by Timothy W. Burnett
John shared the story of how Mary the Magdalene returned to the sepulchre early that morning while it was still dark. She noticed that the stone was moved away and immediately dashed over to the disciples as she did the evening before. By this time Mary was convinced that somebody stole Jesus' body. Just the night before, she left the sepuchre with reverence and great joy. She embraced the feet of our Lord Jesus and even talked with him. We don't know exactly why she changed, but it is possible the disciples' unbelief influenced her through the night. Yet with a this, she still returned to the grave by herself (John 20:1-18).
What a sweet and believing heart she must have had. Yes...she was probaby influenced to think that Jesus' body was stolen. But she still returned alone to the grave early in the morning. I could be wrong about this, but there is only one record in the Gospels of women traveling alone during the night hours. Also, God did not leave her confused. He gave her an opportunity to talk with Jesus again.
Later in the morning at sunrise, the same Mary returned to the sepulchre with the other women in order to prepare Jesus' body. The records of this event are in the Gospels of Mark and Luke.
They arrived to find the stone rolled away and Jesus missing from the grave. After encountering the angels, they became afraid and perplexed. Based on what we've learned about Mary's night, we can safely conclude that she was not afraid like the others.
It touched my heart to see that Mary of Magdala was listed first in all four Gospels (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:1; Luke 24:10 and John 20:1).
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