, it illustrates how grief, readiness, and understanding affect one’s ability to grasp the reality of the resurrection, highlighting God’s patience and grace in guiding believers to faith and commission. Ultimately, it challenges listeners to develop spiritual sight that moves beyond superficial observation to heartfelt belief and active obedience.

Long Summary
Detailed Summary of the Discourse on “What Do I See in the Empty Tomb?”

Context of the Discourse:
– The disciples and followers of Jesus had just endured traumatic events: the arrest, trial, crucifixion, and death of their teacher and Messiah.
– They were shocked and traumatized, struggling to comprehend the magnitude of what had occurred.
– The discourse explores how they came to *see* and *perceive* the resurrection and its significance.

Jesus’ Teaching on “Seeing” (Matthew 13:13-15, Isaiah 6:9-10):
– Jesus explained why He taught in parables: “Because while seeing, they do not see; and while hearing, they do not hear nor do they understand.”
– He quoted Isaiah 6:9-10, emphasizing people could hear and see but not truly perceive or understand because their hearts were hardened.
– The Greek language offers multiple words for “see,” each with distinct meanings:
– The first “see” means simply “to look” or “glance” (a superficial observation).
– The second, “perceive,” means “to notice,” “discern,” or “understand deeply.”
– The lesson: Moving beyond just noticing (looking) to discerning and understanding with the heart is essential for spiritual sight and healing.

Blessed Are Those Who Truly See (Matthew 13:16-17):
– Jesus said, “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.”
– Many prophets and righteous men longed to perceive the spiritual truths that Jesus’ disciples now witness physically.
– Christians today are similarly blessed to be in the right time and place to see and perceive these truths.

The Empty Tomb: Practical Application of Seeing & Perceiving (Mark 16:1-6):
– Women came early to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body, intending to honor Him.
– They saw (Greek: “to behold attentively”) the stone rolled away—a significant, observable fact indicating something extraordinary.
– Inside, they saw a young man (an angel) in white, who told them Jesus had risen.
– These are examples of being spectators: physically observing facts but not yet fully grasping their meaning.

Mary Magdalene’s Role and Initial Confusion (John 20:1-2):
– Mary Magdalene ran to Peter and John saying, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
– This message contradicts the angel’s words, indicating Mary had not yet fully *perceived* or grasped the resurrection.
– It illustrates how initial human understanding can be clouded by grief and incomplete information.

Peter and John at the Tomb (John 20:3-8):
– Peter and John ran to the tomb; John arrived first but only looked in and saw the linen wrappings.
– John waited for Peter, showing respect, especially since Peter had denied Jesus earlier.
– Peter entered the tomb without hesitation and observed carefully the linen wrappings and face cloth (Greek: “spectator” level of seeing).
– John then entered and *perceived* (a deeper seeing) the significance of the empty wrappings and believed (had faith).
– Key verse: John 20:8 — “He saw and believed.”
– This illustrates three levels of seeing:
1. Quick glance or noticing (John’s first look).
2. Detailed observation and contemplation (Peter).
3. Deep perception and belief (John’s full entrance and faith).

Mary Magdalene’s Continued Struggle to See (John 20:10-13):
– After Peter and John left, Mary stayed weeping outside the tomb.
– She stooped and looked in, seeing two angels (spectatorship again).
– The angels asked, “Woman, why are you weeping?”—addressing her grief.
– Despite hearing the resurrection message earlier, Mary’s grief and mission blinded her to the full truth.
– This illustrates the third lesson: Sometimes we struggle to grasp what we need to see; God’s grace and patience prepare us gradually.

Mary’s Encounter with Jesus (John 20:14-16):
– Mary saw Jesus but did not recognize Him (again, the word for “see” is to observe but not perceive).
– Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” addressing both her grief and confusion.
– Mary, still blinded by loss and mission, thought He was the gardener.
– Then Jesus called her by name, “Mary,” and immediately she recognized Him, responding with “Rabboni” (Teacher).
– One word from Jesus dissolved her grief and brought clarity.
– This reveals how personal recognition and relationship bring the highest level of spiritual sight.

