"20 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” 3 So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going towards the tomb. 4 Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her."
John 20:1-18
To say that Jesus has destroyed death is a tremendous thing to say, for death is the comprehensive term which sums up all human woe - the waywardness of human nature, its failures, frustrations, tragedies and sorrows; all these are the shadow cast by death upon human life, and when Jesus destroyed death He destroyed the basic reality which causes all these things. He has lifted the curse from mankind - this is what the resurrection means. This is why we can speak of the message of the gospel in terms of the difference Jesus makes to life, and it is little wonder that in the history of the Acts of the Apostles, when they preached Jesus and the resurrection, worlds were turned upside down; a risen, ever-living Christ came into their lives, transforming them, making them new. It is in this light and against this kind of background that we need to understand what John has recorded for us in the last two chapters of his gospel. We look, then, first of all, at the difference the resurrection meant for Mary Magdalene. Mary is one of the secondary figures in the gospel story, never really in the foreground until now. Her story is a fascinating one. Not much is recorded of her, but what we do have gives an adequate picture. Contrary to general assumption, she was not an immoral woman. There is nothing in the record to substantiate this idea. What is said of her is that Jesus cast seven devils out of her. We can read the story of the man called Legion (Mark 5) to understand what this meant. She was a woman of substance, and one of those who subsidised the itinerant ministry of Jesus, and ministered to him on his journeys. She was probably what we would call today of a 'county' family.