They asked her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” - John 20:13
When Mary Magdalene peered into Christ's tomb, she saw two angels sitting on the bed of rock where Jesus' body had been placed; one angel at the foot and the other at the head.
Noticing Mary distraught, the two angels asked her, "Woman, WHY ARE YOU WEEPING?" Mary told them, "They have taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw someone standing outside the tomb. She did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, WHY ARE YOU WEEPING"
That question leaped off the page and stuck in my soul this week. In the midst of the most momentous occasion in the history of Heaven and earth, when Mary was weeping, Heaven was caring! God's angelic ambassadors and God Himself compassionately noticed and wanted to know why Mary was weeping!
No matter what is going on, Jesus is personally and extremely concerned that we are weeping, and for the root cause of our distress, grief, and sadness.
When Mary explained to the angels why she was weeping, she said, "They have taken my Lord away, and I don't know where they have put him." When Mary explained to "the gardener" why she was weeping, she said, "if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
There were many things Mary could have been weeping over at that moment in time, but the distress of her soul was rooted in not having earthly access to a dead Jesus. She could not even recognize Jesus standing right in front of her answering her question because of her deep grief rooted in the wrong Jesus.
Jesus addressed the matter immediately.
First, Jesus called her by name. "Mary." She could not recognize his face, but should could recognize his voice. No doubt that Voice was so filled with personalized compassion for her, that it was unmistakable. She had heard it in her soul countless times. Who she should could not see through her tears, she could hear with her ears.
Rest assured, God wants us to perceive His Presence and His Word for us. He will orchestrate Its sending and receiving to maximize the opportunity for It to work Its intended purpose. In this case, His Word to Mary was to comfort her, assure her, and prepare her to be the deliverer of the greatest message ever delivered, "I have seen The Lord."
Second, Jesus tells Mary, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father." In the midst of this very tender moment, Jesus tells Mary not to hold on to Him. In earthly terms, that's a very curious command for a woman moments removed from deep weeping.
But this is no normal earthly moment. This is the first earthly appearance of resurrected Jesus; what should be the single most celebrated event on earth or in Heaven. I believe Jesus was telling Mary and telling us, "Don't hold on to an earthly perspective of Me. Let go of that, and see Me in right perspective; ascended to The Father and seated at His right Hand interceding on your behalf. Look up to Me and your Father, and get your perspective from ours."
Third, Jesus tells Mary, "Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" The Lord is instructing Mary to abandon her instinct to hold onto Him on earth, and INSTEAD, to pronounce and announce to the disciples that Jesus is risen to be with His Father and our Father, and to be with His God and our God.
In many ways, Mary's journey through these moments, is our journey too.
Mary had been abused, prostituted, and demonized. Many of us have been abused, prostituted, and demonized.
Jesus comforted, healed and delivered Mary. He has comforted, healed, and delivered many of us.
Jesus' comforting, healing, and miraculous work in Mary's life endeared her to Him. Jesus' comforting, healing, and miraculous work in our lives endears us to Him.
Mary had a distressing and disillusioning crisis of faith. She lost sight of Jesus because she had lost proper perspective on Who He Is. Many of us encounter distress and disillusion after our healing and deliverance. A crisis of faith may and often ensues as we have to learn to know Jesus from a new and more Heavenly perspective.
Mary was comforted and instructed by Jesus at the place and timing of her crisis of faith. The fresh encounter with Jesus prepared her to deliver The Gospel.
Jesus meets us at our crisis of faith to reveal Himself to us in right perspective and prepares us to be His messengers of The Gospel to a desperate and frightened world.
PRAYER
Abba Father. Help me to let go of any wrong perspective of You, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. If I am looking at You through earthly or wrong perspective, please adjust my perspective to see and know You as You are, and to see and know me and others from Your perspective. Please prepare me to share The Gospel with a lost and dying world. Amen in The Name of Jesus.
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