In John 20:11-14 I love Mary’s fixed devotion as she is outside the tomb overcome with grief and she peeks into the tomb. Now John gives a very picturesque description for us saying that she observes “two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.” Now as I read this account I’m taken back to Exodus 25:18-20 where Moses was instructed by God to “make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat.” All of this reminds us of the Mercy seat where the sacrifice of a lamb’s blood was sprinkled upon the mercy seat.
Next we are told that Mary has a conversation with these two angels but is more interested in finding the Lord than hanging out talking with two angels. With all these supernatural things going on, Mary is bent on finding where “They have taken away MY Lord.” That tells us Jesus was personal to her. “I’m not interested in talking with angels, I’m into finding MY Lord”, oh what a great heart that is. So she turned away from the angels and in so doing saw Jesus even though she assumed He was the Gardner. Her eyes filled with tears, her heart broken, she can’t recognize Jesus though He is right in front of her. That is true with a lot of us at times as we are unable to see Jesus in the midst of our circumstances. “I’ll bring Him back” she says, she wasn’t looking for help she was looking for Jesus and even though this is misguided you have to appreciate her devotion.
When we are devoted to Jesus, indebted to Him because of what bondage and destruction He has delivered us from angels just aren’t enough as Mary turns her back on them to search for Jesus. The difference to me lies in the fact that Mary recognized that she was already a beneficiary of Jesus’ love, and having “once” been set free from the demons of the past she was forever indebted and devoted. I’m afraid today there would be far more folks wanting to talk to angels and get a few snapshots with them than there are those wanting to cling to Jesus.