By John 20:11-18
But Mary stood outside facing the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb. She saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet, where Jesus’ body had been lying. They said to her, “ Woman, why are you crying?”
“Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve put Him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not know it was Jesus.
“Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Supposing He was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve removed Him, tell me where you’ve put Him, and I will take Him away.”
Jesus said, “Mary.”
Turning around, she said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” — which means “Teacher.”
“Don’t cling to Me,” Jesus told her, “for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brothers and tell them that 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 what He had said to her.
Mary Magdalene is such a sweet and devoted woman. She has but only one string to play on her harp. Everyone she meets, she wants to know one thing, “where is Jesus?”
After the other disciples (Peter and John) had left, (probably out of fear that they would be blamed for stealing the body of Jesus) Mary remained at the tomb and wept for her Lord Jesus. As she takes up courage to peek inside the tomb, she see’s two angels in white sitting by his grave cloths. Do you think that seeing the splendor of angels distracted her from her question…no. She see’s these angels as only an opportunity to ask them if they have seen Jesus. Then a voice comes behind her, “woman, why are you crying?” She again plays the same string by asking the supposed Gardner the same question. It is only when she hears the familiar voice of her Jesus say her name “Mary” that she finally finds whom she has been looking for.
We should use the same intensity that Mary had when we read our Bibles; we should ask of every portion of Scripture, “where is Jesus?”
- Do you seek to find Jesus in every portion of Scripture that you read?
- Do you know how to find the redemptive value of every text of Scripture?
Leading Family Devotions 