“…With every fiber in her being, Mary M. begged the gardener to tell her where he moved her beloved Rabbi. Many would’ve dismissed her that day claiming she had lost her mind again, but Jesus didn’t let this be the case. After her plea for knowledge of His location, Jesus opened her eyes to His presence. He didn’t blind her, as He would Saul of Tarsus. No, He gently called her by her given name, “Mary.”
He didn’t call her Magdalene.
He called her “Mary.”
Stay with me in this moment for just a little while longer. The scripture continues quickly, but can we just savor this sweet moment before we move on?
When Magdalene saw the gardener, she had turned her face from him as she asked him where he had moved her Rabbi. Perhaps she didn’t want him to see her face. But Jesus didn’t need to see her face to know who she was.
Mary hadn’t recognized Jesus; He no longer looked the same. Though she didn’t recognize Him, I would have thought she would’ve known His voice. But she didn’t recognize His voice until He called her by name. At the sound of her name Mary turned around to see the one for whom she had so desperately been searching and grieving.
Her heart and mind would never be the same. Jesus had saved her twice, both times “in the tombs,” in the presence of death and insanity. Perhaps He’d restored her once to Mary called Magdalene, but this time He restored her simply as “Mary.” Mary M.’s name was restored that day.
Our names are so significant to us. They are the one thing we carry with us from the moment we are born. For some of us, our names spoken from childhood bring comfort and good memories. But for others, the sound of our name brings pain and hurt. When Jesus calls us by name, however, it is renewed and restored in our hearts. It is given new life, just as we are.”
Bask in His love today.
You have been chosen. It doesn’t matter how smart, talented, beautiful, or sane you are.
Listen for His voice. He is calling your name. His call heals us, frees us, and redeems us forever. And it gives us purpose.
