“Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look in the tomb, and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and one at the feet.” (John 20:11 NIV)
A few weeks ago I wrote about Joseph the Dreamer and how he was cast in a cistern that appeared to be empty. He had likely hoped for water to break his fall from sonship, but found the hard earth instead. This morning, as I pondered the story of Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb, I was reminded of Joseph’s empty pit. We have previously come to the conclusion that Joseph’s pit was full of grace. God used Joseph’s seemingly empty circumstances to further His Kingdom purposes.
Mary’s initial examination of the tomb was brought her to the same conclusion of emptiness. The grave that had held her most precious Lord was vacant. Just like Joseph’s well was without water the tomb was without Jesus and therefore felt like the death of her greatest dream. A gaping hole had opened up in Mary’s soul, how could it possibly be filled?
Yet, just like Joseph, Mary’s pit was filled with grace. The tomb that she stood before was not empty as it appeared, but stuffed to the brim with resurrection power.
Mary stayed in that moment when the other disciples had fled. She peeked back in to confirm her heartache only this time she saw two angels: one at the head and one at the foot of the anointing slab. She witnessed the actual ark of the covenant emptied: Jesus was risen. The tomb room was full of grace, not emptied of of promise as she first had assumed.
Often our first glance at a God situation will not be enough to reinforce our faith. We can walk away with a wrong conclusion like Peter and the other unnamed disciple had. Or, we can sit in the tension of what we thought should be and keep considering it, as Mary did. She refused to let her eyes dictate the truth in her soul. She waited for the pit in front of her to fill up with hope again.
“At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not recognize that it was Jesus.” (John 20:14 NIV)
I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to run away from hard things. I prefer to flee from tension, to avoid it altogether. But Mary Magdalene managed to hold on in those hard moments. She refused to abandon the last place she had seen her Jesus, and her tenacity was rewarded.
Mary was there, but her mind was so clouded by grief that she didn’t initially recognize her Savior. To her credit, He surely looked different from the mangled man from the cross they’d retired to the tomb three days prior. Mary’s delayed realization is not surprising, we see this happen often in the encounters with the risen Christ. It makes sense. Trauma muddies our minds, grief makes it tough to be fully present with people because mourning demands all our internal attention.
Even so, recognize this: if we want to recognize the miraculous, we’ll have to start looking for it. If, instead, we are so filled with the grief of living in a fallen world, we might miss the promise of Jesus amidst it.
“Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned to him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).” (John 20:16 NIV)
What had He taught her in that moment?
That the immediate outlook is not as it seems.
The tomb was not empty but teaming with resurrection power.
Their story was not finished but just beginning.
Now go and tell others.
Mary Magdelene encourages me this morning. Seemingly empty places are just yet to be revealed as life-giving. Our story isn’t ended until Jesus says so. He is the last word and His word is always full of restorative hope.
Lord, today give us the courage to stay in tension-filled moments until we get a glimpse of You. Thank You for reminding us again that things are not always as they seem. Chase the mourning from our minds, help us look up and find evidence of Your presence even when we are sad, discouraged or heartbroken. Give us great confidence in Your resurrection power. Amen.