The story of Mary Magdalene and Jesus (20:11–18) bears some resemblance to two separate Synoptic narratives. Mary now witnesses two angels (20:12) and afterward meets Jesus and seeks to embrace him (20:16–17). In Luke two angels appear to the women when they arrive at the tomb (Luke 24:4–9), and in Matthew we read about women seeing Jesus near the tomb and worshiping him (Matt. 28:9–10). The Johannine account, while independent of these, has clear historical moorings. (Note that Mary Magdalene appears in both Synoptic stories: Matt. 28:1; Luke 24:10.)

With the hour of glory, what message does this passageconvey? Weeping (Greek klaiō, 20:11, 13, 15) is a prominent theme here and has a special Johannine usage. Elsewhere it appears at Lazarus’s funeral (11:31, 33), which is a paradigm of Je…