There is a silence that can bring forth peace and healing,
but by Saturday night,
within the gathering of the followers of Jesus,
their silence was their pain.
By the time the disciples and the women had endured
the numb shock of Friday,
the sting of their first Sabbath without Jesus
and a long and painful Saturday night,
the silence had become palpable,
nearly deafening in its intensity.
I envision them sitting together
yet so all alone,
each pondering their personal
“what if’s”,
“what might have beens” and
“Why didn’t I’s”
that can bring about a sense of remorse and regret
that could smother their
(and our)
very souls.
I picture listless sleep as they try not to think about
the horror of yesterday,
the encompassing sadness of today
and the uncertainty of tomorrow.
In the silence I’m sure they wondered how tomorrow could dawn…
But it did dawn and with it Mary Magdalene, silently creeping through the first light to be near Jesus.
Because the Sabbath was nearing on Friday evening, Jewish law had forbid them from completing their
task of preparing the body for burial. At dawn she came to finish her last act of love and devotion to
Jesus.
But in the quietness of her thoughts, her determination to DO something in her grief, another shock
was to beset her. When Mary arrived at the tomb, the only place in the world she could be near her Beloved,
she found the stone rolled away…
the body gone….
And Mary, who had stood so courageously at the foot of the Cross while He bled and died,
Mary, who had bravely crept out before dawn to serve Him one last time…
Mary was done
… spent
…overwhelmed.
And the silence of the cemetery was broken as
she stood at the tomb and she wept.
I wonder if she wept not only for the fact that His body was gone
but for
the carnage she had witnessed Thursday night and Friday,
her helplessness,
her dread in facing a future without
her friend,
her lifeline,
her Savior.
And so, she wept.
In John, chapter 20 it says:
Jesus spoke to her, “Woman, why do you weep? Who are you looking for?”
She, thinking that he was the gardener, said, “Mister, if you took him, tell me where you put him
so I can care for him.”
Jesus said, “Mary.”
“Mary.”
He spoke her name
and the sound of it caused
her silent, broken heart
to leap,
to heal,
to sing.
The very sound of Jesus saying her name and she fell at His feet, exclaiming “Teacher!”
Seconds ago,
drowning in hopelessness,
fear,
grief
and confusion,
the mere mention of her name
from the lips of the Risen Lord
changed everything…
everything…
EVERYTHING.
I hope that in the midst of the family gatherings, the Easter candy (I have to confess, I LOVE Peeps!) and
even in the midst of the great hallelujah celebration that is Resurrection Sunday that you will take a
moment to think of times in your past
…maybe even at this moment
… when silent despair threatened to overtake you…
I pray that you will let the silence be FOREVER broken
by being attuned to Him,
your Master,
your Teacher,
your Savior,
the Risen Lord
calling you by name.
Kathy A. Sprinkle
2014
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