Whom Are You Seeking?

Easter 2014

The angel asks Mary: Whom are you seeking? We heard this before…

It was what Jesus asked the armed mob in the Garden. It was similar to the question He had asked the first disciples, “what are you seeking?”

They had thought that they had found what they were looking for, only to have that certainty shattered by the events of Good Friday. Jesus executed like a criminal, what could it means?

And now that empty tomb had presented a new and bewildering crisis.

Why are you weeping? Whom do you seek? She blubbers her confused response but comes to instant clarity when He speaks her name, “Mary.”

Easter is a day which raises that question for us afresh each year. Tday we begin fifty days pondering the most amazing event in history. Jesus was tortured, died and buried; now He is alive again in a new type of body!

Whom in deed are we looking for?

The uniqueness of Jesus is most clear on Easter Day. There have been many holy men, miracle workers and healers, we have found dozens of moral teachers and wise man who provide insight into God and life. There have been other great leaders and many martyrs. There is, however, only one such man who die and rose again. One. Jesus.

Whom are you looking for?

All through Lent we repeated that we were seeking Jesus. We were focusing our disciplines and practices on one task, seeking and finding Jesus. Our single minded goal was to know and love Jesus more on Easter than we did on Ash Wednesday. So how did you do?

Mary began to know Jesus in a new way after that garden encounter. Perhaps, like her, you found Him in the most unexpected place?

His victory over death is God’s declaration that Jesus is The One: He is Messiah, the Son of the Living God, the Lord and Savior.

Who or what rules your life?

What do you focus your limited resources seeking and pursuing?

We are all, like Mary, haunted by our traumas. We are sometimes terribly disappointed even by God. We can find ourselves, like Mary, wandering around confused and befuddled by life. We say “He is risen” but too often His silence feels like the grave is still occupied.

Today we are invited to hear His voice: to listen as He speaks our name.

We live by faith, not by sight. Mary’s encounter with Jesus is a moment of clarity for us. We cannot cling to Him, either. We, too, are sent out to tell others: Jesus is risen. The Kingdom draws near. Repent and believe.

The dead one is alive forever.

The rejected one is chosen of God.

The mocked one reigns with the Father in heaven.

The one who loves us is King.

He entrust us in mission.

And, o yes, He has prepared a place for us to join Him.

Rejoice in the Good News. He is risen, alleluia