Mary, the mother of Jesus went to the tomb where her son Jesus was laid after he died on the cross. She was sad (who would not be!); her heart downcast over the loss of her child. “I’ll go to his tomb and be there with him. He’s gone now. I will never see him again.”
She gets to the tomb and sees the stone rolled away. She runs and tells her comrades he was taken out of the tomb and no one knew where he was. They run to see for themselves. One of the disciples looked in and sure enough, Jesus was not there. They had no clue at this time as to what had happened. They return home.
Mary, however, stays. “I am in no hurry. I just want to be here with him for a brief moment. She bends down to look in. Curiosity, after ALL, gets all of us at one time or another. He is not there.
She stands back up. Sensing someone there, she turns around. It was a gardener.
Now get this. It was Jesus, but she did not recognize him. So. The body of Jesus after rising from the dead was not the same as before. It had been changed. Transformed. Same Jesus but a different body. Ok. He asks Mary, “Why are you so sad. Who are you looking for?” Mary says, “Just tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away for you.
And then it happened. Jesus says her name. “Mary.” She turns to him. Now she knows him. How?
Could it be that the one who rose from the dead called her by name?
Relationship reestablished.
Connect reconnected.
“It is me, Mary. I have risen from the dead just as I said I would.” Calling out her name changed her as well. In a way her whole world was turned upside down when the relationship she had with Jesus was reestablished after he died. Incredible. The Jesus who rose from the dead reconnected with her. The life-after-death Jesus called by name the one left behind grieving. Everything was changed now.
“Mary, it’s me. I reach out to you”
“I see you Lord.”
She runs to tell her friends. “I have seen the Lord. He is risen.”
This changes all of us.
More coming.