I have seen the Lord

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

I HAVE SEEN THE LORD

John 20:10-18

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 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." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 "Woman," he said, "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." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"  18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

NIV

This is an interesting narrative about Mary and her discovery of Jesus. Thinking Jesus is dead, her beloved friend and teacher, she weeps. Without Jesus, she feels despair, lost, without hope. Everything was going so well, Jesus was so popular with the people. Yet, what is not specifically told here in this narrative is that Mary may have been there early in the morning, perhaps for the purpose of moving the body of Jesus to a more permanent resting place, as he was laid in this tomb in haste so to be buried before the Passover feast. That is at least the conjecture of our scholars of old, based on these words and from the other gospel accounts. Either case the idea is Mary is disturbed not finding the body of her Lord. She does however encounter angels sitting inside the tomb where Jesus had laid. Their question is about her crying, her pain, and suffering because she thinks someone took the body of Jesus and she does not know where he is. Was not Mary among the people when Jesus taught about his resurrection, his being raised? She traveled with the disciples and heard much of the teaching of Jesus. Many strange fabrications about the person of Mary Magdalene have been conjured up over the centuries and in truth, we really do not know much about her. What we know is that her despair was real because of her love for Jesus and he was gone. Yet, Jesus was alive and after her encounter with the angels, she saw who she thought to be the gardener. What is most interesting is although she was face to face with the risen Jesus, she did not recognize him as her Lord, until he spoke her name. There can be many people in the world today who might have some encounter with Jesus, but do not recognize that he is the Lord of lords, the King of kings, the Living Savior, until he calls them by name. Once we have heard his call, there is the end of all despair, all fear, and is replaced with elation in our spirit. We cannot know the tone of how Jesus spoke her name, but just by Jesus speaking her name, she became aware she was seeing Jesus. He had to speak her name with compassion, with love, with care about her for her to see he was indeed her risen Lord. To go from thinking Jesus was dead, to know without a doubt he was alive and well, just by hearing him speak her name has to give us this clue of how he spoke to her. This is the call he makes for us. He calls our name and he calls us with love in his voice, with compassion in his heart, to bring us from the darkness of ignorance into the light of knowledge. When we hear him call us by name, not just as a people, but by our name, we know of his love for us. Mary was so excited, she could not contain herself, she rushed off to tell the others, “I have seen the Lord!” and she told them everything Jesus had told her. Again, another clue as to how our lives should have changed from not knowing Jesus, to hearing him call our name. Tears to joy, from listener to witness. How can we not tell others, “I have seen the Lord”?