Easter - Jesus Calls us by Name
John 20 - The story of Mary Magdelene discovering Jesus had resurrected.
There are several things about this event that are so powerful, that you have to look closely and read between the lines to find them.
The first is this: Mary Magdelene was a formerly troubled woman. Her mind had been “possessed by evil”. Once Jesus delivered her, she followed Jesus and became something of a “first responder” for his ministry. She was very close to Jesus’ mother. She was present at every significant event Jesus was involved with after their meeting - especially at the resurrection. She came to the tomb on the Sunday morning after his death with the intention to perfume and annoint Jesus’ body, only to find that it was gone. She first sees the angels and asks where her Lord is. Then she looks behind her, sees Jesus and knows him when he calls her name.
Sometimes when we hear God call our name, everything changes and the light goes on. Easter is about the saving of the world, but it is also about you and me having this kind of experience with Jesus. He says “Mary” and she knows him. Her first response is to cling to him, but he says “No, my work isn’t finished yet. I have to return to my father.” Before his spirit could ascend, it had to descend. God’s plan was to make sure that nothing could stand in the way of when Jesus called out your name, you could respond.
When Mary came to find Jesus, it was so early that it was still dark. At that point, from Friday until that morning, Jesus had been fighting the greatest enemy of mankind - death. In order to overcome death and take away its power was to defeat death. The only way he could defeat death was to confront it by dying. And the only way he could overcome it in the Spirit was to descend into hell and defeat what represents death in the spirit. The wages of sin is death. Jesus wants to stop death, so he confronts death at the source of death - where it lives, where it is born, at its epicenter and confronts it with his blood sacrifice. His blood that takes away the sin - the death - of the world.
He defeats death and is resurrected on Sunday. On his way back to his father, he has this encounter with Mary - this formally troubled, sinful woman. It is more significant when you look at Mary’s life in regards to all of the taboos she had violated in Jewish culture. It is a powerful picture that God is in love with everyone - to see Mary Magdeline as the one to first hear her name called and have a revelation of Jesus after his death.
Then Jesus does ascend, and he presents himself to his father. The Bible tells him that all of the saints of the Bible - the great cloud of witnesses, the famous patriarchs - are waiting for Jesus. David writes a prophetic Psalm about Jesus return: “Open ye gates so that the king of glory might come in. Who is this king? It is the lord mighty in battle.” Jesus had been battling mightily for all humanity - to transcend death and set us free. Jesus then comes to the father and presents himself, and the father receives the sacrifice, and he says “You are my son, and I will place my glory upon you. I will give you the scepter of righteousness. I will call you a king.” After this, Jesus comes back to Earth, presents himself to the disciples, and charges them with the Great Commission.
As powerful as the words of Scripture are that paint the picture of Easter for us, it is but a meer shadow of the reality of God and of what Easter is all about - all that the death and resurrection mean.
You meet God at the same place every time - you always come back to the same place when you stray from God, or are troubled by life. You always come back to God, and He asks you one thing: “Will you believe?” As we are moving towards our belief, he calls out our name. As we are staring at emptiness, death, trouble and pain, there is someone here calling out our name. And when we hear our name, something inside us pricks us, and we look. And we crumble when we hear our name. It is the same place every time - the same intersection for every problem. You just have to believe. You just have to make that move. And he calls you by your name and he holds you.
Praying, coming to church, worshipping, serving, being generous, being kind - these are all things we do, pathways we take, to get us to that place. The place where we trust what we can’t see, believe what we can’t understand. It all comes back to that one place. Easter is powerful because it is one of our key moments, one of the key times that move us to come back, renew and restate our belief. Jesus is always so close - even when we feel like he is far away. Mary thought that Jesus was gone, but he was right behind her. All she had to do was look around and hear him call her name. He is always standing there.
