The events of the coming week would be a whirlwind of activity and emotion. There must a been a foreboding sense of the impending dread that was carrying the group around Jesus as they left the city of Jericho to begin the sixty mile walk to Jerusalem. In His parables and teachings, Jesus had tried to convey to the group the nature of His purpose on the earth. Over the past three years Jesus had constantly painted the landscape of the Disciples’ minds with the clear and distinct calling he was here to fulfill. When Jesus openly tells His followers, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” the directive is candidly proclaimed. He is here to die, so the world may live in Him.

Blind Bartemaeus cries out to Jesus as He walks out of Jericho for the last time. Jesus opens the eyes of the blind man. Destiny is pushing Jesus to Jerusalem, yet He stops to heal the blind. How significant is it that Bartemaeus will be able to see the proceedings over the next week? Is this act of divine intervention a sign that points us to pay close attention to what is about to take place?

Jesus arrives at Bethany, a suburb of Jerusalem, and spends an evening at the home of Lazarus where Mary anoints Him with expensive oil in preparation for His death. The Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem; The Last Supper; Washing the Disciples feet; Judas the Betrayer identified; The Arrest in Gethsemane; Jesus’ Trial before the High Priest; Peter’s Denial; Pilate’s Court; and finally, The Crucifixion.

Throughout all of the tragedy and triumph recorded in the final week of Jesus’ earthly life, there is one figure that is always present and receives more than one scriptural reference. Her name is Mary. We find her in John 20:1; making her way to the last place she could accompany Jesus, the tomb. The scripture makes the distinction, “while it was still dark!” What possesses a person to visit the graveyard while it is still dark? There are times in our lives when personal faith will not permit us to wait any longer without conclusive evidence. Even if the timing is not right, in spite of the natural barriers and preconceived notions of acceptable methods, faith pushes you into extraordinary actions. Even if it means going to the place of death in the cloak of night! It is possible that the unyielding presence of your determined spirit that will not sit quietly within you any longer is the supernatural expectation of what God has already done that you are not aware of!

One thing is lucid; what Mary was about to experience will clearly define the difference between listening to what Jesus had said, and living out in real time the words He had given them. Let me bring it right to where we are on this Easter Sunday. Jesus had outlined the details of His death, burial, and resurrection; the events we would come to know as Easter. The reality is this; until Mary had witnessed “Easter” for herself, until she had seen “Easter” with her own eyes, the revelation could not have been complete.

Mary is not prepared for what she finds at the last location of her faith. Her reaction reveals her expectations. Mary fully anticipated finding everything as she left it three days earlier. When she gets through the darkness to the tomb she saw the stone that sealed the tomb was gone. Her immediate response was to run to Peter and John and let them know the depth of the travesty. Listen to her words, “they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb and we don’t know where they have laid Him.” Let me ask you the question I would ask Mary, “Who is they?” Why do we always have some unnamed, unidentified force that becomes the scapegoat for the areas of God that we cannot explain? “They” is always known to us personally, but always referred to in a broader, ambiguous term when we share our calamities with others. There are some things about God that you will never learn in a group setting. Easter will never be real to you until it becomes a personal experience that you embrace in a singular fashion. You may walk with Jesus all the way from Jericho to Jerusalem. You may hear Him describe all that He is and will be. You may witness in person the crucifixion of Jesus and accompany his broken body all the way to the burial. But until you press through the darkness of your personal doubt, to the finality of completely trusting God with what you cannot reconcile, you have not really seen Jesus. Mary has a hunger for Jesus that is born of her deliverance from who she was, and the person she was made through her relationship with Jesus Christ.

When Peter and John join the scene they instantly run to the tomb and survey the setting. They notice the linen grave clothes that wrapped the body of Jesus, and the handkerchief that covered His head neatly folded. John 20:8 states that when John saw this setting he believed. Consider that Mary’s desperate attempt to solicit help in locating Jesus actually became the catalyst that birthed John’s personal conversion to the revelation of the resurrection. Peter and John, satisfied with what they had found, and it’s effect on them, turned and went back to their own homes. They had seen enough. They were satisfied. They were resolved with the experience.
But Mary could not leave. She is still standing at the tomb after the other disciples are gone. As she cries the scriptures states, “she stooped down and looked into the tomb.” How many times have you remained after everyone else has gone home with his or her spiritual experience? Did you think you were crazy when everyone else went home happy, and you still were hungry for more of God? Has your broken heart driven you to your knees with the weight of being unfulfilled? When Mary fell to her knees she saw something inside the empty tomb. There were two angels sitting at each end of the tomb. Mary is seeing directly into the supernatural realm. Peter did not see the angels! John, even with his conversion did not see the angels. Both of these men had returned to their homes satisfied with the experiences they had received.

Look into the area of your despair. What you thought was just an empty tomb of tragedy is the arena God has chosen to invite you to the supernatural. I know Jesus is not in the tomb, Mary! But the tomb is not empty. There are two supernatural witnesses waiting to reveal the heart of God to you.

What transpires next is the bridge between believing and knowing. The angels ask Mary a question that seems harsh and uncaring from a natural standpoint. They want to know why she is crying. From her perspective it is blatantly obvious, “they have taken my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” But from the angels vantage point the question was justified. Mary saw the tragedy, the angels saw the triumph!

There must have been something in Mary’s spirit that was stirred by the setting of what she was witnessing. Have you ever sensed something significant was happening around you? Do you know how it feels when you think someone is behind you, or following you? Mary turns from the angels question and is face to face with Jesus. It is possible that the restless feeling you are experiencing could be the presence of something supernatural. Turn around and look. Turn from what you have been focused on, and embrace what you are sensing.

Face to face with Jesus, Mary hears the same question the angels had asked her. Mary responds in the same manner as before. Then Jesus speaks one word to her. He calls her name, “Mary!” When Jesus speaks her name, suddenly everything is clear. She knows it is Jesus. She now understands the process of the prior week. Mary sees Easter for the first time herself. I think it is interesting that the key word, or divine phrase that is used to bring Mary into the supernatural revelation of Jesus Christ is her own name. When God speaks your name will you be able to accept it as divine? Are you so intent on hearing something else as your personal sign from God that He has already called you name over and over and yet because it was just your name, you didn’t recognize it as divine?

Today! Right now! This moment! Listen for the sound of your name being spoken by the Holy Spirit. Until you’ve seen Easter for yourself, it is nothing more to you that an annual reminder of your personal loss and tragedy. Look into what you think is just emptiness, there is a supernatural invitation waiting for your to embrace.