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Gospel: John 20: 11-18
Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping.
And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb
and saw two angels in white sitting there,
one at the head and one at the feet
where the Body of Jesus had been.
And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “They have taken my Lord,
and I don’t know where they laid him.”
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there,
but did not know it was Jesus.
Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?
Whom are you looking for?”
She thought it was the gardener and said to him,
“Sir, if you carried him away,
tell me where you laid him,
and I will take him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,”
which means Teacher.
Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me,
for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them,
‘I am going to my Father and your Father,
to my God and your God.’”
Mary went and announced to the disciples,
“I have seen the Lord,”
and then reported what he had told her.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Yesterday we read Matthew’s account of the empty tomb. Today we read John’s. Since no one witnessed the resurrection itself, it seemingly happened under the cover of darkness while all of humanity was asleep, the Gospel writers take some liberty in telling their story.
Both Matthew and John describe angels being present at the tomb. Often in scripture, when people encounter angels, they’re filled with fear at their glorious appearance. Some attempt to worship them.
But Mary Magdalene shows no fear at all. John gives the impression she may not even realize she’s speaking with angels, as her eyes had been flooded with tears. Still, the angels would not have captured her devotion; Mary had fallen in love with a higher Being.
“They have taken my Lord,” she says.
Here Mary expresses her personal faith in Jesus Christ as her Savior. “My Lord.”
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When Jesus, the one who’s stolen her heart appears, Mary still does not recognize him. This same phenomenon happens on the Road to Emmaus. It seems the Risen Jesus can appear to people without being recognized; one must have faith in order to see him.
“Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus asks her.
This is the fourth time Jesus uses the term “woman” in John’s Gospel, and in each case, he is redefining a relationship. Here, Jesus is pulling Mary out of the past, leading her into the future – into mission where she will be sent to share her faith with the disciples, and the world.
“Go to my brothers and tell them, I am going to my Father and your Father,” he says, “to my God and your God.”
Just as Jesus addresses Mary with a new title, “woman,” so he calls his disciples “brothers” for the very first time. Because of his resurrection, Christ has brought our humanity into the very heart of God, allowing us to share the same Father.
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What a marvelous truth!
We are brothers and sisters, members of the same divine family, children of God.
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Image credits: (1) First Baptist Church Greensboro (2) JW.org (3) Bits of Bread, WordPress