Jesus Commissioning Mary Magdalene (John 20:17-18):
– Jesus instructed Mary: “Stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.”
– He gave her a new mission: “Go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”
– This was the first time Jesus formally called his followers “brethren,” signaling a new spiritual relationship.
– Lesson: Embracing the full meaning of our experiences leads to new responsibilities and opportunities to serve.

Six “What Do I See?” Lessons Summarized:
1. Initial impressions are often shallow — just a glance is normal but insufficient.
2. See facts for what they are — careful observation (like Peter) helps gain perspective.
3. Perceive deeper meaning — assembling facts into understanding (like John) leads to faith.
4. Be patient in struggle — like Mary, sometimes we are blinded by grief or mission; God’s grace prepares us.
5. Embrace new responsibilities — true perception leads to action and commission.
6. Diligently share the message — like Mary, we must carry the message of faith to others.

Broader Spiritual Application:
– The discourse challenges believers to reflect on how well they *see* and *perceive* God’s work in their lives.
– Are we casual spectators, or do we absorb and understand spiritual truths deeply?
– Scripture offers the past (prophecies, history), present (current truth), and future (hope) to help us perceive clearly.
– Jesus’ words encourage us: “Blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear” (Matthew 13:16-17).

Key Bible Verses Mentioned:
– Matthew 13:13-15 — Jesus explains why He teaches in parables and people see but do not perceive.
– Isaiah 6:9-10 — Prophecy about people hearing and seeing but not understanding.
– Matthew 13:16-17 — Blessed are those who see and hear the spiritual truths.
– Mark 16:1-6 — Women see the empty tomb and angel.
– John 20:1-18 — Mary Magdalene, Peter, and John’s encounters at the empty tomb.
– Matthew 5:16 — “Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works…”
– Matthew 6:8 — “Your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him.”

Final Encouragement:
– Keep your eyes open spiritually to see and perceive the truth.
– Let the truth set you free through faith and understanding.
– Recognize God’s mercy and patience in helping us grasp spiritual realities step-by-step.

—

This discourse richly explores the nuances of “seeing” not just as physical sight but as spiritual perception, using the resurrection narrative to illustrate stages of understanding and faith development. It calls believers to move beyond superficial observation toward deep spiritual insight and active faith-filled response.

Transcript

They had just been through the most traumatic experiences of their lives. As Jesus, their teacher, their Lord, their Messiah, had been cruelly taken, tried, tortured, and put to death by his enemies. He died, and his followers were all of a sudden.

It was not expected. They were traumatized. How would they finally come to realize the magnitude of what had happened? And brethren, here’s the question. What would they learn to see?

If I said to you, you see that everybody’s going to look over there and say, yeah, okay, that’s. That’s something, and that’s where we’re going to start. What would they learn to see? The basis for this lesson comes from Jesus own words. During.

During his ministry, long before his crucifixion, after speaking the parable of the Sower, his disciples asked him why he taught in parables. We all know these verses. We’ve. We’ve read them hundreds of times, and the answer he gave was built around Isaiah, chapter 6, verses 9 through 10.

That’s what he’s quoting from when he gives them the answer, and so they say, master, why do you teach in parables? And here’s what he says. Matthew 13, 13, 15. Jesus’s words.

Therefore I speak to them in parables. Because while seeing, they do not see, and while hearing, they do not hear nor do they understand. In their case, the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, you will keep on hearing, but you will not understand. You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive.

For the heart of this people has become dull with their ears. They scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they would see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart in return, and I would heal them. Everybody knows those scriptures in those verses.

And Jesus makes a comment after that. We’ll get to that in a moment. There are a couple of different words for see, and our lesson today is really built on three words for the word see. Now, in the English language, you say see, and we all kind of figure out we know what it means in the Greek language, though there’s a whole lot of extra meaning here.

So when it says, because while seeing, they do not see, that’s the first word for see. Seeing, they do not see. That word literally means to look. Oh, look at that. Literally, that’s what that means.

So while seeing, they do not see, and hearing, they do not hear. Then you go down into. When he’s quoting Isaiah, he says, you will keep on hearing, but not understand. You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive. Now, that word for perceive.

