John 20:1-10 The first day of the week comes Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, to the sepulcher… We are here taught — I. THAT THOSE WHO LOVE CHRIST MOST ARE THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED MOST BENEFIT FROM HIM. 1. The first to come is Mary Magdalene. Her history is obscure. Needless obloquy has been heaped upon her memory, as if she was once an habitual sinner against the seventh commandment. Yet there is no evidence of this. But she was one out of whom the Lord had cast "seven devils" (Mark 16:9; Luke 8:2), and her gratitude knew no bounds. None seem to have loved Him so much as Mary. None felt that they owed so much. 2. How is it that many do so little for the Saviour? Because of a low sense of obligation. Where sin is not felt at all, nothing is done; and where sin is little felt, little is done. The man who is deeply conscious of his own guilt, and convinced that without Christ he would sink into hell, is the man who will spend and be spent for Jesus (2 Corinthians 5:14, 15). II. THAT THERE ARE WIDELY DIFFERENT TEMPERAMENTS IN DIFFERENT BELIEVERS. 1. Both Peter and John ran to the sepulchre; but John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, outran Peter; but being more reserved, retiring, deep-feeling, stooped down and looked in, but went no further. Peter, more impulsive, fervent, and forward, cannot be content without going in. Both were deeply attached to our Lord, yet each behaves in his own characteristic fashion. 2. Let us learn, then, to make allowances for wide varieties in believers. Let us not judge harshly, because they do not see or feel things exactly as we do. The flowers in the Lord's garden are not all of one colour and one scent, though they are all planted by one Spirit. The Church has a place for all, and a work for all. III. THAT THERE MAY BE MUCH IGNORANCE EVEN IN TRUE BELIEVERS. 1. Even John and Peter "as yet knew not the Scripture," &c. How wonderful this seems! For three long years Christ had staked the truth of His Messiahship on His rising from the dead, and yet they had never taken in His meaning. We little realize the power over the mind which is exercised by wrong teaching in childhood, and by early prejudices. Surely the minister has little right to complain of ignorance among his hearers, when he marks that of Peter and John, under the teaching of Christ Himself. 2. We must remember that true grace, and not head knowledge, is the one thing needful. Some things indeed we must know — our sinfulness, Christ as a Saviour, the necessity of repentance and faith, &c. But he that knows these things may in other respects be a very ignorant man. Let us always seek knowledge; but let us not despair because our knowledge is imperfect, and, above all, let us make sure that, like Peter and John, we have grace and right hearts. (Bp. Ryle.) Parallel Verses KJV: The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. |
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