JOHN xx. 13. “Woman,
why weepest thou? She saith unto Him, Because they have
taken away my Lord.”

THERE is reason in the tears of Mary. Tears, they say,
are wont to be unreasonable, but Mary Magdalene knew
well why she wept before the empty tomb.
I. Her tears show her strong and tender love for Jesus.
This affection was not a thing of yesterday. The Lord had
rescued her from sin and shame. He had cast out of her
seven devils. Now, early on the day of the resurrection, she
is first at the sepulchre. Her soul was on fire with the moral
power of a strong and pure affection, which was to be re-
warded presently by the attainment of its object.
II. They express her bitter disappointment. There is
no reason for thinking that Mary hoped for more than did
the apostles. They expected to find Jesus in His grave, so
did she. And to find the grave empty was terrible. All
that she cared for had been buried in that rocky tomb.
III. They express persevering resolution. “I know not
where they have laid Him.” She does not mean to give
up hope and inquiry. No; He must be somewhere, and she
will persevere. Her disappointment does not overmaster
her love. It is to a temper of this sort that Jesus reveals
Himself. In Mary Magdalene that old promise was made
good, “They that seek Me early shall find Me.” Mary
waiting before the empty tomb of Jesus reappears in each
generation of Christians. She is the type of those souls
which have a genuine love of religion, but which are for a
time disappointed in it. Be earnest like her in seeking
Christ, and you will surely find Him. Do not despair
because for a moment the spiritual sepulchre seems to be
empty. Mary was so bitterly disappointed because she
loved, but it was her love which in the end forbade
despair, and the promise of our Lord stands, “If any man
love Me, My Father will love him, and We will come unto
him and make our abode with him.”
Henry Parry Liddon, D.C.L.