TUESDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF EASTER

Woman, why are you weeping?

Isn’t it obvious why Mary Magdalene is crying? Just three days before, she had watched Jesus suffer a painful death on a cross. All she wants to do now is give him a proper burial, and she can’t even do that because his body is missing.

Actually, Mary is asked why she is weeping, not once, but twice that morning: first by the angels at the tomb, and then by Jesus, whom she mistakes for a gardener. The fact that it happens twice—and involves both angels and Jesus—should make us sit up and take notice.

Jesus asks a lot of questions in the Gospels. Some are rhetorical, some are challenging, and some, like this one, have obvious answers. But there is one thing that they all have in common: Jesus doesn’t ask because he needs to know the answer. It’s because we do.

It’s quite possible that Jesus asked Mary this question as a way of directing her away from the painful memory of his death and toward the joy of his resurrection. It was time to put aside her grief and fear. Jesus is risen! Death has no hold on him, and now it has no hold on her—or on us.

Why are you weeping? What worries, problems, or disappointments are weighing on your soul? Whatever they are, know that Jesus sees them and wants to help you work through them. He wants to help draw your attention to his presence with you. He is there, standing right in front of you. He is risen, and heaven is opened for you!

This message applies not only to your literal death, but also to the “little deaths” you experience throughout your life: the ending of a relationship, for instance, or a necessary move from a familiar home. Jesus can bring new life out of situations like these. He can bring peace to your heart as you turn to him and tell him why you are weeping. He can convince you that sorrow and death don’t have the final word. Even in your darkest times, he is there, planting seeds of new life in you and working to lead you toward joy, both in this life and the next.

“Jesus, help me to remember that you are always with me, even when you seem absent.”

Acts 2:36-41
Psalm 33:4-5, 18-20, 22
John 20:11-18