Only in John’s gospel do we meet the risen Jesus at the tomb (John 20:1-18). In the other three gospels, the women meet an angel or two, but in John we hear the voice of Jesus Himself.
On the Sunday after Jesus was killed, Mary Magdalene, Peter, and the Beloved Disciple go to Jesus’ tomb together and find it empty. The men run off to figure things out while Mary sticks around weeping. She is broken and confused. The Powers had already killed her Lord, and now she believes they have stolen His dead body.
I can imagine what must have been going through her mind, perhaps: “Didn’t He tell us that He was the vine and we were the branches, and if we remained in Him that He’d stick with us? Where is He now? He told us that we can’t bear good fruit apart from Him. What am I supposed to do now?”
Feeling abandoned and confused, she wisely decides to stay in the place she expected to find her Messiah. Then, Mary turns around to find someone standing behind her. She doesn’t recognize Him, but she’s looking into the face of her risen Lord. Jesus lets Mary squirm in this confusion for a time. Thinking that he is the gardener, she asks if he moved the body of Jesus.
Then, the voice of Jesus breaks in and opens Mary’s eyes with one word: “Mary.” There’s no dramatic fanfare: no earthquakes, no spontaneous prophecies, no miracles. There’s only a word: “Mary.” She suddenly sees with new eyes, and giving him a bear hug, she cries out, “Rabboni!” (“Teacher!”)
Perhaps you can relate to Mary’s situation. Most of us have gone through periods in the Christian journey where we feel abandoned, where God hasn’t shown up like we expected: “I lost my job and have bills to pay;” or “I’m in a new place where no one knows me;” or “I raised my son in the faith, but now he hates the church.” Or maybe it’s a spiritual dryness: “I’m lost but I just can’t pray;” or “Scripture means nothing to me anymore;” or “I have no desire to be around Christians – they just make me feel bad.”
In these moments, let’s be like Mary and return to the places where the Lord has worked before: run to Scripture, pray fervently, step vulnerably into Christian fellowship. We may feel like our prayers aren’t working, but we keep praying, hoping to meet the Lord there once again.
Sometimes we live in this period of confusion and distance for a time. But don’t lose hope. Jesus is with you, just as He was with Mary. Jesus is ready to speak that perfect word into your situation in His best timing. Then, when Jesus dramatically breaks into your situation and pours a bucket of icy water onto your parched soul with that perfect personal word, you, like Mary, can go share the good news of what this risen Lord is doing.
Blessings,
Pastor Matt