Now you Say well, it doesn’t say see. Well, it does. Later in the verse. That word for perceive is a different meaning. That word for perceive means to know.

It means to perceive with the eyes, to notice, to discern, to discover. It’s different than just seeing. So as I read through the Isaiah portion of the verse, I’m going to just substitute in the words so we get where we’re going here. You will keep on hearing, but will not understand. You will keep on seeing, oh, look at that.

But will not perceive, not discern. For the heart of this people has become dull with their ears and scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would discern. It says, otherwise they would see. But that’s the word for discern. Otherwise they would understand something with their eyes.

Jesus, in quoting Isaiah is teaching a very simple basic lesson, and we all know what the lesson is. A very simple basic lesson of seeing and then elevating what we see to what we grasp, and that’s the basic lesson here. Now, continuing in Matthew, right after Jesus says this, he’s encouraging his disciples and he’s essentially saying to them, you’re blessed because you are in the right place at the right time.

And brethren, as I’m going to read these words from Jesus, let me just say that you we are blessed because we are in the right place at the right time. The question is, what do we see? So Matthew 13, verses 16 to 17, continuing with the words of Jesus, blessed are your eyes because they see, because they say, oh, look at that, and your ears, because they hear. For truly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see, desire to perceive, desire to discern what you look at.

They desired to grasp what you’re seeing physically. You see the difference. There’s the seeing. Where else? You look at the exit sign and says, yep, that says exit.

And then you move on with life versus perceiving. What that means. If there’s a fire, I know I can go out that door. So there he’s talking to them and to us, saying, the prophets would. We’re longing to be able to understand the things that are right in front of you right now.

Being blessed to be in the right place at the right time requires us to be sure that we are perceiving what we see. Okay, that’s the introduction. Now let’s go to the empty tomb and let’s look at the practical application of seeing with your eyes and then being able to perceive, and in the middle of this, we’re going to introduce another word for see? So we’re going to really confuse you, but we’ll see if we can work through that.

Now, empty tomb. We begin with the women who had gone there early in the morning to care for and to respect the body of Jesus. You all know the. The story of the. Of the.

The account of the women that go early. Mark 16:1 to 4, when the Sabbath is over. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome and others brought spices so that may come and anoint him. Let’s pause there. They were going to respect.

To honor the dead body of Jesus. Very early on the first day of the week. They came to the tomb when the sun had risen, and they were saying to one another, who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb? And as they drew near, looking up, they saw. This is a whole different word.

Now. They saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. Now, this word for see is to be a spectator of. To behold. They’re looking and they’re watching.

Look at what happened, and they get to the tomb, and this massive stone is basically rolled away, inviting them in. They see it. They don’t just glance at it. They say, this is something.

This is something. They’re not sure, but they observe it. They are a spectator. They behold it. One of the Greek English lexicon definitions means to view attentively, to take a view or survey.

They’re like, okay, something’s different here. They’re understanding something a little bit. They saw the stone. They were spectators of what had had happened, however unlikely. Continuing in Mark 16, verses 5 to 6.

So they saw the stone entering the tomb. They saw a young man. Now, that’s the different word. That’s the perceived word. That’s the deeper word.

So they observed the stone rolled away, and they go into the tomb, and then they see. They discern somebody’s in here, and it’s. It’s.

It’s bigger than just seeing the stone rolled away. They saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe, and they were amazed, and of course, we know this is an angel, and he said to them, don’t be amazed. You’re looking for Jesus.

The Nazarene has been crucified. He has risen. He’s not here. Behold, here’s the place where they laid him. In both of these details, in seeing the stone and in seeing the angel, these women saw what was right in front of them.

Okay, they truly did observe. It was more than just a glance. First, they saw the massive stone covering the tomb that was moved. You can’t miss that because they’re expecting to have a problem. The problem is solved before they get there and, and they observe it and they say something happened here.

Second, they could not help but perceive with their eyes the angel that’s sitting before them, and he spoke to them and he gave them a message which would help to help them understand. So here’s the question, Brother. For us, as we go through the experiences, these early, early experiences with the empty tomb, we want to sort of place ourselves there figuratively and ask, what do we see in our Christian walk? The Lord can and often does provide physical and tangible evidences before helping us to grasp the magnitude of our experiences.

