Resurrecting Hope: Mary Magdalene’s Story Isn’t What You Think

Before the sun had risen fully, while the world was still shrouded in shadows and silence, Mary Magdalene made her way to the tomb.

Her heart must have been pounding with grief, her steps unsteady beneath the weight of everything she had just lived through. This wasn’t a quiet morning walk — it was the final act of devotion from a woman utterly wrecked by sorrow.

She had stood near the cross. She had watched him die. Not just a teacher, not just a prophet — this man had rescued her, given her dignity, healed her from the torment that had once gripped her life. He had called her by name. And now, all she had was a grave.

Imagine her state of mind: sleep-deprived, tear-stained, confused, and traumatised.

The events of the last few days had unravelled every hope she had dared to hold. Maybe she kept replaying those brutal hours in her mind. Maybe she wondered if she had been foolish to believe he was the Messiah. Maybe she came to the tomb not just out of duty, but because it was the only place she knew to go. When life falls apart, sometimes you return to the last place you felt a sense of light.

And then — confusion upon confusion. The stone is rolled away. The body is gone. It’s almost too much. Her grief sharpens into panic. She runs to tell the others, desperate for someone to make sense of this. But when she returns, alone again, she collapses in tears. Her world is already broken, and now the last fragment — his body — is missing.

Let’s think about “what happened next” through the tear-stained eyes of Mary.

Here are three super-encouraging ‘takeaways’ for our lives from this beloved Easter story.

1. We can bring ALL our hurts and pain when we pray

Surprised to find the stone rolled away when she first arrives, Mary peers inside the tomb and sees two angels sitting beside neatly folded grave clothes.

Her first thought is that someone has stolen Jesus’ body. She has no expectation or understanding of resurrection.

Few people — if any — in the first believers’ group expected the Resurrection, even though Jesus had mentioned it several times. Their Jewish upbringing taught them that the

Resurrection would occur on the Last Day.

She sees a mysterious stranger, whom she initially takes to be the gardener. We can appreciate why Mary would think that. After all, we find the tomb within a garden!

Still, Mary’s mistaking a man she knew well for a total stranger is puzzling. It gives some insight into the depth of sorrow, pain, loss, and bereavement that Mary felt at that moment.

She was so overcome with grief that she couldn’t even recognise her Master.

This well-known element of the story contains a fundamental truth: We can bring our pain and grief to Jesus.

Nothing can be gained from the ‘stiff upper lip’ approach. There is no purpose in hiding our pain from Jesus. Or should I say, trying to hide our pain — because Jesus knows EXACTLY how we are feeling at any point in time?

Come with honesty. Come with your authentic inner feelings. Come as you are.

Be honest with God. He’s a big boy — he can take it!

2. We must know who it is that we seek

Jesus, still giving a passable impression of a gardener, asks Mary a second question. Having asked her “why do you weep”, he asks her: Who is it that you seek?

“Who is that you seek?” is a GREAT question. And it’s a question that we ALL need to have the answer to whenever we come to God in prayer.

It might sound obvious that we know we are speaking to God when we pray.

I’m not so sure!

If we aren’t careful, it’s all too easy to lose sight of whom we pray to.

I’ve met many people for whom prayer has become a dry ritual devoid of life. Heck, I’ve been in that place myself at times.

When we lose focus on the object of our prayer — the God and King of All Creation — our prayers are like throwing jelly at a wall.

We hope some of it will stick, but most slides inexorably down onto the floor!

When we come to pray, be ready to answer the question: ‘Who is it that you seek?’. We seek the living Lord.

And just like Mary, we will find Him.

3. We must be ready to fall to our knees

Eventually, Jesus can no longer leave Mary thinking He is the gardener. With a single word — Mary — he reveals himself before the distraught woman.

In that moment of recognition, Mary falls to her knees in worship.

We MUST replicate this in our prayers. We must recognise our Master for who He really is.

There is no compulsion to fall to our knees literally. Some of us physically cannot do so. Some of us, well, if we fall to our knees, we’d struggle to get up again!

I’m sure God understands!

Of course, should we find it helpful to adopt a kneeling attitude in prayer, then we are free to do so…

But whether we come kneeling, sitting or standing, the attitude of our heart must be one of worshipful recognition of His Lordship over our lives.

An inward “kneeling”, if you want to think of it that way…

It’s not the natural disposition of the modern-day human being to vacate the centre of our lives. The world tells us we — and we alone — are the most important person to consider in our lives.

We are constantly exhorted to live on our own terms or play by our own rules.

Such an attitude is not the way of the humble Christian spirit.

Instead, we come in recognition of our need for God.

Like Mary Magdalene, we bring ourselves—with all our struggles and hurts—and recognise Jesus for who He really is. With that dawning recognition of the resurrected Saviour, we bow our hearts and lives before Him in worship and prayer.

Then, again, like Mary, we can proclaim, “I have seen the Lord.”