The narrative of this Easter morn transcends from the gloom of the garden on Good Friday to the joy of a garden bathed in early sun as Mary approaches the tomb expecting to see the corpse of the one she had loved. Mary had intended to spend time alone and reflect on all that had happened, but now the tomb is empty – she is afraid and goes off to fetch the others. They come, they enter, they believe for they too remembered the words of Jesus. With speed they return home with the ‘glad tidings’ leaving Mary alone in bewilderment. It is here that a remarkable encounter happens.
Seeing a figure in the haze of the early sun she asks where the body of Jesus had been taken – for she only wanted to offer perfume and spices to the one who had changed her life so dramatically. The Venetian artist Titian captures this precise moment in his canvas Noli Me Tangere where Mary suddenly recognises the man as her Lord and begs to cling to him. Sadly here Mary, like so many of us, was living in the Good Friday experience rather than the new dawn of Easter, but this of course changed later.
As we move from the Easter celebration towards the Ascension at the beginning of next month, I commend this painting to you for contemplation and invite you to consider the Easter experience as happening now dispelling all gloom and doubt in the glory of the Easter experience. Perhaps in some way your life might be changed too and enable you to go forward in the light of the Risen Christ.
