Mary Magdalene had gone to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. Arriving there, she discovered that the body had disappeared. Her first response was to inform John and Peter about what had happened, but although they could confirm that the tomb was empty they could provide no explanation or solution to their common problem. As we know, the root of their problem was that they had not grasped what Jesus had said about his resurrection on the third day. But she was about to meet two who could.
Of course, we know that Mary was upset, indeed so upset that she was weeping. As the tears flowed, she looked inside the empty tomb and saw two angels sitting there. They observed her sorrow, but all they said was to ask her a question about why she was crying, an answer to which she may have assumed was obvious. She was weeping because there was no sign of the body of Jesus.
It is interesting that she still regarded Jesus as her Lord, even although she knew he had died. Her determination was that she would continue to live by his instructions, even if he would not be there to help her. She was not even prepared to ask the angels for help, because she turned away.
Standing near her, she saw a man whom she thought was the gardener. In answer to his questions, she indicated that she was prepared to take away the body of Jesus for burial. This was a desire expressing her love for Jesus, and indeed said to Jesus personally, although she was unaware that it was him.
It took just one word from Jesus to change her entire perspective on life, indeed on the world. Of course, it was a word that she had heard often – her name, pronounced by the Lover of her soul. Likely, she responded by using the name she had always used when speaking to Jesus, but now perhaps said with more delight than ever before.
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