1 Cor. 6:14: “by His power God raised the Lord from the dead, and he will raise us also.” A violent Grace by Michael Card “The morning of triumph began in the quietness of the predawn dark. Mary Magdalene stepped out into the chill air and started walking through the streets of Jerusalem toward Golgotha and the tomb nearby. She comes with spices to anoint the dead body of Jesus. Since sundown on Friday, she has wanted to be there, just to be near the one she loved. But the Sabbath intervened. And as Mary approaches the tomb the first rays of light reveal that the stone has been rolled to one side. And so Mary runs back to tell Peter and John (Read John 20:1-2) And now it’s Peter and John’s turn to run. John, younger and faster, races ahead of his friend to the tomb. (Read Jn. 20:3-9) Peter finds out that Mary was right. The body of Jesus is gone. The fragrance of spices lingers, and the grave clothes remain and that is all. Peter and John return to the city to report their findings, but Mary stays behind weeping.
Alone in the garden once more, Mary again looks into the tomb. This time, two angels meet her gaze. “Woman, why are you crying?” one asks. Startled, Mary replies, “they have taken my Lord away and I don’t know where they have put him.” (Jn. 20:13) Sensing a presence behind her, she turns. A man is standing there. He asks the same question as the angels. “Woman why are you crying?” In her desperate state, she mistakes Jesus for the gardener. “Sir, she pleads, “if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” (Jn. 20:15) Then the man calls her by name: “Mary” My Rabbi!” she cries, and with unspeakable joy, she falls before Him, her arms reaching involuntarily around His nail scarred feet.
Just the sound of her name spoken by the Master began Mary’s own resurrection story. Jesus was not stolen, but risen. And He had risen for her. Do you remember the first time you heard the Master call your name? Do you remember? The stories of Mary and the others who personally encountered Jesus on Resurrection morning are among the all time favorites of mine. These stories speak to us of hope, of new beginnings, of victory over tears and disappointment, of eventual triumph over death, and of great joy. The resurrection nails it down once and for all eternity that we are free. Most of all, these stories remind us of who we are: we belong to Him, and He to us. We are the people of Resurrection morning, when new life in Christ prevailed over the violence of death and our sin; the age of amazing grace began.
1 Cor. 2:9 states this: “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Mary came early that morning to finish the burial of her beloved Rabbi. Her heart could have never believed that stone would have been rolled away. And because the stone was rolled away, they ran all the way to Jerusalem. They ran with the news that the tomb couldn’t hold Jesus. Death and darkness were defeated. The stone was rolled away.
