On the first day of the week,
Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning,
while it was still dark,
and saw the stone removed from the tomb.
So she ran and went to Simon Peter
and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them,
“They have taken the Lord from the tomb,
and we don’t know where they put him.”
So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb.
They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter
and arrived at the tomb first;
he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in.
When Simon Peter arrived after him,
he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there,
and the cloth that had covered his head,
not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.
Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first,
and he saw and believed.
For they did not yet understand the Scripture
that he had to rise from the dead.
— JOHN 20:1-9
Reflection For The Easter Sunday Gospel
When I imagine myself in the place of Mary Magdalene on Easter Sunday, I think of how empty I would have felt. Jesus had driven seven demons out of me. I had been reborn and followed Jesus from that time on, throughout His ministry. I experienced His love and peace and teaching and healing. My heart was full of love and joy. Then I saw Jesus brutally tortured and crucified, and I stood at the foot of the cross where He died. My heart was aching! Things couldn’t get any worse! And then, I see that someone has taken Jesus’ body from the tomb! I run to Peter and John to tell them.
When I imagine myself in the place of John, I think of how stunned – how confused I would have felt. I followed Jesus for 3 years and came to believe that He was the Messiah. And on Palm Sunday, the people agreed! They spread their cloaks on the road and shouted: “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is to come! Hosanna in the highest!” A few days later, Jesus was arrested and would not let Peter defend Him. How could that be? The crowd finally recognized Jesus as the Messiah, and a few days later, He was tortured and crucified! My mind had exploded, and I had lost hope!
Then Mary Magdalene brings the news that Jesus’ body had been taken from the tomb, so I run to see for myself.
I “saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place.” If someone had come in and taken the body, they would not have unwrapped the corpse, and they certainly would not have taken the time to roll up the face cloth and place it separately from the other cloths! It seems like Jesus had risen from the dead! But: “They did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.”
They did not yet understand that this was the plan from the beginning. Jesus had told them: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” (LK 9:12) They would finally come to understand that Jesus was fulfilling the Old Testament prophesies when Jesus explains to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus later on Easter Sunday: “How slow you are to believe all that the prophets have announced! Did not the Messiah have to undergo all this so as to enter into his glory?” (LK 24:25-26)
The question for me today is – do I believe that Jesus was tortured, and crucified, and rose from the dead so that I might enter into His glory with Him in heaven? What must I do to get to the heavenly bliss that Jesus made possible? “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (MT 7:21)
Come, Holy Spirit! Give me the wisdom and the fortitude to follow Jesus and do the will of our Father in heaven! Amen.
Image: Photo by Adrian Cogua on Unsplash
