John 20:13
“They told her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they have laid him.””
What does John 20:13 mean?
Mary Magdalene has just encountered two angels at Jesus's empty tomb, but in her shock and grief, she doesn't yet recognize them as anything extraordinary. She's overwhelmed by the apparent loss of her teacher's body and can only interpret their question through her desperate confusion. Her answer reveals how completely her world has fallen apart: the one person who had transformed her life is gone, and she doesn't even know where to find him to properly grieve. What makes this moment poignant is that Mary is speaking to heavenly messengers without realizing it, and she'll soon encounter the risen Jesus himself, also without recognizing him at first. Her tears and her honest admission of not knowing where to turn mirror what many of us feel in moments of profound loss. But the story that follows shows that her not knowing doesn't mean her Lord is actually absent.