Weeping in overwhelming grief and sorrow at the death and disappearance of her King, we hear the shortest sermon Jesus spoke: “Mary.”
In our turning to Him, as He speaks from His living lips, we will hear the intimate one-word sermon: our name.
The power of recognizing His voice when He calls our name, she calls out in blissful relief, Master!
Mary stayed looking into the tomb, weeping while His apostles were not to be found at the crucifixion. Mary stayed for the entirety, and was the first one to the tomb, to honor and serve and worship.
She wanted to be as close to Jesus as she could, even if that meant sitting by the tomb.
Mary is feeling severity of sorrow as she now grieves not only His death, but now His disappearance.
Not recognizing Jesus initially could be because she was not facing that direction. It could be because it was “at the rising of the sun,” either it was still dark, or as dawn may have been finally breaking. If the light was slowly filling the sky, Jesus would have been silhouetted against the dim, approaching sun.
Either in darkness, or the smallest dim of slow glowing light, as she was turned away, we hear the shortest sermon Jesus spoke, “Mary.”
The lifted weight of relief and darkness she must have felt at the aid of her beloved, after saving her from 7 devils, He had saved her again everlastingly. And here Jesus is, symbolically at the rise of the light, the Light of the World comes to her.
As we seek Jesus, draw near to Him as she did; darkness will lift and relief will come, as He speaks from His living lips, the intimate one-word sermon: our name.
xoxAL