“11 But Mary stood outside the tomb weeping. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb. 12 There she saw two angels in white sitting where Jesus’ body had been laid, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She replied, ‘They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14 Having said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? ‘Whom are you looking for?’ She thought he was the gardener and said to him, ‘Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned towards him and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabboni!’ which means ‘Teacher’. 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”’ 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples and announced to them, ‘I have seen the Lord.’ And she told them what he had said to her.”
 

This year (2024), we are invited to celebrate Easter throughout April and well beyond. Until Pentecost, for no fewer than 50 days, we observe the joyful feast of Christ’s Resurrection in the church year. It is the core of our faith and the foundation of our hope: the One who became man (Christmas), who walked the path of a human being to its ultimate consequence, death (Good Friday), was brought back to life by God, from whom he had come. Through his death and resurrection, we believe, the whole world has been freed from sin and death. Easter means: God’s life, life in abundance, has been opened up to us. And Jesus, who has returned home to heaven, has endowed us with his Holy Spirit so that we may already enjoy this life here on earth.

For me, one of the most beautiful stories that conveys this mystery narratively is that of Mary Magdalene in the Gospel of John. The message of Easter is, after all, truly unbelievable: so unbelievable that abstract theological language can scarcely convey its full force. It needs to be communicated. But where could the communication of hope and life be more intense than in a profound, joyful encounter?
Mary Magdalene, filled with grief, seeks the Beloved who has been brutally torn from her by the cross. Mary loved Jesus deeply and misses him unspeakably. I am reminded of the current wars: how many people might there be at this very moment who are suffering terribly from the loss of a beloved relative or friend!
Mary’s infinite grief and longing for Jesus form the dramatic backdrop to the encounter described. At first, it even seems as though her dead friend has been stolen from her: even the body is gone. In such an extraordinary situation, does she recognise the two figures in white robes, who ask her the reason for her tears, as angels?
In the blink of an eye – often a change of direction is needed to see anew – she catches sight of the Master. But she does not recognise him. She mistakes him for the gardener. I am familiar with such situations: unexpected encounters of great significance that, amidst the banality of everyday life, I do not even realise at first.

The decisive moment: Jesus calls her by name. “Mary!” What Patrick Roth calls the “Magdalene moment”. Once again, a turning towards him – scenically illogical, but not in substance. Now she truly turns, inwardly as well: towards the one she has now recognised, whom she addresses as “Rabbuni”. What incomprehensible happiness, what inexpressible joy in the expression of this confession!
Who would not be moved by the depth and intensity of this intimate encounter?
Without wishing to elevate the encounter to an erotic level – does not such a scene of tender reunion between a man and a woman get under one’s skin far more deeply than the theological formula: “Jesus has risen from the dead”?
For me, at any rate, it is so. I experience resurrection, Easter, wherever I am gifted with joyful experiences and encounters in everyday life. This is often linked to surprises. Surprise seems to be an overlooked Easter, indeed theological, category.

Unlike in heaven, such moments of joy (moments of ‘now’) cannot, unfortunately, be preserved on earth. By their very nature, they are usually brief. The risen Jesus commands Mary not to hold on to him. Letting go – an art that every person must practise anew.
In John 20, however, there is a brilliant transformation into which Mary Magdalene is to transform her ‘now’ moment: She who has been touched by the Living One is to, indeed must, become a herald. So she sets out, becomes the apostle of the apostles, and proclaims life: to the brothers and sisters, and through the word of the Gospel to the whole world at all times.
Let us, too, allow ourselves to be surprised, to discover God’s life in our own lives and to pass it on to others. In this spirit: Happy Easter!

Gerhard Hotze