When these tangible things are present, they can give our spiritual eyesight a firm foundation to work from. You know, one of the premises of this conversation this morning is that sometimes we go through life. We were talking at dinner last night at Brother Jordan, Sister Cindy’s home about seeing things and not being able to really understand them up front. That happens to all of us. That happens to all of us.

And the lesson here at the tomb struck me because it’s a very general practical lesson that we all need to pay attention to so we can truly see. So we’re given tangible things to look at, to perceive. We can be a spectator of them or we can begin to absorb them. Now let’s fast forward a bit in this. In this account, Mary Magdalene runs off from the tomb.

Now remember, the angel said, go and tell the brethren, and Peter. Mary Magdalene runs off from the tomb to find the apostle Peter. It’s when Peter and John arrive at the tomb that our lesson becomes deeper. Okay, so we’re going to leave the women there for now and we’re going to move forward with that.

But let’s get to what Mary does first, because Mary ends up being a really important part of the lesson a little bit later. So here’s Mary’s Mary Magdalene’s account. Knowing what we. Knowing what we know now. Okay, let’s look at it and follow her thoughts and her actions.

We’re going to attempt to follow what she’s thinking as we’re going to attempt to follow, follow what Peter and John might be thinking because this helps us understand the lesson of truly perceiving John 20, verse 1. Now, on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb. We believe this to be with the other women. I know there’s different views on this. Happy to discuss it with you afterwards.

It’s a fascinating conversation. Anyway, they Got there while it was still dark and saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. Mary was in the tomb with the other women and did see and hear the angel’s message. My best thought on that is when the angel said, go tell the disciples, and Peter, the women took a divide and conquer approach.

Mary goes off to tell Peter, and the other women go off to tell the other apostles. So that’s what we’re. How we’re sort of framing this as we move forward. They go their separate ways, and we’re thinking that Mary left first to go out and seek Peter.

John 20, verse 2 says, so she ran and came to Simon Peter and the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and he, and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.

Now, just in. In the second volume, page 112, Brother Russell says, it seems that Mary Magdalene separated from the other women and ran to tell Peter and John while the others went to tell the rest of the disciples. Now here’s the first thing that you got to look at and start to question. So Mary is in there, and she hears the angel say, he’s risen, and go tell the disciples. But when Mary goes and delivers the message, what’s the message?

They have taken our Lord out of the tomb. We don’t know where they have laid him. There’s a contradiction. Why? I won’t tell you the answer yet.

We’ll just say she didn’t see. Hold that thought. We’re going to come back to that. So what happens? Her running to go to Peter and.

And he’s with John. Apparently, according to Scripture, her running to them. Spurs on the next part of our lesson. So Peter and the other disciple went forth and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together, and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter.

And they came to the, and came to the tomb first. So Peter and John get this message and we have to go see. We have to check this out. So they run.

John’s likely much younger. He outruns Peter because he can, and he gets to the tomb first, and here’s what it says happens, and stooping and looking in, he saw which word? Oh, look at that.

He just. He saw. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and then. The scripture is very specific, but he did not go in.

So he glanced in and he saw something. How often do we do that? We take a look. Oh, yeah, I see that, and then we move on with life.

He saw it, and then he waits and then he waits.

So he sees. He waits. Nothing for John has begun to register yet as he’s likely, and again, this is some speculation here. He’s probably out of breath and he’s waiting for the apostle Peter.

Why would he be waiting for Peter? Because Peter is the one who has consistently, through their following of their master and been the one to take the lead, to speak up when they would talk amongst themselves. Peter would be the one to say what they were thinking. So he’s waiting out of respect for Peter, and there’s an interesting side lesson here.

Because Peter was the one who denied the Lord, and yet John waited for him, and so there’s a. You can just see there’s still this. This wonderful mutual respect here. So here’s where we really begin to get into the what do I see lessons.

And we have six simple lessons for you this morning with the what do I see Lessons. Okay, the first lesson. The first what do I see lesson, and we’re picking this up where John goes and just kind of looks in and he waits. Very often, our first impressions of a circumstance or experience.

