He is Risen

The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

She answered, “They have taken away my Lord,

and I don’t know where they have taken Him.”

… Mary went and said to the other followers, “I saw the Lord!”

And she told them what Jesus had told her.

John 20:13,18

~

Mary here believes she is bereft of the one she loves most. (Bereft: a form of the word “bereave” meaning “to be deprived of or robbed” of what or who is most precious to one.)

Mary here believes she has been stripped of all she had–of Jesus–the embodiment of all her hope, joy, peace, and love. Her experience of the past long day has been one of horror, despair, sorrow. She knows this deeply and she weeps. She doesn’t know the whole truth though. Jesus is close to her, within reach, she just hasn’t come to recognize him yet.

Mary here is not alone, not without comfort, not without hope. She has placed herself in proximity to Jesus, she is present and ready to see him when he reveals himself to be with her all the time. She comes close, waits and weeps, and Jesus shows himself to have been with her there even when she can’t see him.

Prayer:
Lord, we often feel bereft of joy, hope, faith, and love. We often lose heart in the face of deep suffering–our own, and the suffering of those we love, the suffering of this world, the very real despair and death all around us that, on some dark days, feels like all that remains. Remind us that this is not the whole truth. Show us your face, help us to seek it out, help us to remember and recognize your presence that is already, always with us even when we can’t recognize it yet. Help us to see better and not to lose heart. You are greater than our hearts, and you give us eyes to see what we cannot see on our own. We are truly grateful for you, already here, waiting for us to behold you, waiting for us to take comfort in and courage from your presence with us. Amen.

Margaret Roark ~ my sister