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John 20:10-17

John 20:10 Then the disciples went away again by themselves.

John 20:11 But Mary stood outside the tomb, crying. As she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb.

John 20:12 She experienced two angels in white sitting where Jesus’s body had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet.

John 20:13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “Because they’ve taken away my Lord,” she told them, “and I don’t know where they’ve laid him down.”

John 20:14 Having said this, she turned around and experienced Jesus standing there, but she did not know it was Jesus.

John 20:15 “Woman,” Jesus said to her, “why are you crying? Who is it that you’re seeking?” Supposing he was the gardener, she replied, “Sir, if you’ve carried him away, tell me where you’ve laid him down, and I will take him away.”

John 20:16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” Turning around, she said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”– which means “Teacher.”

John 20:17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus told her, “since I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them that I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

don’t cling, go and tell

Our Lord’s message to Mary is a message we all can benefit from. He wants us to know that he is alive, but he does not want us to bury ourselves, even in worship. He wants us to tell the rest of the story. He wants us to know that the Son who left the Father for us has now returned to the Father – for us. He wants us to tell the good news that we can be reconciled to the Father because of the finished work on the cross, and that he now always lives and intercedes for us.¹

Holy Spirit, show us more ways to share the good news of the resurrected, ascended Christ.