"Do not cling..."

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 20:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "Jesus said to her, 'Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.'"  John 20:17

Jesus was dead and now Mary was being denied even the last thing she could do for Him. I can sense her outrage: "'They have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid Him.'" So when Jesus revealed Himself to her, it was beyond incredible. Not only was His body returned, but Himself, alive, warm, touchable, talking!

It was different than before though. "'Don't cling to Me,'" Jesus said. He wouldn't be held down. His mission continued and involved ascension—His permanent physical removal from earth.

Was it bittersweet for Mary, I wonder, having Him back and yet not? Being told to deliver this mysterious message about His coming ascension to the disciples?

It's easy for us, who know how the story continues, to think it was no big deal for them. Jesus ascended, the Holy Spirit came, and so the Spirit of Jesus was available to everyone—way better than when His physical presence was limited to one place at a time.

But Mary had no idea how events would unfold. It was as much a walk of faith for her as dealing with the unknown is for us. And just as Mary and the disciples came to understand the wisdom of God's plan as it played out, so we may see the same as we resist the temptation to cling to the past, and live in faith and obedience in the inscrutable now.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me not to cling to the past but to embrace Your plan as it unfolds in my life and circumstances. Amen.

MORE: The Feast of St. Mary Magdalene

The liturgy for this day begins with this Collect:

"Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the power of his unending life; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen."

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The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. - Used with permission.

Weeping in the dark

"Rabboni!"  - Artist unknown

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 20:1-18

TO CHEW ON: " ' They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him. … they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid Him. … Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him and I will take Him away.' " John 20:2,13,15

Mary's shock, perplexity, and desperation soak these verses. Though John's telling has her coming to the tomb alone, Mark's account includes Mary the Mother of James and Salome in this pre-dawn trek. They come with spices to anoint His body.

But the stone is rolled aside and His body gone!

I can imagine Mary's outrage as she breaks the news to Peter and John. She alone returns to the tomb with them. After they've checked the empty tomb for themselves and return home, she stays behind weeping.

But surely there must be some mistake. On looking into the burial place again she sees two angels (do you think she realized these were angels at the time?). One asks "Woman, why are you weeping?" She answers, "Because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid Him."

Her interchange with the 'gardener' follows the same lines. She remains grief-absorbed until His "Mary" opens her eyes.

Mary's experience here reminds me of what we often go through in our times of desperation before Jesus shows up in one way or another. He could have saved Mary all those tears if He'd showed Himself to her and the others when they first arrived. But He didn't.

In Mary's life and often in ours, that seems to be His way. He comes in His own sweet time, after leaving us to weep in the dark for a while.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, whether my time of puzzlement is short or long, please help me to never lose faith in You and Your good plans for me. Amen.

MORE: Feast of Mary Magdalene

Today the church liturgy celebrates the Feast of Mary Magdalene. The day's readings opens with this collect (the healing referred to in the prayer refers to her being set free from demon possession - Luke 8:2) :

Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the power of his unending life; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The lingering Mary

Christ appearing to Mary Magdalene
by William Brassey Hole

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 20:1-18

TO CHEW ON: "Then the disciples went away again to their own homes, But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb." John 20:1-11

Of all the disciples it is Mary called Magdalene who puts the most human face on the grief Jesus' friends felt as His death. She is the Mary who was named among Jesus' women disciples. She is among the women "who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities." She herself was delivered from seven evil spirits. And she was grateful -- to the extent she traveled with Jesus and supported Him with "substance," probably money and service.

(This closeness may be why there has been unsanctified speculation about Mary being intimate with Jesus in a sexual way. There is no grounds for this in the Bible.)

Mary Magdalene was loyal to the end. She was there in the crowd of women, looking on from afar when Jesus was crucified. In our reading today we find her getting up while it was still dark on the day after Sabbath, to slip out to Jesus' grave  and grieve.

There what a cruel shock! The tomb seal was broken and the body missing. She suspected grave robbers. Distraught, she reported back to Peter and John, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him."

She then must have gone back to the tomb with the men, for after they left, we see her there again, weeping. Maybe to reassure herself that He really was missing, she entered the vault where His body should have been and encountered two angels in white. It was after a short conversation with them that she saw Him. Not only that, He talked to her!

It happened when she lingered. Not in a hurry to get on with her life, she stayed after the others had left. Jesus met her then.

Maybe we can learn something from this. Maybe we need to be a little less tuned toward entering or reentering the hustle and bustle of the day. A little more willing to linger.

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to learn from loyal, grateful, practical yet willing-to-linger Mary Magdalene. Amen.

MORE: Feast of Mary Magdalene
Today is the Feast of Mary Magdalene. The liturgy for this day begins with this Collect:

"Almighty God, whose blessed Son restored Mary Magdalene to health of body and of mind, and called her to be a witness of his resurrection: Mercifully grant that by your grace we may be healed from all our infirmities and know you in the power of his unending life; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, now and for ever. Amen."

Magdalene is a historical fiction account of this woman by Angela Hunt.

Excerpt from a starred booklist review:

"Angered by the assertions of The Da Vinci Code (2003)--in particular, that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene--Hunt tells the traditional story, more or less, of Mary Magdalene. The "more or less" would be that Hunt turns Mary into a staunch feminist and downplays her history as a prostitute. She is Yeshua's shrewd advisor and helpmate, no more. And she is an interesting woman…"

From the archives