Sunday, April 1: John 20:1-18
We’ve all been there… late for work and no earthly idea where the car keys are, you turn your back for just a few seconds and your child is suddenly out of sight; where could they have gone? Yes, we’ve all been there, just like Mary at the tomb, the stone rolled away, and Jesus is missing. Mary is frantic, perhaps inconsolable. Where have they taken him?
The disciples come and go, leaving Mary weeping outside the tomb. She only wanted to wash his body, to treat his broken and wounded body with a little kindness. But now what could she do?
Finally, someone else approaches, possibly a gardener. Mary pleads with him through teary eyes to tell her where they’ve moved Jesus. She doesn’t recognize him, she’s not expecting to see Jesus standing outside the tomb. He speaks one word, her name, and instantly she recognizes his voice; she knows it isn’t the gardener, she is talking with Jesus.
The relief and happiness Mary must have felt, although the scripture doesn’t say. She is told to tell the disciples that Jesus is returning to the Father.
Imagine, on the day Jesus was crucified his followers didn’t understand that there would be a resurrection. Our advantage is that on Good Friday we know the stone will be rolled away, that there will be a resurrection.