Stroll through Scripture for Easter Sunday, 2026

Based on John 20:1-18

Resurrection Sunday.  We know the story.  We’ve heard it so many times.  And that creates some problems for us.  Because when we think we know a story so very well, we don’t listen as carefully as we should.  

Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb while it is still dark.  She comes by herself in this Gospel and finds that the stone has been removed from the tomb.  Why is she there by herself?  What prompted her to go?  We last heard about Mary as we are told that she is one of the three women standing at the foot of the cross in John 19.  

After finding the open tomb, she runs back and tells Simon Peter and the other disciple.  And then we have this strange detail of a foot race in which the other disciple beats Simon Peter to the tomb.   Why is this detail important enough to be spelled out?   There are theories of course.  We are told this is the other disciple whom Jesus loved, which is probably John.  The symbolism may translate into a representation of the intensity of the love, which would give the other disciple a boost.  Peter represents church leadership and with John waiting to enter, we have symbolism of a balance between love and leadership.  

What is interesting about John’s Gospel is that while we have this detail, it only sets the stage.  As we hear in verse 9, the disciples did not yet understand the scripture.  They are still in the dark, just like when Mary came to the tomb.  John’s Gospel has this habit of using light and darkness to convey levels of understanding.  

Mary stays by the tomb and peeks in seeing two angels where Jesus was laid.  They ask her this question – “Woman, why are you weeping?”  She is still in the dark and doesn’t understand what has happened.  Then she sees Jesus but doesn’t know it is him.  She believes he is the gardener.  If we connect this story back to the beginning of Genesis, God is a gardener of creation in the Garden of Eden.  And here Jesus is seen as the gardener who is restoring that creation and relationship between creation and God.  

Jesus asks Mary the same question as the angels and she still is in the dark. It is only when Jesus says her name that she recognizes him.  Jesus is the light.  John’s Gospel starts by telling us repeatedly about Jesus being the light of the world, how the light shines in the darkness and does not overtake it, the true light was coming into the world, and more.  The first 18 verses of the Gospel have been preparing the reader for what Mary is the first to encounter.  And Mary becomes the first one commissioned to proclaim the Good News.  She has encountered the light that John wrote about in John 1 and is sent to share the light with others.