Grieving with Mary Magdalene: Lessons on Lament and Hope
During times of sorrow and God’s silence, what can we learn from Mary Magdalene’s experience at the empty tomb? How can we discover the hope and comfort of Jesus in our times of pain and confusion? Experience the new dawn and hope to hear Jesus speak your name, just like Mary.
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11 But 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, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 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,[a] “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
A Question and An Answer
It’s been the weekend from hell, and now, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene is weeping at the tomb of Jesus.
The questions you and I have in moments of sorrow and times of God’s silence are the same ones Mary would’ve had at that moment.
How will she live with an overwhelmed soul that has such sorrow?
Why have her hopes and even her prayers come to nothing?
Where is God when Jesus lies dead in the grave?
Let’s call it what it is—Mary is in deep trauma.
As the day begins, Mary only wants to be close to Jesus, even if He lies dead on the other side of the stone. All she wants is to be near Him.
Mary Magdalene was one of only five people whom Scripture records as being at the foot of Jesus’ cross when He died. She stayed there to the end, and when Jesus’ body was taken down from the cross, she followed Joseph of Arimathea along with the other women to see where they laid Him.
Do we even for a moment think she would have been an observer? No, we can only imagine that she would have been right in there as Joseph was to do whatever was needed to care for the body of Jesus. She may have been sobbing. She may have steeled herself to do what was necessary.
Her pained heart is impossible to imagine. Even when we have experienced sorrow, we can’t know her grief simply because it is hers. We must honor and hold the sorrows of each other tenderly.
We assume she went out at dusk at the end of the Sabbath to purchase the spices for Jesus’ body. And now she has made her way to the burial garden at dawn with her own aching heart and heavy feet. She would undoubtedly have become disoriented and confused to discover that Jesus’ body was missing.
It’s beautiful to realize that the first person on earth to see Jesus after His resurrection does so through tears. Maybe it’s the tears, or perhaps it’s the light, or simply the fact that she’s been seeing His face everywhere she turned the past days, but when Mary first sees Jesus, she mistakes Him for a gardener!
Think about that.
Here is the Alpha and Omega, Creator of the heavens and the earth, Designer of the constellations and fingerprints—the One whose resurrection from the dead brings the dawning of all things new. The earth has quaked, and angels worship before Him, but He is mistaken for a gardener with dirt beneath his fingernails at the start of a working day.
Is she feeling her heart pounding? Of course, she is! Is yours beating as you picture the scene? I hope so.
Don’t miss this because it tells us who this risen Jesus is to us now.
The first words of the new covenant are a question. Not an announcement, not an answer, but a quiet, compassionate question addressed to a weeping woman.
Jesus wants to know, “Why are you weeping?”
And for anyone like Mary, anyone like you and me, who has made their way through the darkness of Maundy Thursday and the despair of Good Friday to reach this garden tomb, it’s almost a silly, some would even say, a stupid question. But it’s also a profound one as it gets right to the heart of the matter.
Jesus simply speaks Mary’s name. What is truly the new day dawns with a question and a name.
Just like Mary Magdalene, encountering Jesus is what you and I want more than miracles and explanations. It is what we need most.
“Why are you crying?” Imagine Jesus drawing close, not with a loud voice, but a tender one to ask you that question, and when He does—answer Him! Lament. Rant if you need to; when you are done, stop and hear the way He speaks your name.
I often wonder what the voice of Jesus sounds like. What’s his tone? Does He have an accent? I have wondered if I would recognize His voice when He speaks to me.
But I don’t wonder about that anymore. Remember what Jesus said to His disciples: My sheep hear my voice, I know them, and they follow me.
We will know His voice.
The journey through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday will create a mess in your life, just as it did the first followers of Jesus. But Jesus loves you too much to leave you for long in pain, confusion, doubt, or a state of unbelief. So He wants to be present with you to deal with your pain, confusion, doubt, and unbelief.
Perhaps your past and maybe your present reality remain painful and disappointing. But Good Friday (when we don’t know why the darkness is prevailing) and Holy Saturday (when we don’t understand why God is silent) give way to the new dawn much sooner than we think.
The Living Lord Jesus knows my name, sees my tears, and cares about my story. Knowing that means that I will worship through my tears like Mary at the tomb. Like Mary, I hope to hear and be ready to respond when Jesus speaks my name.
TL;DR
Mary Magdalene’s experience at the empty tomb offers lessons on lament and hope during times of sorrow and God’s silence.
Mary’s deep trauma and pain at Jesus’ death lead her to seek comfort by being close to Him.
Encountering Jesus is what we need most during pain, and we will recognize His voice.
The journey through Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday may create a mess in our lives, but Jesus loves us too much to leave us in pain, confusion, doubt, or unbelief.
Good Friday and Holy Saturday give way to the new dawn, where the Living Lord Jesus knows our name, sees our tears, and cares about our story.
Related Reading
The Two-Sides of the Crucifixion by Bro. Chris Carter
The Hope of the Empty Tomb by Brad Bogue
How to Overcome Doubt: 4 Lessons from Doubting Thomas by Bro. Chris Carter
