Recently in the magazine Science, German scientists reported that a dog they worked with could understand the words for 200 objects. This finding may not surprise dog owners—that our pets understand a lot of what we say to them. Like children they pick the meaning of language without needing to learn grammar or spelling—they just watch and associate language with objects and acts.
One foreign language system takes advantage of this ability to pick up language by hearing it. I am learning French as if I were a child, by listening to the sound of the words and repeating them again and again. We all can pick up language like this, and especially pick out the names of people and things very quickly when they are associated together.
In our Easter gospel today, language makes it possible for Mary Magdalene to understand that it was not the gardener but the risen Jesus speaking to her. She talks with him, but in her grief that the body of Jesus is no longer in the tomb, she mistakes who Jesus is. It isn’t until he speaks her name that she recognizes Jesus.
Mary was not expecting Jesus, her emotions are focused on the loss of Jesus’s body. She needs to be brought out of her grief by being called by name. We are often flattered when we are called by name by a famous person who we don’t expect to know our name. Mary is a close friend of Jesus, however, but still didn’t recognize who he was.
What was it, that by calling her name, she suddenly recognized him? Mary was one of the close sheep, a disciple, a follower of Jesus. All throughout the gospel of John we hear the theme that Jesus is the good shepherd. The good shepherd calls his sheep by name, and when the sheep hear their names, they follow him.
Mary here shows how her following Jesus had made her understand when her master the Good Shepherd called. She understood then that the person who knew her through and through was standing there, risen.
When the risen Christ calls us by name, we know we are known, through and through, and loved, not just loved for the good we do, but loved for all ourselves, even the pieces we would rather not own up to. The Good Shepherd, the Risen Christ, shows us that God redeems even death, even the deadly parts of ourselves and gives us new life.
Mary Magdalene was not perfect, but she was a perfect follower of the Son of God. We do not have to be perfect to follow the Son of God, just willing to answer when we hear our name lovingly called. For the Good Shepherd, who is the Risen Christ, the son of God, died and overcame death to show us that life and light come from our own darkness.
Christ, the risen Son of God, calls to you today to follow. Will you rejoice by following when he calls your name?
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