Almost 3pm on friday, March 25th, Good Friday.

The Lake was still, the sky dark on this Friday of Holy Week, March 25th.

Easter Tuesday

Mary of Magdala at the Tomb Jn 20:11-18

Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "They have taken my Lord, and I don't know where they laid him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?" She thought it was the gardener and said to him, "Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him." Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to him in Hebrew, "Rabbouni," which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, "Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father.
But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and then reported what he had told her.

"Stop holding onto me" Jesus said to Mary of Magdala. It stands out and echos to me this morning upon rereading this gospel narrative from John after just recently having read the parallel portion in Matthew. It is an admonition to not cling to let go. It is hard to let go of a loved one who has died. I am reminded this morning of those whom I love who are seriously ill and dying, that I am in my heart still clinging to.

She thought at first the Jesus was the gardener and had not recognised him. How can this be? Could the resurrected Jesus have looked so different? Had her tears blinded her? A stone carving from the way of the cross of Medieval times that is in the courtyard of the Metropolitan Cloisters Museum comes to mind. Jesus has a broad brimed straw gardener's hat and an astonished Mary of Magdala is clinging to his feet at the time of realization of who he is. These ways of the cross were stone and commonly made outside of the gates of the Medieval cities and were physically on the way to the area cemetery. The connection of the ways of the cross and the dead of the people was quite concrete. The emotions of the Passion and Resurrection story come to life on the faces of the carved stone in a way beyond words.

When Mary of Magdala does recognise Jesus she calls him "Rabbouni". Jesus is teacher and Lord. His entire life a lesson for me to follow. The model of a way to live in love in the paths of God. Without the example, there is little illuminated.