The Dark Before The Dawn

"The night is darkest just before the dawn. And I promise you, the dawn is coming." - Harvey Dent, The Dark Knight

I woke up at 5am on Easter morning. I had to be at church by 7 and I wanted to make sure I had enough time to have my quiet time and get ready. It was an incredible feeling being awake before the sun came out on Easter. I was able to envision what it must have felt like for the women who were waiting for dawn to prepare Jesus' body for a proper burial. We know the end of the story and rejoice on Easter morning. But how dark would it have felt to be awake before the sun on the first Easter?

I can only imagine the brokenness, the heartache, and the weeping that happened on Good Friday. I can only imagine the emptiness and loneliness from that Saturday. Waking up on that first Easter must have been the darkest moments of their lives. Then, on top of all those emotions, when they showed up and Jesus' body was gone, I can only imagine the shock, the anger, and the confusion. What had happened to their Teacher? What had happened to Jesus?

Amidst this confusion, there was Mary Magdalene. John 20 tells the story of how Jesus appeared to her, but she was so broken that she was unable to perceive that her Teacher was right in front of her. Jesus asks her who she is looking for and she thinks he is the gardener who may have taken the body. Then comes verse 16.

¹⁶Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).

With one word, everything changed for Mary. All Jesus had to do was utter her name and her eyes were opened to see He was there with her. She finally knew who He really was. That dark Easter morning was transformed to the brightest day of her life. I pray that people all over the world no matter how dark things have been in their lives, heard Jesus call their name this Easter. I pray that people learned the fact that Jesus is with us already, we just need to hear His voice, open our eyes, and rejoice in the resurrection. Then we can echo Mary's words in verse 18.

¹⁸Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Praise God for Easter morning! Praise God for calling each of us by name! Praise God that no matter how dark the night gets, the dawn is coming!

Random Thought: Seventy six percent of people who eat chocolate Easter bunnies start at the ears.