Her pursuit of Him was relentless. As much as she could, where He went, she would go too. She was a woman of some means, but she had also been a women possessed . . . possessed by seven demons, in fact . . . but He had healed her . . . had delivered her . . . and, this Mary Magdalene had determined to follow Him (Luke 8:1-3). She stood by the cross where He was crucified, witnessing His dying act of caring for His mother (John 19:25-27). She followed as Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took His lifeless body from the cross, hastily prepared it for burial, and laid it in a nearby garden tomb (John 19:38-42, Mark 15:47).

And her pursuit of Him did not stop at the apparent finality of the cross. On the first day of the week she went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, bringing spices in some hope that she might prevail upon the temple guard to allow her to anoint His body (Mark 16:1, John 20:1). But the guard was gone . . . the stone was rolled away . . . and the tomb was empty. She ran to tell Simon Peter and John . . . she followed them back to the open tomb, though she could not keep up with them as they ran. And after they had entered in and discovered the burial place empty . . . and the linen cloths lying there . . . and had left to wonder at what had happened . . . Mary remained . . . standing outside the tomb weeping (John 20:2-11).

Eventually, she stooped down and looked into the tomb . . . even encountering angels would not distract her focus from the One she thought was gone. And turning back from the tomb she encountered someone else . . . not knowing who it was. He too, as had the angels, asked why she was weeping. And then He asked her the question of questions, “Whom are you seeking?” (John 20:12-15b)

Jesus . . . she just wanted to be with Jesus. If this stranger in the garden had carried away His body and laid it somewhere else, she wanted to know so that she might “take Him away” (John 20:15b) . . . that she might anoint the body properly . . . that she might honor Him even in death . . . that she might continue to show gratitude to the One who had so wondrously delivered her and given her new life. Jesus . . . that’s all she wanted . . . He’s the One she was seeking.

And then, He said her name, “Mary!” And at the moment, she realized that the One who was her life’s pursuit was standing before her . . . alive! She had sought Him . . . and now He spoke her name . . . and she would declare His, “Rabboni!” . . . “my Teacher!” . . . “my Master!”

Oh, what blessing awaits those who relentlessly pursue the Son of God? What unexpected encounters? What intimate conversations? What glorious joy?

Through the prophet, such blessing was promised: “And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart” (Jer. 29:13). Jesus, Himself, affirmed it as one of the great principles of the kingdom, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you” (Matt. 7:7). Seek and you will find!

What was it that resurrection morn, for Mary to hear Him say her name? In that moment, whatever had been the cost of her pursuit of Him, it paled against the prize of encountering the risen Christ! The weeping was done with . . . the doubts had been erased . . . joy had come in the morning (Ps. 30:5b).

Would I not too seek to pursue the living Christ? Why wouldn’t my life’s passion be to follow wherever He leads that I might be near Him . . . that I might be with Him . . . that I might too know those moments of intimacy when He speaks my name . . . and bow in adoration and declare the wonder and glory of His.

Seek and you will find . . . amen!