{"id":705,"date":"2022-05-03T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/?p=705&2022"},"modified":"2022-04-28T18:00:08","modified_gmt":"2022-04-29T00:00:08","slug":"unraveling-the-mystery-john-20-11-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/unraveling-the-mystery-john-20-11-18\/","title":{"rendered":"Unraveling the Mystery: John 20:11-18"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"spoiler spoiler-style-2\"><div class=\"spoiler-title\">Focus Passage: John 20:11-18 (GNT)<\/div><div class=\"spoiler-content\">\r\n<p><sup>11\u00a0<\/sup>Mary stood crying outside the tomb. While she was still crying, she bent over and looked in the tomb  <sup>12\u00a0<\/sup>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.  <sup>13\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cWoman, why are you crying?\u201d they asked her.<\/p><p>She answered, \u201cThey have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>14\u00a0<\/sup>Then she turned around and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not know that it was Jesus.  <sup>15\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cWoman, why are you crying?\u201d Jesus asked her. \u201cWho is it that you are looking for?\u201d<\/p><p>She thought he was the gardener, so she said to him, \u201cIf you took him away, sir, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>16\u00a0<\/sup>Jesus said to her, \u201cMary!\u201d<\/p><p>She turned toward him and said in Hebrew, \u201cRabboni!\u201d (This means \u201cTeacher.\u201d)<\/p> <p><sup>17\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cDo not hold on to me,\u201d Jesus told her, \u201cbecause 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.\u201d<\/p> <p><sup>18\u00a0<\/sup>So Mary Magdalene went and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and related to them what he had told her.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"passage-read-more\">Read <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=John 20:11-18&amp;version=gnt\" title=\"Read the passage on BibleGateway.com\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"hyperlink-underlined\">John 20:11-18<\/a> in context and\/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!<\/p><\/div><\/div>\r\n<p>During Jesus\u2019 conversation with Mary Magdalene, He tells her something that is fascinating, and it challenges how we understand one of Jesus\u2019 earlier conversations. If Jesus ever contradicted Himself, this might be the place to focus our attention on.<\/p>\r\n<p>In the conversation, immediately after Mary recognizes that the gardener really is Jesus, in my mind\u2019s eye, she gives Him a big hug and this is a hug that she never wants to end. She had lost Jesus once in her mind, and she doesn\u2019t want to let that happen again.<\/p>\r\n<p>But Jesus\u2019 response is perplexing. \u201c<strong>\u2018Do not hold on to me,\u2019 Jesus told her, \u2018because I have not yet gone back up to the Father.\u2019<\/strong>\u201d (v. 17a)<\/p>\r\n<p>On one hand, Jesus\u2019 response sounds a little cruel. \u201cDon\u2019t hold onto me\u201d is like saying \u201cdon\u2019t touch me\u201d, and this is uncharacteristic of Jesus, but how Jesus follows up this statement is even more perplexing. The reason Jesus gives is because He has not yet gone back up to the Father.<\/p>\r\n<p>But then where was Jesus while He was dead \u2013 and more importantly, what happened to the thief on the cross who Jesus promised immediate eternal life \u201cwith Him\u201d. Later on in the New Testament, we read that Jesus witnessed to spirits while in the tomb (1 Peter 3:18-22).<\/p>\r\n<p>Some commentators point to the paradise Jesus promised being connected with \u201cAbraham\u2019s Bosom\u201d, and Jesus first went there before going to the place of torment (using the Rich Man and Lazarus parable as a literal framework), but this idea breaks down when we read that the tree of life is in paradise (Revelation 2:7) and that the tree of life is in the presence of God\u2019s throne (Revelation 22:2, 14, 19). Jesus simply cannot tell Mary that He didn\u2019t return to the Father if He took the thief on the cross with Him to paradise when He died \u2013 because the tree of life is in paradise and that is also in the presence of His Father.<\/p>\r\n<p>However, the hinge word in Jesus\u2019 promise to the thief is the word \u201ctoday\u201d. Most translators punctuate this word as tying into the fulfillment of the promise; but by translating Jesus\u2019 words in this way, these translators turn Jesus\u2019 words to Mary in the garden into a lie when we look closer at the scriptures describing paradise.<\/p>\r\n<p>Instead, if the word \u201ctoday\u201d is instead attached to the time Jesus gave the promise, then everything is smoothed out, because the thief is promised eternal life, Jesus is able to witness to spirits in the tomb (something I probably will never fully grasp what Peter is describing), and Jesus\u2019 conversation with Mary gives context for the future fulfillment of the promise He gives to all His followers of a future with God.<\/p>\r\n<p><strong>This conversation in the garden may challenge our thinking regarding what happened on crucifixion weekend, but when we look closely at what the gospel writers and disciples describe, we can be more certain and assured of the future resurrected life with Jesus in paradise, eating from the tree of life, while spending time with God the Father by the sea of glass.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n<div id=\"aj-wrap-up--705\" class=\"aj-wrap-up\"><p><em>This thought was inspired by studying the <strong>Walking With Jesus<\/strong> \u201cReflective Bible Study\u201d package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, <a class=\"underline\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/\" title=\"Check out Reflective Bible Study!\">click here<\/a> and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!<\/em><\/p><p><em><a class=\"underline\" href=\"javascript:void(0);\" onClick=\"rbs_aj_inline_subscribe(this, '705');\">Subscribe<\/a> to this blog and never miss an insight.<\/em><\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"During Jesus\u2019 conversation with Mary Magdalene, He tells her something that is fascinating, and it challenges how we understand one of Jesus\u2019 earlier conversations. If Jesus ever contradicted Himself, this might be the place to focus our attention on. In the conversation, immediately after Mary recognizes that the gardener really is Jesus, in my mind\u2019s [&hellip;]","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-text"],"nelio_content":{"autoShareEndMode":"never","automationSources":{"useCustomSentences":false,"customSentences":[]},"efiAlt":"","efiUrl":"","followers":[],"highlights":[],"isAutoShareEnabled":false,"networkImageIds":[],"permalinkQueryArgs":[],"series":[],"suggestedReferences":[]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Unraveling the Mystery: John 20:11-18 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/reflectivebiblestudy.com\/gospeladventure\/unraveling-the-mystery-john-20-11-18\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Unraveling the Mystery: John 20:11-18 - Reflective Bible Study Gospel Adventure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"During Jesus\u2019 conversation with Mary Magdalene, He tells her something that is fascinating, and it challenges how we understand one of Jesus\u2019 earlier conversations. 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