ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 Sapate Sepitema 19, 2021

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

Folofola ‘a Sīsū ki ai, Mele

Sione 20 (John 20)

(v. 14-16) Pea ‘i he‘ene lea pehē na‘a ne tafoki ki mui, ‘o ne vakai kia Sīsū ‘oku tu‘u mai, ka na‘e ‘ikai te ne ‘ilo ko Sīsū ia. Pea na‘e me‘a mai ‘a Sīsū kiate ia, ‘e fefine, ko e hā ‘oku ke tangi ai? ko hai ‘oku ke kumi ki ai? Pea mahalo ‘e ia ko e tauhi ngoue ia, ‘o ne pehē ki ai, ‘Eiki, kapau ko koe kuo ke ‘ave ia, tala mai ‘a e potu kuo ke tuku ia ki ai, pea te u ‘ave ia ‘e au. Folofola ‘a Sīsū ki ai, Mele! Pea tafoki ange ‘a e fefine, ‘o ne pehē kiate ia ‘i he lea faka-Hepelū, Lāponai! (‘a ia ‘oku tatau mo e pehē, Si‘i Tangata‘eiki!)

(v. 14-16) Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

G. Campbell Morgan's Exposition on the Whole Bible

This is the story of a dark morning and a lost Master. The strange excitement of it all is evidenced by the fact that the three disciples named are all seen running. Mary ran to tell the disciples, and John and Peter ran to the grave.

Mary tarrying in the neighborhood of an empty tomb after the disciples had returned to their home is symbolical of what the Church would have been had there been no resurrection. Her cry, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we know not where they have laid Him," tells the whole story. It was when she thus spoke that He made Himself known to her as the living One, and she cried out, "Rabboni."

On that memorable resurrection day John records the morning and evening appearances of our Lord. Between the morning interview with Mary and the evening meeting with His disciples He had seen Peter alone, and journeyed with two men who walked to Emmaus. John tells of Jesus appearing in the midst of the assembled disciples. He greeted them with the words, "Peace unto you," showing them His hands and His side. He then repeated the salutation, and declared what their commission would be, and prophetically indicated the power that would be theirs as He breathed on them and said, "Receive ye the Holy Spirit."

Very beautiful is our Lord's dealing with Thomas eight days later.

David Guzik :: Study Guide for John 20

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” Jesus had only to say one word, and all was explained. She heard in the name and the tone the voice of her beloved Messiah, and instantly called Him Rabboni (as did another Mary in John 11:28).

i. “Jesus says to her, ‘Mariam,’ the Hebrew name, of which the Greek form is Maria.” (Trench) Jesus didn’t reveal Himself to Mary by telling her who He was, but by telling her who she was to Him.

Her eyes failed her, but her ears could not mistake that voice saying her name. “Many had called her by that name. She had been wont to hear it many times a day from many lips; but only One had spoken it with that intonation.” (Meyer)

“Never was a one-word utterance more charged with emotion than this.” (Tasker) “Jesus can preach a perfect sermon in one word.” (Spurgeon)

“In the garden of Eden, immediately after the Fall, the sentence of sorrow, and of sorrow multiplied, fell upon the woman. In the garden where Christ had been buried, after his resurrection, the news of comfort — comfort rich and divine, — came to a woman through the woman’s promised Seed, the Lord Jesus Christ. If the sentence must fall heavily upon the woman, so must the comfort come most sweetly to her.” (Spurgeon)