They Have Taken The Lord From The Tomb

Mary Magdalene approached the tomb heartbroken; her mind filled with so many questions, doubts and sorrows.

Her day had started every early, before the sun rose, so she could be at the tomb before the first signs of light. Despite her terrible pain, she came to the tomb of Jesus in order to finish preparing the body.

Her sorrow turned into bewilderment as she approached, the stone had been removed from the tomb!

Just when Mary thought things could not get any worse, it seemed that they had: “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him!” She probably also said, her eyes full of tears, “Who could have done this? Where have they taken him?” She was probably condemning and judging Jesus’ enemies, blaming them for stealing the body. Her already deteriorated spirit from the events of the preceding days weakened even more. “I cannot take it much longer,” she must have thought. “When will this suffering stop? I thought it could not get any worse!”

She searched for Peter and John to share the terrible news. Nothing made sense anymore; her heart was heavy with disappointment.

Yet that very same day, after experiencing the depths of pain and suffering, Mary Magdalene experienced unmatchable bliss and joy. The darkness and turbulence that had settled over her vanished immediately at the first sight of her Risen Lord.

Christ turned her sorrow into joy.

Christ turned her loss into plenty.

Mary’s encounter with the empty tomb of the Risen Christ dispelled the darkness, crushing all pain and sorrow.

The Risen Christ gave her hope and strength to continue onwards despite the bruises and wounds of her life. The Risen Christ took her from confusion to clarity, from darkness to light, from death to life.

We have all experienced, or perhaps are experiencing now, similar feelings as Mary Magdalene. We have all experienced the cross and may have said to God with a rebellious or disappointed heart, “Lord, where are you?” We have shared in Mary Magdalene’s sorrow of not finding Jesus in our distress. Like her we have panicked, perhaps even blaming God in our misfortune. Things have gotten worse when we thought they couldn’t anymore.

Just as Mary found hope and joy in the Risen Christ, so too must we, find hope and joy in Christ. Jesus Christ, risen today, dispels the darkness of our souls, calming our anxieties and struggles, and filling us with hope and joy.

We must not forget the empty tomb.

The Christian life calls us to live every day the experience of Mary Magdalene on the day of the resurrection. In every event of our lives, we lift up our hearts and minds to God, trusting that he will fill us with hope and joy because the tomb is empty.

An ancient homily of the Church for Holy Saturday imagines Jesus approaching Adam for the first time. As Jesus grasps Adam’s hand to raise him, he says, “Awake, O Sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.”

The Risen Christ gave light to Mary Magdalene in her distress. The Risen Christ wants to give us light in our distress. Christ wants to mend our brokenness and heal our wounds.

He wants to satisfy our every desire, he wants to walk with us in our trials, he wants to fill us with joy and hope after having squashed and defeated our greatest foe, which is death.

All our troubles and sorrows find redemption and meaning in the Risen Christ. Saint Paul teaches us that had Jesus not risen from the dead, our faith would be in vain. We must never forget the empty tomb.

The Church invites us today to share with Mary Magdalene in the joy of the resurrection, in the joy of knowing that the tomb is empty. Allow Christ to fill you, to heal you, to calm you and to forgive you as He did Mary Magdalene.

The Risen Christ has the power to transform us as he did Mary Magdalene. Mary’s desperate words “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him!” are turned into joyful ones in the 11th century Easter Sequence, “Tell us, Mary, what did you see on the way? I saw the tomb of the living Christ, and the glory of His rising, the angelic witnesses, the shroud and his clothes.”

May the Risen Christ, truly present among us on this altar, transform us as He did Mary Magdalene. May our encounter with Him dispel the darkness of our hearts so we may be now and always filled with hope and joy which comes only from knowing that the tomb is empty.

Happy Easter!