John 20:2 So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “ They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

John 20:2 So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “ They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”

How does Mary Magdalene respond when she sees the stone already taken away from the tomb?

“So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved…” (John 20:2).

•       “The Gospel itself claims to have been written by a member of Jesus’ inner circle, an apostle, one of the Twelve. Since the apostolic office was foundational and unrepeatable in the history of the church (Acts 2:42; Eph. 2:20), their message, the gospel, has special authority. As an apostle (i.e., one specially commissioned by Jesus Christ), John was given a mission to testify to what he had seen and heard (John 15:27; 1 John 1:1–4). In fact, being an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry was an indispensable requirement for apostleship (Acts 1:21–22; cf. John 1:14).

Implicit in John is also the claim of having been written by the disciple who was closest to Jesus during his earthly ministry. All the Gospel writers concur that John’s relationship with Jesus was particularly close. In the present Gospel, the apostle conceals himself behind the expression “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:20). As an apostolic eyewitness, John is uniquely qualified to write an authoritative account of Jesus’ life: “The man who saw it has given testimony, and his testimony is true” (19:35; cf. 21:24).”

Clinton E. Arnold, Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary: John, Acts., vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002), 3–4.

What does she say to the disciples?

“…They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him” (John 20:2).

•       What does Mary Magdalene call Jesus?

“the Lord” (John 20:2)

•       What had Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed when Jesus was taken from the cross?

“Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were looking on to see where He was laid” Mark 15:47).

•       What does Mary Magdalene report to the disciples?

“They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him” (John 20:2).

•       D. M. Scholer observes:

“6.4. John. The Gospel of John portrays in particular the discipleship of the mother of Jesus (Jn 2:1–12; 19:25–27), the Samaritan woman (Jn 4:7–42), Mary and Martha (Jn 11:1–45; 12:1–8) and Mary Magdalene (Jn 19:25; 20:1–18). Both the Samaritan woman and Mary Magdalene are proclaimers of Jesus in John, and both receive extended attention in the Johannine Narratives.

7. Conclusions and Significance

Jesus’ respect for and inclusion of women as disciples and proclaimers provided the foundation for the positive place of women in the earliest churches and their ministry.

In fact the baptismal formula reflected in Galatians 3:28 and its statement that in Christ “there is neither … male nor female” is probably rooted in the traditions of Jesus (see MacDonald). This indicates the formative role of Jesus in Paul’s theological vision for the church’s inclusive character.

The fact that there were no women among the Twelve is often cited as evidence that Jesus did not intend women to exercise leadership or authority in the church. However, it would not have been culturally possible to have included women in that most intimate group of Jesus’ followers. It is remarkable and significant enough that many women, at least eight of whom are known by name and often with as much or more data as some of the Twelve, were included as disciples and proclaimers during Jesus’ ministry (not to mention Elizabeth and Anna in Luke 1–2). It has often been observed that all of the Twelve were Jews, yet the early church, as it developed in other social contexts, included Gentiles in leadership. Thus, the precise composition of the Twelve should not be pressed too far.

More significant is the fact that the Twelve did not constitute or provide the model or framework for leadership or authority in the early church, apart from the very earliest days in the Jerusalem church. Rather, what was significant for the character of leadership in the early church was Jesus’ call to discipleship and its definition in terms of service and the fact that both men and women were among Jesus’ followers as disciples and proclaimers.

It sometimes is noted that Jesus did not appoint any women to office. Neither did Jesus appoint any men to office (apart from the case of Peter, and that did not determine church structure apart from initial leadership in the Jerusalem church). The structures of leadership and authority in the early churches, especially those of Paul, for which the best evidence is available, were somewhat fluid and unstructured. In such contexts women did exercise leadership and authority (twelve women are known by name among Paul’s coworkers in ministry; see Rom 16:1–16; Phil 4:2–3; 1 Cor 1:11; Col 4:15; Acts 16:14–15, 40)."

D. M. Scholer, “Women,” ed. Joel B. Green and Scot McKnight, Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992), 886.

Father,

You are sovereign. You are never surprised. You never lose. In the defining moments of my life, may I respond with confident faith in Your sovereign care and steadfast love. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.