Mary Magdalene was the last one at the cross and the first one at the tomb. In this Easter message from April 2023, Pastor Linda Reese walked through the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the crucifixion and the resurrection, then stopped at three questions Mary had to answer that morning. They are the same three we have to answer.

1. Why are you crying?

An angel asked her first, and then Jesus asked the same thing. Pastor Linda drew out the difference: the angel asked from curiosity, Jesus asked from compassion. He already knew the answer. He wanted her to say it.

Mary did not brush it off. She did not say “I’m fine” when she was not fine. That is the invitation here. A diagnosis, a death, worry over your children, grief you have carried a long time: He sees it, and He asks you to say it out loud rather than put the mask back on. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

2. Whom are you seeking?

Mary still thought He was the gardener. She offered to carry the body away herself, which, as Pastor Linda pointed out, she could never have managed: the grave wrappings alone were heavy. Love was not being realistic. Love was just trying.

The question turns on us. Everyone is looking for something. “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12). People spend a lifetime climbing the ladder of success and reach the top to find it was leaning against the wrong wall. Mary of Bethany chose “that good part” by sitting and listening (Luke 10:42). Put Christ first, then clean the house.

3. Will you fall before Him as your living Lord?

Jesus could not stay hidden any longer. He simply spoke her name. She turned and said one word, “Master,” fell at His feet and worshipped Him. Then He gave her something to do: go and tell. The other women met Him on the way and held His feet and worshipped too (Matthew 28:8–9). He knows your name as well. Read the resurrection account for yourself in John 20:1–18.

This Easter

Answer the three honestly. Why are you crying, what are you really looking for, and will you kneel? Related messages: He Took My Place and Palm Sunday: What the Donkey Teaches Us.

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