13-14"They took my Master," she said, "and I don't know where they put him." After she said this, she turned away and saw Jesus standing there. But she didn't recognize him.
15Jesus spoke to her, "Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?"
She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, "Mister, if you took him, tell me where you put him so I can care for him."
16Jesus said, "Mary."
Turning to face him, she said in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" meaning "Teacher!"
17Jesus said, "Don't cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go to my brothers and tell them, 'I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God.'"
18Mary Magdalene went, telling the news to the disciples: "I saw the Master!" And she told them everything he said to her.
****************
One of the interesting arguments I've heard about Christianity is that part of the reason/evidence for the truth of the resurrection is the fact that women are the messengers of the resurrection. In those times, women would not have been as reliable sources as men, so if the early Christians were going to fabricate a story it would have been far more likely for them to have men be the ones who spread the news. But Jesus never works in the ways we expect Him to work. He eats with sinners, spends time with the hurt, the poor and the ill, and appears to Mary, the one who stood weeping outside the tomb. She needed hope, joy, light in her life, and Jesus brings all those things. I cannot imagine what that must have been like to have the world beneath your feet shattered and then suddenly pieced back together by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, but that is exactly what happens to Mary on this joyous Easter morning, when she comes to face to face with the risen Christ, just as in our baptisms we die to our sins and are joined in the resurrection of Christ. The question is, how do we help one another see the joy we have? What do we do with the knowledge of the risen Lord? How do we share the news?
Blessings
No comments:
Post a Comment