Easter Sunday 2023
John 20:1-18
Rev. Neli Miranda
“I have seen the Lord!” Mary Magdalene proclaims on Easter Morning. Her
proclamation comes after experiencing a journey that begins very early, “While
it was still dark…” Through these words, John wants to tell us of the darkness
of Mary’s desolation. Her beloved Rabbi has been brutally murdered and it seems
that it is all over. She devoutly has followed Jesus to the foot of the cross
and to the place where he was buried. This morning, her journey begins very
early to finalize the burial ritual of Jesus’ corpse, to say a final goodbye,
and to imagine how life moves forward now that her beloved Rabbi is gone. She embodies that deep, overwhelming human feeling at the loss of a beloved
one when the only consolation is to grieve through carrying out different
actions that seek to find meaning in loss.
Her
affliction increases when she finds that the stone had been removed from Jesus’
tomb. Grave robbery was a known problem in first-century Judea, so Mary’s
logical conclusion is that someone has stolen Jesus’ body. The darkness she
goes through prevents her from seeing that the removed stone is a “great sign
of life”. Her eyes, clouded by
a veil of tears, still do not allow her to see how life unfolds in front of her at the tomb. How do you
in your own life read the “removed stone”?
Desperate, Mary looks for her companion Simon Peter and
the other disciple, “the one whom Jesus loved…”, says John. She continues looking for a corpse and says,
“They have taken the Lord
out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” Mary’s unexpected news makes the two
disciples run together to the tomb where they only find Jesus’ linen wrapping
lying there. They also could not read the signs of life in the empty tomb. John
says that both went into the tomb and adds that the beloved disciple believed
Mary’s words that Jesus’ body was gone. Like Mary, both disciples probably
believed that someone has stolen Jesus’ body. John tells us that “for as yet
they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead” (20:9).
So, they simply confirmed what Mary said and returned to their home.
So far, there is no good news in this passage,
only an empty tomb. The two disciples, probably depressed and anguished, return
to their home while Mary continues weeping… but she remains at the tomb; it
seems she is devoutly determined to find Jesus’ body. Her love and devotion will guide her to the
glorious Easter!
While she continues crying, she dares to look into
the tomb where she sees two messengers of God who ask her, “Woman, why are
you weeping?” Mary’s answer tells us that she continues to believe that
Jesus’ body has been stolen and that she looks for a corpse, “They have
taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him” (20:13). While
Mary suffers in grievous pain, the risen Jesus comes to her, but she does not
recognize him for she was not looking for him. She did not expect him to be
alive for she was looking for a corpse. Certainly our experiences
with death make us follow a path of death and fatalism which blind us and we lose
hope! However, our Christian spirituality brings us good news and tells us that
death does not have the last word as Mary experienced at Jesus’ tomb.
Why
do we keep looking for a corpse while the empty tomb proclaims life?
“Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking
for?” Jesus asks Mary. She
is so anguished that she is not able to recognize Jesus; she thinks Jesus is
the gardener and says to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell
me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” (20:15). Mary’s only hope is to
recover Jesus’ corpse. Jesus then calls her by name, “Mary!”. Immediately,
she responds in Hebrew “Rabbouni!”, which means my beloved teacher! What an
encounter! These greetings tell us of the close relationship between Jesus and
his disciple Mary and reminds us that Jesus calls his own sheep by name, and
they follow him because they know his voice.
After her encounter with Jesus, Mary Magdalene’s
grief turned to joy and she went back to the disciples proclaiming, “I have
seen the Lord!” We are not told if
the other disciples responded to her announcement, but it seems they did not. For
a while, they continued walking in darkness. However, Mary Magdalene’s joyful
cry has been heard throughout the ages and we hear it today, “I have seen
the Lord!” Mary Magdalene’s announcement lives among us even today!
Dear sisters and brothers, Easter morning invites us to
come to the tomb, to see the removed stone that announces to us that life
overcomes death; to look inside the tomb and face our fears; to see that the
tomb is empty! Easter morning invites us to encounter Life and hear the living
voice of the risen Jesus calling us by name. Finally, Easter morning sends us
into the world to proclaim, “I have seen the Lord!” Amen.
Comentarios
Publicar un comentario