A weeping God did not despise
Mary Weeping at the Tomb
Mary Magdalene stood outside the empty tomb weeping, certain that not only was Jesus dead but now His body was gone too. She wept in the worst grief of all, grief with no hope left. And then He spoke her name.
“But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,”John 20:11
The tears
The heading is: The tears. On the first morning of the week, Mary came to the tomb and found the stone rolled away and the body missing. The other disciples went home, but Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping (John 20:11). Her grief had gone past the death itself into something crueler: she believed even His body had been taken, that she could not so much as tend the grave of the One she loved. When angels asked her, Woman, why weepest thou? she answered, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him (John 20:13). She turned and saw a man she took for the gardener, and through her tears she pleaded, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away (John 20:15). She was so blinded by weeping that she did not recognize the risen Christ standing right before her. Hers is the grief of one who has lost everything and now feels she has lost even the small comfort of a place to mourn. She wept in the dark of what she thought was final loss.
What God did with them
The heading is: What God did with them. Into that weeping, Jesus said one word: Mary (John 20:16). He called her by name, and everything changed in an instant. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master (John 20:16). Grief turned to recognition, and death to joy, at the sound of the risen Lord speaking her name. He did not first explain the resurrection or reason with her; He simply named her, and she knew Him. Then He gave her the honor of being the first to carry the news: go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God (John 20:17). The woman weeping at a tomb became the first witness of the resurrection. This is what God did with her tears: He did not merely comfort them; He overturned the very cause of them. The One she wept for as dead was alive, and He met her personally, tenderly, by name, in the middle of her weeping, before she had any idea that joy was even possible.
How it points to Christ
The heading is: How it points to Christ. Mary's tears at the tomb are where the whole story of weeping begins to turn. Here the man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3) stands risen and speaks a grieving woman's name. The Christ who wept at Lazarus's tomb now stands living outside His own empty one, proving that death does not have the last word. Because He is risen, His sympathy is more than fellow-feeling; He can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities (Hebrews 4:15) and also do something about the grief. Mary's weeping was answered by the resurrection itself, a foretaste of the promise that reaches every believer: God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying (Revelation 21:4). The One who called Mary by name knows yours, and He meets the grieving not only with comfort but with the living hope that the tomb is empty.
Questions people ask
Why didn't Mary recognize Jesus at first?
She was blinded by grief and by the impossibility of what she was seeing; she was certain He was dead. Scripture notes she mistook Him for the gardener. Her tears kept her from seeing that her Lord was alive and standing before her.
What changed her grief to joy?
Jesus spoke her name: Mary (John 20:16). He did not first explain the resurrection; He simply called her, and she knew Him at once. The personal, tender voice of the risen Christ turned her weeping to recognition and joy.
Why is it significant that Mary was the first witness?
The risen Jesus honored a weeping woman by making her the first to see Him and the first to carry the news to the disciples. It shows the tenderness of Christ toward the grieving and the surprising honor He gives to the brokenhearted who love Him.