Mary Stayed

 . . . but she did not know that it was Jesus.

 - From John 20

Mary Magdalene was inconsolable. She stood outside the tomb of Jesus, crying. She had been there all of one day, and over two nights. 

I'm reading my own imagination into it. I believe she followed along, and did not leave the side of the Lord, not even once, from the moment He died until His resurrection. I picture her in her constant grief. She cried as Jesus did, when her brother, Lazarus, died the first time. 

The cry of grief, from the death of a loved one, is distinct and unique. It's a cry that you expect. There is nothing odd about it. Families gather around the loved one that has just fallen into the sleep of death.

They might take the hand of the departed, noticing along the way as the skin becomes cooler, and cooler, to the touch. For some time, the loved one appears to be only in a deep sleep . . . with the exception that, while living, a sleeping person still is making some exertion to prop him or herself up, in some form. Even in deep sleep, the body may move slightly, to get more comfortable. 

But the dead person is in complete surrender. Inertia, or gravity, is the single force operating upon the corpse. 

Mary followed the dead Lord throughout those days. 

But if I say she wept, inconsolably, that is not to say she was a weak person. It is not to say that she should, hopefully soon, pick herself up and move on. Her commitment to follow the Lord, even in death, bespeaks a strength of character. She stayed. She showed up and didn't leave. She remained, when all the others left. Her audible cries were more like hymns of praise than shrieks of despair. 

When she turned away, for a few moments, Jesus took a deep break, and stood up. He could move like a thought, now, as His body was now eternal, unworldly. He slipped around behind Mary as she peaked in and noticed the tomb empty, except for two shining Angels. 

At first glance, she did not recognize Him. Yes, it was definitely Jesus, all right. But now His essence was changed into, maybe, pure energy (albeit operating still, in a physical, touchable Being). It was obviously Jesus, but she had never seen Him like this, and it took some adjusting. 

But here's the point - - - you can spend every waking and sleeping moment with Jesus . . . with Him all along, right there within reach. And yet when He rises up and soars into a higher realm, we miss Him, for a moment. It may take faith, even, to recognize the Lord in His eternal state. 

And He's standing right near you, even now.