To read: John 20:1-18
New Revised Standard Version Bible,Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him." Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went toward the tomb. The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, and the cloth that had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples returned to their homes.
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and 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. They said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."
When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said to her, "Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But 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 went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the
National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
To think about:
"Early
on the first day of the week, while it was still dark..." It is still dark, but it's not yet the first day of the week. This is Saturday, the last day of the week. It is also a day of darkness that began on Friday afternoon, darkness that lingers between cross and resurrection.
In that darkness, there was no guarantee in the mind of Mary Magdalene or anyone else that dawn on the first day of the week would bring anything other than the body of Jesus still in his tomb. Mary wept on the first day of the week because she believed that the body of Jesus had been stolen. Resurrection must have been the last thing on her mind.
It's hard to imagine what that day of darkness was like. We live on the other side of Jesus' resurrection. Yet there are days when the darkness permeates our lives, too. Even when we live by faith rooted in Jesus' death and resurrection, we sometimes wonder how things will turn out. Will the darkness last forever? Will death have the last word? What will tomorrow bring?
To pray:
Out of the darkness we call to you, O Lord. Stay with us while it is still dark, and lead us toward the dawn of a new day in your life-giving presence. We pray in the name of the crucified and risen Lord Jesus. Amen.
Northern Great Lakes Synod Council member
Faith Lutheran Church, Calumet, Mich.