Mary Magdalene meets her risen Lord.

          Christ is Risen, 

He is Risen indeed, Alleluia!

         Throughout the Season of Lent we’ve been preparing for this! 
Reading how six ordinary people
—Nichodemus, 
the Samaritan Woman, 
the Man Born Blind, 
and Martha, Mary, and Lazarus
—had their ordinary lives transformed into extraordinary lives
Because they encountered Jesus Christ
—they experienced God in sandals
—the Creator in the flesh ministering to them and to their needs.

 

         And today is the culmination of these stories by John: 
Mary Magdalene meets her risen Lord.

Prayer

 

         Mary was there at the cross, 
with the other women. 
She had witnessed 
his arrest, 
beating, 
humiliation, 
and execution. 
Now, alone and in the dark…
—remember John has a thing about lighting…

(Nick meets Jesus at night, 
the Samaritan Woman at high noon, 
the Man Born Blind has his night turned to day, 
and Jesus calls Lazarus out of an oh so dark tomb)

—In John’s gospel exposure to the Sun in the sky 
indicates an ongoing relationship with the Son of God…

         So Mary, assuming death has put an end to 
her relationship with Jesus, 
goes alone in darkness to the tomb, 
and finds the tomb not as they left it… 

 

         Have you ever had an awful week, 
and then, when you finally think it’s at least done, 
had one more thing piled atop it?

         That’s where Mary is
—The stone’s removal is not initially received as good news, 
but instead one last indignity, 
one more thing in a hellish week…

         “Oh Lord! Now we’ve got to find the body!”

         

         After the strange footrace between Peter and… 
the beloved Disciple, (probably Lazarus)
Mary finds herself alone again.

         She peers into the darkness of the tomb, 
yet another reminder that following Jesus seems to be a dead end.

         She peers in, and is surprised by two angels asking about her tears.

         “Why am I crying? 
My beloved teacher was executed 
and now I have to find the body!”

 

         And then, she turns around, 
and is asked again about her tears… 
and this man, 
perhaps the gardener, 
asks, 
“For whom are you looking?”

-What would soothe your soul?
-Right the wrongs of this world? 
-Whose presence would make God fully present for you?

         But she goes to the immediate problem… 
as most of us would…
“I need my Lord’s body, 
even if I have to drag it back here myself!”

         Then, the one she seeks, the one she needs, 
says her name:

         “Mary!”

         “Rabbouni!” she replies.

 

         She wants to hold onto him a little longer, 
so he won’t leave her again… 
and thank God, he’ll never leave her, 
he’ll always abide with her 
(and with us)
—that’s the promise of John’s gospel!
He abides with us 
as God abides with him!

 

         However, 
the story has to continue, 
there is more to come, 
the fullness of the resurrection, 
Jesus’ Lordship over a NEW Creation 
is already and not yet a tangible, experienced reality.
The Good Gardner is still planting a New Creation!

 

         The Lord
The One to whom Angels Minister
The Teacher
Our Ascendant Lord
The connection point with God
is establishing for us all an intimate relationship with 
His Father and our Father, 
his God and our God…

         Abiding in the extraordinary Love of God.

 

         It’s already here! 
Look at Mary. 

         She began warning the disciples that the body was taken, 
Now, at first light, 
she’s been commissioned by Christ to be the Apostle to the Apostles, 
announcing Jesus’ ascension, 
his enthronement as Lord of all… 
more than that, 
she is able to say, “I have seen the Lord!”

 

         I pray that we too, in the midst of our shouts and songs of Alleluia… 
and in our ordinary lives, 
will encounter the Love of God found in the Resurrected Lord
—Jesus Christ.

         I pray that like Nichodemus 
we may come to honor the one in whom we encounter eternity.

         Like the Samaritan Woman, 
may we experience the abundant life that is found in Jesus.

         When we’re driven outside the gates of goodness, 
may we, like the man born blind, be found by Jesus.

         Like Lazarus and his family, 
may service, joy, and life all be part of our faith.

         May we be able to say, 
as Mary said, “I have seen the Lord!”

Amen and Alleluia!