Rabboni!

Bible Book: John 20 : 16

Subject: Resurrection; Mary Magdalene; Easter; Encouragement

Introduction

Rabboni! Mary Magdalene used this designation of our Lord. She is one of the most mysterious characters in the Bible. Misconceptions about Mary Magdalene abound. For example, Rev. Brian McClung explains, “Through the words of Judas and Mary, this opera casts Jesus Christ as the lover of Mary Magdalene. To make this supposed relationship all the more repugnant it implies that Mary Magdalene is a harlot.”[1] Of course, Rev. McClung warns about the blasphemies of the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice. Maybe you are thinking they performed that musical for the first time over forty years ago in 1971. Lest you think it is a dead issue, you will find some continue to perform it in various venues.

Allow me to share another example. In the run-away best-seller, The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown claims Jesus and Mary Magdalene were married. You will discover a host of books refuting various elements of The Da Vinci Code. It is critically important for believers to separate fact from fiction. Although she had seven demons cast out of her Mary Magdalene became a submissive follower and financial supporter of Jesus Christ (Luke 8:1-3). We read in John 20:1-18, “Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.’ Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. Then the disciples went away again to their own homes. 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. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’ She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, ‘Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’ (which is to say, Teacher). 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.”

Allow me to share several ways Mary Magdalene encourages believers.

I. We see the drudgery of her responsive mission. (John 20:11-15)

From John 20:11-15, “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. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’

She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, ‘Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.’”

Mrs. Lettie B. Cowman (1870-1960) asks, “Did they see any thing except that Christ was gone? They mourned, wept, went away, and then came again to the sepulcher, driven by their broken hearts. And still it was only a tomb – unprophetic, voiceless, and drab.”[2]

W. Phillip Keller (1920-1997), wrote a classic about the life of our Lord Jesus Christ titled Meet the living, wondrous Master of all. . . Rabboni. Here he explains, “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James could scarcely sleep. Impatiently they tossed and turned on their lumpy pallets. As the sound of the first cockcrow, they got up. The dawn of the first day of the week was about to break. Quickly they gathered up the little bundles of spices they had prepared. Groping through the gloom, they stumbled along toward the mausoleum where they had watched Joseph and Nicodemus inter the Master.

Just remembering the scene brought tears. It was not easy to love anyone as much as they did, then lose Him. Especially in such a cruel, dreadful death.

Highly charged with emotion, blinded with grief, strung up with sorrow, it perhaps never occurred to them that they could not possibly roll the great stone door back from its opening. This was a task for big strong men.

But when they got to the grave the entrance was wide open. The sight startled them. They were afraid. A brilliant white presence spoke, ‘Fear not. You are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here. He is risen!’ It was impossible to believe. They threw their hands up to shield their eyes. The angel reassured them: ‘Come, see the place where the Lord lay. Remember? He said He would rise! Go quickly and tell His disciples.’

The impact was one of commingled fear and joy.

Like a startled doe, Mary Magdalene raced away back to find Peter and John. Panting wildly, she blurted out to them, ‘They have taken away the Master. And we don’t know where they have laid Him.’”[3]

Doubtless this was an unpleasant task to anoint body of Jesus Christ. Mary Magdalene encourages believers to be persistent in following Jesus’ venture.

II. We see the discovery of her risen Master. (John 20:16)

In John 20:16 we read, “Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to Him, ‘Rabboni!’ (which is to say, Teacher).” Please note Jesus said, “Mary” and instantly she said, “Rabboni”. This term only appears twice in the New Testament, here and in Mark 10:51, as Bartimaeus called Jesus. Dr. Matthew George Easton (1823-1894) explains, “It was the most honourable of all the titles.”[4]

W. Phillip Keller, shares, “Rab ‘A teacher, or any master.’ Rabbi ‘The teacher, master, one well known.’ Rabboni ‘My teacher, my master, the one for whom I hold the very highest esteem.’” [5]

Unlike the two on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35), Mary Magdalene recognizes the voice of the risen Lord. Mary Magdalene encourages believers to be perceptive in identifying Jesus’ voice.

III. We see the delivery of her rapturous message. (John 20:17-18)

According to the Random House Dictionary the word “rapturous” means “full of, feeling, or manifesting ecstatic joy or delight.”[6]

From John 20:17-18 we read, “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.”

