Their quiet mourning evaporated with the startling news. Peter and John ran to the tomb. John reached the tomb first, but did not go in. Peter went in and saw the strips of linen that had covered Jesus’ body. The strips were there, but the body was no longer in them. The cloth that was placed over his head was off to the side and folded. Then John entered. The scripture says that he saw and believed.

Jesus defeated death, and not only for himself. Jesus had risen from the grave, through the linen, past the stone, past the guards. Jesus was not merely resuscitated. He was resurrected with a body that could be touched and that could eat, yet could pass through time and space to appear to those in a locked room or to those on a walk out of town, and then to disappear to go to another place. His body was different. Something had happened that would change our understanding of life and death. The disciples went home in wonder.

Mary stayed out in the garden. Scripture records her seeing a man she takes for the caretaker. He asked her why she was crying. It was her Lord who spoke to her. Why did she not recognize him? Darkness? Tears in her eyes? More likely it was the nature of the resurrected body of Jesus. Like those on the road to Emmaus, she does not recognize Jesus until he revealed himself to her. Once revealed, there was no doubt who it was.

Why Mary did not recognize him at first, we can wonder, but we know what made her realize this was her Lord. Jesus called her name—Mary. She heard her master’s voice lovingly calling her name. There, even dearer than the voice of an old friend or a parent, was a voice unmistakable to her ears and her heart. It was her master, calling her name.

The moment that Jesus rose from the dead, there were no human witnesses. Perhaps the saints in heaven or the angels of God witnessed the event. The few guards felt the earth quake with such ferocity that they fell back in a faint like dead men, but even they did not see the dead Jesus change into the living Christ. People would witness the resurrection, but it was not revealed to all people at once. The revelation happened to each heart individually.

What about you? Have you heard the Lord Jesus call your name? Do you know his love for you? The love that took him through the agony of Gethsemane for you? The love that endured the beating and mocking for you? The love that held him on the cross for you? Do you know of his power that defeated death for you? When you hear the Lord Jesus speak to your heart, calling your name, you have a certain knowledge of God’s love for you, revealed to your mind through the Holy Scriptures and sealed on your heart by the Holy Spirit.

When you hear that call, you will respond as Mary did. She threw herself on him crying, "Rabboni!" When he asked her to go and do something for him, she went without a thought of ever doing anything else. Is that you? Do you know the joy of knowing that God in Christ loves you? Then give him your whole heart. Give him your whole life. It all belongs to him anyway.

You will see what it is that Jesus would have you do. He will open opportunities for you to serve him. You will be blest by those opportunities. You will receive comfort when you need it. You will receive power from the Holy Spirit. You will have the peace of one who knows that God is control now.

Or are you one who has heard a lot about Jesus but has never known him to be your Lord and Savior? You have other goals. You hear other voices telling you how to be important, successful, or fulfilled. The resurrection of Jesus was the most significant event in history, but remember, everyone did not know about it at the same time. Mary did not know until she heard the Master’s voice call her. You may not really have known until today. Listen for the voice of Jesus. He calls your name. Come to him as your Savior and Lord. He has defeated death and he calls for you. Do you hear? Will you answer your Lord?