Mary

John 20:13-16, CEB

The angels asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" She replied, "They have taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they've put him." As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn't know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned and said to him in Aramaic, "Rabbouni" (which means Teacher).

Mary Magdalene stands outside the tomb, weeping. She has seen Jesus die. Whatever hope she once carried has been buried with him. Even when she turns and sees a man standing there, she does not recognize him. Why would she? Resurrection is not what she expects.

She assumes he is the gardener. She speaks to him out of grief and confusion, still trying to make sense of what has been lost.

And then everything changes with a single word.

"Mary."

Jesus does not argue with her. He does not explain what has happened. He does not offer proof or theology. He simply calls her by name.

And in that moment, she knows.

There is something deeply personal here. Mary does not come to belief through explanation but through recognition. She knows the voice. It is the voice of the one who has known her, called her, and loved her.

It echoes what Jesus said earlier: "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27, CEB).

We often want clarity before we trust. We want answers before we respond. But Mary's experience suggests something different. Recognition can come before understanding. Relationship can come before explanation.

Jesus still calls people by name.

He meets us in places of grief, confusion, and unanswered questions. He speaks, not always in ways we expect, but in ways that reach us personally.

Faith, then, is not figuring everything out. It is recognizing that we are known.

And when we hear our name spoken in love, we begin to see what we could not see before.

Prayer

Father, thank you for calling us into relationship with you through Jesus. Help us to know the voice of our shepherd and follow it. In the name of the one who calls to us, Amen.

This devotional was written and read by Donn King.

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