When Jesus says your name, everything will change. Octave of Easter Devotional.
Mary Magdalene seeks the place of sorrow where Jesus is buried. It seems that her pain is the most important thing she has in life. And it takes a real jolt for her to finally realize that this place of sorrow she is looking for no longer exists.
Octave of Easter Devotional
She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (full text at John 20:11-18)
A meaning invisible to the eyes
We cannot see Easter with our eyes. We have to see it with our hearts.
And many of you are familiar with the situation where the world around you is in the bloom of spring and people are enjoying life. But at that moment, you are locked between the walls of pain, locked in suffering and sadness. It shackles our gaze, and we see nothing but the object of our pain. Just like the sun only penetrates the thick walls when it finds the proper crack.
Mary Magdalene is lost and full of doubts. She came to the tomb of Jesus to live in her pain. She does not want to let go of her suffering. But there is a problem, Jesus’ tomb is empty. But her heart is not yet open to the message of life. Therefore, she does not even recognize Jesus standing before her because the difficult circumstances of life still blind her heart.
When Jesus says your name, everything will change
But when the risen Jesus speaks her name “Mary,” the heart of Mary Magdalene is suddenly opened.
The words of Scripture are fulfilled: “I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)
I wish that the Lord may also touch us, imprisoned behind the walls of doubt and unbelief, and open our hearts to the joy of Easter: Christ is risen. He is risen indeed.
Prayer for Today
Lord Jesus, you spoke the name of Mary Magdalene, and she recognized You, the Risen One. Help me understand that life changes when I respond to Your call. Your slight movement, one word, can change everything and can do the impossible.
Lord, help me. I want to burn with this faith too. I want my weeping and fear, my despair and searching, to be permeable to Your miracle. Then, in a dark hour, or when life fails, I can be shaken by Your word, Your breath, Your spirit, Lord. Then I, too, find myself in the midst of that turning point in life that makes everything new, bright, and shining. Amen.
Hallelujah, the Lord is risen; he is risen indeed, hallelujah. There is the happiness of hope in the valley.
