Special Easter Sunday: The One Who Speaks Your Name

Happy Easter.... Happy Resurrection Sunday.... Everyone.

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SPEAKER_00 0:14

My reading today comes from John chapter twenty, eleven to eighteen. And in it we meet Mary standing outside the tomb of Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 0:27

It says, But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb, and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. Then they said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and she did not know that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? She supposed him to be the gardener. So she said to him, Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned to him and said, Raboni, which is to say teacher. Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father and to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that he had spoken these things to her. Father, on this Easter Sunday, teach us what you need to teach us. What we need, give it to us, and what we are not yet, make us. Amen. There are moments in life where grief can arrive like a wave. We never even saw it coming. Whether we've known that feeling personally or watched it unfold in the life of another, the death of someone we love brings a collision of emotions. Fear, emptiness, maybe anger, confusion, but always the aching sense that the world has suddenly shifted. Our Jewish friends understand this well. Their seven-day period of mourning, Shiva it's called, is a quiet space where nothing is rushed, nothing is fixed, nothing is expected except to live in the present and the presence. It's a recognition that grief is not a problem to solve, but a valley to walk through. And into a valley just like that, we today meet Mary Magdalene on this first Easter morning. She comes to the tomb in the half-light of dawn, carrying all the weight of loss. The one who had healed her, restored her, and given her back her life is gone. And so she does what many of us would do in such a situation. She cries, she weeps. John tells us she stands outside the tomb. Tears are falling. She's unable to make sense of what she's saying. She wasn't looking for a risen Lord, she was looking just for his body. She was looking for somewhere to place her grief. And then heaven interrupts her sorrow and two angels ask her, Woman, why are you weeping? Now from an earthly perspective, this question might seem almost cruel, but from heaven's perspective it makes perfect sense. Because if there's one place in the universe where tears are out of place, it must be at the empty tomb of Jesus. Mary doesn't yet know that truth. She only knows the loss she's feeling. Then another voice speaks from behind her, and she turns and sees a man she actually assumes is the gardener, and she pours out her confusion to him. If you've taken him away, tell me where you've put him, she says. It's almost ironic. She's speaking to Jesus about Jesus. She's asking the risen Lord where she can find the dead one. But grief does that, doesn't it? It narrows our vision, it blinds us to hope, and it can make the hope of resurrection feel very far off, almost like a stranger. And then everything for her changes with just one word. Mary. He says her name. Mary. Not a sermon, not even an explanation, certainly not a rebuke, just her name. The name and the voice, the same voice that once freed her from darkness when he saved her. Now, today he calls her again, gently, personally, unmistakably him. And in that moment her world is made new. The tears stop, the fog of confusion lifts. Then the risen Christ is standing before her, alive, present, and speaking directly into her sorrow. This is the heart of Easter. Not simply that Jesus rose from the dead, but that the risen Christ, Jesus, comes to us into our lives, into our grief, into our confusion, our searching, and speaks our name individually and personally. Now Mary clings to him, as perhaps any of us would, but Jesus gently redirects her and says, Do not hold on to me, go instead to my brothers. In other words, the resurrection that you see is not just for you, Mary. This is for the world. So go and tell them. You see, Easter always calls us and moves us in two directions inward as Christ will dry our tears, meet us at our point of need, and restore our hope, but it's meant to be outward as well, as he sends us to share the good news that has changed everything. That's why from this point on the early church literally exploded out across the region and across continents even. That's why the New Testament exists at all for all of us today. That is why faith still can rise in people's hearts today. Because the tomb was truly empty on that day, and because Jesus really appeared, and because he lives. Mary, Peter's, Paul's, and ours, all our lives are still being transformed by the living Christ, if we know him and call upon him by name. Now perhaps you come to this Easter 2026 with your own mixture of emotions, joy or sorrow, maybe faith and doubt together, longing and confusion. Well, if so, you're in good company. These first disciples were not triumphant heroes. They were a bewildered group, grieving and unsure at what the future hold. But then the risen Jesus meets with them, and he meets with us still. He knows your situation, good or bad, he knows your tears, he understands any questions you might have, but he also speaks your name, not to shame you, not to hassle you, but to call you into life. And that's the call that Easter makes on the life of every believer, not just today, but every day. I just want to close this Easter by saying thank you all for being with me, wherever you are and however you listen to or access my teaching and my podcast ministry. And if you'd like to keep journeying deeper into Scripture with me, this week on the Bible Project Daily Podcast, we will be exploring 1 Kings chapters 15 through 19. In our journey through the whole Bible, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. The chapters this week are full of examples of God's faithfulness, his training, his challenges, and his surprising encouragements. It's a wonderful place to continue your Easter journey, watching how God forms people, how he strengthens them, and how he can speak into the most challenging and darkest moments. You can subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. And if this devotional has blessed you, then please consider sharing it with someone who might need to hear their name spoken to them individually by the risen Christ today. Let me close on this special day, this Easter Sunday, this resurrection day. Let me close with prayer. Whether that be where we weep or where we wander or simply where we wait. Thank you that you speak our names with the same gentleness that you showed Mary that day in the garden, calling us out of our confusion and into a place of hope. And as we walk into this Easter season, open our eyes to recognize your presence, lift the burdens we carry, dry the quiet tears we hide, and breathe your resurrection life into the very place that feels empty or unclean. Teach us to trust, to trust you more deeply, to follow you more closely, and to share your love more freely. May the joy of the empty tomb witnessed here become the strength of our days and the peace of our nights. We offer ourselves to you again, our hearts, our minds, and life, knowing that you will be with us always, even through the valley of the shadow. Thank you, Lord, and I pray this prayer in the name of the one who conquered death and still calls us all by name.

SPEAKER_01 11:01

Amen. Happy Easter, happy Resurrection Sunday.