On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene went to Jesus’ tomb early in the morning before the breaking of the day.
She found an opened sepulcher with the huge stone rolled away. She left the scene hurriedly to report the matter to Simon Peter and another disciple.
The two disciples rushed to the tomb and saw for themselves that the stone was rolled away.
The first disciple who reached the tomb looked inside but did not enter. He saw only the linen clothe on the table.
Simon Peter went inside the tomb and saw two things: the linen clothes and the napkin that was on Jesus’ head folded and was placed in a separate place.
The first disciple followed Peter inside and they both saw that Jesus was not in the tomb.
After the disciples examined the tomb they returned home leaving Mary behind. The disciples did not tell Mary what they had seen in the tomb.
However, Mary remained outside the tomb weeping in distress. Finally, she decided to look inside the tomb.
To her amazement, she saw two angels sitting, one at the head and the other at the tail of the place where the body of Jesus had laid.
The two angels asked her why she was weeping and she explained to them that they had stolen the body of the Lord and she did not know where he was.
As she rose up and looked behind her she saw a man who she thought was the gardener. He asked her, “woman, why are you weeping?”
She begged the ‘gardner’ to return the body if he had taken him away.
The man then called Mary by her name and she immediately recognized her Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her. (John 20:17-18)
Note the strange development of this story.
The disciple who only looked inside the tomb saw only one item – the linen garment. But, the disciple who both looked and went inside the tomb saw two separate garments of the Lord.
But, none of these two disciples saw the angels. Have you ever wondered why? A number of possible reasons entered my mind:
- The disciples’ faith wavered. Hence, they returned home in defeat.
- Mary was determined to wait and search for her Lord. Although distressed she refused to give up in defeat.
- The woman recognized the Lord when He called her by name.
- The Lord opened the spiritual eyes of the woman so that she could see the revelation of the Lord.
- Because the woman receives life and gives birth to life it was important that she delivered the good news of the resurrected Lord (the tree of life).
The lesson in this story for us is that we have to be determined to wait for our blessings. Only the Lord can open your spiritual eyes to receive His revelation.
Becoming the Oil and Wine 
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