God’s Guiding Word: Hope
Introduction
John 20:1–18: When Mary Magdalene goes to Jesus’s tomb, she sees that the stone has been rolled away. She runs to tell the disciples, believing that someone took Jesus’s body from the tomb. Then Jesus appears to Mary, telling her that he is going to return to God. Mary then tells the disciples that she has seen the Lord. She is the first witness to Jesus’s resurrection.
Today’s Key Verse: John 20:16
Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned toward him and said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (This means “Teacher.”)
Reading
20 Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been taken away from the entrance. 2 She went running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 Then Peter and the other disciple went to the tomb. 4 The two of them were running, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and saw the linen cloths, but he did not go in. 6 Behind him came Simon Peter, and he went straight into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there 7 and the cloth which had been around Jesus’ head. It was not lying with the linen cloths but was rolled up by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in; he saw and believed. (9 They still did not understand the scripture which said that he must rise from death.) 10 Then the disciples went back home.
11 Mary stood crying outside the tomb. While she was still crying, she bent over and looked in the tomb 12 and saw two angels there dressed in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 “Woman, why are you crying?” they asked her.
She answered, “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!”
14 Then she turned around and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 “Woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who is it that you are looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener, so she said to him, “If you took him away, sir, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned toward him and said in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (This means “Teacher.”)
17 “Do not hold on to me,” Jesus told her, “because I have not yet gone back up to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am returning to him who is my Father and their Father, my God and their God.”
18 So Mary Magdalene went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and related to them what he had told her.
Reflect
What was Mary’s message to Peter and the other disciple after seeing the empty tomb (verse 2)? What did they do? How did they react? What did Jesus say to Mary (verse 17)? How will you share the good news of Jesus’s resurrection today?
Pray
Alleluia! Lord Jesus, you are risen! You are risen indeed! Alleluia! I celebrate the joyous news of your resurrection. Teach me to proclaim this good news to all I meet today! Amen!
And now, join us in thanking God that people in Rwanda are being provided with Bibles. Lord God, for many people in Rwanda who wish to know Scripture, buying a personal Bible to keep in their hearts and homes is simply not possible. About two out of five people in the country live in poverty, which means many cannot afford to purchase a Bible of their own. But thanks to the support of Bible-A-Month Partners, people throughout Rwanda, dear God, are receiving your Word through audio Bibles and in formats they can best understand. We give thanks, Lord God, that your Word is changing their lives forever and giving them hope for the future. Amen.
Tomorrow’s Reading
John 20:19–31: Jesus appears to the disciples.