Called by Name
Study on John 20:1-18
Each of the gospels tell Jesus’ story in different ways. Sometimes those differences are minor and sometimes they are significant. John says that Mary Magdalene goes to Jesus’ tomb while it is still dark and by herself. Matthew, Mark, and Luke say the women disciples go at dawn and as a group to the tomb to anoint Jesus’ body with spices. In all of the gospel accounts of the resurrections, the other disciples are told of the empty tomb. John, though, tells the story focused on Mary Magdalene to set up the one to one encounter between Jesus and Mary that begins in John 20:11.
In doing so, John highlights Mary’s grief so we can feel it alongside her. We all possess the experience of grief and this shared experience draws us into the story. Once in the story, John invites us to experience it fully, which means walking through it slowly. For Mary, “the absence of his body is catastrophic. There is nothing residual of him, no touchstone, of remembrance, no vestige of actual presence, no place that is not empty of him” (P. Duke, Feasting on the Gospels: John, vol 2, 315). In relationship with Jesus, Mary had been seen, she had been called by name, she had been included as a part of community. Now, that was gone and she faces the complete loss of Jesus with the empty tomb. I imagine that lost in her grief she feels like she doesn't know who she is, how to act, what is okay to do and what isn't, her friends had gone home and left her there, she was lost. She imagines herself alone and maybe unworthy of love, she imagines that she is no longer seen and since she isn't seen, she doesn't have a place to belong. If she could just find where they had taken his body, then she would have a place to go, a touchstone of remembrance and maybe that would be enough.
She asks that question of the one she thinks is the gardener. Mary is blinded by her grief; she cannot see who he is. But then he calls her name. This one thought to be the gardener sees her and calls her name and in this moment a transformation happens. Before something or someone is named, we don’t notice it. Naming draws connection and then you can move toward it or away from it. As Mary is seen and named, she again is able to see and name. She again has a place to belong; she again knows that she is loved and cherished.
John tells the story of the resurrection differently from the other gospels as a way to invite us into the story that we may experience Mary’s grief along with her joy of encountering the resurrected Jesus. John reminds us that God never walks by us with eyes glazed. God always moves toward us in love.
Reflection Questions:
Jesus calls Mary’s name and she recognizes him in that instant. How can we recognize the moments when God calls our own names?
Have you ever felt that Christ has called you by name as he called Mary? What would such recognition feel like? Where in your life and communities are you most thoroughly known?
Have you ever experienced Christ’s presence in an unexpected face?