Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher).
John 20:16
Dear members and friends,
As there are four Gospels, there are four different stories of Easter morning. Interestingly, among the four different stories, there are two common denominators: the people who went to the tomb of Jesus were all women, and Mary Magdalene appeared in all four stories. Officially, no woman is described as a disciple of Jesus in the Gospels. However, Mary Magdalene is a very important figure in all four Gospels, especially in the story of the resurrection. According to the Gospel of John, she appears alone at the tomb and has the first and only one-on-one conversation with the resurrected Jesus. Thus, Mary Magdalene is at the center of the Easter story.
Who was Mary Magdalene? Sadly, the writers of the Gospels do not share much about her. The only reference we find about her is in Luke 8:2, “Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out.” So, we know that Mary Magdalene experienced a spiritual healing and transformation by Jesus and thus followed him faithfully afterwards. According to Strong’s Lexicon, Magdalene means a woman from Magdala, which was a fishing town near Capernaum on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. This region was the focus of Jesus’ ministry and Capernaum was where Jesus called his first four disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John. We could assume that Mary Magdalene might have met Jesus early in his ministry and followed him as a disciple.
One very interesting aspect of the Easter story in John is that Mary Magdalene does not acknowledge that she is speaking to Jesus until he calls her by her name. According to the Gospels, Jesus calls only 11 people by their name. However, only two of them are women: Martha and Mary Magdalene. Then, Jesus calls only one person by name after the resurrection, and that’s Mary. Being called by name symbolizes being acknowledged by one’s inner quality. And being acknowledged by one’s inner quality means being united with the one who is calling. Thus, Mary at the tomb on Easter morning symbolizes the true passion for seeking and living the spiritual truth from God.
My brothers and sisters in God, let us take a good moment this week to contemplate and reflect on the meaning of Jesus’ mission and especially his accomplishment on the cross. His death was for the redemption of humanity and expression of God’s unchanging love.
Blessings,
Rev. Junchol Lee