Shallow. We take a look, and we’re yet not settled in on how to think or what to do. We just sort of take a quick look. Brethren, this is normal.

It’s a normal place for us to start. But it’s important to note that it is not a good place for us to stay. We may take a look, a quick look at our experience, and that’s normal. But what we need to learn to do is see what’s in the empty tomb. Let’s continue in John.

John 20, verses 6 through 7, and so Peter also came, following him and entering the tomb. Notice Peter doesn’t stop, doesn’t pause, and he. He goes. He just goes right in.

Why? Because that’s who Simon Peter is. He goes right at entering the tomb. He saw. Pause.

Which word is this? He saw. It’s not the quick glance. It’s like when the women saw the stone rolled away. He was a spectator off.

He was looking at the experience and saying, here are where the details are lined up versus what John had done was just take a quick glance. Okay, so he saw the linen wrappings lying there and the face cloth which had been on his head, not lying in the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.

There’s no hesitancy on the part of Simon Peter. He goes right in and he observes. He’s a spectator of. Wait a minute. There’s wrappings and no body.

There’s the Head wrapping and no person. He is seeing this and observing the details in the much, much greater depth than John had done.

What’s happening here? Peter is going in and now he is looking. He’s slowing down the event. I mean, this is a pretty dramatic thing that’s happening. Mary comes to them, they’ve taken our Lord.

I don’t know where he is. The tomb’s empty, and they go like, what is happening? They go, and he’s observing.

And whenever we have that observation, that spectator, you’re beginning to say, there’s something here, and that’s what the apostle Peter is doing at this point.

So he slows down the process by. By not just glancing, but starting to try to begin to figure out what the context is. He’s looking steadily, if you will, at this empty linen wrappings. John would join him. John also enters the tomb in John 20, verse 8, says, so the other disciple who had first come to the tomb then also entered.

And he saw. I’m going to pause there for a second. I’m not going to finish the Scripture, and he saw. This is the word for perceive.

This is that bigger word that the prophets longed to truly understand. The things that you see. It says, John then entered the tomb and he perceived both. Now quote, unquote, saw the linen wrappings. However, John perceived them differently according to the Gospel of John here.

So here’s the order of what happened. First, John ran ahead and he saw. He looked upon the linen wrappings and simply acknowledged that their. Their presence. Yep, they’re in there.

Something’s in there. Then Peter saw. He observed, and he contemplated those wrappings as well as the faith cloth and pondered their significance. There’s something here that means something. Then John comes in and he saw the next level.

Upon entering the tomb, John put it all together and drew the unmistakable conclusion of this scenario. How do we know that? Because what follows next in the verse solidifies that thought. John believed, going back to John, chapter 20, verse 8. So the other disciple who had first come to the tomb and then also entered, he saw and believed.

See the difference he perceived, and then he. He believed, and that word for belief is to have faith. That’s a form of the word for faith in the New Testament.

So John saw. So when we asked the question at the beginning, what do I see in the empty tomb? This is where we’re trying to go. John saw and believed. Let me, just for a moment, let’s look at two other uses of this particular word for see in Scripture.

Just. They’re both in the words of Jesus, and they help us understand the depth of what the Scriptures define the word to mean. The first use is in Matthew, chapter 5, verse 16. Another word, another use of that word for perceive, that deeper use. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father, which is in heaven.

Think about that. It’s not. It’s not simply let your light shine. So people can, as they pass by, say, oh, that’s interesting, and keep walking. It is.

Let them see your good works. Let them perceive there’s something different about brother John. This, this person. There’s something that shines from him to give them a sense of being able to. To.

To be able to stop and say, something is deeper here. So when Jesus says, let your light shine, that people can see, understand his messages. Let them see with their hearts what’s happening. Matthew 6. 8.

Another use of this word for perceiving.

In Matthew 6, Jesus is talking about being anxious, and you know, being anxious about this and being anxious about that, and he says, be not like them, the Gentiles, because your Father knows that’s the word for seeing the same word. What things you have need of. Before you ask him, see the depth of the word your Father knows.

