Throughout Primary, Young Women’s and now Relief Society, I’ve been taught about women in the scriptures. I learned about righteous examples of women who were kind, brave, humble, contemplative, service-oriented, loving, and strong. With the Easter season, I am reminded of one such woman in the New Testament, Mary Magdalene.
Little is known of Mary Magdalene’s life, though she is one of the most frequently mentioned women in the New Testament.
We know that Mary came from Magdala, which is on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee. We know that she became a devoted disciple of Christ after having seven devils cast out of her. We know that she was counted among what Luke refers to as “certain women” who followed Christ (Luke 8:2).
We know Mary Magdalene was with Jesus’s mother, Mary, as He was on the cross (Mark 15:40). And again she was at His burial (Matthew 27:61). We know that she was at the garden tomb the morning of the resurrection, and we know that she saw two angels in Christ’s tomb as she wept for the missing body of her Lord (John 20).
And, perhaps most importantly, we know that Christ appeared to her first following His resurrection.
How choice among women must Mary Magdalene have been to be chosen as the first to see the resurrected Lord.
And yet, when He appeared to her, she “knew not that it was Jesus”. (John 20:14).
How did Mary Magdalene, a woman who knew Jesus Christ, who walked and talked with Him, who knew His voice because she had spoken with Him and followed Him, not immediately recognize that it was Christ who asked "Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?" (John 20:13)
Surely, she would hear His voice and know who He was.
Instead she answered, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.”
I now envision a woman burdened down by unfathomable grief. She had just gone to the tomb and seen that His body was gone. Her Lord and Savior had been taken from her seemingly again.
I imagine an exhausted woman who had spent the past several days weeping and working. Only three days had passed since she saw Him crucified, and we know she attended his burial in this time.
I picture a woman struggling to find hope when the light of the world had been lost and the darkness seemed too deep to overcome. In Matthew 27, we learn that upon Christ’s death “the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent” (Matthew 27:50).
I see a loyal woman of faith who had come that morning with sweet spices to anoint the body of Christ, only to find His body gone, seemingly stolen from its tomb.
I wonder what she sounded like when she replied to Him. Was she panicked or afraid? Was she quiet and sorrowful? Did she beg through tears and sobs to know where his body was? Or did she try to sound strong through her pain?
I know that she wept.
Christ did not rebuke her for not seeing Him through her grief. Instead, he uttered one word—her name “Mary”. She answered “Rabboni; which is to say, Master” (John 20:16).
Of all the things he could have said, he chose to say Mary. By calling out to her individually, He opened her eyes to who He was: her Savior and King.
How many times do we walk through our lives burdened by sorrow, fear, or sin, and fail to see our Lord and Savior reaching out to us? How often do we feel so desperately alone that it seems the even the Savior of the world can not reach us to heal our hearts and make our burdens light. With our hearts heavy and our eyes wet with tears, we often are blind to the loving hand of Christ in each of our lives.
And how many times does He quietly show us that He knows who we are and that He is there?
Perhaps a family member, friend, or member of the ward sends a message (or plate of cookies) at the right moment. Maybe a scripture takes on new meaning that seems tailored just to you, or you receive an answer to a prayer that has gone unanswered for so long. Maybe a talk in church or a testimony reminds you of God’s infinite love for you. Or maybe someone sits by you or calls without knowing you needed to not feel alone that day.
The methods and answers will vary but they will come.
I testify that Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again on the third day. I testify that He suffered for our pains and afflictions. I testify that He knows the pain we carry and He hears the silent pleadings of our hearts. I testify that He knows and loves each of you with a love that knows no bounds our measure. And because He lives, I know that we, too, will live again.
–– Kassidy Miller
