A segment from John 20: 10-18
"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).
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Of all the beautiful Easter stories found in the gospels, this one is my favorite because I find it so relatable to my own life.
Sometimes we hit times in our lives that are totally overwhelming--dealing with grief or guilt or fear or stress or anger or tough decisions and the unknown--and we feel like we have no control, like we're slaves to our situations. Mary (understandably!) felt this way when she realized Jesus' tomb was empty that Easter Sunday morning. She felt that her Lord had literally been taken away from her; even the sight of "two angels in white" could not console her.
I don't know about anybody else, but I have definitely encountered times in my life where I felt that God and His Gift and His Grace had been taken away from me--like I'd committed one too many sins, failed one too many times-- and there was no way I could ever get Him back. My panic, shame and pride kept me from coming back to my Father. In times like those (like Mary), even when Jesus was standing right in front of me, asking me why I was running from Him, I didn't recognized Him; I didn't hear Him. I saw Him as "the gardener" instead of the King, my King.
I get chills when I read the one word response Jesus gives Mary while she loses herself in her panic, babbling on to "the gardener" about fetching Jesus' body (wherever it may be).
"Mary," He says.
One word. That's all it took. "Mary."
I would have loved to see Mary's face when she finally realized she was talking to her Jesus. Breathing. Standing. Talking. Wholly alive and still calling her name.
Sometimes, we just need to take a moment and quiet our souls. Take a deep breath and ask our Father to clear our heads so we can listen for His voice. Our Jesus is still very much alive and He is still calling our names. He reigns over us so we never have to feel like we're slaves to our circumstances- He is always in control, ready to meet us wherever we are, and provide us whatever we need, whether it's comfort or forgiveness or courage or peace or love or wisdom or faith. We just need to turn toward Him, eyes fixed high, and listen. He will never take back the Gift He freely gave us and we will never be stolen away from His love:
"And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me" -Jesus (John 6:39)
