John 20:1Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The soul of Mary Magdalene was inflamed because the disciples even now believed neither her nor those with her, but considered their words false. And so, when morning came, that is, when day began to dawn and daylight had already appeared, though twilight still remained, she alone comes to the tomb. This is already the third time. "And she sees that the stone has been rolled away from the tomb" (Jn 20:1).

Therefore, on the first day of the week "Mary Magdalene comes." Since the Sabbath had passed, and movement was no longer forbidden by the law, she went out, desiring to find some consolation from the place of the Lord's burial. [...]

The Lord rose while the stone still lay in place and the seals were intact. But since someone had to be a witness of the Resurrection and enter the tomb, the stone was rolled away by an Angel.

But when the Sabbath was already ending and the following day was coming, she hastens running to the place. It should be noted that blessed John the Evangelist, indicating to us the time of the Resurrection, says: "On the first day of the week, early in the morning, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb." Matthew, giving us the same indication, said that the Resurrection took place when it was deep evening (Mt 28:1).

But no one, I think, will suppose that the Spirit-bearing men disagree and report different times of the Resurrection. Indeed, if someone wishes to understand the meaning of these indications, he will find that the words of the saints agree with one another. For deep morning, as I think, and deep evening indicate one and the same time, the very middle, so to speak, of the span of night. Therefore there is no contradiction. One takes it from the end of the night, and the other from its beginning. Both go deep into the hours and refer, as I have just said, to the very middle of the night.

The first day of the week, according to Christian custom, is called the Lord's Day, diem dominicum, because of the Lord's Resurrection. Matthew is the only one of the Evangelists who called it the initial day of the week, primam sabbati (Mt 28:1).

Luke continues that they saw two men. Mark speaks of one young man sitting in white garments (Mk 16:5). Matthew speaks of one angel, and John of two angels sitting in white garments (Jn 20:12). Most difficult of all is to reconcile John's account, where Mary Magdalene is told, "Do not touch Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father" (Jn 20:17), with Matthew's vivid account. There the Lord met Mary Magdalene and the other Mary, and they came, took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him.

How shall this difficulty be resolved? Perhaps the Evangelists told of four different visits, and of different women and different visions. Some came with spices on the first day after the Sabbath (Mk 16:1; Lk 24:1), while others came without spices in the evening of the Sabbath. Some are named, while of others it is said only that they had followed the Lord from Galilee (Lk 23:55).

I fear that some may be frightened by the impassable thickets of interpretation, especially if they are already impatiently awaiting a smooth conclusion. Imagine that we are already furling the sails of our sermon and approaching harbor. Yet the ship, which swiftly crossed the seas, begins almost to crawl by the shore because of hidden underwater rocks. It is better for me also to slow down than to hasten, and to glide safely over the lurking shallows. Otherwise the sermon may sink through many breaches, or run aground like the ship of a negligent helmsman.

The first thing to do is to examine carefully the meaning of the words. "In the evening of the Sabbath, as the first day after the Sabbath began to dawn" (Mt 28:1), the Lord rose. You read: "In the evening of the Sabbath Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake" (Mt 28:1-2). He did not rise on the Sabbath, for on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment (Lk 23:56). He rose in the night after it had ended. Therefore the women who came early in the morning already knew that the Lord had risen.

Having carefully compared everything, we must accept that the Resurrection took place neither in the morning of the Lord's Day, which is the first day after the Sabbath, nor on the Sabbath, otherwise it would not be the third day. Therefore He rose not at the setting of the day, but at the end of the night.

In Greek it says "late," that is, opse. But "late" can mean both the setting of the day and anything that happens after a certain appointed time. For example, people say, "This was proposed to me late," meaning too late. Or, "He came late," meaning later than the appointed time. Even if something happened early in the morning of the following day, it is late if the time for completing the matter has passed. Late can also mean deep night, if you say: "I rose too late for night work," that is, not in the evening, but deep in the night.

Then read the interpretation of the above-mentioned twenty-eighth chapter of the Gospel according to Matthew, beginning with the words: "Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn" (Mt 28:1), up to the place where it says: "Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee" (Mt 28:16). There you will find the explanation of the cited verses and the agreement of the accounts of the four Evangelists.

