“Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord.” John 20:18
The name “Mary” gives us an acronym for four words from John’s story that can help us think about the resurrection: “M” for “Mary; “A” for “Angels”; “R” for “Rabbouni”; and “Y” for “Your.”
“Mary stood weeping outside the tomb,” says Saint John Chapter 20 Verse 11. Mary Magdalene is a vital part of the story; Mary is the first to meet the risen Lord. Mary is a woman, Mary has remained faithful to Jesus when the men have run away, Mary is a sign of what Jesus’ people should be like. Of course, the church was dominated by men who did like the idea of a woman being the first witness of the resurrection, so, as the years passed, the church cast Mary Magdalene as a sinful woman. The Bible makes no mention of the sins of which Mary was supposed to be guilty. All the Bible tells us is what we read in Saint Luke Chapter 8 Verse 2, which talks of women being healed by Jesus, “among them Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.” Mary Magdalene shows that Jesus regarded everyone as equal; a woman, someone whom would have been regarded as second class by the men of the time simply because she was a woman, is the first person with whom Jesus chooses to meet.
Mary should be a lesson to us that Jesus breaks down barriers, that he had no regard for human ways or traditions, but instead loved every person created in the image of God with the love of God. Jesus might have chosen to Peter or John, that he did not should remind us that Jesus expects that everyone shall be included in the church as equals.
Verse 12 tells us, “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.” Angels are a sign that something extraordinary has happened; that the empty tomb was no ordinary human turn of events. Mary would have known the stories from Scripture about angels; she would have heard the teachings in the synagogue about the place of angels in God’s scheme. Mary would have seen the angels and have known that this was divine work, that God had done something unexpected. The angels would have frightened Mary, but also inspired her. In Verse 13, the angels ask Mary, “Woman, why are you weeping?” There is a conversation. God is not a distant and remote God, but one who sends his messengers to engage with his people. Mary responds directly and honestly to their question, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
The angels are a reminder to us that God is someone who breaks into our world; that extraordinary things can happen; that God is a God who engages with us. Have we the confidence that Mary had to speak honestly and directly to God?
Mary, angels, the third word is “Rabbouni.” It is impossible for us to imagine the joy with which that word would have been spoken. Mary’s eyes are filled with tears and she turns around and doesn’t recognize the man who is standing there. There is a gentleness in Jesus’ words to her in Verse 15, “Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?” The heartbroken Mary Magdalene thinks he is the gardener, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” It is when Jesus says “Mary,” that she recognizes him. Mary, in her despair must have turned away from Jesus, because we are told that she turned to him and said, “‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher).” The relationship between Mary Magdalene and Jesus is very close. Mary must have hugged him in joy, for, in Verse 17, Jesus says to her, “Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father.” Letting go of him must have been a hard thing for Mary to do.
As Christians, our faith is in a Jesus who offers us a close relationship. We don’t get to hug him, as Mary Magdalene did, but that hug showed that he was really alive and we get the opportunity to have a friendship which is unlike any other.
The final word is “your.” Jesus tells Mary, ” 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 can call God “Father” because of her own response, he has become her Father and her God. There is no need anymore for the old religious traditions, no need for the Temple and all the sacrifices, no need for priests or ceremonies, God is now a personal God who welcomes those who come to him.
If Mary knows that God is her Father and her God, how do we respond to Jesus when he says those words to us? Jesus says to us that God is “your Father,” what do we say back to him?
Mary, angels, Rabbuoni and your: in Verse18 we read that !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.” Have we the faith of Mary? Have we the faith that the Risen Lord is in our own lives? Have we the faith to tell others what we know about him?