Early
on the first day of the week, while it
was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had
been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other
disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord
out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ Then Peter and
the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. The two were running
together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He
bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go
in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw 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. Then the
other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and
believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise
from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes. But Mary stood
weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 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. 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.’ When she had said this, she turned round and
saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 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.’ Jesus said to her, ‘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.” ’ 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. (John 20: 1-18)
Over
the next four weeks, we’ll be looking at the 4 Gospel accounts of the
Resurrection and the women involved in them. It is interesting that the focus
of each of them is a different aspect of transformation. Darkness to Light, Old
to New, Seeing in a New Way, Experiencing a New Creation. I had not really
noticed that myself until recently. On the surface the 4 Gospels tell the same
story, with just some differences in details. The bottom line truth is that the
faithful women (not the men who are too busy hiding away) discover that the
Rabbi they saw die on Friday is ALIVE on Sunday!
We
start with the account from John 20: 1-18. John says Mary Magdalene goes to the
tomb “while it was still dark.”
Think for a moment. It was physically
dark because it was not yet dawn. She was in the dark mentally because she was in the midst of grieving her beloved
teacher. Mary was in the spiritual
darkness of not yet knowing that there was such a thing as Resurrection.
Likely, she was also in the dark because
she wasn’t sure how she would be able to get to the body to anoint Jesus.
The
first thing she sees in the dimness of the pre-dawn is that the stone is not in
place. Her first reaction is probably shock. “Surely,” she thinks, “the Roman
leaders have taken the body somewhere so that we cannot even grieve properly.
Who knows what further horrible thing they have done to him?”
She
doesn’t linger. Instead she bolts back to “to
Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them,
‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have
laid him.’”
Peter
and John run to the grave. Brave Mary follows. We hear in the Gospel that
although John arrives at the grave first, he doesn’t go inside the tomb. He
just looks in and sees the linen wrappings lying there. Peter, on the other
hand does go into the tomb-an act of courage for a Jewish man who will be
defiled by contact with the dead. He sees not only the linen shroud but also
the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but
rolled up in a place by itself.
Perhaps
they converse in hushed tones, “If the Romans moved the body the grave cloths
wouldn’t be folded neatly. They would be dumped on the floor. If Joseph or
Nicodemus took the body they would have left the shroud on. This is very
strange.” Having looked the two men depart for ‘as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from
the dead.’ There is no [recorded] conversation recorded with Mary. The men
simply come and look in the grave and leave, probably shaking their heads in
complete confusion. They remain in the
dark, despite the growing light of the dawn.
Mary
lingers in the darkness, still too
grief-stricken to leave the place where she saw her Lord laid to rest. In the
vain hope that something was overlooked, she bends to look into the dark tomb.
What she sees is astonishing. There are 2 figures ‘in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the
head and the other at the feet.’ They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you
weeping?’
It
is perhaps no surprise that Mary responds to the angels without fear. The
morning, though barely begun, has been stressful and agonizing already. To her
it seems the cause of her tears would be obvious-an empty grave and a loved one
gone. Perhaps it is with exasperation that she responds, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid
him.’ and turns away. Mary is still so wrapped
in the darkness of her grief and despair that she doesn’t really even pause
to see if there could be a glimmer of light from these strange visitors.
Paradoxically
when she turns from the darkness of the
grave, she is met by Jesus. Not surprisingly, she doesn’t recognize him.
How could she possibly expect to meet the man she saw crucified and buried
standing in front of her? This person must be the gardener. ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him,
and I will take him away.’ Clearly Mary is willing to take the body of her
dear Master at whatever cost to herself. She doesn’t stop to wonder how she
will carry the body or where she will take it. Her love is desperate to reclaim
Jesus’ body. In this image by Fra Bartolomeo from the 1500's you can see the angels int the background and the jar of anointing oil at his feet.
And
Love responds to her love. Jesus speaks her name and the light dawns. Mary is no
longer in darkness. She is ecstatic. What is wrong in her world has been
transformed into something unimaginable and yet so wonderfully right that she
cries out “Rabbouni”. In that word
she acknowledges that He is a teacher, but more than that, he is great and
beloved. He tells her to go to the men and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your
God.” In that simple sentence Jesus brings Mary and the disciples into
unity with God the Father. Immediately she goes and ‘announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them
that he had said these things to her.’
Jesus speaks our
name when we are lost in the darkness of our own doubts and fears and
confusions.
Jesus meets us when we are trapped in the graves of our own making when we let
the wounds of the past trap us. Mary turned her back on the tomb and met the
Risen Lord. When we turn our backs on the tombs of our past, we too will meet
the Risen Lord.
When
we hear Him speak our name we will find that the darkness vanishes and we see
everything in a new light. John’s account of the Resurrection gives us hope
when we are lost in the darkness of life’s trials and tribulations. Not even in the deepest darkest tomb could
hold Jesus. We are drawn out of our tombs by the love that speaks our name.
Do
you hear Jesus saying your name? Do you respond with love
that cries ‘Rabbouni’?
