When you despair, what happens to your hope? Where does it go? Perhaps hope bursts like a bubble, gleaming one second and gone the next. Maybe it jumps ship at the first sign of dark skies. Or does it simply go quiet, shoved out of the way by your grief and anger, waiting patiently without a word?
That’s what Mary Magdalene’s hope does when Jesus dies. It goes quiet. On the third day, Mary goes to Jesus’ tomb carrying spices to anoint His body as part of the Jewish burial ritual. Her heart is heavy as she trudges there in the dark. But then—what is this? How can it be? The stone is rolled away!
11 Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white … 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her. (John 20:11–18)
Why do you think Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus, her dear Friend, when He spoke to her?
Repeatedly, Jesus says He will die, and in three days, He will rise again. And yet, on the third day, we see His faithful follower, Mary Magdalene, go to His tomb—not to watch Him rise as He had said, but to anoint His dead body. It’s so hard to hope for something that’s never happened before.
God’s people—we—were separated from Him by sin. We needed a way back to Him. We hoped for a Messiah to rescue us. And then Jesus came. He lived the perfect life we could not. He died the death we deserve, bearing the full wrath of God. And then He did something no one had ever done before… He rose! Jesus is our hope; He is our hope realized. He is real. And He is risen!
Lord Jesus, I praise You! You alone have conquered sin and death. You alone have risen from the grave. You alone have the power to save. Help me to live a life that reflects these truths about You. Help me to remember Your grave-defeating power today. You are my living hope. Amen.
