Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” - 1 Peter 1:3-4a NIV

DEVOTION

Sometimes the best way to understand biblical stories is to imagine yourself as one of the characters and explore the thoughts and emotions surrounding the experience. The Bible gives us the beautiful, first-person story of Mary Magdalene to help us grasp the enormity of all that transpired from Good Friday to Easter, or Resurrection Sunday.

Mary Magdalene was an early convert and follower of Jesus after he used his authority to cleanse her from demon possession. Mary’s loyalty, on some accounts, was even greater than the twelve disciples that accompanied Jesus for most of his ministry. She recognized Jesus’ greatness, believed his testimony, and devoted her life to learning from him and serving him.

The last few days of Jesus’ life on earth were spent preparing for his death. While Mary couldn’t have completely understood all that Jesus was undertaking, she did place herself in his presence to witness and attend to him. Mary must have been nearby after the last supper and when Jesus was betrayed by Judas and led away for trial. She would have heard the disciples’ whispers recounting the conversation about the bread and wine at the Passover meal and discussions about what Jesus meant when he said he was leaving. All of Jesus’ followers would have been consumed by confusion and dread, and Mary wouldn’t have been spared.

Mary was there Friday on the stone street in the Old City of Jerusalem, The Via Dolorosa or “way of sorrow,” along which Jesus carried the cross to his own crucifixion. The man who miraculously healed her was now stumbling in pain on his way to Golgotha to be put to death like a common criminal. Mary knelt close by as Jesus was nailed to the cross, was mocked, bled, and died. It would have been a horrific scene, gruesome and devastating. When Jesus finally died, most of the crowd that had gathered left to return home, but not Mary. Mary was off to the side with a small group of Jesus’ most loyal friends and family to stand vigil.

Mary wanted to serve Jesus even in death, so she and some of the other women, including the mother of Jesus, went to the tomb where Jesus was buried to anoint his body with fragrant spices and ointments. When they arrived, they saw the rock used to seal the tomb had been rolled away. They ran inside and were met with emptiness. Jesus was gone. The women stood there, stunned and shocked, when two angels appeared and reminded them of Jesus’ words explaining he would rise from the dead on the third day after he died. Mary had heard that prediction along with the others, but she couldn’t have imagined this reality. She and the other women ran to tell the disciples about their discovery, two of whom then ran back and confirmed the tomb was, in fact, empty.

Mary Magdalene returned to the tomb with the disciples. After everyone had left, Mary remained at the tomb, weeping and mourning. She asked a man who she thought was the gardener where he had put the body of Jesus. The man looked at her and called her by name, “Mary.” She looked closer at him and with joyful recognition cried out, “Rabboni!” Jesus was there.

Mary had gone to the tomb looking for a lifeless body and, instead, found living hope. This was the message Jesus had been preaching from the beginning. Mercy was found at the foot of the cross, but grace and new birth are attainable through the resurrection of Jesus. What the empty tomb represents is the foundation and pinnacle of the Christian faith. Without the resurrection of Jesus, our salvation would end at the grave, hope would become limited, and grace impotent. How good God the Father is that his plan extended beyond the cross to an empty tomb. The great good news is that God’s power is present in the moments we experience echoing emptiness. Like Mary, in our darkest moments of confusion and despair, when confronted with the unexpected and unexplainable, there is Jesus, calling our name.

Today, in good faith with incredible joy, we hear our sister-in-Christ, Mary Magdalene, as she greets us from the opening of the tomb shouting, “He is risen!” To which we respond with awe and wonder, “He is risen, indeed!"