Catholic Commentary on John 20

"Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: 'I have seen the Lord!'" (John 20:18)

The Empty Tomb

Before dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb. She comes expecting to find a sealed stone and a dead body. What she finds is an open tomb and a folded burial cloth. John tells us that he himself saw and believed, though as yet they did not understand from Scripture that he must rise from the dead (v.8-9). The resurrection is not a conclusion they argued themselves into. It is a reality that confronted them, that broke through all their expectations, that demanded a response.

The folded linen cloth is a detail that has struck commentators across centuries. It is not scattered in the haste of a body being stolen. It is folded, ordered, left in peace. Death has been undone with the same calm authority with which the universe was created: the Word who said Let there be light now says, in effect, Let there be resurrection, and it is so.

Do Not Hold on to Me

Mary weeps outside the tomb and mistakes Jesus for the gardener. She is looking for a body to tend. She hears her name: Mary. One word, and she recognises the Risen Lord. This is the fulfilment of John 10: the Good Shepherd calls his own sheep by name and they know his voice. She reaches to hold him, and he says: Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father (v.17). He is not rejecting her. He is redirecting her. The relationship with the Risen Christ is not about clinging to a physical presence. It is about receiving the gift of the Spirit and going to announce what she has seen. Mary Magdalene is sent: the first apostle of the resurrection, the first person commissioned to proclaim the Risen Lord.

Living the Word

Brothers and sisters, Thomas was not with the others when Jesus appeared, and his honest declaration of doubt has made him famous: Unless I see the nail marks in his hands...I will not believe (v.25). A week later, Jesus appears again and offers Thomas exactly what he asked for. And Thomas's response is the greatest act of faith in John's Gospel: My Lord and my God (v.28). Doubt brought honestly to the Lord becomes the doorway to the deepest faith. If you are struggling to believe, bring it to him. He can handle your questions. He knows where the nail marks are.

Prayer

Risen Lord Jesus, who appeared to Mary in the garden and called her by name: call each of us by name today. Give us eyes to recognise you in the breaking of bread, in the Scriptures, in the faces of those who need us. And send us, as you sent Mary, to announce to the world: we have seen the Lord. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

20
The Resurrection
(Matthew 28:1–10; Mark 16:1–8; Luke 24:1–12)
1 Early on the first day of the week,* 20:1 Literally Now on the first of the Sabbaths, early, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,” she said, “and we do not know where they have put Him!”
 
3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out for the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down and looked in at the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in.
 
6 Simon Peter arrived just after him. He entered the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying there. 7 The cloth † 20:7 Greek soudarion that had been around Jesus’ head was rolled up, lying separate from the linen cloths. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in. And he saw and believed. 9 For they still did not understand from the Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
(Mark 16:9–11)
 
10 Then the disciples returned to their homes. 11 But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent down to look into the tomb, 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and the other at the feet.
 
13 “Woman, why are you weeping?” they asked.
 
“Because they have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I do not know where they have put Him.”
 
14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not recognize that it was Jesus.
 
15 “Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus asked. “Whom are you seeking?”
 
Thinking He was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried Him off, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him.”
 
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
 
She turned and said to Him in Hebrew,‡ 20:16 Or in Aramaic “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
 
17 “Do not cling to Me,” Jesus said, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go and tell My brothers, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’ ”
 
18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them what He had said to her.
Jesus Appears to the Disciples
(Luke 24:36–49; 1 John 1:1–4)
 
19 It was the first day of the week, and that very evening, while the disciples were together with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them. “Peace be with you!” He said to them. 20 After He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side.
 
The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord.
 
21 Again Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent Me, so also I am sending you.” 22 When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”
Jesus Appears to Thomas
 
24 Now Thomas called Didymus,§ 20:24 Didymus means the twin. one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”
 
But he replied, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands, and put my finger where the nails have been, and put my hand into His side, I will never believe.”
 
26 Eight days later, His disciples were once again inside with the doors locked, and Thomas was with them. Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.”
 
27 Then Jesus said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and look at My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe.”
 
28 Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”
 
29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
The Purpose of John’s Book
 
30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may believe * 20:31 Or may continue to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.

*20:1 20:1 Literally Now on the first of the Sabbaths, early,

†20:7 20:7 Greek soudarion

‡20:16 20:16 Or in Aramaic

§20:24 20:24 Didymus means the twin.

*20:31 20:31 Or may continue to believe

Public Domain