The Other Mary

Mary of Bethany was with Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus.

After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my message for you." So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." - Matt. 28:1-10

We know this Mary as the sister of Martha and Lazarus.

In the Gospel of John, it is this Mary who anoints Jesus' feet while her sister is busy cooking.

Jesus praises her for knowing what is important since she understood that Jesus was going to be killed and they would not be with him again.

So, it makes sense that she would be there at the tomb, to help finish the job of preparing the body.

Remember, they did not expect Jesus to have risen.  They were doing what they were supposed to do to make sure the body in the tomb could decompose naturally. 

Later, much later, after months and years, the task of gathering up the bones and placing them in their final spot within the family tomb would need to be done.

But in Jesus' case, it is not clear if anyone else would have used that tomb.  It could have been reserved for him alone.

Needless to say, that didn't matter once he was resurrected from the dead.

Because Mary understood Jesus and his mission, she remains a source of inspiration for us today as Christians navigating this strange and unbelievable story of God's connection to us through Christ.

She got it and she devoted her time to him while he was here.  For us, this is an example of how we can live our lives.

More to come...