On
this Mother’s Day and 6th Sunday of Easter, we revisit the
resurrection story. In Mark’s account,
we have quite a list of women who were at the cross and who went to the tomb
early Sunday morning, while it was still dark!
Conspicuously absent is one particular woman. We know she was present at the cross, because
Jesus addressed her from the cross. And
yet, she’s not listed as one who followed Joseph of Arimathea to find out where
Jesus was buried. Nor did she go early
in the morning to the tomb. The absent
woman of which I speak is of course, Mary the Mother of Jesus. Why is she absent?
Mary the mother of Jesus’s name is
never just “Mary” or Maria in the Bible.
The mother of Jesus’s name is Mariam.
She is sometimes called Marias, but never Maria like the other Mary’s
are. In John’s gospel, she is not named
at all. She is only called Jesus’s
mother. And Jesus only addresses her as
“Woman.” Therefore, she is not the
“other Mary.” According to John’s
gospel, this other Mary, the mother of James the Less and Joses or Joseph, is
also the wife of Clopas and seems to be the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus,
unless the sister of Mary is also unnamed and the other Mary is an additional
woman. But even Mary’s sister is one of
the women who stood at the cross and went to the empty tomb, and yet the mother
of Jesus didn’t go.
Why?
Mary didn’t need to go to the tomb to anoint Jesus’s body and make sure
that He had a proper burial because she believed what Jesus had already
said. Jesus wasn’t going to stay
dead! Mary had faith in her Son. We have seen how Jesus told His disciples
that He was going to be killed and rise from the dead multiple times. He said it at least 3 times, at least one of
which was on His final journey to Jerusalem through which we have been walking
in our study of the gospel of Luke. This
is the journey that all these women took with Him. They were part of Jesus’s huge entourage, and
His mother was part of it as well. We
know from other Bible passages about her, that she always made an effort to
attend the feasts in Jerusalem. This
Passover would have been no different. She
would have heard Jesus say that He had to die and rise again, and out of all
the people who heard, she alone took Jesus at His word. She didn’t try to stop His suffering. She didn’t question. She didn’t try to change His mind. She believed.
She knew from Jesus’s infancy that He would suffer and she would suffer
with Him. Simeon told her that Jesus
would cause the rise and fall of many, and that a sword would pierce Mary’s soul
as well. Gabriel had told her that Jesus
would be the eternal ruler. This is the
woman who not only knew that Jesus could keep wine from running out, but that
He would do so. This is a woman who
heard her 12-year son say that He was focused on His Father, meaning God. So when Jesus said He would rise again, Mary
believed. She didn’t have to have proof
first. She wouldn’t be concerned about
where Jesus was when the others found the tomb empty. She would trust that her Son was doing His
Father’s work. And whenever He did
appear to her, she didn’t try to keep Him.
She knew from Jesus’s words on the cross, that her life from now on
would be different.
We know that from the cross, Jesus
entrusted John with the care of His mother.
John, like the rest of the disciples, tried to stay on the down-low
after Jesus’s death, so that they too would not be targeted. Most returned to the upper room. Mary would have gone with John, and John
would have done his best to comfort her and keep her safe. At the same time, as the 3rd day
approached, she would have been a comfort to them because she did believe and
wouldn’t have been so fearful. Some of
the early church fathers say that Mary didn’t go to the tomb because upon
rising, Jesus appeared to her first in private.
This is taught by St. Anselm, St. Ignatius of Loyola, and also later by
St. Teresa of Avila as well as others. When
the angel came to roll the stone away, the angel wasn’t letting Jesus out of
the tomb, rather, he was revealing that the tomb was already empty. It is possible that Jesus appeared to Mary
first, while the others were still asleep, and Mary, in the way she was prone
to do, would have kept this in her heart.
We know that Jesus had a private meeting with Peter, and we don’t know
the details of it, so having a meeting with Mary is also likely. I think it is likely that Jesus met with His
mom first, though w we don’t know when.
Perhaps while the women were returning from the tomb. Some say she would have joined in the telling
of Jesus’s resurrection with the other women, and they wouldn’t have believed
her either. We know that John ran with
Peter to the empty tomb, and he even was the first to go inside, and yet he
didn’t believe right away. But Mary
did. She believed before it happened.
We also know that Jesus didn’t waste
His time after the resurrection trying to convince His naysayers and enemies
that He was alive. Rather, He appeared to those who were His followers to
encourage them and to commission them to spread the news that He is alive and
that He is indeed Lord and the Savior of the world. Since Mary, of all people, had faith in her
Son, He would have appeared to her, but she didn’t have to go to the tomb with
burial spices. The idea that she would
have been first is very believable. Appearing
to His mother first would have honored her as not just for being His mother,
but for her faithfulness. We know from
Acts 1:14 that after the ascension, Mary was praying with the disciples in the
upper room. She probably had witnessed
the ascension as well, and although Mary had already received the Holy Spirit,
she prayed with the others for God’s will.
She was a committed follower of her Son, not simply His mother.
Though the Bible doesn’t tell us how
or when Jesus appeared to His mother, what we want to remember on this Mother’s
Day is her faith. She took Jesus at His
word. She submitted to the will of God,
even when it was most difficult. This is
what we take away today. The example of
this mother’s faith is not just for mothers.
It is for all of us. Do we
believe what Jesus says? Do we believe
what He says about Himself and what He will do?
How much proof do you require before you trust what Jesus says to be
true? Do we hold fast to His promises
even when our circumstances tell us not to believe? Do we believe when we are overcome by
grief? Do we believe when we are afraid,
and even fear for our lives? Do we
believe Jesus’s warnings, that there are real consequences for our choices and
behavior? Do we take seriously the
Lord’s commands? We have seen that
obedience is the measure of faith. How
does your life reflect your belief in Jesus?
We have also seen that faith is accompanied by prayer, just as we
observe Mary in prayer with the disciples.
When we pray, it is good practice to pray Scripture. We can repeat Scripture back to God asking
God to complete what God has already promised in God’s Word.
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