Mary Magdalene encounters an empty tomb and runs to tell the others. They come but are able to see no significance in this emptiness. And so they leave.*
Mary, on the other hand, brimming with expectancy, suddenly sees Jesus in the emptiness. Death, for Mary, does not steal him away from her. In the dark she discovers other ways to see. Even in the vacuum left by his death, she finds fullness of life. Their very voices embrace in tender greeting.
Again she hurries to tell the others, thus becoming “apostle to the apostles,” the first to believe and herald resurrection news. “I have seen the Lord!” She does not chastise their inability to see, but simply cries out her own joy.
She sees in a way that the others cannot see, yet they do not acknowledge her as the first witness of resurrection. Does it matter? Is she disappointed not to be acknowledged for what she sees? Not to be recommended to fill the space left by Judas in that inner circle of twelve?
Mary sees what she sees, and knows what she knows. Whether or not others ever will know her, she knows. It is enough.
-- Kayla McClurg (1955-1918)
For More
- What does emptiness want to teach me?
- How do I cope with my disappointments?
- Do I crave being known and acknowledged?
