Easter Sunday

The disciples have fled from Jesus.  He has been crucified.  Only the beloved one has sat at the foot of the cross with the three women; the three Marys. And now on this first morning after the Sabbath, we meet the one who was the first to see the risen Lord. Mary Magdalene.  The very mention of a name in the Gospel indicates a connection with the Lord.

Jesus’ question to the Magdalene that resurrection morning is so similar to the first words he poses in the beginning of this Gospel to Peter and John; “ What do you want?” “ Who are you looking for?”  And it brings us full circle so that we are poised to ask those same questions.

Before Mary Magdalene was searching for Jesus, he was already waiting for her. And he lets her search so that the joy of the finding will be more intense.  Swiss mystic Adrienne von Speyr writes beautifully about this:

“ She wanted one thing; the Lord had something else in mind. Doing and expecting the wrong thing, she actually does what the Lord intended. Afterward she will realize that everything was in the right place, but for the moment faith asks too much of her, as her expectations are disappointed and she is faced with something she absolutely cannot comprehend. And in the context of this incomprehension, because she remains obedient and has faith – a faith that has now become inexplicable – she determines to carry out that for which the Lord has brought her here. Her faith embraces and goes beyond everything: that part of her faith which is capable of being disappointed is now totally secondary, because she believes everything the Lord has set before her, even what is unknown and incomprehensible. Her faith faces the Lord so exactly that she can use it and expand it as he wishes, developing it along the lines of his own obedience and trust in his Father.  Her faith is lodged securely in the Lord’s will; it is a clear expression of the Lord’s will, the whole extent of which she does not know.  All she can say is that his will also embraces her will to see the grave, her finding of the empty tomb.”

For Mary Magdalene nothing but the Lord himself, his presence, will do; not even the angels. In giving his real presence He gives her everything. She had come to the tomb with the message of Holy Saturday. Now she can leave and be the bearer of the message of Easter. 

Jesus comes to us in search of our love. We should be asking the same questions as Peter, John, and Mary.  What are we looking for? What do we want?