Early on Sunday morning, while it was still dark,
Mary Magdalene came to the tomb
and found that the stone had been rolled away from the entrance.
She ran and found Simon Peter and the other disciple,
the one whom Jesus loved.
She said, “They have taken the Lord’s body out of the tomb,
and we don’t know where they have put him!”
Mary was standing outside the tomb crying,
and as she wept, she stooped and looked in.
She saw two white-robed angels,
one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place
where the body of Jesus had been lying.
“Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied,
“and I don’t know where they have put him.”
She turned to leave and saw someone standing there.
It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.
“Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her.
“Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener.
“Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away,
tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”
“Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!”
(which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
John 20: 1-2,11-16 NLT
Mary Magdalene …
… out of whom Jesus cast seven devils, and who, along with other women, used her own resources to support Jesus and his disciples. (Luke 8:1-3 NLT)
… who watched Jesus being crucified. (Matthew 27:55-56 NLT)
… who was there when Jesus was laid in the tomb. (Matthew 27:57-61 NLT)
… who purchased burial spices to anoint Jesus’s body. (Mark 16:1 NLT)
… who went early the next morning to the tomb. (Mark 16:2 NLT)
… who was the first person to see the risen Christ. (Mark 16:9 NLT)
… who was “dear woman” to Him. (John 20:15 NLT)
Mary Magdalene … served Jesus, loved Jesus, and followed Jesus to the cross … and beyond.
***
Jesus knows the burdens we carry and the tears we shed,
but He is the healer of broken hearts,
broken dreams, and broken lives.
Trust him. He never fails.
John Hagee