Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). – John 20:16

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 3, 2017): John 20

There is something about hearing someone speak your name. Personally, I struggle with names. Maybe it is that I know how important they are when we hear them. There is nothing like getting a name wrong. And so, I am sometimes hesitant to speak a name. A few years ago I attended a conference when I heard my name and immediately looked around to see who was calling me. Across the room was a gentleman that I had met a couple of times. I am not sure that we could even call each other acquaintances. I smiled in response to his wave and immediately started search for his name. I was pretty sure that his name was James (not really his name), but “pretty sure” wasn’t good enough for me. We were all wearing name tags, so I tried to nonchalantly look down at his to verify the name – and it was James. But he had caught me looking. “You don’t need my name tag to know who I am, do you?” Oops.

Hearing our name is important and so is believing that other people know our name. Companies know that. Call centers keep track of frequent callers so that they know who the person is at the other end of the call. Knowing a name gives us the feeling that we are important, and more than just a number. We react differently to people who call us by our name. And it has been that way since we were children. When I was really young, I remember watching “Romper Room,” a young child’s television show at the time, and at the end of every show the host got out her magic mirror that could look past the T.V. screen and into our homes, seeing some of the children that were watching. And she would speak our names. “I see Tommy, and David, and Karen and Linda.” I am not sure that I ever heard my name called, but I do know that I diligently listened at the end of every show, wanting her to call my name.

Mary is full of grief. Her eyes are filled with tears. All she knows is that her friend is missing. He is dead, but he is not in the tomb where he is supposed to be. And now grief is turning into panic. It is evident that he has been moved. Some administrator has decided that this newly cut tomb is too good for a person who he believes is a criminal. It doesn’t matter that the owner of the tomb said that it is okay. It doesn’t matter that this so-called criminal has people who love him and want to do for him what should be done for any dead body.

But Mary is not going to give up. She is going to push until she finds out where Jesus’s body was placed. She is going to question everyone that she can find. After all, this is her friend for whom she is searching. And the searching is getting more frantic by the minute. Have you ever been there? I know that I have.

And then Jesus speaks her name. That is all that it takes. At this moment there is no more powerful word than her name, Mary. No other name that can stop her from her frantic emotions and look at the person who is speaking. She turns, eyes clearing at the mention of her name and cries out “Rabboni (Teacher).” Everything stops. Everything is okay.

It is the moment that we all need to experience. But in the frantic haste of this world, it is also one that we often miss. Maybe now is the time to stop and hear Jesus once more speak the name that we want so desperately to hear. To see him peer past the things that threaten to block him out and just whisper our name. And when he whispers our name, we know that everything is going to be okay.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: John 21