John 20:2
“Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the LORD out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →Mary Magdalene runs to tell the disciples that the tomb is empty and the Lord is gone.
Context
Early on the first day of the week, women came to the tomb to anoint Jesus's body. Mary has looked inside and found it empty.
What Does John 20:2 Mean?
Mary runs, her grief turning to urgency. She finds Simon Peter and the beloved disciple, the core of the remaining circle, and speaks to them as if to say: everything has fallen apart. The body is gone. We came to perform the last act of love, the anointing of the dead, and even that comfort is denied us. There is no grave to visit, no stone to weep beside. In her panic, she does not yet imagine resurrection; she imagines theft, desecration.
Yet her very distress brings the disciples into motion. She runs because she cares. She tells because she trusts these men to help her search, to grieve with her, to solve this crisis together. In the moment of deepest loss, when she imagines only the worst, her faithfulness and her bonds to the apostles pull them all toward the threshold where the risen Lord waits to meet them.
Application
When our faith seems shattered and we cannot see how God is working, our honesty and our reaching out to others—even in confusion—can be the very means through which God meets us and them.