Lent Day Thirty Nine (Good Friday)
“Failing to Recognise Christ”
John 20:11-18 The Passion Translation
Mary arrived back at the tomb, broken and sobbing. She stooped to peer inside, and through her tears she saw two angels in dazzling white robes, sitting where Jesus’ body had been laid – one at the head and one at the feet! “Dear woman, why are you crying?” they asked.
Mary answered, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve laid him.” Then she turned around to leave, and there was Jesus standing in front of her, but she didn’t realize it was him. He said to her, “Dear woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”
Mary answered, thinking he was only the gardener, “Sir, if you have taken his body somewhere else, tell me, and I will go and …” “Mary,” Jesus interrupted her.
Turning to face him, she said, “Rabboni!” ( Aramaic for “My teacher!”) Jesus cautioned her, “Mary, don’t cling to me, for I haven’t yet ascended to God, my Father. And he’s not only my Father and God, but now he’s your Father and your God!
Now go to my brothers and tell them what I’ve told you, that I am ascending to my Father – and your Father, to my God – and your God!” Then Mary Magdalene left to inform the disciples of her encounter with Jesus. “I have seen the Lord!” she told them. And she gave them his message.
Try to imagine the scene. Mary Magdalene stood outside the empty tomb, weeping. The body of her beloved Lord was gone, and in her grief, she did not realise that Jesus was standing right beside her. Even when He spoke to her, she mistook Him for the gardener. It was only when He called her by name—"Mary"—that her eyes were opened, and she recognised Him (John 20:16).
Why didn’t Mary recognise Jesus—the man she had been so close to? Was she so focused on her loss that she couldn’t perceive the miracle before her? I wonder, though, how often we, too, fail to recognise Jesus.
Christ Himself told us that He would always be with us, yet we are often too consumed by our own troubles to see Him. Just as Mary was overwhelmed by sorrow, we can be so caught up in grief, worry, or busyness that we miss the presence of Christ right in front of us. We pray for guidance but fail to notice the quiet ways He speaks. We ask for help but overlook the hands and hearts He sends to assist us.
Perhaps we also fail to recognise Jesus because we have fixed ideas about how He might show up. Mary was not the only one who didn’t recognise the risen Christ. There are hints in Scripture that He had changed in some subtle way. Could our own preconceptions also get in the way of recognising Christ at work in the world? When I was first diagnosed with cancer, I prayed so hard for a big ‘miracle’ that it took time to recognise Christ’s mercy in the messiness of illness and His compassion in the carers who looked after me.
It's also possible that Mary didn’t recognise Jesus because she simply didn’t expect to see Him alive, despite His promise that He would rise. Doubt can so easily blind us. How often do we fail to see Christ at work because, deep down, we don’t really believe He is present? When prayers seem unanswered or suffering lingers, we may begin to doubt His nearness.
So how can we recognise Jesus today? By praying that our eyes, like Mary’s, may be opened. By paying attention to His everyday miracles—the kindness of a stranger, the encouragement of a friend, and the unexpected strength that carries us through hardship. Then, when He speaks our name, we, like Mary, can respond with recognition and joy: "Rabboni!" (John 20:16).
Kate Nicholas
As a journalist and communicator, words have always been part of her life but it took a cancer diagnosis to turn her into an author. Kate’s first book, her memoir Sea Changed is an account of her unconventional journey of faith and healing from advanced inoperable breast cancer.
When she was ill she kept on being given a passage from Psalm 188:17 ‘I shall not die, but will live and declare the works of the Lord’ and when I against all odds she recovered she dedicated her life to that mission as a preacher, writer and broadcaster.
Her books include Sea Changed A Companion Guide (Living a Transformed Life) - a reflection guide to help readers understand how God can use all the circumstances of our lives to transform us; Soul’s Scribe – a guide to help readers understand and share their own ‘soul stories’; as well as a children's story Wife of the Wind. Her latest book To The Ocean Floor tells the story of her second cancer journey and how it became a gateway to a profound encounter with God.
Now once again in remission, she is busy working away on my next book and is just so grateful to still be here declaring the works of the Lord.