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.”
A man approaches a woman in a garden by a tomb. The woman is crying. She has been crying for three days. Her eyes are swollen and bleary from the tears. Her face a mask of loss and anguish.
As the man gets closer he asks her, “… why are you crying?”
Then, he reveals himself a little. He already knows why she is crying. He knows that she is upset because Jesus’ body is missing. He knows she is looking to find Him. He asks, “Who is it you are looking for?”
Mary, in turn, tells us a little about her thinking. John tells us that she thought she was talking to the person who owned or cared for the garden. Perhaps she was worried that someone had objected to Jesus’ body being put in the new tomb. Maybe instead of a nefarious scheme to hide the body, it was only a misunderstanding. They had put Jesus’ body somewhere else because it wasn’t supposed to be in that new tomb.
“Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Mary’s devotion is on full display. Jesus is dead. His body has been shuffled aside. She is ready to do whatever is needed for Jesus.
”… tell me where you have put him…”
Application: Wrapping our heads around the idea that the God of the universe could become a man is difficult for us. We have no reference point to use in gauging our expectations. We do not understand. If we are to fully relate to our God we have to resort to wonder and awe. There is nothing we can do to comprehend our Creator.
Food for Thought: How does the way Jesus approaches Mary help her to adjust to the fact that he is no longer dead?
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I always find it interesting that Jesus consistently does not just fix the problem by saying something like, “please stop crying, I am alive.” He seems to enter into our grief and meet us where we are at – it is very relational compared to simply fixing the problem. He did the same thing when He raised Lazarus from the grave and when He healed the women who touched the hem of his clothes to receive healing. He wants more than to heal, He wants to engage.
Thank you Rich!
Dare I say that is a very “engaging” comment. 🙂