Readers have always been drawn to John’s resurrection story, especially for its inclusion of Mary Magdalene as the one whom Jesus first reveals himself to. She does not recognize him until he calls her by name.

As we read this scripture, we may wonder what Mary must have been thinking on that Easter morning. She did not know as we do now that Jesus was going to come back from the dead. All she knew was that Jesus, her teacher and friend was dead. I imagine that she was devastated. And when she sees Jesus for who he is after he calls her name, we can imagine her to be incredibly happy and also very shocked. It is Mary’s wide range of emotions that this image illustrates. It is difficult to see all of Mary’s face, but the visible part shows so much potential as to what emotion Mary is feeling at the time. Mary can be sad. Mary can be happy. Mary can even be exhausted from finding the empty tomb, running to find the other disciples, begging the gardener to show her Jesus, and then finally recognizing him. Mary’s face can read any emotion that you need it to be.

Easter starts out in the darkness of the early morning, the darkness of a world without Jesus. The real joy of the resurrection can only be known after the real sadness of Jesus’ death. And Mary experienced both the great sadness the great and joy of that day, and this image captures all of it. -- Jackie Twedell