Here are some questions based on last Sunday’s sermon text (John 20:11-18), in case they’re helpful to you for personal growth or group discussion…

• [11-13] (Read 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.) Mary wept, bitterly grieving what she believed to be the permanent loss of relationship to her Lord to death. She was grieving as one without hope, because as yet she did not believe in Jesus’ resurrection. Now that we’re on the other side of his resurrection, how does it change the way we grieve the death of loved ones? What does it mean to grieve with hope in the risen Lord Jesus?

• The true significance of death is that it means the end of relationships. Most importantly and essentially, spiritual death is the end of our relationship with God, and it is the ongoing state in which sinners exist apart from Christ, even if they are still physically alive (Ephesians 2:1). Why do sinners die, spiritually? What can be done about it (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 2:4-7)?

• Have you experienced the death of relationships with people who are still physically alive? Why did those relationships die? Do you grieve the loss of those relationships? With or without hope?

• [16-17] When Mary recognized Jesus, she called him “Teacher,” and clung to him. Her first instinct was to hold on to Jesus as she had known him before his death and resurrection. How did her (and our) relationship with Jesus change because of his death and resurrection? What does the resurrection say about Jesus’ relationship to God? Our relationship to God? Our relationship to each other?

• [18] The true significance of Jesus’ resurrection is that it means never-ending relationships with God and each other, ultimately in our own resurrection bodies thanks to Jesus. Mary had the privilege of being the first to see Jesus after his resurrection, and also the first to bear witness of his resurrection to others. You also have the privilege and calling to tell others about the resurrection. What do you do with that?