“Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). — John 20:16 (NLT)
Mary Magdalene was not expecting Easter.
She came to the tomb that morning not with hope, but with spices. Her hands were prepared to anoint a dead body. Her eyes were filled with tears. Her heart was broken open in grief.
And Jesus was standing right there.
But she didn’t recognize Him.
Not because He was hidden.
Not because He had changed.
But because grief clouds clarity.
This moment in the garden is stunningly human—and utterly divine. The first person to encounter the resurrected Jesus is a woman. A woman who had been delivered. A woman of means. A woman who knew what it meant to follow… and what it meant to lose.
And Jesus doesn’t explain theology.
He doesn’t perform a sign.
He doesn’t argue or prove.
He simply says her name.
“Mary.”
In one word, everything shifts. From sorrow to joy. From searching to seeing. From lost to found.
Jesus didn’t raise her from the dead—He raised her from despair.
And He did it with recognition, not instruction.
He did it with presence, not argument.
He still does.
✨ Reflection
- Is there an area of your life where you feel like Mary at the tomb—looking for God, but not seeing Him?
- What if He’s already there, waiting to speak your name?
- Are you listening?
CLICK HERE TOP SEE THE SERMON THAT INSPIRED THIS DEVOTIONAL.
