Who do I see?

The Easter story is not just about resurrection. It is also a story about seeing and unseeing, about understanding and misunderstanding. It is a story about the ability to grow and change.

I love to think of Mary Magdalen going to the tomb, intent on anointing the body of Jesus. She does not stop to consider whether she can roll the huge stone away, or how she will get past the soldiers who are guarding the place. She goes thinking only of honoring the body of Jesus. When she finds the tomb empty, she runs to tell the disciples, who come, look and then leave.

Mary Magdalen does not leave. She stays in the garden and weeps. She does not know where Jesus is, so she stays at the place she last saw him. He was dead, but he was there. And when Jesus reveals himself to her, she does not recognize him.

There are many theories as to why Mary Magdalen does not recognize Jesus. Some say she was weeping and so tears blurred her vision. Some say she expected him dead, so did not recognize him alive. But regardless of the reason, the truth is, Mary looked straight at Jesus and called him the gardener (Jn 20:15).

I do the same thing. I look at people, situations, even my faith, and have a tendency to call it by another name. My judgements are not always true. I see, but not always what is there.

I believe this is Jesus main issue with the scribes and pharisees. They felt they could not make a mistake. They believed they knew. They said, "We see" when in fact, they were blind (Jn 9:41).

I must have a faith like Mary Magdalen, one that is attentive to my name being called, and my eyes being opened. To be aware I may make mistakes in judgments, or in perceptions.

Mary Magdalen accepted that she mistakenly called Jesus the gardener. She did not hesitate for one moment to accept that fact, and ran to embrace Jesus (Jn 20:16).

It is an example for me. For to see Jesus, I must sometimes admit, I have it wrong, I have judged falsely, I have failed to see.