“Why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”
She thought he was the gardener.
“Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away,
tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” v. 15
Jesus, like so many loving people, likes to surprise his friends. In this case, he surprises his dear friend Mary Magdalene by showing alive after being dead. He pretends to be the gardener, so that when Mary finds out who this man is, it will be all the more wonderful for her.
Part of his planned surprise is the question: “Who are you looking for? It sounds very much like the question Jesus put to his new friends at the beginning of St. John’s Gospel in 1:38. He asked them : “What do you want?” Who are you looking for…what do you want…Let these questions of Jesus echo as basic ones about life that Jesus puts to you, just as he did those very close to him. They are much more personal and intense than the question of a worker at a store who may ask, “May I help you?” …as the worker notices that you are looking for something. Let the question of Jesus go way down in your soul. Be in silence and let the Spirit of Jesus give you the answer.
These Firestarters are from a new edition of The Bible Through the Seasons being developed for families with children. For the Firestarters in the original edition, I recommend the ebook. You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or table!. Click here to visit the website for more information.
The Bible Through the Seasons 