Knowing and Seeing
In John's Gospel, Mary Magdalene goes alone to the tomb and finds Jesus missing.
Mary Magdalene stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, `I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her. - John 20:11-18
Mary is so upset that she believes she could carry the body of Jesus herself. She says "tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away."
Why would a gardener open the tomb and take the body away? Wouldn't that more likely be someone who owned the tomb and found a foreign body in it?
John uses the drama of the moment to catch our attention, knowing we will be moved emotionally, not rationally. It works. We ignore the details, fail to ask questions, and just follow the story.
It works because we know there is a strong relationship between Mary and Jesus. John set that up early on. He is an excellent storyteller.
But the most important part of this story is what happens next. Mary goes to tell the others.
It sets the stage for her to be ignored. They will not believe her, so what does that tell us?
She calls him teacher, and it looks like she is the only one who listened and understood his words. Yes, she had to see to believe, and that is true of the apostles as well.
We may know something to be true, but may have trouble believing until we see.
It is a clear lesson and one we will learn over and over again. Jesus said all we need is a little faith, and yet we find that the hardest thing to hol onto.
More to come...