So this perception comes into a sense of really being able to embrace and to digest. Your Father knows what things you have need of. You don’t have to be anxious because he knows before you were even thinking about being anxious. He knows that’s the depth. What do we see?

What do we perceive with that kind of depth? As we said, John believed he had faith. So what’s the difference between John and Peter here? Peter saw the wrappings for what they were.

These are wrappings that wraps the body of Jesus, and they are now empty. He saw the wrappings exactly for what they were. John saw the wrappings for what they meant. He is risen. He saw the physicality of what was in front of him, and he.

It. It elevated him to see what they meant because he believed he got it. This brings us to what do I see? Lesson two. We now have three levels of seeing to apply to our Christian experiences.

Simply looking at or noticing what’s happening in our lives is the first step. Okay, just. Hey, look at that. But we need more. Being able to, like Peter, see things for what they are can help us gain perspective because we are assembling the facts.

How easily do we progress from seeing the facts to, like John, putting them together and to see what they truly mean? So, and brethren, I have to confess to you. This, this study surprised me. I’d never, ever, ever, ever. We were having a class study in our New Haven Ecclesia, and we were discussing all of this and it was like, huh, I’ve been reading these accounts for all these years and I never realized that there’s this, this level of understanding going on.

It was really very, very fascinating, and that’s why I’m telling you, because it really moved me. John’s belief came in spite of his not fully comprehending everything. He didn’t fully get the whole thing. He didn’t.

Wasn’t able to put all the pieces in place, but he believed them to be true. That’s what happened here. Because in John 20, verse 9, it says, for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. They didn’t have a. An intellectual sense yet.

They would, but not yet. But what John saw was enough for him to believe the truth of the resurrection.

Our seeing lessons continue with Mary Magdalene. She comes back on the scene because Mary comes back to the tomb right after Peter and John had left, as she could not keep up with them running there. So they left and Mary comes back. John, chapter 20, verses 10 to 11. So the disciples went away again to their own houses.

But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping, and so as she wept, she stooped in and looked into the tomb. So she’s outside weeping, she’s by herself, Peter and John are gone, and she looks in just as John had done. Just take a look.

However, what she saw was much more than the linen wrappings that John had seen because there’s the angels there. John 20, verses 12 to 13, and she saw, just like the women saw the stone rolled away. She saw she was able to be a spectator of these angels sitting in the tomb in white, one at the head and one at the foot where the body of Jesus has been laying, and they said to her, woman, why are you weeping?

She’s still weeping. She already had the message that the Lord had risen, but it. She couldn’t yet see it. So she comes back and she looks in again. She is trying to put it together.

And brethren, as we unfold Mary’s thinking and Mary’s responses here as Jesus will soon be seen by her, the lesson, I just want to make the lesson, give you the point now and reiterate it later, is not. We’re not. We’re not looking at Mary saying, what’s the matter with you? How come you can’t see? No, no, no, no.

Exactly the Opposite, we’re looking at Mary Magdalene and we’re saying, look at the heart of this woman who is so focused on reverencing the body of her lost Lord, that’s all she could see. So the, the angels say, woman, why are you weeping? And she said, because they’ve taken away my Lord and I don’t know where they have laid Him. She’s repeating herself, why? Because she’s not ready.

This time, Mary saw angels just like Peter. She accepted the fact of their presence. Her response to them showed her continuing deep grief and panic. She was grief stricken at the crucifixion and now she’s panicked because they can’t finish caring for the body.

Mary Magdalene was being prepared to understand the facts. She wasn’t ready quite yet. She’s being prepared. She would still need convincing, but her mind was being primed to receive the facts step by step. Brethren, this is how the Lord often must work with us.

How come I can’t see it? Because I’m just not ready, and you see the grace and the patience in the unfolding of what she is able to see. This lesson is that Mary was given the same thing to see as she had when she had earlier visited the tomb with the other women. Again, what happened?

She saw two angels. This told her nothing that had changed since your previous visit. It’s like, it’s exactly the same as when you were here before. We’re going to give you exactly the same answer that we gave you before. During her first visit, they addressed the facts.

During the first visit, they said Jesus was risen. He was unequivocally alive. This time, the angels addressed her state of being. The first time it was, he’s alive. Now it’s, why are you weeping?

