As a progressive Christian, I believe there are many names for God and many ways to a loving God; this article reflects one of those ways. Take from here what works for you. Celebrate life with joy and peace!
Imagine with me, Mary Magdalene had risen very early that day. While it was still night, she walked out onto the streets of Jerusalem in the darkness; it was dangerous for anyone to be walking alone at night there, but she couldn’t wait any longer.
She was still in shock from all of the grueling experiences of the week. What had happened was impossible to comprehend. Her mind was still reeling; the very foundation of her life was shaken.
Just a week ago, Jesus was the star as the crowds cheered.
But politics were as fickle then, as they can be now, and the supporters had quickly turned on Jesus, for reasons that still weren’t clear to Mary. Although, one thing was completely clear: Jesus’ disciples had lost the dearest friend they’d known, a mentor and teacher who had changed their lives. Now, the only thing that could be done for Jesus was to make sure he at least had a decent burial. Mary hadn’t been able to sleep, waiting for this one last thing she could still do for him.
Maybe you’ve known the feelings that motivated Mary that day; the things we are driven to do when a loved one is gone. I remember holding my mom’s hand as it grew cold, tears streaming down my face. And annually, returning to her graveside in Minnesota to “just be.” Soldiers risk their lives to recover the remains of their buddy, knowing that the family will treasure it.
We can imagine many reasons that drove Mary to wake up so early and get to Jesus’ tomb; we also can imagine her horror when the body of Jesus is missing, the stone rolled away. She’s convinced his body had been stolen and her heart sank as gruesome images raced across her mind.
So finding the empty tomb, Mary runs as fast as she can to get Peter and John who were huddled in fear with other followers of Jesus. Peter and John come to the garden, investigate and leave again, but Mary won’t leave because she has still received no answers that satisfy her. Jesus’ body is still missing, so she keeps asking her questions: “Where is the body? Where have they laid him?”
She asks anyone she sees. She is unrelenting. She asks the two complete strangers she finds sitting in the tomb, and then she asks the gardener. She’ll talk to anyone who might know: Where is Jesus?
You see, Mary kept asking her questions, looking for Jesus, until Jesus called her by name again. “Mary.”
Who is this Mary from the town of Magdala, a fishing town on the Sea of Galilee? According to my Sunday school teacher, she was a prostitute; according to the song from Jesus Christ Superstar, she was Jesus’ lover – or wanted to be; and according to The Da Vinci Code, Mary Magdalene was Jesus’ secret wife, with whom he had a child.
Recent theological scholarship doesn’t support any of these theories. So then, who is this Mary who keeps asking questions, and looking for Jesus, until he calls her name?
The gospels of Mark and Luke say that Mary Magdalene had been freed by Jesus from seven demons; that’s biblical language for saying she’d had many serious problems, and through Jesus, God had completely changed her life. None of the gospel writers felt it necessary to list what Mary’s troubles had been but, today, we still understand “demons” don’t we? Those things that plague our thoughts, eat at us, creep into our dreams at night and keep us awake with self-doubt, fears for the future, and the list goes on.
And then Jesus, either by words or a healing touch, had somehow made Mary Magdalene new, and as far as Jesus was concerned, her past was now the past. He only saw her through eyes of possibilities.
We also know that Jesus had called Mary by name before. She knew his voice instantly. She knew what it sounded like, and felt like, when Jesus called her by name.
Perhaps that’s why Mary got up so early that morning while it was still dark, why she came back to the garden a second time, why she stayed there even when Peter and John had left. Perhaps that’s why Mary kept asking question, and looking for Jesus until he called her name again. Because he’d called her by name before.
What about you? Have you experienced something that seemed just for you, just when you needed it, in a way that you didn’t think possible, something that could have been from God?
Has there been a time when you were praying; crying out to what seemed like an empty universe and an unexpected peace swept over you?
Have you ever prepared to “let someone have it” for their failures, but glimpsed something in their face and suddenly found yourself able to forgive them, with a calm that seemed to come from beyond you?
Have you ever gone into a worship service, about to give up on the whole church thing and then had one little word either spoken or sung, fill you with new-found hope, playing itself over and over in your head for days afterwards?
Coincidences? Maybe. But once you’ve experienced what the power of Love and Forgiveness, Mercy and Peace can do in your life, you begin to wonder if there is One who not only created the universe and set it in motion, but who might care about you. One who knows you by your name. One who loves you and wants to give you hope, to take all those places where you have felt dead, and make them alive again.
I believe it’s OK to question and doubt, to ask the tough questions that don’t have easy answers, to have different perspectives from each other as we are looking for One who is alive, who knows us each by name.
Mary kept asking her questions and kept asking her questions, until Jesus called her by name again. Then her life was changed forever. And ours, too.
