Scripture Reflection –

"…Mary stayed outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, still weeping, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been…'Woman, why are you weeping?' 'They have taken my Lord away' she replied 'and I don't know where they have put him.' As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognize him. Jesus said, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for?' Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, 'Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him.' 'Mary!' She knew him then…" John 20:11-18

Mary of Magdala, a woman burdened by seven demons, was delivered from her torment. Jesus, the Nazarene, had set her free and she was drawn to follow him along with the twelve. Scripture doesn't speak about the love or gratitude that must have welled up inside her or the curiosity about such a man who had power over evil spirits. It only says that she followed him. Being a woman, I don't mind speculating about what she must have felt. Imagine the daily torture of seven demons. She must have been an outcast with a dream that some day her life would be normal.

Then, one day, he set her free and she followed him. She listened to him teach and witnessed many more healings like her own. She saw him suffer and die unable to do anything to stop it. I wonder how she felt. This was the wrong end for someone so wonderful. She must have wept those next three days.

Her love drew her to the tomb. Even though he was dead, she could not stay away. But, he was gone, where was he? Overwhelmed with love and grief, the gardener asked, 'Woman, why do you weep?' If only she could find him. Why is the gardener asking this question- doesn't he know, doesn't everyone know?

She did not know him and so she answered him, 'Sir, if you have taken him away…' Her love, beyond all reason, thought that she could carry the body of Jesus back to the tomb.

Then she heard, "Mary!"

She knew him as he spoke her name. It was the one she loved, it was the one who set her free. In a moment beyond all description, she knew that all he taught was true- and it included her. He came back for her- too.

This incredible story in Scripture has more emotion than I can write- so human, so divine, so powerful, so real. Mary did not recognize him, so death and resurrection had changed the way he looked. But, the other side of death had not changed his love for her, he still knew her, still loved her.

As I walk through this story along side Mary, feeling what she must have felt, I too am overwhelmed; if this eternity and truth includes her- it includes you and me too! This story confronts our grief with a reality that can invade our sorrow. Jesus' love for Mary didn't die with his human body- it was unchanged by death. Love, the greatest force, will never end.