Woman, Weeping in the Garden (ACS 935)
1 Woman, weeping in the garden,
who has pushed the stone aside?
Who has taken Jesus’ body;
Jesus Christ, the crucified?
2 Woman, waiting in the garden,
after men have come and gone;
after angels give their witness,
silently you watch the dawn.
3 Woman, walking in the garden,
Jesus takes you by surprise;
when the gardener calls you, “Mary!”
faith and joy meet in your eyes.
4 Woman, weeping in the garden,
weep for joy, for you have seen
Jesus, the Messiah, risen;
Christ, of whom the prophets dream.
5 Woman, dancing from the garden,
find the others and proclaim
Christ is risen as he promised;
tell the world he knew your name!
Text: Daniel Charles Damon Words © 1992 Hope Publishing Company
Reprinted under OneLicense.net #A730924
Devotion
I am a fierce defender of the proper use of punctuation marks, especially at Easter!
Christ is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia! One pastor friend of mine would call me to report the number of exclamation points he counted in my pastor’s article in our church newsletter. Ha! Fun!
So when I opened my April 2022 Living Lutheran to page 5, my eye was initially drawn to all the exclamation points—three in the Easter greeting above; one in the author’s name, Angela !Khabeb; one after Mary!; and one in the last line of the song: “Tell the world he knew your name!”
When Jesus called Mary by name in John 20:16, no exclamation point appears after her name in my Bible. But when she recognizes Jesus’ voice she turns and exclaims Rabboni!
If I ever heard Jesus call my name, Rodney!, of course, I’d shout that from the mountaintops! Easter begs for our most enthusiastic exclamation and proclamation! Say it and sing it at the top of your voice and from the bottom of your heart! “Mary” Easter!
Prayer
On this last Sunday of the Easter Season, Dear Lord, I know that my Redeemer liveth! Strengthen and enlighten my witness to Easter’s Good News! Amen!