were you there? Mary

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). John 20:11-16, NIV

I have always loved the story of Mary in the garden searching in the dark for her friend, convinced his body had been stolen, meeting the resurrected Jesus, mistaking him for a gardener. There’s a thread linking this garden to the Garden of Eden. A reminder of Jesus’ description of his Father as the gardener.

The longing and despair Mary must have felt: she could do nothing for Jesus as he was dying now she can’t even honour him by tending his dead body. And the loneliness. There is no-one else at the tomb; no-one to comfort her as she grieves. 

The part that compels me to read it again and again is the moment Jesus says her name. Mary. Some have described this as the finest sermon ever preached. Just the one word. Mary. But I don’t really see it as a sermon. I see it as the only word that needed to be said by The Lover to his beloved. Jesus’ voice, his tone, the use of her name, would have given Mary all the reassurance, hope and comfort she needed. And those things led her to feel such joy she couldn’t contain herself. Jesus told her to go but she would have gone anyway! She would have run from the garden to tell the others what had happened so they would feel the same way whether the Lord had instructed her or not!

Today listen to the Lord as he says your name.

Let's pray
Lord, would you help me hear you call my name today. Remind me how much I mean to you, how greatly I am loved. As I listen, would you fill me with reassurance, hope and comfort. Let the joy I feel drive me out of the garden so I can tell others to listen to your voice, they can hear what has happened, and feel the same way. In your lovely name, I ask it. Amen.