Grow Guide | Easter 2022

Easter - April 17, 2022

Come and See

John 20:1-18  

Connecting Questions 

• Have you ever had some one close to you die? Discuss the various emotions that swirl in your heart and mind in the days that follow that death. 

• Have you ever been in a circumstance when it seemed like there was no hope, or that all was lost? How did you take the next step in that moment and get through it? 

Context 

This is the Easter 2022 edition of the Grow Guide. This guide will be published in the midst of Holy Week. On Thursday we remember the last supper that Jesus had with his disciples and how he washed their feet (John 13). On Friday we stand at the place of the skull and watch Jesus die on a cross, as if he were a criminal (John 19). On Saturday we hide in fear with the disciples and pray as Jesus lays dead in the tomb (The empty space between John 19 and John 20). 

Then Sunday happens. This year we go to the tomb with Mary Magdalene. Who is Mary? Scholars debate this. It is likely that we’ve met Mary three times so far in John. She was the sister of Lazarus (scholars debate this) and witnessed Jesus raise him from the dead (John 11). She anointed Jesus’ feet with oil and washed them with her hair (John 12:3). She stood at the foot of the cross while Jesus died (John 19:25). Now she is the first to arrive at the tomb early Sunday morning. 

Look at the Book 

• Read John 20:1-10. 

  • What do you think Mary expected to find and do at the tomb that morning? What did she discover? 

  • How did Peter and the other disciple react to Mary’s news? 

  • Read verses 8 and 9 again. What clicked in the disciple’s minds that they had not yet fully understood? 

  • What did Peter and the other disciple do next? 

• Read John 20:11-17. 

  • What did Mary see when she looked inside the tomb? 

  • What did the messengers say? 

  • Who did Mary think she saw when she turned around? 

  • What did Jesus say that made Mary recognize him? 

  • How did Mary address Jesus? Why? 

  • What were Jesus’ instructions to Mary? How does Jesus describe God in verse 17? 

• Read John 20:18 

  • To whom is Mary speaking? 

  • What does she declare? 

Taking it Home 

• Mary is a powerful character. It seems that she was close to Jesus. She was there in the most difficult moments. She anointed him with expensive perfume. She was the first to the tomb, and she stared into the darkness of the tomb when the men simply walked away. What are some difficult and dark realities that you are needing to face in your life right now? Can you find courage like Mary? 

• Mary was the first person to declare the Risen Christ in the Gospel of John. It is no small thing that a woman is the first to do this. Her declaration is not a theological explanation. It is a testimony of her experience, “I have seen the Lord!” In what ways can you declare your experience of the Risen Christ to others this week?