Today is the Sixth Sunday of Easter. Only two more weeks until Pentecost. The Gospel today (John 15:9-17) is about abiding in God’s love.
One of the New Testament followers of Jesus is a woman who
was so transformed by love that she chose to Abide closely even when there
seemed to be no hope. Mary of Magdala was one of the women who stay at the
cross. She is one who goes to the tomb on that first Easter, and she is the one
who first meets the Risen Christ.
We hear her experience in John 20:1-18. The disciples do not
believe her tale that the tomb is empty and must go to see for themselves. Even
after seeing the empty tomb with the linen wrappings lying there, and the
cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but
rolled up in a place by itself they simply go back to their homes.
Mary lingers and meets two angels who ask, Woman, why are you weeping? When Mary turns around she sees a man, who she thinks is the gardener. Then Jesus says, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 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”
This famous image from a fresco in the Convento San Marco, Florence, by Fra Angelico depicts the moment of recognition when Jesus warns, do not touch [hold] me (Noli Me Tangere). Mary has recognized her Teacher, but Jesus stops her embrace. Do not hold on to me he says. Perhaps, we are all warned not to hold onto our assumptions and expectations of how and when God will show up. Mary, after all, recognizes Jesus after first assuming him to be the gardener.
How often do our assumptions and expectations cloud our vision? We expect God to approve the same people we do. We assume God will act in a certain way or respond to just the right prayer format. We expect God to be the way we imagine God based on our upbringing. Then God shows up as a baby, or a homeless woman, or in the action of someone we don't like. God cannot be put in a box, or kept in a grave.
The Rev. Joanna Seibert noted on April 3, 2024 that not only does Mary see Jesus, she
sees angels. However, Seibert says, “she may not recognize them as angels. We
are reminded one more time about the difficulty in identifying the Christ in
our neighbor and seeing the angels who guide us during these challenging times…Angels
and the Christ, in others, were very present during the pandemic and this war
in Ukraine and the Middle East. They may be wearing masks, driving a truck,
putting up stock in our pharmacy and grocery stores, at the check-out counter,
making take-out dinners, giving us vaccines, caring for refugees, treating the
wounded…”
Where might we encounter angels and Christ without
recognizing their faces? What difference might it make if we saw Christ and
angels in the people we meet day-to-day?
Starting on May 9, you can join in the Prayer Pilgrimage
from Ascension to Pentecost as outlined by Thy Kingdom Come, an
ecumenical group. More info and prompts are on the DRG Women’s Ministry
website.
