Stuck in Grief... Pulled into Joy!

 

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).

 

Before we reach the last week before Easter, we must look at the response of those who first found the empty tomb. Today we see Mary Magdalene as she stood outside Jesus’ tomb, crying. Her Lord and friend had died, and a real and legitimate grief had come over her. She was broken-hearted just as any of us are when we experience the death of a loved one. In the same way as with us, Mary’s grief entombed her. It blurred her vision so that when she saw the stone rolled away from Jesus’ tomb, she assumed that someone had stolen his body. And when she saw Jesus standing in front of her, she thought he was a gardener. Jesus, fully alive, faced a friend who was blinded by so much grief that she couldn’t see him.

 

Perhaps Jesus spoke Mary’s name softly, gently. But he might well have said it forcefully to shake her out of her grief: “Mary!”—as if to say, “Get a grip on yourself! I’m alive! I’ve conquered death. I’ve broken its grip. Mary! Leave the tomb behind and come into the joy of new life!” Either way the lesson is still there.

 

Sometimes grief or other harsh realities can overwhelm us so much that we forget Jesus is alive. But he has conquered death—our death, our loved ones’ deaths—and our future is safe in his hands. We legitimately grieve the deaths of people we love, and we struggle with the cruelties of injustice and corruption in this world, but we do so knowing that our grief will one day turn to joy. What a call to thankful living!

 

Christ has risen, and one day he will return again!