Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. 

As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. 

She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. The angels asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

She replied, 

"They have taken away my Lord, and I don't know where they've put him."

John 20:11-13 CEB

Mary was crying. 

It's Sunday morning and Mary is not celebrating, but crying. 

It's easy to get caught in the expectation that everyone should be celebrating on Sunday morning, but we're complicated people and sometimes tears fit better with where we're at. 

And that's OK.

Have you noticed that Mary doesn't seem surprised at the angels?

And Mary has been caught up in the story that Jesus body would be stolen. The religious leaders had done a good job and this was the outcome. 

An empty tomb.

Someone's taken the body.

Even though there's angels there, it's easier to believe the story those in power wanted Mary to hear. 

Even Mary found the resurrection hard to believe, even while chatting with angels!

Our culture will make a lot of noise about Easter and what it's about, and it can be easy to miss what's most important, even with angels right there. The tomb was empty, no one had moved a body or stolen it, because Jesus was brought through death and returned to life, and even though Mary in that moment didn't realise it, everything had already changed. 

Hope was here. 

#easter

#sunday

#lovewins