One of my girls, I won’t say which one, gets into a lot of mischief. She’s well-meaning, just very curious and that curiosity sometimes leads her into sticky situations. Anytime she gets into something she’s not supposed to, I get down right at eye level with her and I ask her, “Did you get into this?” I already know the answer like 95% of the time, but I ask anyway, because I believe it’s important to give people an opportunity to be honest, but also because it’s important for people to realize the truth of a situation for themselves. This might be a little beyond the scope of this particular daughter’s age, but someday, she’ll get it.
You know that kind of situation though, right? You ask a question you already know the answer to? Maybe it’s with a child or grandchild, or maybe with a coworker or friend or other family member. We do this because we’re inviting honesty and vulnerability, and we’re hoping that people will not only be honest and vulnerable with us, but with themselves as well.
Jesus did this a lot. He often asked people questions to which He already knew the answer as a way of getting people to realize some important truth about themselves and the kingdom of God. For example, Jesus asked Peter, “Who do you say that I am?”, not because Jesus didn’t know who He is, but because He wanted Peter to be able to fully realize what it was he believed about Jesus.
We’re going to look at a few of these questions today as we look at the gospel of John and John’s account of what happened on Resurrection Sunday. I’d love for you to join me in John 20:11-18 in your own Bible, or of course I have it on the screen.
“Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.”
There’s the obvious and amazing good news of this story and it’s that Jesus is alive! He. Is. Alive!!! There’s many things in Christianity that are similar to other belief systems and religions, but here’s the one thing that sets Christianity apart: Jesus is alive. He died, but didn’t stay dead! He was resurrected!! No other belief system or religion can make that claim. And it’s that one thing that tells us that following Christ is the truth, because if He can say something so impossible, that He is going to be killed but then raised to life on the third day and it actually happen, then we can trust everything else He said.
But there’s Mary, crying before the empty tomb, not realizing that what Jesus had said would happen had actually happened! She saw the empty tomb and on top of the grief she was already feeling from losing her friend whom she had loved and followed for a time, and then she was confronted with the empty tomb, thinking His body was stolen! The angels asked her why she was crying, and as she began to answer, she turned around and saw Jesus.
The problem is, she doesn’t recognize Him. For whatever reason, she can’t see Jesus clearly for who He is. And did you catch it? He asked her two questions.
Why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?
Jesus already knew the answers to these questions, but He asked them anyway to get Mary to realize the truth about what was happening right in front of her eyes. Let’s look at those questions.
Why are you crying? He wasn’t being facetious with this question, not being flippant or rude. Think of this question as being asked with the tone and care of a mother or father asking a child who has gotten hurt and is in tears. Why are you crying?
What’s wrong? What is broken? Why are you crying? If we read carefully, we see that she’s already answered this question when the angels asked it, and she told them that she believed Jesus’ body had been taken away and she doesn’t know where. So it seems odd, doesn’t it, that she has in fact already answered this question, and we know that Jesus indeed already knows the answer to this question, yet He asks it anyway. That’s because there’s more to that question than just what is on the surface.
It’s not just “why are you crying?” It’s “what is broken about your life?” What is wrong? It’s not just that Mary was looking for Jesus’ body, it’s that she was deep in grief, she was broken! If you’ve ever grieved someone very close to you, you know the brokenness Mary was experiencing. This is the kind of brokenness that isn’t lightened or fixed with just, “Oh, what’s wrong?” in a flippant way. This is heart-wrenching, overwhelming, soul-piercing grief.
Jesus was actually having deep compassion on her. He knew the answer already to this question before He asked it, but in asking the question anyway, He was giving Mary an opportunity to realize the depth of her own grief and realize how she was broken in that moment.
Here’s a question for you: just say Jesus is sitting here, right next to you or right in front of you, and He asks you the same question, “Why are you crying?” What is broken? What is broken in your life? Life can be so messy and complicated, places of brokenness can be almost anything. Maybe a severed relationship, an illness, an uncertain future, an impossible financial situation. Brokenness comes in many forms because we make a mess of everything. Maybe something comes to mind right away, if so, feel free to write it down in the space under the question in your bulletin. Admitting these areas of brokenness to ourselves feels like revealing a weakness, but really, what it does is reveal an opportunity for healing and restoration. Admitting to ourselves our areas of brokenness gives Jesus an opportunity to take what is dead and bring it back to life!
What is broken?
Who is it you are looking for? This is the second question Jesus asked of Mary. Again, a question she had already answered for the angels, an answer Jesus already knows, but He asks it anyway. Because, again, it’s not just a surface-level question. This isn’t just, “Hey Mary, who are you looking for?” It’s, “who can fix your brokenness?”
Again, we turn this question on ourselves, and we see Jesus sitting next to us or in front of us, asking us, “Who is it you are looking for?” Who can fix the brokenness in your life? The obvious answer is Jesus, but is that who you actually turn to?
Who’s the first person you talk to about your problems? When your brokenness overwhelms you, who comes first to your mind? It’s probably a family member or close friend, right? Nothing wrong with that, but can they really fix your brokenness?
Maybe instead of a who, you turn to a what. You turn to something you hope or think might fix the brokenness or at least take your mind off the brokenness for a while. Maybe your job, or a hobby, maybe t.v., or social media, maybe some other thing you do to distract you from the things that are going wrong.
The reality is that unless you are turning to Jesus with your brokenness, you will never experience healing and restoration in that brokenness. That’s the honest truth, one that the disciples failed to understand until after meeting with the resurrected Jesus.
After asking these pointed questions, Jesus then calls Mary’s name, and then finally, only after He calls her name, does she realize that it is in fact Jesus standing in front of her. She embraces Him, and once again, everything comes into focus. When He says her name and she realizes who He is, all the hope that she thought had been lost was restored. All the grief she felt was lifted. All the brokenness she had been experiencing was healed.
Now, just as we did with these two questions, see that Jesus is sitting next to you, calling your name. Just like He called Mary’s name, He is calling yours. Maybe it’s a loud, firm call, maybe it’s a soft, tender whisper. The blank in your bulletin is for you to write your name. It’s a reminder that He is calling your name.
With that call of your name He is telling you, He knows your brokenness. He sees your brokenness. He doesn’t even need to ask what it is, doesn’t need to ask why you are crying. He knows…and He loves you.
With that call of your name He is telling you that He is who you are looking for. He is the only one who not only sees your brokenness and still loves you, but loves you so much that He desires to fix the broken and dark areas of your life. John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came to give us life and give it abundantly. Does that mean everything is always going to be happiness and roses? No. But it means that He desires to give us life in a way that is full of purpose and hope, full of His love and what He says is good for us. He is who we are looking for. And if we try to create a full life without Him, it will fall short and be unfulfilling and you will always feel like something is missing. He is who and what you’re looking for.
With that call of your name He reminds you that He has always been there. Even if you’ve never heard Him, never sensed His presence, even if you’ve never turned to Him, He has been there, calling your name.
If you’ve answered His call before, you know that it’s simple to come to Him and let Him fix your brokenness. You know where to meet Him. You know how to be humble before Him.
If you’ve never answered His call…
1. Look at verse 16 of John 20. When Mary recognized Jesus, she embraced Him and called Him “Teacher”. What does this response tell you about one of the ways we can approach Jesus?
2. Are there areas of brokenness in your life that make it difficult for you to believe God still loves you through? How might Romans 8:38-39 help you?
3. Look at John 20:18 again. What was Mary’s response to having an experience with the resurrected Christ? What is your response today to hearing about the resurrected Christ?