“WHO IS IT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?” This is the question Jesus asked Mary Magdalene on His magnificent Resurrection Morn. It’s the same one He is asking us this Easter morning.

John 20:1-18 records that unforgettable day: “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!'”

“So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.”

“Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, 'Woman, why are you crying?'”

“'They have taken my Lord away,' she said, 'and I don’t know where they have put him.' At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus."

"He asked her, 'Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?’ Thinking he was the gardener, she said, 'Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.'”

"Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!" (which means “Teacher”).

"Jesus said, 'Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

“Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: 'I have seen the Lord!' And she told them that he had said these things to her.”

There are many things about this accounting of Resurrection Morning that are absolutely astounding, yet deeply disturbing at the same time. Mary Magdalene, one of those closest to Jesus, is so visibly upset because His body is NOT in the tomb, she even accuses Jesus, whom she did NOT recognize, of stealing His own body!?!

Even though Jesus had preached to thousands and thousands, telling them He would save them from the penalty of their sins through His death and resurrection, they still didn't fully understand. The religious folks of His day believed that God’s word taught the resurrection of ALL His chosen people at the end time during Messiah’s reign. The raising of Jesus from the dead then just did not fit the religious tradition and timing they had come to believe in and expect.

Indeed, one of the earliest controversies in the Christian church centered around the Resurrection and when it should be celebrated. Because most of the Jewish community had not even recognized their own Lord who had delivered them from Egypt, and were still looking for their Messiah, the early church opted not to celebrate their Risen Lord during the same time as the Jews were celebrating what had become known as Passover Week, which began at the full moon during God’s appointed first month.

However, since Christians understood from the accounting of all four gospels that Jesus’s Resurrection DID actually occur during Passover Week, they appointed Easter using the dictates of the Jewish luni-solar calendar and approximated the date as the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox. And like Passover, the timing changes every year because the date is tied to a lunar moon cycle, and not to the sun, a solar cycle, like our fixed calendar months.

So where does all this information leave us this morning? Maybe a bit like Mary—in a whirlwind of absorbing things that just seem overwhelming and so beyond our control or understanding.

In the midst of it all, Jesus simply spoke her name. It was then that she turned toward Him and recognized Him and cried out in her native Aramaic tongue, “Rabboni!" The translation of “teacher” in our Bibles is truly a heartfelt respectful title only used by someone responding to a love much deeper and overwhelming than that of any we possess for our loved ones.

Many of us can really identify with Mary here. In the midst of our worst nightmare, barely able to even breathe, much less comprehend what was going on around us, Jesus simply called our name. And we were changed forever by a love so profound, so intimate, and so intensely dedicated to us, that we were humbled beyond words, refocused with a purpose and desire to share that same love with others.

Yes, as we gather to celebrate His Resurrection, He IS with us through the Holy Spirit. And He IS calling our name, inviting us into a much more personal relationship with Him than we ever knew existed. Indeed, “Rabboni” gave His life to teach us how much He truly loves us all.

Very clearly, who we find today depends upon our response to our Risen Lord as He calls out to us right at this very moment, "Who is it you are looking for?" May we be able to move forward with the words of Mary Magdalene on our lips, 'I have seen the Lord!'

Still, there is a statement made by Jesus to Mary that doesn’t seem to fit into traditional Resurrection dialogue. “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

This is a Resurrection Day statement that has life-changing effect when viewed through the lens of God’s appointed Holy Days of Passover in Leviticus 23. There was a sheaf offering of grain offered the Almighty on the specific Day of Firstfruits, a Holy Day marked by God for the day after the Sabbath. No harvest offering would be acceptable before God except the very first fruit of the spring harvest. When Jesus was raised from the dead on the 16th, the day after the Sabbath following the Passover Day feast, but had not yet ascended to the Father, He was on His way to God's Throne as the “Firstfruit” resurrection harvest of mankind. When the Almighty accepted Jesus as the Firstfruit offering, He guaranteed the same resurrection blessing for future harvest of His people. “…Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those those have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:20

Jesus is further revealed as the Firstfruits offering through the statement of the 1st century historian, Josephus “… on the sixteenth day of the month, they first partake of the fruits of the earth, for before that day they do not touch them." Remember Jesus's statement to Mary in the tomb? "Do not hold onto me, ("do not touch me" in some translations) for I have not yet ascended to the Father..." John 20:17

Many of us Christians will continue to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus during the coming Passover Week of April 23-30 this year. We can never celebrate him enough for His incredible gift of love and self-sacrifice! Follow our Facebook and church website posts to explore this Holy Week biblically fulfilled by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God!

“WHO IS IT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR?”