Mary was crying. The tomb was empty, Jesus had gone and Mary could not contain her grief. When a man came up behind her asking why she was sad, she assumed that He was the man who cared for the graves … perhaps He knew where the body was. All Mary wanted was the dead body of her Lord. But then she heard her name. It was said in those same sweet tones she had known from Jesus’ lips. Her response was immediate: calling out for Him and moving to hold Him.
 
But Jesus refused the embrace. He was not being unkind or lacking in compassion; but a new day had dawned. Yes, His body was real and physical (Luke 24:37-43), but He needed to prepare Mary for a life of believing and obeying rather than seeing and holding. Soon Jesus would return to heaven, leaving no body behind; no physical relic to be venerated. That would be for our good (John 16:7) because the Holy Spirit would come to be Christ’s unseen presence - not in only one location to be special to one person, but inside every believer wherever they might be.
 
Our fallen humanity constantly cries out for physical reassurance that we are loved. We easily gravitate towards people and things which we can touch, and hear, see and taste and smell. Yet our relationship with Jesus Christ cannot be based on any of these. We are called to believe that God knows us, loves us, forgives us and guides us; based on Christ’s physical death for our redemption and resurrection for our justification (Romans 4:25). That is the gospel which has been made alive in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. He calls us by name into a life of faith: to stay near Him although we cannot hold Him, and trust Him although we cannot see Him. That is our calling today: instead of ‘see and decide for yourself’, the call is to ‘trust and obey’.