Weeping at the Tomb

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one 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.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” 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 Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). (John 20:11-16 ESV). Of all the people Jesus could have appeared to first after His resurrection, He appeared to Mary Magdalene. It is interesting to think about, because among the Jews of the day, the testimony of a woman was not held in high regard. In fact, some of the rabbis falsely taught that it was better for the words of the Law to be burned than to be delivered by a woman. Yet Jesus chose a woman to be the first herald of His resurrection. It is also worth noting that women were the last at the cross and the first at the tomb. Mary had courage that many of the men did not have when Jesus was crucified. She stood by Him through it all. In fact, the Bible tells us that after He was crucified. She watched as they took His crucified body from the cross and wrapped it and placed it in a tomb that belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. And Mary, along with the other women, was at the tomb very early on Sunday morning to demonstrate her love for Jesus by anointing his body with spices. It is interesting that her devotion held no answer for her grief. She was weeping when she saw the tomb was empty. Earlier in the gospel we see that she arrived and found the tomb empty; not knowing what could be happening, she ran to get Peter and John. They, too, found the tomb empty. However, they didn’t understand either. Mary lingered behind and then Jesus appeared. She didn’t recognize him. I think that’s true because she was expecting to find a battered and scarred Jesus. What she found was the triumphant, resurrected Christ! Isn’t it strange that we often make that mistake in our lives? We find ourselves in the midst of a crisis and feel battered ourselves. We may have been scarred from past crises. We know what that looks and feels like. It is never pleasant. Yet we forget that Jesus has already gone before us and endured the most gruesome of difficulties. Because of his victory, we have victory as well. Take heart. There is no reason to weep. He calls out your name!