The risen Jesus - given up for dead - speaks Mary's name.
Earlier in John's Gospel, Jesus spoke of himself as the good shepherd who "calls his own sheep by name." They follow him "because they recognize his voice."
There's no mistaking it when you hear your name spoken by someone who loves you. No one else says it quite the same way.
Oh, to see Mary's face when she hears Jesus speak her name.
She was devastated by his death and has been a mess for the past two days. And these past two hours were a blur, so much happening so quickly - finding the tomb empty, worrying that the body was stolen, watching Peter and the Beloved Disciple come up with no answers. Then to hear Jesus - Jesus, mind you - speak her name.
Oh, to see Mary's face when she hears Jesus speak her name.
She responds with the name she always used for him: "My dear teacher" (that's what "Rabbouni" means).
You are close by. And the Lord speaks to you too. What does he call you? how does it sound when he says it? And when you answer ... what do you call him?
- Little White Book, Diocese of Saginaw