Tonight I want us to see 3 ways Jesus shows us care from the empty tomb by looking at the 3 things he says to Mary. Jesus shows his care for us in 3 ways: He meets us in our sorrow, he knows our name, and he wants what is best for us.

Meets us in our sorrow

It’s interesting how this whole scenario plays out. Mary goes to the tomb and finds it empty. Then she tells the disciples and Peter and John come running. They find the tomb empty and leave. At least one of them understand that Jesus has risen. But they leave behind Mary weeping.

She has the same facts, but they’ve been interpreted entirely differently. Even when angels appear in the tomb, she tells them “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” She assumes Jesus is dead, and the body has been moved. In the face of all this evidence, her sorrow still grips her heart. 4 times it refers to her weeping.

And after the angels, Mary meets Jesus, but doesn’t recognize him. She thinks he’s the gardener. In the face of her risen savior, her weeping persists.

Now, you might imagine that instead of speaking with her like this, Jesus would simply say “Mary! It’s me!” But there’s something very tender in the way Jesus speaks with her, and cares for her as a sorrowing disciple. Her sorrow is uncalled for, sure; but nevertheless she is sorrowing, and Jesus addresses her sorrow tenderly.

And it’s very comforting to us as his disciples today. On Easter of all days, we have no business being sad. Every Sunday we should remember the resurrection of our Lord, and especially on Easter. Death is defeated. Sin is vanquished. Life is ours forevermore. Your savior reigns. But if I’m not mistaken, a number of us here are not perfectly happy. In fact, in the face of overwhelming blessings, you may find yourself troubled today, if not sorrowful. And our savior knows. Jesus knows. And he meets you where you’re at.

“Why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” He addresses her in her sorrow. But his words are designed to draw her out of her sorrow. Jesus meets you in your sorrow. But he doesn’t want to leave you in your sorrow. He wants to give you joy.

Knows our name

Jesus first question leads her to express her love for him: “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Her sorrow is the sorrow of love. She loved her savior dearly. Even if she could only have his dead body, she would take it.

And when he has drawn out this expression of love from her, Jesus only needs to say 1 word to her: Mary! It’s again a wonderful word. What single word would wake her up to the reality of Jesus’ resurrection? Her own name; hearing him call her by name once again: “Mary.”

And just as surely as Jesus knew Mary’s name, and called her by name, he knows your name. And there’s nothing that rouses us from our sorrows than Jesus speaking to us in our desperation and reminding us of this: he knows our name. Jesus calls himself the Good Shepherd, who knows his sheep, and calls his sheep by name (John 10:3). You’re his sheep; his precious lamb.

Mary hears her name, and her eyes are open. This is the one who knows her name. And she turns to him, and you can imagine the words exploding from her: “Teacher!” “Rabboni”

It might surprise you that she doesn’t shout “Jesus!”, Why “Rabboni!”? Why “Teacher”? It sounds formal. Or impersonal. But there’s nothing more personal in the world. When Jesus turns our sorrows to joy and he reminds us that he knows our name, often we’re lead to amazement, not by the fact that it’s a human person, Jesus, who knows our name. But the fact that it’s our Lord, our Teacher, our Master who knows us personally. His love, his knowledge of our whole person humbles us and brings us to his feet, and makes us want to grab hold of him.

Because he knows our name. Lastly, he shows his care for us in

Wanting what is best for us.

It appears that Mary did grab hold of Jesus after these words. Started to hug him. But Jesus has one more thing to say to her: “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:17).

This again might strike us as odd, almost like Jesus is distancing himself from her: “Hold on, get away from me. Don’t touch me. This is a brand new body.” It’s not that. But Jesus is teaching Mary something very important. She sees him before her and she may be thinking, “Jesus is back for good! More teaching. More miracles. More time with Jesus!”

But things are going to be different now. There’s no going back to the way things were before the cross. There’s something far better for Mary than to have Jesus on earth with her and with the disciples. Jesus tells her what it is: his ascension. “I have not yet ascended to the Father.”

We’re probably like Mary. We probably wonder “What could be better than Jesus with us?” And the answer is, Jesus in heaven. Is that better than Jesus on earth? Yeah, it is. And Jesus indicates why that’s good when he command her, “go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

We heard on Friday that Jesus cares for all his people as his family, and we see that here. He’s referring to his disciples, and he calls them “brothers.” That’s incredible! Our Lord is our brother! Your older brother! Because Christian, you’ve been adopted. And as he says, his Father is your Father. Jesus is God’s Son by nature. And he invites us to share in that sonship by grace. God is our God. Jesus Father is OUR FATHER. You get to call God what the Son calls him; the same name: Father!

And Jesus is saying, I’m going to my Father and your Father, to My God and your God. Jesus is saying, “I’m going to be my younger brothers’ representative in heaven. I’m going to be at our Father’s right hand. He speaks to our Father for us as our advocate. And he distributes our Father’s gifts to us. That’s why Jesus ascends on high and then pours out the Spirit. Because he’s at God’s right hand, distributing gifts. So Jesus is saying, by my resurrection, God is now definitively your God. My Father is definitively Your Father! And I’m going to secure a place for you and bring the gifts of the Father down upon you.

That’s what is best for us. We’d like Jesus here. Jesus wants us to enjoy our Father’s blessings, and the fullest way that is possible is for him to go and secure our place in heaven and give us our Father’s gifts. What a good older brother. What care he has for us, to give us what we need most. Fresh grace, his Holy Spirit to grow us, purify us, make us look more like our family.

This is how Jesus cares for us at the empty tomb. He meets us in our sorrows; he knows our very name; and he wants what is best for us. Amen.