Let us not suppose that the Evangelists disagree or contradict one another. Even if there seems to be some difficulty in this question, they are all of one mind that the Light of the world (Jn 8:12), our Lord, rose during that night. If they differ in opinion concerning the hour, we shall strive, with good judgment and faithfulness, to reconcile what has been said.

On this day paradise is opened by the Risen One, Adam returns to life, and Eve finds consolation. On this day God's summons is heard, the Kingdom is made ready, we obtain salvation, and Christ receives rapture. On this day, when Christ trampled down death, made the tyrant a prisoner, and plundered Hades, He ascended into heaven as victorious King, as Ruler in glory, as unconquered Charioteer.

Then He says to the Father: "Behold, I, O God, and the children whom You have given Me." And He hears the Father's answer: "Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool" (Ps 109:1). To Him be glory, now and ever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

The reading of the Holy Gospel which you, most beloved brethren, have just heard is very clear in its historical sense. Yet we must briefly seek the mysteries in it. "Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb early, while it was still dark." Historically, the time is indicated. In the mystical sense, the wisdom of the seeker is indicated. For Mary sought in the tomb the Author of all things, whom she had seen dead according to the flesh. Since she did not find Him, she thought He had perhaps been stolen. Therefore it was still dark when she came to the tomb.

Ikos 2. When the God-bearing women said this to one another, they also considered another matter, full of wisdom, and said to one another: "Women, why are you deceived? It is entirely certain that the Lord lies in the tomb. Has the One who governs the breath of living creatures been held until now? Does He still lie dead? This saying is unbelievable and absurd. Therefore let us wait and do this: let Mary go and inspect the tomb, and let us follow what she says. For most likely, as He foretold, the Immortal One has risen, He who grants resurrection to the fallen."

Ikos 3. Being of one mind in this intention, the prudent women sent, as I think, Mary Magdalene to the tomb, as the Theologian says. There was darkness, but her love illumined her. Therefore she saw the great stone rolled away from the entrance to the tomb...

They waited for dawn, and that night seemed especially long to them. Without waiting for its end, and expecting day to come soon, they went by the light of the full moon.

Reconciliation of the apparent contradiction in the Evangelists’ accounts.

The Evangelist Luke testifies that the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee saw the tomb and how His body was laid. Returning to the city, they prepared spices and ointments, to anoint the body of Jesus according to Jewish custom.

"On the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment" (Lk 23:55-56). These were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them (Lk 24:10).

The Evangelist Matthew says that Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were present at the burial of Jesus, and sat opposite the tomb (Mt 27:61).

The Evangelist Mark, speaking of the same thing, explains that this other Mary was Mary of Joses, that is, the mother of Joses.

Thus, from the testimony of three Evangelists we know that Mary Magdalene, Mary of Cleopas, and other women who had come from Galilee tried to learn the place where Joseph and Nicodemus laid the body of Jesus.

Among them was Salome, the mother of the Apostles James and John. In narrating this, the Evangelists only wished to certify that certain women knew this place.

They considered it unnecessary for their purpose to list all these women by name. Therefore they limited themselves to the indications given above, concerning Mary Magdalene, Mary of Cleopas, and the others who had come from Galilee.

All of them bought spices or fragrant substances for anointing the body of Jesus. According to Luke’s account, some did this after returning to the city from the burial.

From this one must conclude that they returned rather early, before the paschal evening had begun, when trade was still continuing.

The others, namely Mary Magdalene, Mary of Cleopas, and Salome, probably returned to the city somewhat later. They bought spices only after the Sabbath had passed, that is, on Saturday evening.

Among the Jews, the celebration of the Sabbath began on Friday evening and ended with sunset on Saturday. The Evangelist Mark bears witness to this, saying: "When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might go and anoint Him" (Mk 16:1).

There is no contradiction or disagreement in this. Probably they all set out together, but they did not arrive at the tomb at the same time. Some walked more quickly and hastened to arrive before the others.

This explains the apparent disagreement among the Evangelists about the time of their arrival at the burial cave.

The arrival of Mary Magdalene at the tomb.

