JOHN 20:11-18 …but 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 realize that it was Jesus. “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.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means teacher). 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 to your God.'” Mary of Magdala went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
We spent the Lenten season remembering that Jesus suffered and died for us, knowing all along that we would celebrate His Resurrection on Easter. We sometimes forget that Peter and John and Thomas and Mary Magdalene and the others did not have that constant reminder of the joy of Easter during Christ’s Passion. When they went to that tomb on Easter morning, they were still mourning His death on the cross on Friday. They did not expect to find Him alive–He had died–they had watched Him die–they had seen it with their own eyes. The women, knowing He was dead, were on their way to the tomb to make the final ritual preparations of the body for burial. Jesus was not alive. They knew that with their minds, but they probably had not had enough time to fully comprehend it.
When someone close to you dies, you hurt, and you do not always think clearly. Jesus had told them that He would die and rise again, but His followers were not thinking about that now. All they felt was profound grief at His loss. He was dead! Their Master was in the tomb.
It is interesting that the enemies of Jesus took His claims seriously. They wanted the tomb sealed off so that no one would say that He rose from the dead, as He claimed He would. But Jesus made His enemies look foolish and ridiculous. There was no way they could keep Him in that grave. He burst forth from the tomb as the Lord of Life, the one who conquered death forever.
That Christ is Alive is your guarantee that He has made payment for your sins. It shows that God accepted His payment for sins as complete. It proves that He is the Son of God, and that all His teachings are true. And the Resurrection from death to life of Jesus means that you will also rise. Because He lives, you will live also! Can you imagine the joy that filled Mary’s heart when she realized that it was Jesus standing there talking to her? You can almost hear it in her words–I HAVE SEEN THE LORD!
This is the confidence of those who have put their faith in Jesus as their Savior: “I have seen the Lord!” May we all continue to bask in the joy of Easter in the days ahead.
