Calling You By Name

There’s something about Easter Sunday — something exuberant, something triumphant, something inexpressibly happy. But the first Easter began on a very different note. When Mary Magdalene got up before dawn, she awoke with the bitter taste of defeat on her tongue and the pangs of despair in her heart. She opened her eyes on a dark and dreary world, a world without joy, a world without Jesus.

Within an hour things got worse. She arrived at the tomb to pay her respects and found that the grave had been vandalized. The body of the dear Teacher had been stolen. This was the breaking point. After the tension of the past week, the fear on Friday, the despair on Saturday, Mary had reached her limits. No wonder Mary Magdalene was beside herself! NO wonder she wept! No wonder she didn’t recognize Jesus when He approached her. No wonder she mistook her best Friend for the caretaker of the garden. And then everything changed. Jesus called…