^{You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.}

Psalm 56:8 (NLT)

¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
¹³ They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
¹⁵ He asked her, “Woman, 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.”
¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic,“Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

John 20:11-16 (NIV)

Who was this weeping woman at the tomb?

Popular culture has been cruel to the character of Mary Magdalene throughout the ages, twisting her story full of wild lies and heresies. Different faith traditions have misunderstood her at best – combining her story with that of Mary of Bethany (the sister of Martha and Lazarus), or the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet in Luke 7, or both – spinning her story into religious legend. If we could turn back the pages of Church History and peel away the layers of confusion that surround her to observe the simple truth made plain in the Gospel accounts, we would find a very ordinary woman. 

The Gospels give us little information about the life of Mary Magdalene before the moment she met Jesus, but we know He set her free from the bondage of seven demons and she chose to follow Him. There were other women who travelled with Jesus and His Disciples as well, but in support of His ministry, Mary was one who helped finance their journeys. Because her name often appears first in these lists of women, it is possible she provided them leadership.

Mary Magdalene is the only woman mentioned by all the Gospel writers as having been at Jesus’ crucifixion, and she is remembered as the first person to whom the risen Christ appeared, bringing news of His resurrection to the Disciples. After this important assignment she is noticeably absent from the narrative of the early Church found in Acts. Scripture does not reveal to us the end of her story, and where it has remained silent, tradition and imagination have gotten carried away in the telling of fantasy. 

For all the things we don’t know about her, Mary Magdalene was one of the privileged few who got to watch Jesus up close. She would have heard Him preach, seen Him heal the sick and the lame, bring sight to the blind, and raise the dead to life. During a time in history that placed men at the feet of a Rabbi, she was given the chance to learn about the mysteries of the Kingdom of God from the very Son of God, Himself.

This is why her story is so compelling.

Mary did not only follow Jesus in the miracle of her healing, or the excitement of His ministry. She also followed Jesus in the sorrow of the cross, the hopelessness of His burial, and the uncertainty of her future. When Judas betrayed Him, and Peter disowned Him, and the remaining Disciples left Him to His enemies, Mary Magdalene stayed close, watching the horrific events of Jesus’ final hours beneath the shadow of the cross. 

Burdened by unspeakable sorrow, Mary would have seen other peculiar events as well. When the sun went black, and the Temple curtain was torn in two, and an earthquake shook the ground to break open dead men’s tombs; when the Centurion saw how Jesus died and gave glory to God; when they pulled Jesus’ body from the cross and laid Him in the tomb, Mary Magdalene was there, taking it all in.

I wonder what she was thinking and what she was feeling in those moments.

Did it cross her mind as she prepared spices for His body, or waited through long Sabbath hours that His story was not over? Could there have been a tiny flicker of defiant faith in the memory of His miracles, or the peculiarity of His death that caused her to run to the tomb while it was still dark that first Easter morning? Was there a reason she was set apart as the first to know, the first to see, the first to believe? 

We don’t know, and where Scripture is silent we must let those unanswered questions stand. But whatever the state of her heart, or her mind, or her faith, Jesus met her anyway.

Why are you crying? Who are you looking for?

Such simple, beautiful questions in the wake of such grief. In the place of Mary’s deepest, darkest sorrow, Jesus made space for the burdens of her heart, and in a tumble of words she tells He, who she thinks is a stranger, “It’s Jesus. I only want to know where Jesus is.” 

And in a word – her very name – Jesus reveals Himself to the broken-down, battered soul of Mary again. Not to cast out what is evil, but to fill her spirit full of divine purpose, overwhelming peace, and unspeakable joy. 

This has been a difficult year for so many reasons.

The pain, the fear, the isolation of the last twelve months are enough to break a woman down. We too stand weeping at a tomb of all we’ve lost and Jesus stands gently beside us to ask, Why are you crying? Who are you looking for? 

Friend, Jesus already knows the burdens of our heart. He is already the answer. For undeserving you and I – in the mess of our sorrow, and confusion, and heartache, He meets us anyway – just as we are, to lovingly call our name and reveal to us the promise of His presence.

When I think of Mary Magdalene standing in the ignorance of her sadness at the entrance of an empty tomb, I am encouraged that even in the middle of my saddest, most confusing days I have a Redeemer who lives, and who calls me out of the darkness into new life and purpose in Him. 

Lord Jesus –

Thank you for seeing us where we are, for relieving us of our burdens, and for calling our name into new life in you. Wipe away the tears of sadness, and awaken our spirits to the hope and promise of your presence. Open our eyes and our hearts to the power of your resurrection at work in the world around us. May we step bolding into the purpose you have for our lives, beneath the banner of your peace, and filled with the fullness of your unspeakable joy. Amen.