The Evangelist Luke at first does not name the women who went to the tomb. He merely indicates that they were those who had come with Jesus from Galilee, and says: "On the first day of the week, very early... they came to the tomb" (Lk 24:1).

The Evangelist John says that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark (Jn 20:1). The Evangelist Matthew relates that at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb (Mt 28:1).

The Evangelist Mark says that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome came to the tomb very early, on the first day of the week, at sunrise (Mk 16:1-2).

The Evangelists’ expressions, "very early," "at dawn," and "at sunrise," cannot be regarded as contradicting one another. Both sunrise and dawn are a very early time of day, its beginning.

Nor can the definitions of time by the words "at dawn" and "at sunrise" be considered contradictory. In southern lands there are no such prolonged dawns as we have in central and northern Russia.

There it grows dark quickly after sunset, just as the sun rises quickly at dawn. Therefore one and the same time may be described both as the true dawn of day and as the beginning of sunrise.

But with these definitions of time the Evangelist John’s statement stands in unmistakable contradiction, when he says that Mary Magdalene came to the tomb while it was still dark.

This contradiction would be irreconcilable if John were reporting the arrival of all the myrrh-bearing women. But since he speaks only of Mary Magdalene’s arrival, we must suppose that she went on ahead.

She left the other women far behind and came to the tomb while it was still dark. The others came later, yet still very early, at dawn, at the beginning of sunrise.

The Evangelist John wrote his Gospel last and supplemented what the first Evangelists had omitted. He did not find it necessary to speak of the other women who went to the tomb, since the other Evangelists had already said enough about this.

Nor would he have said that Mary Magdalene went with the other women, had the first Evangelists not failed to note that she came to the tomb first, while it was still dark.

The Evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke, when reporting the women’s arrival at the tomb, did not attach special importance to the fact that Mary Magdalene came before all the others.

Therefore, when they list some of these women by name, they mention Mary Magdalene as though she had come to the tomb together with the rest.

The Evangelist John, supplementing their accounts, makes a correction to their narratives. He says that Mary Magdalene came before everyone, and he does this because he tells of Christ’s appearance to her, about which the first Evangelists are silent.

This correction has special importance because it was made by an eyewitness. Mary Magdalene found the stone rolled away from the cave and immediately ran to Peter and John to tell them her grief.

Then she ran back again to the cave together with John. Therefore everything John relates about this he knew at that very time from Mary herself.

He also saw with his own eyes what she told him, namely the stone rolled away and the empty tomb.

In general, none of the Evangelists intended to describe every event of the Gospel history without exception. This would even have been impossible, since, according to the Evangelist John, the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.

Therefore the silence of one or several Evangelists about some event must not be taken as their denial of it.

For readers to believe consciously in the real Resurrection of Jesus Christ, it was quite sufficient for the first Evangelists to tell how the women who came to the tomb found it empty.

It was also sufficient to tell how, after this, Christ appeared to them and to the disciples. The details of exactly when the women came to the tomb, which of them arrived earlier, and which was late, did not seem essential to them.

Nor, it seems, did they attach essential importance to how many times Christ appeared.

Thus one must acknowledge that on the day following the Sabbath, which was called the first day of the week and is now called Sunday, the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee left Jerusalem while it was still night and dark.

Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary of Cleopas, Salome, and Joanna. They had the fragrant compounds they had bought and went toward the cave in which the body of Jesus had been laid.

John’s words that it was still dark must be understood to mean that it was still night and day had not yet begun. There was no daylight from the sun, but there was moonlight.

This took place on the second night after the full moon, when the moon shines until the very rising of the sun.

The grief-stricken women walked quietly, intending only to reach the tomb by morning. But Mary Magdalene, as one who especially loved Jesus, went ahead of them.

Perhaps without noticing it herself, she separated from them and went alone with hastened steps. There is, however, some reason to suppose that she did not go ahead alone.

Afterward, when speaking to Peter and John about the Lord having been taken from the tomb, she added: "We do not know where they have laid Him." Was Mary of Cleopas perhaps walking with her?

Her hasty departure to Jerusalem to the Apostles.

Approaching the cave, Mary Magdalene saw that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb. Without entering the cave, she thought that the body of Jesus had been carried to another place.

