Sunday, April 9, 2023

Today’s Scripture Reading
John 20:1–18

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. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and 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. 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.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom 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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher). Jesus 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.’” Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her. (NRSV)

Reflection

She was on a solo trek, at least in John’s Gospel. We imagine her sleepless, mind racing, heart pounding, the dark night of the soul as a later disciple, St. John of the Cross, put it. Unable to sleep and realizing the next thing needed doing — to dress the body with herbs — she made her way through the night. It was very dark when she came upon the tomb, and there she sees the stone at the entrance has been removed. I suspect she was no different than any of us. When we find the bottom has dropped out of our lives, we run, yes, we take off to find the trusted others who might just run alongside us, or pause for an instant to steady the blow, or, in this case, hightail it to the scene, just to be sure. And on a close read, it is not at all clear, when they arrived, whether the two companion disciples had a clue what had happened.

We don’t quite know if Mary ran behind the two or if she waited a while before returning, but when the story picks up, we do know that she is devastated. We know what it is like when hopes are dashed; when every treatment has been tried for a grave illness and doesn’t work; when hearts are broken when the implanted fertilized egg comes to nothing; when we stand at the grave and it is dim, silent, we know what it is to weep with Mary. Yet, weeping is not the last of it. Something possesses her to bend down and look in the tomb for the first time. And what does she see? Two angels. And then she hears a voice that says, “Why are you weeping?” and “Whom do you seek?” And she turns, thinking it is the gardener, until he speaks her name, her own name — “Mary.” And then she does the other thing we often do: she reaches for him. Her affection arises, the wash of memory awakens, and she names him with intimacy: “Teacher!”

On your solo trek through life from birth to death perhaps you have searched high and low for a miracle. Maybe like the two, you have torn down the road to the empty tomb, only to turn around with all of your preconceptions intact. But I am here to tell you, on this day, the search is over. Because in all your mad searching, you have been found. Jesus has been raised, by God, from the tomb and has found you in your loss, your weeping, and your dashed hopes. And when he says your name, you are brought into resurrection’s dawning. Do you see him? Did you hear it? Are you awash with sheer joy? Are you whistling the Halleluiah Chorus?

Prayer

Turn us around, O Christ, by your wondrous voice. For it is through you that the dawn breaks over this broken world. It is through you that the unfathomable joy of the resurrection turns us on our heels and to see, hear, sing, and dance the mighty chorus of “Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed.” Amen.

Written by Lucy Forster-Smith, Senior Associate Pastor

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