“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.”
John 20:1
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all give account of the women who arrived at the empty tomb that first Easter morning. They even specify names, like Salome, Joanna, and several Marys. The one woman’s name which is included in each gospel account is Mary Magdalene.
While the religious men sought to kill Jesus, while the scribes pored over the Scriptures, while the Romans dismissed the movement as fringe, the frail Mary Magdalene (who had been tormented by seven demons) believed.
She encourages us because she is perhaps the most unlikely to become a central figure in the greatest story ever told. Yet she was the first one to tell of it and the first one to meet the risen Jesus! Initially she was distraught that her Lord had been taken. She ran to tell the disciples, and on her return trip, she heard a recognizable voice. “Mary,” Jesus said. He came to her and called her by name.
So it is for everyone who calls Jesus their own. It isn’t just Mary’s name that He utters, but yours and mine too when we look up and behold the risen Christ.
While the religious men sought to kill Jesus, while the scribes pored over the Scriptures, while the Romans dismissed the movement as fringe, the frail Mary Magdalene (who had been tormented by seven demons) believed.
She encourages us because she is perhaps the most unlikely to become a central figure in the greatest story ever told. Yet she was the first one to tell of it and the first one to meet the risen Jesus! Initially she was distraught that her Lord had been taken. She ran to tell the disciples, and on her return trip, she heard a recognizable voice. “Mary,” Jesus said. He came to her and called her by name.
So it is for everyone who calls Jesus their own. It isn’t just Mary’s name that He utters, but yours and mine too when we look up and behold the risen Christ.
Scripture Focus
John 20:10-18
Insight
Jesus takes the desperate, the afflicted, the enslaved, and transforms them into witnesses of His glory.
Bible In A Year
- Deuteronomy 7-8
- Psalm 83
- Acts 5-6
