Adonai . Baruch ha ba ba shem.
John 20:1-9
We can come t church to 'check out' /verify what we have heard from another's mouth, like Peter and John did when Mary Magdalene brought news of Jesus' missing body. Or we can stay till we get to meet Him. Why do we attend church?
Here's a little expansion of these most famous verses in story form:
They peered into the dark tomb. Empty! Mary was right,Jesus was missing, Bewildered, they ventured further in, looked around and finding no body, left back to where they had come from. They had forgotten what Jesus had told them: they who had been the closest to Jesus while he had been alive.
Mary, as a woman had not been allowed according to custom, closer than the fringe of their all male circle, watching from a distance but nevertheless had followed Jesus everywhere he had travelled. Not a member of the privileged Inner Circle yet faithful to him whom she had accepted as her master.
Now, the two men, confused, frightened by the news left her to herself. They returned home: back to familiar surroundings, back to what they had left behind for their master. He was no more; they had to rebuild their old identity. Her news had excited them but there was nothing more they could add to it.
Mary sat outside the opening in the wall of stone, weeping.
Reluctant to leave the last known place he had lain, refusing to follow the example of the men who had been closest to him for surely they knew him better than she did. They, had new plans now; she, had nothing left.
Her desperation, her brokenness, her sense of utter loss was far greater than her need to rejoin the group. Without him,she had no connection to the group. Without him,she had no direction. Where was she to go now? Who else could give her a sense of identity beyond what men labled her? What was she without him?
She would remain here.
She'd better get out of sight before the sun rose bringing others to the graveyard. People revisiting memories of other loved ones. They may question her presence, her tear streaked face outside an empty tomb. She didnt want to meet anyone. She had no answers for anyone. She didnt have any answers for herself. She would hide inside and mourn her loss by herself. Alone as usual.
The linen used to wrap the master's body! She would take them. She remembered, before she had run out to call the disciples, that there had been something strange about them. They were neatly folded and placed at where they had laid his head. The kerchief that had covered his face though was away from this neat pile as if dropped in a hurry.
Mary Magdalene looked into the empty tomb again only to react in shock at two men in white who had entered without her noticing. Mary was disappointed. Was she to be cheated of her last hope? She felt anger rising. They were strangers. They had no right to be here.
One sat where Jesus' head and been and the other where his feet had been. This was her master's place, now hers! Her bitter disappointment lent courage to the words she would use to eject them out.
"My lady," one of them spoke before her, shocking her by his tone of respect. She, a woman need not have been acknowledged with any more respect than a dog. "Why are you crying?"
The silence stretched between the three of them; the men waiting unusually patiently for her answer, she, wondering how to answer. Finally, " Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put him." She couldn't think of a plausible lie. They would probably laugh at her- who would rob a whole body? Grave robbers only looted treasures buried with the dead. Jesus had been buried with nothing. Hearing the sound of her own voice speaking the words she had been refusing to believe, punched home the reality. He was gone!
Fresh tears flowed out through her fingers as she wept into her hands, a deep groan coming up from her broken heart. It would not, could not ever be made whole again. He was gone.
She sensed a third man behind her before he spoke. "Dear lady, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” Dawn had brought the gardener who tended the grave sites.
"Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away.” She didnt know how she would carry the dead weight but she would think of something later. If only they would give him back to her.
"Mary!" A soft call. A firm voice.
Her heart stopped. Her head swam. Its him!! "Teacher!!" She spun around in disbelief, excitement. Her hands stretched forward to touch him. Was he real? Or had her heart forced her head to trick her?
"Dont touch me." He stepped back. "Not yet." He was laughing with her. "Don’t hold on to me, because I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I’m ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
She didn't understand what he meant, but it didn't matter. She couldn't wait to tell the others!
John 20:1-9
We can come t church to 'check out' /verify what we have heard from another's mouth, like Peter and John did when Mary Magdalene brought news of Jesus' missing body. Or we can stay till we get to meet Him. Why do we attend church?
Here's a little expansion of these most famous verses in story form:
They peered into the dark tomb. Empty! Mary was right,Jesus was missing, Bewildered, they ventured further in, looked around and finding no body, left back to where they had come from. They had forgotten what Jesus had told them: they who had been the closest to Jesus while he had been alive.
Mary, as a woman had not been allowed according to custom, closer than the fringe of their all male circle, watching from a distance but nevertheless had followed Jesus everywhere he had travelled. Not a member of the privileged Inner Circle yet faithful to him whom she had accepted as her master.
Now, the two men, confused, frightened by the news left her to herself. They returned home: back to familiar surroundings, back to what they had left behind for their master. He was no more; they had to rebuild their old identity. Her news had excited them but there was nothing more they could add to it.
Mary sat outside the opening in the wall of stone, weeping.
Reluctant to leave the last known place he had lain, refusing to follow the example of the men who had been closest to him for surely they knew him better than she did. They, had new plans now; she, had nothing left.
Her desperation, her brokenness, her sense of utter loss was far greater than her need to rejoin the group. Without him,she had no connection to the group. Without him,she had no direction. Where was she to go now? Who else could give her a sense of identity beyond what men labled her? What was she without him?
She would remain here.
She'd better get out of sight before the sun rose bringing others to the graveyard. People revisiting memories of other loved ones. They may question her presence, her tear streaked face outside an empty tomb. She didnt want to meet anyone. She had no answers for anyone. She didnt have any answers for herself. She would hide inside and mourn her loss by herself. Alone as usual.
The linen used to wrap the master's body! She would take them. She remembered, before she had run out to call the disciples, that there had been something strange about them. They were neatly folded and placed at where they had laid his head. The kerchief that had covered his face though was away from this neat pile as if dropped in a hurry.
Mary Magdalene looked into the empty tomb again only to react in shock at two men in white who had entered without her noticing. Mary was disappointed. Was she to be cheated of her last hope? She felt anger rising. They were strangers. They had no right to be here.
One sat where Jesus' head and been and the other where his feet had been. This was her master's place, now hers! Her bitter disappointment lent courage to the words she would use to eject them out.
"My lady," one of them spoke before her, shocking her by his tone of respect. She, a woman need not have been acknowledged with any more respect than a dog. "Why are you crying?"
The silence stretched between the three of them; the men waiting unusually patiently for her answer, she, wondering how to answer. Finally, " Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have put him." She couldn't think of a plausible lie. They would probably laugh at her- who would rob a whole body? Grave robbers only looted treasures buried with the dead. Jesus had been buried with nothing. Hearing the sound of her own voice speaking the words she had been refusing to believe, punched home the reality. He was gone!
Fresh tears flowed out through her fingers as she wept into her hands, a deep groan coming up from her broken heart. It would not, could not ever be made whole again. He was gone.
She sensed a third man behind her before he spoke. "Dear lady, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” Dawn had brought the gardener who tended the grave sites.
"Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will take him away.” She didnt know how she would carry the dead weight but she would think of something later. If only they would give him back to her.
"Mary!" A soft call. A firm voice.
Her heart stopped. Her head swam. Its him!! "Teacher!!" She spun around in disbelief, excitement. Her hands stretched forward to touch him. Was he real? Or had her heart forced her head to trick her?
"Dont touch me." He stepped back. "Not yet." He was laughing with her. "Don’t hold on to me, because I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I’m ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
She didn't understand what he meant, but it didn't matter. She couldn't wait to tell the others!
