John 20:11-16 - Cemeteries

John 20:11–18 (New Living Translation) — 11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” 16 “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). 17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

I don't know about you, but it's easy to think, "Mary was so slow... Jesus had said He would rise from the dead. She was close enough to fall at His feet--less than six feet away. How could she not recognize Him?"

It's all a matter of expectation, though, isn't it? Mary expected for the tomb to be closed... or, if it was open, that there would be a dead body. And if the body was missing, it must be a dead body, wherever it is. 

She wasn't expecting Jesus to show up. 

Now this story was about the Resurrection. But it applies to our own expectations, doesn't it? We expect to find God in church, or while reading our Bible, or during prayer, or glimpses of God through His creation.

We don't expect to find Jesus in places of darkness and grief. But where did Jesus show up? In a cemetery--a place shrouded in terminal illness,  a constant reminder of our mortality. 
But He didn't return to inhabit the tomb He had just left. He came back: just to meet Mary.

Lord, Surprise us today, wherever You decide to show up: even in places of illness, places that remind us of our mortality. Open our eyes to see You, and our ears to hear You calling our name. Amen