The Outcast, the Doubter, and the Failure
Easter 2025
Mary the Outcast
John 20:10-16, 18 NIV
“Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?""They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Mary was a woman who had been used to being excluded from society and from God.
Jesus first calls her, “Woman”—a generic, impersonal address.
Jesus then calls her by her name: He dignifies her. She is not just a woman, not simply a sinful woman…She is “Mary.”
Thomas the Doubter
John 20:24-28 NIV
“Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord! “But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27 Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." 28 Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Jesus does not rebuke us for our doubts; He is patient with us.
He invites us to see His wounds, His humanity, His suffering on our behalf.
With all the suffering in the world, we ask, “Why, God?”
God’s answer is that He entered our world and took on our suffering.
We come with questions. Jesus doesn’t just offer answers; He shows us His wounds.
Peter the Failure
John 21:4-7 NIV
Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 5 He called out to them, "Friends, haven't you any fish?" "No," they answered.
6 He said, "Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some." When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish. 7 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord!" As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, "It is the Lord," he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water.
Peter was supposed to be the leader; He had walked on water; He had confessed Jesus as the Messiah.
Jesus meets Peter in his retreat to his old life of fishing.
Many of us retreat to the safe and the predictable when we are disappointed.
Our enemy wants us to remain stalled and in neutral.
For each of these people, Jesus’ death was like a dead end for their lives...
Sin for us is a dead end.
So are our doubts and our failures.
The resurrection is not a reminder of our failure; it’s a reminder of his victory!
He's the God of many chances!!
