Last week we considered the historical resurrection of Jesus and our own future resurrection. Yesterday was Easter, and at my church we declared together, “He is risen!” Today, let’s explore the relationship between the resurrection and our vocation. By vocation, I don’t mean where you or I work every day, but the way we live our life everyday. Have you ever wondered what was it like for the disciples to know Jesus before the resurrection and then afterwards? And what that might mean for us? Let’s go to John’s Gospel and pick up where Mary Magdalene encounters the risen Jesus for the first time:

Mary…saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying.  “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, 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.” “Mary!” Jesus said… “Don’t cling to me…for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message. (John 20:11-18, excerpted)

In this passage we heard how Mary Magdalene came to the tomb, spoke briefly to two white-robed angels, but did not learn what had happened to Jesus’ body. She turned to leave and then saw…a gardener who was, of course, Jesus. Though Mary met the risen Lord, she didn’t recognize Him. How could this be after following Him closely for three years? But if we pause and think about it, you and I didn’t recognize Jesus for who He was—the risen Lord—right away, either. But Jesus recognized Mary and called her by name. In that moment she received her calling and became an evangelist to the apostles, the first person sent by Jesus to announce that He was alive and had risen from the dead. Mary Magdalene, in that moment, discovered Jesus in a whole new way, as the resurrected King of the World—just as we do now. You and I are “Easter people.” As we live out our lives in this world, we live in the light and Presence of the risen Christ. Let’s live our lives for Him today, the resurrected King of the World...and that is very Good News!