But Mary remained standing outside the tomb sobbing . As she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.

And they said to her, ‘Woman, why are you sobbing?’ She told them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid Him.’ On saying this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t recognize that it was Jesus.

Jesus said to her,’ Woman, why are you crying so? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing that it was the gardener, she replied, ‘Sir, if you carried Him from here, tell me where you put Him and I will take Him away.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ Turning around she said to Him in Hebrew, ‘Rabonni!’ which means Teacher or Master.
(John 20;11-16) The Amplified Bible

Four Gospels: Four perspectives of Jesus’s resurrection, each with different details of who was there that first day of the week, how they responded, what they said, what they did, or didn’t, do and when.

I am grateful for the series on emotions that we had over the weeks from Ash Wednesday to Easter. It helps me have some understanding and compassion for the men and women disciples who two thousand plus years ago, experienced 3 years of following and learning from Jesus only to witness his arrest, to hide in fear from the religious leaders and the Roman brutality. I am in awe of the women who watched from a distance and of the courage of Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus risking their reputation by caring for Jesus’s dead body.

I can imagine Mary Magdalene and her overwhelming grief at not knowing where Jesus’s body had been taken and her mistake in thinking Jesus was the gardener.

My mother, whose name was Mary Jane, died 6 months after I was sent to Denver to live with my father’s sister and her husband. The last words we exchanged were while she was in bed and I stood at the door of her bedroom. When she died, it was decided that I wouldn’t be taken back for her memorial. For a long time my heart would jump when I saw a face or heard a voice that resembled mom’s. So when I think of the joy Mary Magdalene felt, as Jesus said, ‘Mary!’ I know something of how it would feel if I heard him call my name when I never expected to hear his voice again.

I am grateful for the Bible. In it I can read at any time how intimately God knows each of us,(Psalm 139), How much he loves us,John 3;16-17), how we listen to his voice and know it and that he and the Father are one, (John 10;27-31).

This week, savor the above scriptures and others about the first day of the resurrection. Also, the scriptures that remind you of Jesus and his Father’s love and care for you.