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“Woman, Why Are You Weeping?”
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The women remembered now—He said He would rise again!
What a day this is! Quickly they left “with fear and great joy, and
ran to bring His disciples word.”
Mary had not heard the good news. She went to Peter and John
with the sorrowful message, “They have taken away the Lord out
of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” The
disciples hurried to the tomb and saw the shroud and the napkin, but
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they did not find their Lord. Yet even here was evidence that He
had risen. The graveclothes were not thrown carelessly aside, but
carefully folded, each in a place by itself. John “saw and believed.”
He now remembered the Savior’s words foretelling His resurrection.
Christ Himself placed those graveclothes with such care. As the
mighty angel from heaven rolled away the stone, another entered
the tomb and undid the wrappings from the body of Jesus. But it
was the Savior’s hand that folded each and laid it in its place. In
the sight of Him who guides both the star and the atom, nothing is
unimportant.
Mary had followed John and Peter to the tomb. When they
returned to Jerusalem, she remained. Grief filled her heart. Looking
into the empty tomb, she saw the two angels, one at the head and
the other at the foot where Jesus had lain. “Woman, why are you
weeping?” they asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,”
she answered, “and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
Then she turned away, thinking that she must find someone who
could tell her what had been done with the body. Another voice
addressed her: “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you
seeking?” Through tear-dimmed eyes, Mary saw a man, and thinking
it was the gardener, said, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell
me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” If this rich
man’s tomb was thought too honorable for Jesus, she herself would
provide a place for Him. There was a grave that Christ’s own voice
had made vacant, the grave where Lazarus had lain.
But now in His own familiar voice, Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
Turning, she saw in front of her the living Christ! Springing toward
Him as if to embrace His feet, she said, “Rabboni!” [Teacher]. But
Christ raised His hand, saying, Do not detain Me; “for I have not
yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them,