But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. (John 20:11-14)

Weeping For Jesus

The empty tomb of Jesus is the greatest miracle in the history of humanity. No event has a greater consequence. Thousands have been crucified. Untold millions have died. Tombs and graves fill the earth in every corner. The tombs of the Egyptians were robbed of their glories. Ancient tombs have given their treasures to seekers through the ages. Finding an empty tomb is not unusual or uncommon. Until that day when the disciples of Jesus came to His tomb, there was nothing distinctive or superior about any burial. The empty tomb of Jesus was different.

Joseph and Nicodemus had received permission from Pilate to remove Jesus from the cross the day before Sabbath. There was little time to do a thorough burial preparation, and a number of women planned on returning the day after Sabbath to complete the task. Mary Magdalene had witnessed the death of Jesus on the cross along with the mother of Jesus and her sister, and Mary the wife of Clopas. When Joseph and Nicodemus took the body to the tomb, the women followed after and observed the tomb and how the body was laid. Early on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene stood at the tomb of Jesus weeping. Peter and John had come to the tomb but returned to their homes in Jerusalem. She remained.

As Mary peered into the empty tomb, she saw angels sitting where the body of Jesus had been. Tears filled her eyes as she stood there weeping. The two angels asked Mary why she was crying. They could tell on her face she was perplexed and upset. She told the heavenly messengers she wanted to know what had happened to the body of Jesus. She thought someone had taken the body of Jesus away and buried Him somewhere else. Her mind was filled with grief to think someone could be so cruel as to steal a body. Nothing made sense to Mary. What had happened to the body of Jesus?

The empty tomb of Jesus is where tears are not to be shed for sorrow but joy. Mary was yet to understand the will of God, who had raised His Son from the dead. The tomb of Joseph was a new tomb hewn out of solid rock. Jesus was dead and was buried by competent men who sealed the tomb with a great stone. The Jews feared the disciples of Jesus would steal the body to use as proof of the divine nature of the man from Nazareth. Pilate had placed a unit of the elite Roman guard to watch over the sealed tomb hewn out of rock. It was important to note Joseph’s tomb was new, and no one had been sealed in the tomb before. If the tomb was empty, who rolled the great stone away and overpowered the guards? Could the disciples of Jesus pull off such a feat against a powerful force of Roman might? Mary stood weeping at the empty tomb with the wrong tears.

Immediately after the angels spoke to Mary, Jesus appeared to Mary, and she rushed back to tell the disciples. Now her tears of sorrow were tears of joy. She understood the power of the empty tomb. Jesus was the Son of God, raised from the dead to show that He is both Lord and Christ. Peter would preach the resurrection of Jesus fifty days later, helping convince many Jews to believe in the story of the empty tomb. When a man stands at the empty tomb of Jesus and weeps tears of sorrow or doubt, he does not understand the power of God. It is only when a man stands at the empty tomb of Jesus and weeps tears of joy that he can realize the power of the resurrected Christ.

Death will bring tears of sorrow. For the Christian, standing at the tomb will bring joy. God will wipe away all tears when the faithful come home. There is no crying in eternal life. The empty tomb testifies to the gladness found in weeping tears of everlasting joy.