March 31: Easter

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb.

¹¹Mary stood outside the tomb wailing in grief. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; ¹²and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. ¹³They said to her, “Woman, why are you wailing with grief?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

¹⁴When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. ¹⁵Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you wailing? Who are you looking for?” 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.”

¹⁶Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). ¹⁷Jesus said to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” ¹⁸Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.

Have you ever had the feeling that you just couldn’t be truly alone and quiet? If you did, something might come up that you really didn’t want to pay attention to. Instead, you turn on the tv, you check your email, you make plans with friends.

I have definitely had those moments. It’s like if I stop and let my self just be alone, I might not like what I find. So I choose to distract myself with something else or with someone else. I’ve had enough of those moments that I know what I need to do, but I have to make that dangerous choice to let the unknown surface.

I love this story of Mary Magdalene coming to the tomb early in the morning. She comes while it is still dark. She comes while she is grieving, and she comes alone. I see immense courage in her decision to approach this tomb of violence and loss, and to do it in the shadows of the early morning.

Mary stood outside of the tomb and was wailing in grief. Though we can read this verse quickly, Mary probably didn’t wail quickly. She tapped into her grief and sadness. She let herself feel it and she wept. No, in fact, she wailed!

She then sees two angels in the tomb, and these angels inquire as to her grief. They don’t say “Stop crying!” They ask, “Why are you crying?” They want to know! Through her tears, she explains why. She is so tapped into this darkness and grief, that when she turns she doesn’t even recognize that Jesus is near her.

It’s often this way for us. In our moments of darkness, in our most trying moments, it is so hard to see or feel the presence of God.

Jesus, too, wants to know what is making Mary wail. It is here in Mary’s deep grief, in her darkest moment, that Jesus appears. It is here, in the hardest time, that Jesus speaks Mary’s name.

We can distract our self from our most painful feelings and experiences. Yet, this passage illuminates that our truest selves can be found and named in those dark places.

I imagine that Mary is crying out of her love for Jesus and her desire for the world to be a place that doesn’t crucify her teacher, or dispose of his lifeless body. She was in a dark place, but she was in that dark place because of her desire for light. And it is in her choosing to be there, that Jesus appears.

Friends, this is the good news. We worship a God characterized as a light within the darkness. God appears to us when we have lost all hope. God speaks our name in the moments when we see no path forward. It is in the turmoil, in the dark, when we cannot see God, that God calls out our name and says “Marissa, turn! I am here.”

May we have the courage to approach the darkness within us. May we have the strength to open up even our most painful places, that we may find there the Presence of God. Where we fear death the most, may we find an experience of resurrection! A light within our darkness!

Alleluia! Amen.