Why is it that Mary Magdalene confuses Jesus with the gardener? And she's not the only one. Several times after the resurrection, Jesus appears to his followers and they don't recognize him right away. The argument for Mary could be her extreme grief combined with her single minded quest to find Jesus' body. Just look at her reaction to the angels. Most people in the Bible freaked out when angels showed up, but Mary talks to them like they work at an information booth. So if she doesn't notice unearthly beings, you can guess that it's easy to mistake a dude standing behind her.
Some would argue this confusion is because Jesus took other forms after the resurrection. Others think Jesus was a master of disguise. I find supernatural or deception-based explanations unnecessary (except perhaps in the cloaking device incident in Luke 24:16). What if the problem isn't with Jesus, but with the other people? It's like when you can't find your keys even though they're right in front of you. If they aren't in their usual place they're impossible to find. Likewise, Jesus shouldn't be there since he's dead. So the people don't recognize him. Think that's a stretch? In the future, take note of your reaction time when you run into someone you don't expect to see (bonus points if it's someone that's supposed to be dead).
The interesting part is that it's not until Jesus speaks Mary's name that she recognizes him. Mary was so caught up in her own stuff that it took a specific action by Jesus for her to take notice. Can you say “modern parallel”? I'll leave it at that and put the soap box away for the day.
If you tune your voice recognition software to “Jesus-mode”:
Some would argue this confusion is because Jesus took other forms after the resurrection. Others think Jesus was a master of disguise. I find supernatural or deception-based explanations unnecessary (except perhaps in the cloaking device incident in Luke 24:16). What if the problem isn't with Jesus, but with the other people? It's like when you can't find your keys even though they're right in front of you. If they aren't in their usual place they're impossible to find. Likewise, Jesus shouldn't be there since he's dead. So the people don't recognize him. Think that's a stretch? In the future, take note of your reaction time when you run into someone you don't expect to see (bonus points if it's someone that's supposed to be dead).
The interesting part is that it's not until Jesus speaks Mary's name that she recognizes him. Mary was so caught up in her own stuff that it took a specific action by Jesus for her to take notice. Can you say “modern parallel”? I'll leave it at that and put the soap box away for the day.
If you tune your voice recognition software to “Jesus-mode”:
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