You ever have one of those moments...? You're looking everywhere for something, usually under stress of a circumstance. Like you’re late heading out the door and you’re looking for your sunglasses – checking the counter, digging through your bag, maybe even getting a little frustrated – only to have someone point out they're perched right on top of your head? Or maybe you're frantically searching for your phone, convinced you left it somewhere, while you're actually talking on it? (Don't worry, your secret's safe with me!)
It's amazing, isn't it? How sometimes the very thing we're desperately looking for is right there, practically staring us in the face. But we're too close to the situation, too focused on the search, too wrapped up in our own headspace to actually see it. We miss the obvious because our perspective is off.
That feeling, that kind of 'missing what's right in front of you,' is exactly where we find Mary Magdalene on that first Resurrection morning in John chapter 20. She’s at the tomb, completely consumed by grief. Her world has ended, Jesus is gone, and she's desperately trying to make sense of it.
The scripture says, John 20:11 "Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” She's weeping, searching, talking to angels... then she turns around, sees Jesus Himself standing right there... but she doesn't recognize Him! She thinks He’s the gardener! The answer to her deepest longing, the resurrected Christ, is right in front of her, but her grief, her tears, her expectations – they're like those sunglasses on her head she can't find. She can't see what's plainly there.
And don't we do that too? We get so consumed by our pain, our confusion, our circumstances, that we fail to recognize Jesus standing right beside us. We're praying for Him to show up, looking for His help, but we're so focused on the empty tomb of our situation that we miss His living presence.
But here’s the beautiful part. Jesus doesn't leave Mary guessing or searching frantically. He initiates. He does something incredibly personal. Verse 16: "Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’" Just her name. Spoken by the voice she knew. And in that instant, everything shifts. Her perspective snaps into focus. She sees Him! Here’s the main point, church: Jesus meets us right smack dab in the middle of our pain, even when we can't see Him clearly, and He calls us by name. He knows how grief and struggle can cloud our vision. He knows sometimes we can't see the forest for the trees. But He cuts through it all with a personal call. We don't have to rely on ourselves to 'step back' and figure it out; He steps in and reveals Himself. He helps us see.
This encounter reveals something powerful: Jesus knows you personally and calls you. You might feel lost, confused, blind to His presence right now, but He sees you. He knows your name, and He's speaking it into your situation.
Maybe you’re not in a difficult situation, then spend time listening to Jesus. Mary had listened to Jesus countless times before, so she recognized when He called her name.
As we move into our prayer time, let’s prepare our hearts for Jesus to speak our name.