Dr. Geerhardus Johannes Vos (1862-1949) comments on John 20:17, “At first sight these words may seem a contrast to those immediately preceding. And yet no mistake could be greater than to suppose that the Lord's sole or chief purpose was to remind her of the restrictions which henceforth were to govern the intercourse between himself and her. His intention was much rather to show that the desire for a real communion of life would soon be met in a new and far higher way than was possible under the conditions of local earthly nearness. ‘Touch me not’ does not mean: Touch is too close a contact to be henceforth permissible; it means: the provision for the highest, the ideal kind of touch has not been completed yet: ‘I am not yet ascended to my Father.’ His words are a denial of the privilege she craved only as to the form and moment in which she craved it; in their larger sense they are a pledge, a giving, not a withholding of himself from her. The great event of which the resurrection is the first step has not yet fulfilled itself; it requires for its completion the ascent to the Father. But when once this is accomplished then all restrictions will fall away and the desire to touch that made Mary stretch forth her hand shall be gratified to its full capacity. The thought is not different from that expressed in the earlier saying to the disciples: ‘Ye shall see me because I go to the Father.’ There is a seeing, a hearing, a touching, first made possible by Jesus' entrance into heaven and by the gift of the Spirit dependent on the entrance.”[7]

We read in Mark 16:9-11, “Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.”

Dr. Simon Greenleaf (1783-1853), former professor of Law at Harvard University, explains, “The disciples disbelieved the report of the women, that they had seen Jesus. In like manner they afterwards disbelieved the report of Mary Magdalene to the same effect; Mark 16:11. They were ready, it would seem, to admit the testimony of the women to the absence of the body, and to the vision of angels; but not to the resurrection of Jesus and his appearance to them; Luke 24:21-24. And afterwards, when the eleven had become convinced by the testimony of their own senses, those first two appearances to the women became of less importance and were less regarded. Hence the silence of three Evangelists as to the one; of two as to the other; and of Paul as to both; 1 Cor. 15:5, 6.”[8]

Remember earlier in our passage (John 20:1-18) Mary Magdalene persuaded Peter and John to come to the tomb and our Lord commissioned her to communicate the message of His pending ascension to His disciples. We read that John came to the tomb first and he saw and believed (John 20:8). Not almost but altogether persuaded that she encountered the risen Lord, Mary Magdalene exclaimed, ‘Rabboni!’” Dr. Simon Greenleaf explains, “She exclaims: ‘Rabboni!’ as much as to say, ‘My dearest Master!’”[9] She communicated consistently by life and by lip. This is essential to being persuasive. Mary Magdalene encourages believers to be persuasive in declaring Jesus’ victory.

Conclusion

Mary Magdalene encourages believers to be persistent in following Jesus’ venture, perceptive in identifying Jesus’ voice, and persuasive in declaring Jesus’ victory.

May each one of us truly exclaim to Jesus with Mary Magdalene, “Rabboni!”

[1]Rev. Brian McClung, minister of Newtonabbey Free Prebyterian Church and Administrator of Newtonabbey Independent Christian School "Jesus Christ Superstar - an utter blasphemy!!!” Friday, October 28, 2011, http://soundofanalarm.blogspot.com/2011/10/jesus-christ-superstar-utter-blasphemy.html

[2]Lettie B. Cowman, Streams in the Desert (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1925), April 25 Reading

[3]W. Phillip Keller, Meet the living, wondrous Master of all. . . Rabboni, (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1977), p. 285

[4]Matthew George Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary, [Originally published as Illustrated Bible Dictionary: And Treasury of Biblical History, Biography, Geography, Doctrine, and Literature With Numerous Illustrations and Important Chronological Tables and Maps, New and Revised Edition (London, Edinburgh, and New York, 1894)], Available from: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/easton/ebd2.html?term=Rabboni Accessed: 02/02/12

[5]W. Phillip Keller, Meet the living, wondrous Master of all. . . Rabboni, (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1977), p. 6

[6]Dictionary.com Unabridged, Based on the Random House Dictionary, (New York:, NY: Random House, Inc. , 2012), Available from: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rapturous Accessed: 02/02/12

[7]Geerhardus Vos, “Rabboni”, Sermon Notes, John 20:16, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University, [K:NWTS 7/2] September 1992) 3-14] Available from: http://www.kerux.com/documents/KeruxV7N2A1.asp Accessed: 02/01/12

[8]Simon Greenleaf, The Testimony of the Evangelists Examined by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice (New York: James Cockcroft & Company, 1874), p. 541 Available from: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/AGA1251.0001.001/564?rgn=full+text;view=image Accessed: 02/03/12

[9]Simon Greenleaf, The Testimony of the Evangelists Examined by the Rules of Evidence Administered in the Courts of Justice (New York: James Cockcroft & Company, 1874), p. 542 Available from: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/AGA1251.0001.001/564?rgn=full+text;view=image Accessed: 02/03/12

By Dr. Franklin L. Kirksey, pastor First Baptist Church of Spanish Fort 30775 Jay Drive Spanish Fort, Alabama 36527

Author of Sound Biblical Preaching: Giving the Bible a Voice Available on Amazon.com and WORDsearchbible.com

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