On the first Easter morning, St. Mary Magdalene stood weeping outside a tomb. Mark confides: “when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him” (16:1). They clearly loved Jesus. But they were in no way expecting, or looking for, the resurrection of the dead. It appears they desired to prepare the body of Christ in such a way as to create a memorial of his death. In this profoundly moving scene in John ch. 20, Mary is devastated. Not only has the one whom she called “Lord” died, but his precious corpse is missing.
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Joshua Heavin
Rev. Dr. Joshua Heavin (PhD, Aberdeen) serves as Curate for Pastoral Care at Christ Church Cathedral in Plano, Texas; he is the book reviews editor for Pro Ecclesia, the journal of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology; and he is an adjunct professor in the School of Christian Thought at Houston Christian University and West Texas A&M University.
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