These two angelic encounters will give her all she would need to be able to see and accept Jesus. They were getting her ready. So our third lesson. Our third lesson. Sometimes we just struggle.

Sometimes we just struggle to truly grasp what we need to see. It’s just the way it is. As Mary Magdalene went through this process of being able to truly see, we can and should take great comfort in God’s grace and patience that was being shown to her. We also, brethren, receive such grace to help in time of need as we struggle to be open to those things that the Lord may be showing us.

Mary was so ingrained in what she knew was the most important thing in her own mind, that she could only see what her mind allowed her to see up to this point. So she had responded to the angels. They have taken away my Lord and I don’t know where they laid him. Next verse, John 20, verse 14. When she said this, she turned around and she saw.

Observed just like the women originally with the. With the stone. She observed Jesus standing there, saw a guy, but did not know, and that’s the word for perceive. It’s that same word for see.

Seeing. They may see. That’s the same word. She did not know that it was Jesus. So you can see that Mary is now.

Because we all know what’s going to happen next. Mary is now prepared. She is now being made ready. It’s taken a lot and we’ll get to that in a moment. She.

She again saw just like Peter. Remember, Peter truly observed what was in the tomb. She saw just like Peter and was moments away from actually knowing. Moments away and seeing. Like John.

The things that she was seeing were tangible physical facts, and her preconceived conclusions still up to this moment, kept her away from embracing what they meant. Again we see her mind being primed to receive what God was giving her step by step by step by step by step. The mercy and compassion in such an approach is inspiring and we should take it to. We should see that mercy and compassion, because that’s how our Father sees us.

Finishing up with verse John, chapter 20. I’m sorry, the first part of verse 15. So she turns around and she notices. She sees this person and says, okay, somebody’s here. It’s not just a quick glance.

She sees somebody, and Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?

Jesus, in this short. These short sentences is addressing both of the things that the angels had addressed with her in both of her visits. First, he addressed the emotional grief, just like the angels had just done a moment ago. Why are you weeping? He addressed that emotional grief that was overwhelming her.

Then he asked, whom are you looking for? They had already told her that answer. She just hadn’t been ready. So he addresses the entire circumstance with these two simple questions. Mary’s still not quite ready.

Her response was Mary Magdalene, like Mary, was focused on her mission of finding and caring for the body of her Lord. That all that mattered to her, that was her great reality, and she would not stop until she was able to accomplish that, because there was nothing else that mattered in terms of importance, and so her response to Jesus, because she still can’t see, is supposing him to be the gardener. She said to him, this is the latter part of verse 15.

Sir, if you’ve carried him away to tell me where You’ve laid him and I will take him away. Brethren, her heart is so full of grief, and yet her heart is exactly where it should be. She was bent on honoring her Lord and she was going to do it in the only way she knew how, and it didn’t matter. Where have you laid him?

I’ll go get him. Do you think she had the strength to go pick up and this. I apologize for this, but pick up a dead body and carry it somewhere? She didn’t. Did she care?

No. Why? Because this was what she had come to do. This was the last thing she could do to honor him. That’s how much she loved him.

What a beautiful heart, and brethren, sometimes the beauty of that heart takes a long time to turn, to see something higher, and that’s what we’re seeing with Mary Magdalene here.

I’ll take him away. So she’s got this grief. She has had her grief recognized and responded to, but she’s still not processing what’s happening, and now it’s going to happen. Jesus is about to dissolve her grief and replace it with incomprehensible joy and clarity.

And it’s going to take him one word. Why does it only take one word? Because she is ready. She’s been given all of the pieces. She’s been given something to take a glance at, something to observe, and now she’s going to given something to absorb.

John 20:16, and Jesus said to her, mary, Scriptures don’t tell us that there’s any hesitation, there’s anything in between. It’s. It says she turned and said to him, rabboni, which means teacher.

Jesus spoke one word, and in that one word, all that weighed her down was immediately lifted. She in turn spoke one word, a word that signified her embrace of the powerful reality standing before her. Rabboni. A very highly honorable approach to teacher.

