Jesus said to her “Mary” – John 20 : 16

On this night/day of true celebration in Christ, it is my privilege to wish you and your loved ones much joy and peace in believing this ‘joyful Easter-tide' . Well does the Church proclaim - ‘Christ is risen' . Well do we reply - ‘He is risen indeed. Alleluia!'.

Later, our Orthodox brothers and sisters will not just say, but shout, ‘ Christos Anesti' and loud will be the reply ‘ Alithos Anesti'. In the midst of death we are in life: the endless life of the risen Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit. Alleluia !

For that is what Mary and the disciples came to find: the start of human decomposition in the dead body of their dead Jesus, cruelly put to death and rescued from a ‘paupers grave' by the kindness of Joseph of Arimathea. There isn't a hint in the accounts of the burial of Jesus that the frightened disciples expected what we proclaim, the resurrection. Quite the opposite. In fact it is Matthew who hints at this through the concerns, not of the disciples but of the Pharisees and chief priests - (27:62-66). The concerns of the disciples centred upon the issue of gaining access to the tomb, past its ‘double guard' outside: the soldiers and the stone. Indeed, there appeared to be another real worry - they feared that the body would be removed during the night and the due courtesies of death, such as the anointing with spices, could not be fulfilled.

Their worst fears seemed to be well grounded when, on discovering that the stone had been rolled away, Mary Magdalene says to Peter and John – ‘ They have taken the Lord out of the tomb and we do not know where they have laid him' . Mary had understandably reached her opinion from the outside; having seen the stone rolled away, she turned and ran back to the others. Of John and Peter we read that, John ‘ bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there.. ' Of Peter, we read that he ‘ went in and saw..' (20: 5-6).

Peter and john returned home, but Mary Magdalene we read ‘stood weeping outside the tomb' ( 20:11 ). Then she bent low to peep inside and sees a vision of angels, who address her ‘Woman, why are you weeping?' (20:13). She replies that Jesus has been taken away and immediately turns round and meets a person she supposes to be the gardener and accuses him of hiding the dead body of the Lord and turns away again. The ‘gardener' Jesus calls her name ‘Mary' and she turns and in immediate recognition calls out ‘Rabbouni' , ‘Teacher' and reaches out to hold Jesus.

Jesus tells her not to hold onto her, ‘ Noli me Tangere' , but to return to the disciples with the astounding news of His living presence. This she does and declares to them ‘I have seen the Lord' ( 20:18 ). In so doing, her claim to be the primary evangelist; the first apostle, at least in John's the Evangelist's eyes, can be asserted. Why? Because it is the work of the apostle's to proclaim the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. More, such a mandate is based on a personal encounter with the risen Christ and a commission from him to declare the good news of ‘Jesus and the resurrection' (Acts 17:18 ). Incidentally, it was on this twofold basis that not only was Matthias added to the number of the 12, but Paul also claimed his status as an Apostle to the Gentiles later.

My brothers and sisters, we can chat and debate all day and all night about the means, as well as the end of the Easter stories. In short, about the historicity of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, our God and King. Further, we should not be afraid of so doing. Faithful discipleship demands it of us and we should always and often recall that it is fear, not doubt, which is the opposite of faith. So we do thank God for example, the Scriptures portray Thomas coming to faith through honest doubt and tangible desire ( 20:24 -29).

But for the Christian and for the Church of God , the resurrection is a non-negotiable of the Faith and of personal faithfulness. On the message of Easter hangs our very identity - ‘We are indeed an Easter People and alleluia is our song.' The very fact that we meet Sunday by Sunday is testimony to the fact that, like Mary Magdalene, we too gather to be with the risen Lord, ‘early on the first day of the week' (20:1). But especially, when we gather as we do now, to celebrate the eucharist, the ‘Great Thanksgiving of the Resurrection', which it is the duty and joy of all faithful Christians to celebrate weekly and especially every Easter.

In the gospel, three actions declare the presence of the risen Christ to Mary Magdalene in particular, which we should note for our Christian life. They are: the bending; the seeing and the hearing.

First, the bending. To enter the tomb, Mary had to bend low. If we are going to enter into the mystery of the Jesus story and its central tenet of his living, loving Easter presence, then we too must ‘bend low' in humility. In humility of mind, body and spirit are we to enter into this mystery of the abundant love of God in Christ that such loving mystery may lay hold of us and abide in and through us.

Secondly, when she bends, she sees. What does she see? Not a presence, but in the ‘ linen cloths' , an enigmatic sign both of absence and of presence. My brothers and sisters, our life in Christ is never always ‘blue-bell wood days'. There is an absence which however, when explored contains signs of hope and more, of real presence. Mary saw the ‘ linen cloths' . What are the ‘ linen cloths' which attract us deeper into the mystery of Christ's loving, living presence: bread and wine perhaps? Our Bible? Our needy? But it was only as a result of the bending and the searching that the encounter occurred. Mary was prepared ; she was ready to hear. Mary heard Jesus speak her name.

In the calling to her, in the naming of her name, Mary knows that it is the Lord.. Where does Jesus call our name; your name; my name? Where do you recognise the sound of his voice? For call us he does: at dawn, at midday , in the evening. In the lightness of youth and the mellowness of age: Jesus calls our names: Deborah, Jean, Jemma, Samantha.

My brothers and sisters of our risen Lord, when we bend low before the altar-table, and receive the body and the blood, Jesus calls our name in love. Or, before his most sacred word in quiet reflection, Jesus calls our name in love. Or, beside the pain and need of another, Jesus calls our name in love. Or, in the midst of the beauty of creation and how glorious does His creation appear today. For call our names he does. We keep company with Mary and the apostles when, like them, we too humble ourselves; empty ourselves and bend low in an honest desire to seek and to find the Lord Jesus. We hear best from such a posture.

Well does the Church proclaim - ‘Christ is risen' . Well do we reply - ‘He is risen indeed. Alleluia!'

2008