Today commemorates the central event of our faith: The Resurrection of Christ! In an hour known only to God, the Father raised his Son from the dead. Easter morning reveals the deed of God that took place in the deepest night.

In reflecting on Mary Magdalene and the women on Easter morning, the Gospel accounts offer different perspectives on the singular event.

Matthew gives a cosmic account. He states,

And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone, and sat upon it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men (28:1-4).

Matthew seems to give a comical, joy-filled testament! The angel rolls away this massive stone … effortlessly … and sits on it! The women run with fear and great joy. They meet Jesus on the road! They touch and worship him. They run to tell the others that he is risen!

There is no cosmic event in Mark’s telling of the same morning. In Mark’s account, the women meet a young man inside the tomb. The stone had been rolled away. Mary Magdalene goes to tell the others, but they would not believe her testimony (16:1-9).

Luke gives a more descriptive telling (24:1-12) as the women brought spices at early dawn, the stone rolled away. No one is in the tomb! In their perplexity, two men stood before them and announced the Lord’s Resurrection. The women go to tell the apostles, but they think it is idle talk. Peter goes to see for himself and finds the tomb empty, returning home in wonder.

John gives a very different account of the Resurrection of the Lord. It is still dark, and Mary comes to the tomb. The stone is already rolled away, and without having gone into the tomb, she runs to tell Simon Peter and the disciples that someone has robbed the body of their Lord. Peter and the Beloved Disciple go inside the tomb and find only the linen wrapped up. The disciples went back to their homes.

Then, Mary Magdalene is alone. What follows is an intimate moment that occurs only in John. I’ll let this video tell you what happens.

What do we make of these various accounts? The details vary slightly. One account is at the break of morning, the other still at night. Are there one or two men, spiritual beings, or angels? Do we touch Jesus or not?

Abbot Jeremy Driscoll of Mount Angel Abbey gives insight into these various perspectives of the same event:

It is not possible to coordinate the resurrection accounts of the four evangelists. They are not consistent in their details. They create different moods. They evoke different reactions. They raise and answer theological questions differently and leave other questions unanswered. At first glance this may seem disturbing, even cause for doubt. But actually the fact that such a coordination is impossible is rooted in the new reality itself of resurrection. The texts refuse to let themselves be tamed into a simple narrative of just another something that happened and can be told. We are in a new realm now where language and narration struggle, and the different narrative styles and details of the evangelists are Spirit-inspired means that put us into contact with this new reality, this new realm of inexhaustible richness, a reality (98).

The Resurrection of Christ is something new! It will not be tamed by human words. I hold this in my heart as I consider Mary Magdalen in John’s account.

Mary reminds me that in the depth of life’s darkness, in the remotest valley of our fears, in the face of death, Christ comes to us.

Just like Mary, Jesus calls me by name. My heart hears his voice, I pour out all my pain and hurt, and am filled with renewed love for Him. I am rooted in the reality that he has conquered death. He has prepared a place for me. He has remembered me!

He has conquered death, and that guarantees a firm hope that in death life has changed, not ended. One day, all the mysteries of our complicated lives will be fully revealed, and God will transform graves into gardens.