So Mary can finally see Jesus was able to get through all of the preconceived importance of what she was about, what she was doing, which incidentally was important work, but simply was no longer relevant. She just needed to be brought up to speed on what’s now relevant, and Jesus would do that. Next, our fourth lesson here. Mary had not been able to see the circumstances as Jesus as evidence of Jesus’s resurrection because she was blinded by her loss and blinded by her mission.

If you’re taking notes, write down that phrase. Mary was blinded by her mission. Her mission was good, it was appropriate, it was needed, it was important. But something changed and she just didn’t know it yet. It’s not a bad thing, brethren, to have that focus.

That’s what we’re saying. In spite of this, God’s grace prevailed. With one word, Jesus changed her loss into love, joy and reverence. Mary listened, and then she could see. Let’s recognize how easily our personal emotions and perceptions can blind our eyes from seeing the magnitude of of God’s blessing that may be standing right in front of us.

You realize the magnitude of God’s blessing was standing in front of her and she thought he was a gardener. Once her eyes were opened, she saw her teacher.

What happens next? Now Jesus presents her with a very different mission and than what she had come to the tomb to do. John 20:17, Jesus said to her, stop clinging to me. Now, you’d think that you’d give her a minute, okay, after all this. He says, stop clinging to me, for I’ve not yet ascended to the Father, but I go to my brethren, go to my brother, and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father and my God and your God.

There’s several powerful points here. First he says, stop clinging to me. Jesus was teaching her that the urgency of the mission was to outweigh the emotion of the moment. You’ve been on a mission. I’m putting you on another mission.

Very relevant, very important. So no time. He says, I’ve not yet ascended to the Father. Think about this. He’s saying, there’s no time to lose.

Because he, Jesus, was preparing his followers to embrace his coming heavenly reward. This is something they couldn’t even perceive, and he’s telling it to Mary, the person who had the hardest time figuring it out. He’s telling her the greatest details. Then he says, I go to my brethren.

He says, go to my brethren. You realize that the angel said that or Jesus said that in his first appearance to the other women. Jesus is highlighting the importance of recognizing his disciples as his brethren. It was after his resurrection that it was the first time he formally addressed his disciples as brethren. The night before, he addressed them as friends.

They were servants before there were allusions to brotherhood. But this is the first time he calls them brethren is when he’s raised. This was this new relationship that would define all of true Christianity, and he says, and here’s what I want you to say to them. I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.

He solidifies brethren. He gives her a mission so much bigger than she was about before. Lesson 5. Mary had seen the facts and embraced their meaning. As a result, she’s Commissioned with serious responsibilities.

And for us, the more we can truly embrace the highest meaning of our experiences, the more the Lord can use us to further his work. So what happens, Mary? Mary acts on what she has now seen. John 20:18, and Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord and that.

And, and that the things that he said to her, and that word for seen is an entirely different word. It means to discern clearly. I get it.

Brethren, lesson six, and then we wrap this up. How well are we seeing? Or lesson six. First of all, Mary saw immediately carried out the instructions that she was given.

How diligently do we carry out the power of the message when we begin to truly see that message to our brethren for encouragement. How well are we seeing? We have the power of the past as written in the Holy Scriptures, to show us what was. This is how we learn to see. We have the power of the present provided by scriptural prophecies, present truth, and continually unfolding current events, showing us what is.

And we have the power of the future made plain by scriptural prophecy and scriptural hope. We have it all. We are in the right place at the right time. Time. Are we first?

Are we rushed and preoccupied as a result, only casually noticing what’s around us? Are we noticing what’s around us casually? Or are we more deliberate and therefore able to accept the facts as facts before us? Or, brethren, are we truly seeing? Are we focused on perceiving what the Scriptures have shown us from the past?

Are we focused on absorbing it and making it real from the inside out? We Finish with Matthew 13:16, 17. Blessed are your eyes because they see, your ears because they hear. For truly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to perceive what you see and did not see, did not perceive, and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. Brethren, what do I see in the empty tomb?

Do I absorb the lessons of the process of developing the kind of faith that moves forward in spite of circumstances? Let us keep our eyes wide open so we can know the truth and the truth can truly set us free. Lord add his blessing.

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