The first Easter Sunday began with tears – Mary Magdalene’s tears. These were the worst kind – tears of hopelessness. She had first met Jesus when she was full of the devil – seven demons in fact. Since that time Jesus had been her teacher. His Words filled her heart with something she had never had before – peace with God. As she watched Jesus day after day – performing miracles, loving the unloved, giving hope to the hopeless – she began to wonder if He was the promised Messiah. After all, He had changed her life. She had watched Him change the lives of others.
Now
it seems that her hopes have died. Mary
Magdalene had returned to Jesus’ grave and it appears to have been robbed. The stone is rolled away and the body of the
Lord is gone. That’s why the first
Easter Sunday begins with tears.
Who
can live without hope? Not you. Not
me. Not Mary Magdalene. Fortunately, Mary saw hope through her tears. Turns out the grave of Jesus wasn’t
completely empty.
When
Mary looked closer, she found two angels in the tomb. They weren’t shedding tears. They weren’t disturbed at all. One of them asked, “Woman, why are you
crying?” Mary sobbed, “They have taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they
have put Him?”
Next
to speak is someone that Mary doesn’t recognize, at least right away. He wonders the same thing as the angels. “Woman, why are your crying? Who is it you
are looking for?” Mary thinks this
person is the gardener, the caretaker of the gravesite. She says, “Sir, if you have carried him away,
tell me where you put him and I will get him.”
Poor
Mary. Maybe her eyes are so full of
tears she is unable to clearly see the man standing before her. But when she hears Him speak her name,
“Mary,” she knows who it is. In that
moment, Easter tears are replaced by Easter joy.
Mary’s
joy on that first Easter morning is your Easter joy too. When loss or disappointment or failure fill
your eyes with tears, remember that Jesus can bring healing and restore hope. There once was a Muslim who became a
Christian. When his friends asked him,
“Why have you become a Christian?” he replied, “Well, it’s like this. Suppose you were going down the road and suddenly
the road forked in two directions and you didn’t know which way to go. And there were two men – one dead and one
alive. Which one would you ask which way
to go?
There
is no question as to which way Mary will go.
The same can go for you. Remember
when Jesus spoke Mary’s name. Why not
substitute your own name. Jesus comes to
you, in your weepy and weary moments and asks, “Why are you crying? I am alive!”
And like Mary Magdalene, you see the resurrected Lord with eyes of faith. He turns your tears into joy. He lifts you from your disappointment and
despair and restores your hope. You can
live again because Jesus lives.
When
we think about Easter tears, it is the words, “He is risen; He is risen
indeed,” that can bring tears to the eyes of a believer. We think of all Jesus suffered and endured
and He did it all just for you and me. A
love like that can bring tears to our eyes.
But these are tears of joy, not sadness.
These are tears of hope, not despair.
It is most certainly true – Jesus is just as much alive today as He was
on that first Easter morning. Believe it
my friends – Jesus is risen indeed!
