She was desperate.
Sleep had evaded her. But the dark night sky gave way to a deep blue hue and the hope of a new day. She could go now.
Though weary, Magdalene would be the first one to the tomb. She knew exactly where they had placed Him, and she had a job to do. She would prepare his body properly for burial with spices. At least that was her story. Perhaps though she simply needed to see him one more time. She needed closure.
But Mary Magdalene would not find a dead Jesus.
The stories of Resurrection Sunday are endearing to me–especially the encounter between Mary Magdalene and the Messiah. What a story. A lady once filled with seven demons, most likely schizophrenic, was the chosen one to go to the disciples and proclaim the risen Christ.
Does that give any of us hope that we can serve God in a mighty way?
Why was she chosen? It’s quite simple, really . . . I think she was chosen because she was the one still looking for His body. She was there! The others had gone back home.
I’m afraid I would’ve walked home dejected with Peter. But she didn’t. Oh to be more like Mary called Magdalene.
I don’t think there is one of us who can’t relate to this dear woman somewhere deep in our hearts–her desire to serve Him, her desperate faith. Let’s look at her encounter with the resurrected Jesus.
This is a short clip from my book A Mary Like Me: Flawed Yet Called.
I hope you get lost in the story. What does it tell you about the love of our God?
“…With every fiber in her being, Mary M. begged the gardener to tell her where he moved her beloved Rabbi. Many would’ve dismissed her that day claiming she had lost her mind again, but Jesus didn’t let this be the case. After her plea for knowledge of His location, Jesus opened her eyes to His presence. He didn’t blind her, as He would Saul of Tarsus. No, He gently called her by her given name, “Mary.”
He didn’t call her Magdalene.
He called her “Mary.”
Stay with me in this moment for just a little while longer. The scripture continues on quickly, but can we just savor this sweet moment before we move on?
When Magdalene saw the gardener she had turned her face from him as she asked him where he had moved her Rabbi. Perhaps she didn’t want him to see her face. But Jesus didn’t need to see her face to know who she was.
Mary hadn’t recognized Jesus; He no longer looked the same. Though she didn’t recognize Him, I would have thought she would’ve known His voice. But she didn’t recognize His voice until He called her by name. At the sound of her name Mary turned around to see the one for whom she had so desperately been searching and grieving.
Her heart and mind would never be the same. Jesus had saved her twice, both times “in the tombs,” in the presence of death and insanity. Perhaps He’d restored her once to Mary called Magdalene, but this time He restored her simply as “Mary.” Mary M.’s name was restored that day.
Our names are so significant to us. They are the one thing we carry with us from the moment we are born. For some of us, our names spoken from childhood bring comfort and good memories. But for others, the sound of our name brings pain and hurt. When Jesus calls us by name, however, it is renewed and restored in our hearts. It is given new life, just as we are.”(excerpt from A Mary Like Me: Flawed Yet Called).
