Mark 20

We spend a good bit of our life competing for the approval of others. The only approval that we should be seeking is the Father's. It is our human nature to want to be respected, loved, and included. In the quest we talk about others and expose their faults to let others see that we are just as good as the ones they admire. How depleting of our time and abilities. Our quest for human approval stops us from our quest for God's approval. Lord, help me to only seek to hear from You, "well done My good and faithful servant". Help me to be an instrument of Your peace and to see the good in others as I want others to see the good in me.

20 Now 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. 2 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."

3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. 4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw  the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.

11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 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. 13 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."

14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 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."

16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!"

She turned and said to Him, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, Teacher).

17 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.' "

18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things to her.

19 Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them,
"Peace be with you." 20 When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

21 So Jesus said to them again, "Peace to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." 22 And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

The NKJV Study Bible says this: Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus had cast seven demons, was the last one at the Cross and the first one at the grave. The other disciple, whom Jesus loved, was John, the author of this Gospel. Peter went into the tomb to get a good look. He carefully examined the place where Jesus' body had been. The other disciple, commonly believed to be the apostle John, saw the tomb and the grave clothes and believed that Christ had been raised from the dead. Jesus had prophesied His death and resurrection in the disciples' presence, but the disciples had not understood what He was talking about. Later Jesus would instruct them about how His life and death fulfilled the Scriptures. When Christ uttered her name, Mary recognized His voice. Mary addressed Christ as Rabboni, an Aramaic term which John translates for his Greek readers. Mary had grabbed Christ and was holding on to Him as if she would never turn Him loose. Christ explained to her that He could not stay because He had to ascend to His Father. Though it may be that Mary was formerly a woman of ill-repute, this did not keep Jesus from commissioning her to bring the gospel message to the apostles. Jesus, as God, could perform a variety of miracles without requiring a change in His humanity. Here Christ's body was a physical body, the same body in which He died and was buried. The difference is that His flesh had been changed to take on immortality and incorruptibility. The ministry to which Jesus called the disciples required spiritual power. Here Jesus breathed the Spirit into the disciples. John states the purpose of his book. His purpose was to convince his readers that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah who fulfilled God's promises to Israel. Jesus is the Son of God, God in the flesh. By believing these things, a person obtains eternal life.