Mary: Witness to the Resurrection

For the rest of April the Devotionals will appear on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays

John 20:11-18

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14 When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she 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 in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’ 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Mary had returned to the tomb, following behind Peter and John. After the men had left, she stayed. In her grief, she took a look into the tomb and saw two angels. They asked Mary, “Why are you weeping?” Mary asked, “Where is the body?” The angels never got the chance to tell her that Jesus had been raised to life, because she turned away from them and from the tomb (vs. 14).

With her back to the tomb, she saw who she thought was the gardener – and asked the same question, “Where is the body?” And Jesus replied “Mary.” Said her name in a way that only Jesus said her name. Said her name so that she knew that Jesus was alive, risen from the dead. She did not recognize his features – but she recognized his voice.

A theological insight to draw out of this: Only when Mary turns her back on the tomb that she is able to see the risen Jesus, able to realize that the empty tomb means that Jesus is alive. Only when she is able to put aside the frantic search for the body is she able to see Jesus. We often become so fixated on our loss, our grief, our pain – that that is all we see. It becomes impossible to see what is right in front of us – and we need the voice of Jesus – the voice of God to cut through our pain to see that death and destruction have been defeated in Jesus Christ. Jesus being raised to life gives us a new lens through which to view the world, not the old lens of despair and hopelessness, but a new lens built on the knowledge that Christ has triumphed over sin and death and hell.    

PRAYER:

We need new eyes to see, O Lord, for all we see darkness. Give us eyes that see this world through the lens of Jesus’ resurrection. Cause us to turn from despair to hope, from anxiety to trust, as we turn from the tomb to face Jesus risen from the dead. In Jesus’ name. Amen.