05/04/2026
๊ฐสแดแด แดแดแดสษดษชษดษข แดแด แดษช๊ฑ๊ฑษชแดษด
By Di Fernandez
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, โ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ? ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ?โ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, โ๐๐ช๐ณ, ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ, ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐บ.โ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, โ๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ.โ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ค, โ๐๐ข๐ฃ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช!โ (๐ธ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ). (๐๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ฏ 20:15-16)
Mary mistook Jesus for the gardener. Why didnโt she recognize her Master and Teacher, whom she had followed for years and loved dearly? Were her eyes blinded by tears? Had she, like the other disciples, forgotten His promise to rise from the grave three days after his death? Or could she simply not fathom it, even after witnessing Lazarusโs resurrection?
Whatever the reason, she didnโt recognize him, even as He asked why she wept and whom she sought. But when He called her nameโโMary!โโlight broke through.
Just one word, her name. Earlier, he had addressed her as โwoman.โ Now, He called her by her name. He knew her personally.
Her response shifted too: from formal โSirโ to intimate โRabboni,โ a term of deep devotion.
I wonder how Jesus said it. Sternly, as a gentle reprimand for not recognizing Him? Chidingly, like a prompt? Perhaps, He said it reassuringly since she was sobbing in distress.
Scripture doesnโt specify. But it does tell us that hearing Him say her name prompted her to recognize Him as her dearly loved Teacher and Lord.
When Jesus called Mary by name, I believe He spoke it lovingly to emphasize that ๐๐ถ๐ knowing her mattered more than her knowing him.
Grief, weariness, and difficulties can blind us to Jesusโ presence, especially when weโre hurting most. Yet He calls to us until we become aware of His presence.
Once Mary recognized Him, He sends her to proclaim His resurrection, the miracle she witnessed firsthand, to the other disciples.
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐๐ฐ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ข๐ด๐ค๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ.โโ
๐๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ข๐จ๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ช๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ๐ด: โ๐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ!โ ๐๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ. (๐๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ฏ 20:16-17)
All four Gospels confirm Mary Magdalene as the first witness of Jesus' resurrection and that He had entrusted her with this world-changing news.
The *Tyndale Devotional Bible* notes: โIn a legal setting, the testimony of a woman was considered unreliable, subject to undue influences of the heart and imagination and therefore inadmissible. Men of the first centuryโJewish, Greek, Roman, Arabโall held this view... They easily dismissed the words of a woman if those words didnโt fit their assumptions. The disciples rejected Mary Magdaleneโs testimony of having seen Jesus (Mark 16:11), and they were later rebuked for that by Jesus himself (Mark 16:14). Some biblical scholars consider this one of the clearest signs of the Gospelโs authenticity. No man of the first century would fabricate a story about a miracle and then undermine it by having women as the first witnesses to it. It had to be true.โ
What does it say about Jesus choosing a grief-stricken woman as the first herald of His resurrectionโthe pivotal victory over sin and death?
Easter greetings remind us today: amid lingering sin and death, we live with resurrection hope.
If grief clouds that promise for you, hear Jesus calling your name through the confusion. As you recognize Him in your brokenness, heed His commission: *Go and tell.*
Those best able to share the Good News of Jesus' Resurrection are those who know the brokenness of life without Him and now live in confident peace of being known by Him. They cannot help but say, โI have seen the Lord!โ