The Stone Has Been Rolled Away
Easter Devotion by Bridget Cabrera
But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni!” (which means Teacher).
— John 20:11-16 (NRSV)
The tomb is empty—but the work is not finished.
Easter morning breaks not with trumpets or thrones, but with Mary, grieving, exhausted, still carrying the scent of death in her hands.
And yet, she is the first to hear the news: He is risen.
Resurrection doesn’t erase suffering—it honors it.
It doesn’t bypass the cross—it rises from it.
Jesus returns not to cast blame, but to call us forward: to Galilee, to the streets, to the margins, to the work.
The stone has been rolled away not just to reveal an empty tomb, but to open the way to a new world.
This is what resurrection means for us now, in a time still marked by exclusion, violence, and betrayal: That empire does not get the final word. That even after the most brutal crucifixions—of our migrant siblings, of trans lives, of Black and Brown bodies, of communities pushed to the edge—life still rises.
Love still breathes.
Justice still rolls.
And yet: Resurrection is not a spectacle to admire, it is a movement to join.
We are called to be resurrection people—people who refuse to accept tombs as the end of the story, who roll away stones of injustice, and who build beloved community out of what the world tried to bury.
What stones are still in place in your community—blocking justice, silencing voices, resisting change?
How are you being called to live resurrection—to be part of the new life that God is bringing forth?
Who is proclaiming good news in your midst, and how can you amplify their voices?
Risen Christ,
You come not with vengeance, but with wounds still visible—
proof of your love, your solidarity, your power.
Help us to live into resurrection
with courage, with tenderness, with fierce joy.
Roll away the stones in us,
so we might rise again and again for justice.
Amen.
Bridget Cabrera (she/her/hers)
is the Executive Director of Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA). With over 17 years of non-profit experience, Bridget has served as Deputy Director of the Reconciling Ministries Network, a leader in the Love Your Neighbor Coalition, and Executive Secretary for National Ministries with United Methodist Women (UMW) national office. She holds a Bachelor's in Science in Music Education from the University of Alabama, a Master’s in Divinity from Emory University (Candler School of Theology), and an Executive MBA from the Quantic School of Business and Technology.