Reading
John 20:11-18
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
Comment
After noting the absence of the body of Jesus in the tomb, the disciples return home (Jn 20:10) but Mary of Magdala remains there to weep for her Master. While she cries she leans towards the tomb, looking for the one who has been snatched away from her by death. Two angels are seated, one on the head side and the other on the foot side, where the body of Jesus was placed (v. 12), as the two carved cherubs were placed opposite each other on the Ark of the Covenant. (Ex 25:18). Jesus is the new covenant between God and men, sealed in his sacrifice on the cross.
The messengers of God ask Mary Magdalene the reasons for her affliction and while she explains that the body of her Lord has been stolen, he appears standing behind her. So at first Mary does not see Jesus but she hears her voice. She then turns around but she doesn't recognize him. He is alive, but "she did not realize that it was Jesus" (v. 14). Even the apostles on the lake of Tiberias (Jn 21: 1-6) and the two disciples on the road to Emmaus (Lk 24: 31-35) do not immediately recognize the risen Jesus.
The apostles who fish on the shores of the lake of Tiberias recognize Jesus from his works when he tells him to cast the nets and they are filled with fish; the disciples of Emmaus recognize him as he breaks the bread; Mary Magdalene recognizes him when she is called by him by name. Jesus, on the other hand, had affirmed "My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me" (Jn 10:27).
Mary Magdalene seeks Christ and she discovers herself sought by Christ, under the humble aspect of an ordinary person (a gardener). We too seek Him in the voids that cannot fill creatures. The Lord keeps his word "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." (Jer 29:13) and not only does he let himself be found but he comes to look for us first.
Mary would like to keep Jesus for fear of losing him again, but he will remain alone for forty days, before his ascension (Acts 1:3-11). When she is gone, however, she will send the Comforter to teach everything and remember everything he said (Jn 14:26).
For John, the glorification of Jesus takes place with his resurrection, but it is accomplished with the gift of the Holy Spirit and his ascension. Jesus had called his disciples "servants" and "friends" (Jn 15:15) but here he calls them "brothers" and refers to God as "my Father and your Father" (v. 17) because the sacrifice of the Cross has created a new relationship with them and the gift of the Spirit makes them reborn as children of God. Jesus is the son of the Father by generation, we become him by adoption, by virtue of the grace that justifies and sanctifies.
In the words of Jesus, who defines the Father as "my God and your God" (v. 17) there is the promise of eternal life: as he was resurrected we too have overcome death in him. The example of Mary Magdalene, the apostle of the apostles, shows that the risen Jesus manifests himself to be his witnesses as heralds of salvation. The encounter with the Risen One is not an experience destined to remain private, nor a fruitless contemplation ("Do not hold on to me"; v. 17), but as it will happen for Paul on the road to Damascus, it represents the investiture of an apostolic mandate. Christ seeks our brothers also through our witness and our announcement.
Prayer
O Lord, you seek us calling us by name; our ears recognize your voice so that we can be comforted in our afflictions by becoming witnesses of your salvation. Amen.
- Rev. Dr. Luca Vona
