Fear Blinds You
In John 20, Mary Magdalene goes to Jesus’ tomb where his body has been laid to rest. She gets there and the giant boulder blocking the tomb has been rolled away. The tomb is empty. His body is gone. She sees two angels in the tomb, sitting there.
…she bent down to look into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain…
—John 20:10
On one hand, it’s a relief because you don’t really want to see the bloodied murdered corpse of your loved one. On the other hand, she’s sad because she thinks someone stole his body.
As she wept… she turned around and saw Jesus standing there; but she did not recognize [him].
“Woman, why are you weeping?” Jesus asked. “Whom are you seeking?”
Thinking he was the gardener…
—John 20:10, 14-15
She turns around and sees Jesus. She thinks he’s the gardener. Mind you, this is NOT what Jesus looked like the last time she saw him. The last time she saw him he was cross-eyed, dying of thirst. So he looks… different.
Jesus goes, “Mary!” And she notices that it’s still him, but he’s had a makeover. She’s like, RAH- BO-NAI “Rabonni!” Like, WOW….
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
—John 20:16
Now You Love So Now You See
In a hot minute— she goes from mourning a very very sad death— to impressed. Look at this guy… bouncing back from the dead.
Her story switched.
All that trauma and pain and terror…. In one second, turned into… “Oh. Okay. Well, um…. I guess…uh…you look gud? Yeah?… What was I so freaked out about?? You look great. I thought you were the gardener, that’s how great you look. Where was my head that I—?”
Jesus says to her, “Fear blinds you. That’s why you couldn’t see me. But, now you see. Now, you love, so now.. you see.”
