Easter According to Mary
Speaker: Lead Pastor Dustin Aguilar
Scripture: Luke 24, Mark 16, John 20
Dustin shared how, in his youth, he was afraid to express doubts about his faith. Afraid and ashamed. (He didn’t want the whole “stack of cards to crumble”)
In today’s story, we’ll see how there was actually a lot of DOUBT on the first Easter Sunday!
The women at the tomb doubted
Luke 24 - The women go to the tomb with spices, fully expecting to find Jesus dead.
Does that qualify as doubt? YES, absolutely. Jesus had already told them He’d rise after three days.
The women find the tomb empty, and they are not excited; they are “perplexed.” (v.4)
(v.6-9) The angel reminds them of what Jesus had said about how He would rise. After hearing the testimony, they remember and rush back to tell the disciples.
The women were still skeptical. Mark 16 shows us they fled and were afraid, not triumphant and confident.
The disciples doubted.
Luke 24:11 - “These words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.”
Peter & John doubted
John 20:8-10 - Peter & John run to the tomb. It says John went in, and saw the empty tomb and believed, but did not yet understand the scripture.
So they believed something...but what? Even if this verse means they believe Jesus was raised from the dead, they don’t become evangelistic about it yet.
Mary Magdalene doubted
John 20:1-2 - Mary runs back from the empty tomb and tells Peter that “they have taken the Lord” and she “did not know where they had laid him.”
Mary expressed doubt and skepticism, not joy.
John 20:13 - Mary sees the tomb a second time and is still sad. She doesn’t know where he is.
John 20:15 - Mary asks if Jesus is the gardener, and if he has taken the body... the third time we see what she is thinking, and it’s not faith.
Mary was in fear, trembling, and doubt until she heard her Lord call her by name (v.16).
Something about Jesus calling her name does something supernatural inside of her. The same thing with the guys on the road to Emmaus (hearts burn within them).
And Jesus still does this TODAY! He still calls our hearts to life supernaturally.
Mary’s heart comes to life when Jesus calls to her.
Mary’s doubt was not based on a lack of information...
TWO TYPES OF DOUBT
Rational doubt - a need to objectively reason through all the info and come out with a logical conclusion.
e.g., “Do you think the Cowboys will win this season?” “It’s not impossible, they are in the NFL, but I doubt it.” (based on the way things have gone)
It’s ok and good to have questions about Christianity and want to seek answers.
Emotional doubt - Not logic-based. Feeling a lack of confidence that something is true or likely.
e.g., “Do you think there will be another winter freeze?” “I doubt it.”
More of a general “feeling.”
For Christians, this type of doubt tends to go like this: You believe as much as you can based on what you’ve been told, but what you’ve been told feels flimsy, and what you’ve experienced, maybe, feels unimpressive, and you’ve been told that basing your faith on experience is not good, and the Bible doesn’t make sense to you.
You might hear a really confident-sounding person speak against what you believe, and they feel more confident than you are, and it places a seed of doubt.
TAKEAWAYS:
Don’t beat yourself up about doubting. Mary saw a lot more than we did on Easter, yet she doubted.
Bring your doubt to the light (whether rational or emotional). What did Mary do with her doubt? She shared it with Peter and John — they also doubted, but raced to the tomb to investigate. Don’t keep doubt hidden. And do go and investigate.
RESOURCES - You do not need blind faith; you are free to investigate the resurrection/Christianity in a scholarly way.
The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus by Gary Habermas (four volumes)
You can also ask God for encounters in your life - God still does powerful things today.