But by whom, and where? In fear and bewilderment she runs back to Jerusalem to tell the Apostles Peter and John about this.

The return of the myrrh-bearing women to the city.

After hearing such good tidings (Mt 28:5-7), the women came out of the cave and ran to the city to announce it to the Apostles.

Meanwhile Mary Magdalene had already managed to run to the Apostles, Peter and John. As she entered, she cried out in despair: "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him" (Jn 20:2).

On the first day of the week: in our usage, Sunday. See the note on Mt 28:1 and parallels in Mark and Luke.

Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb. According to the accounts of the first three Evangelists, she was not alone, but there was a whole company of myrrh-bearing women. This is also clear from John's account, that she was not alone. Returning to the apostles Peter and John, she says to them: "We do not know where they have laid Him." She could say this only on behalf of herself and the other myrrh-bearing women. Therefore she was not alone.

We find a similar manner of narration in the Evangelist Luke. He tells of the journey to Christ's tomb of one apostle, Peter (Lk 24:12), and then reports the words of the travelers to Emmaus: "Some of those who were with us went to the tomb," and so forth (Lk 24:24; cf. Jn 20:22).

At the same time, we must suppose, together with Chrysostom and others, that Mary set out to the tomb with the other women, but went ahead of them on the way. As always, she was especially active and swift compared with the others. She came, or drew near enough to the tomb to see the stone rolled away, earlier than the other women.

This also explains John's indication of the time of her arrival at the tomb: early, while it was still dark. The other women came when it was already dawning (cf. the note on Mk 16:2 and parallels).

Seeing that the stone had been rolled away from the tomb, she did not know of the Angel on the stone, who later appeared to the other women. She thought that the Lord's body had been carried away (Jn 20:2), and immediately ran in haste to inform the Lord's disciples, Peter and John.

On this return journey she, of course, met the other women. Meanwhile they were occupied with the thought of who would roll away the great stone from the door of the tomb for them (Mk 16:3). She told them her fear. For this reason she later says to the apostles: "We do not know."

When she came to Peter and John (cf. Jn 13:23; Jn 19:26), she told them her supposition. Meanwhile the other myrrh-bearing women approached the tomb, saw the Angels, heard the good tidings of the Lord's Resurrection, and hastily departed from the tomb to the apostles. The first Evangelists narrate this in detail (Mt 28:5-8; Mk 15:4-8; Lk 24:3-8).

"Seek the Lord while He may be found," cries the Prophet Isaiah (Is 55:6). "Do not delay from day to day" (Sir 5:8) until the very end of life, for fear that you will seek Him in vain and not find Him. Seek Him at all times, following the example of Mary Magdalene, whenever He may be found. Seek Him from early morning, at the rising of the sun, that is, as soon as Jesus Christ, the divine Sun of righteousness, pours a few rays of His grace into your soul.

You may fully hope in the mercy of your God if you turn to Him when some human weakness has separated you from Him. So also did Saint Peter, who was deemed worthy to receive forgiveness for his transgression, because he repented of it and cleansed it in the very same night in which he sinned.

On the contrary, fear His justice if you persist in your iniquities. Sad experience shows that when a man begins to add sins to sins, the pangs of conscience disappear, every fear vanishes, and then the sinner, entirely calm, drinks iniquity like water.

The Lord, who promises us mercy, appoints no time when we may await this mercy with complete assurance. "Those who watch for Me from morning will find Me," says the Wise One (Prov 8:17). Therefore seek the Lord from the very morning of your life, as soon as the light of reason begins to shine upon you. Do not wait to dedicate decrepit old age to Him and to go to Him only when the world abandons you.

Seek Him, like the Prophet, "in the morning" (Ps 5:4). Consecrate to Him all the first moments of the day. From the very dawn present yourself to Him upon whom you must always look as the beginning and end of all your actions.

Above all, Magdalene's love, strong as death, shone like lightning in the night in the deed that gave her, together with certain other women, the name myrrh-bearer. Here two Evangelists place her first among them, while Saint John names her alone: "On the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came, while it was still dark, to the tomb of Jesus with fragrant myrrh" (Jn 20:1). This means that the undertaking belonged to her, while the others followed her leadership.