Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
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.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
He asked her, “Woman, 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.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him. (John 20:11-16a)
This passage is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, especially when Jesus says, "Mary" such a simple, tender, and profound way, I feel my own spirit rise up in attention, as if I, too, hear him calling my name: "Donna" -- and turn toward him. In the same way he calls each of our names with great love and tenderness.
On this joyous Easter morning, pause and take a moment to listen to Jesus say your name... How do you want to respond?
In Mary's deepest grieving, Jesus calls out to her and I am struck by her courage. She boldly asks this stranger/gardener where they moved Jesus -- then says resolutely: "and I will get him." She is a strong and determined woman, emboldened by her great love, even in the midst of her great grief.
Not a comeback but transformation (from Steve Garnaas-Holmes):
"The mystery of resurrection is not just a promise of the afterlife; it's a guide to how we live now. Resurrection is not a happy ending. It's a new beginning after a tragic ending. It's the mystery that when we surrender our lives in love God gives us a new one.
Sometimes resurrection comes to us when we suffer an awful loss of something dear that is wrenched from us, like the disciples' loss of Jess, and sometimes it comes when we choose to let go, like Jesus' own willingly facing the cross. Either way, resurrection comes to us out of loss and ends up in grace.
And either way, resurrection changes us. Maybe that's why Mary doesn't recognize Jesus in the garden. (They didn't at Emmaus, either.) He's been changed. Resurrection isn't about "coming back" to life. It's about going on to a new life. Resurrection isn't just about a happy resolution of a sad event; it's about being transformed into people of deeper trust, greater power, and the radiance of love."
Music: What Wondrous Love is This - Fernando Ortega
Resurrection
When you let go of your life
and hold only to love
then your whole life is love,
which is infinite.
When you let the river
of compassion and forgiveness
flow through you
it bears you
through everything,
everything.
You are changed,
for your life is not merely your own
but divine.
A vessel of the eternal,
no matter what you suffer,
the light is still in you.
Wounded, you shine.
Defeated, you triumph.
Even in death, you live.
(Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes)
Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Alleluia!!
Music: Alleluia
(The Tabernacle Choir) https://youtu.be/dimgpVt39Is?si=5_DCqGY32gXOdgO5
Resources:
Painting: "The Resurrected Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene" by Roy Downing
Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes, www.unfoldinglight.net
