Foreword: Between John chapter 19 and 20 is a missing day. Nothing happens on Saturday. It must have been the longest, saddest day for the disciples of Jesus who left their homes and their jobs and their families to follow him. The man who healed the sick and raised the dead, fed the masses, saw sinners as people, and spoke out to the powerful was gone. They thought he would free them from pain and suffering only to walk straight into it himself. Right when they thought the King was entering his Kingdom, all their worst fears came true in one night. 

On the first day of week, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw the stone had been rolled away. She ran to find Peter and John (he calls himself the one that Jesus loved) thinking that someone had stolen his body. They ran (John notes he got there first) and saw the empty linens. The men still didn’t understand and they went home sad.

Mary lingers outside crying until two angels apear and ask why she is weeping. She tells them that they have taken away her Lord. She sees a man behind her, who also asks why she is crying and she thinks he is a gardener and asks him if he took away the body. He says, “Mary” and instantly she recognizes him as Jesus and calls him “Teacher!” He says he has not ascended, so she can’t hold him. He tells her to tell the rest that he is going to “my Father, your Father and my God, your God.” It’s such an exquisite moment, from total loss to pure joy. 

Mary goes to the disciples and tells them all about it. That evening, Jesus appears to them despite the locked gate. He shows them his hands and side and says “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” Then he breathes the Holy Spirit on them. This is similar to Eden where God breathes life into Adam. Jesus says the spirit will give them the power to forgive others. It’s interesting to me that we talk more of being forgiven and less of forgiving, but that is the gift from the spirit. When people are unforgiving of others, they often say “They’re dead to me.” Forgiveness is a kind of resurrection.

Thomas was not there when Jesus visited, so when he hears about it, he doubts, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.”

Eight days later, Jesus shows up again and invites Thomas to touch his scars. Thomas calls him his Lord and God. Jesus says to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 

It’s hard to trust the testimony of our fellow humans, they aren’t always trustworthy, yet every word written in the Bible was by a human recounting their experiences. We have four gospels by four disciples. In writing these chapter notes, I’ve noticed lots of small differences and inconsistencies. John called himself the beloved, who is a better runner than Peter. Mark uses fewer details, Matthew quotes more references and Luke includes more women. To be honest, each time I read the scriptures, I often have a new perspective because I am not exactly the same person I was the last time I read them. 

At the end of the chapter, John notes that Jesus did a lot more, but he has written his book, “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Look for the gardener.