Scripture: John 20:1-18
Easter!
Easter is a time of glorious amazement, but for the
earliest believers, they weren’t quite sure as to what they should do about
it! That first Easter Sunday morning had
dawned in a way that was so far beyond what they had always known and trusted, that
they didn’t know what to think!
The previous week had taken them on so many emotional ups and downs that
they didn’t have any idea as to what they should do next. So they just went into hiding.
But truthfully, this day should have been a time to begin
reflecting on what their Lord and Teacher had been revealing to them during the
past three years. It didn’t make much
sense when they first heard those words, but now, Jesus’ words would begin to ring true within all of them. And as time went on, and as the power of God’s
Spirit began working within and through their lives, their memories of those
days, and the truth that was in all that Jesus had taught them began to grow
and fill their lives.
And it all began to come together on that
Resurrection Sunday. And who would be
the first to understand and begin to spread the word that it was all coming true?
Read John 20:1-18
It would have been so easy for the Christ to leave
Earth and go directly back to heaven, but during the next several weeks, He received
the opportunity to bring the last three years into sharper focus for His
followers. In 1 Corinthians 15:3-6, we read that His
subsequent appearings blessed over five hundred of His closest followers,
preparing each one for the specific call that would soon be placed upon each of
their faithful lives.
But even this wouldn’t be the beginning of their
faithful service – a woman, Mary Magdalene, the one who Jesus had freed from
the power of seven demons (Luke 8:1-3),
would be the first to meet the Risen Christ in the garden where the empty tomb had awaited
her. Mary would be the perfect example
of all that God would do to strengthen those who loved His Son. And what would He do for her?
When she gazed into the tomb, did she see Jesus’
body? No. He was Risen!
Was the emptiness overpowering for her?
Not exactly. But it certainly had
a very powerful impact on her heart! The angels would care for her sorrow
through word and deed. They would be the
first to let the woman know that a power beyond anything that she had ever
known, including that day when she was released from satan’s grasp, was at work
in her life, even in that very trying moment.
She had been at the cross of Christ two days before with
the other women, and had seen the way that He so lovingly had given up His
life. But her discovery on Sunday, that
the Lord’s body was nowhere to be seen, just added an even greater burden to
this life that was already broken in spirit.
But everything was about to change for this faithful woman.
Her initial, unbearable report, that Christ’s body
had been stolen, was about to change from one of heart-break and despair, to one of
overwhelming joy. And it was then that she met the man, who, at first, she
thought was the garden’s caretaker, until He called her by name, that is. And it was then that Mary knew why
there was no dead body in the tomb – it was because that place was no
place for the living – her Lord and Savior was alive!
And when the woman called back to her Lord by name –
“Rabboni” - it was a way of acknowledging, without a doubt, that Jesus was
alive and standing right in front of her, more real and more alive than even
she was. As for the Lord’s admonition to
“not hold on to me”, His next thought was that instead of remaining so
totally focused on the miracle of His new existence and the carrying out of all
that Jesus had taught them, that she should be telling as many others as she
could that she had just seen the Living Lord! Some folks believe that by “holding on”
to Him, that Mary might, in some unspecified way, be preventing Jesus from
returning to the Father, which He wouldn’t finally do until shortly before
Pentecost. And regardless, no human
being could ever have prevented Christ from following the divine Plan that was
already in motion, no matter what they did.
So Mary would hurry to the place where the disciples
were hiding, and she offers the first testimony of all time to Christ’s
resurrection from the dead, with the words “I have seen the Lord!” At her first announcement that His body was
missing, John and Peter rushed to the tomb to see for themselves, but all that
they saw was emptiness, and they couldn’t understand the significance that lay
right before their eyes. But now, everything was beginning to make sense, and started to revive their struggling hearts.
But Jesus had only just begun His proving to the
faithful that He really was alive, and not just missing. As He came to each person, He not only
revealed Himself to them, but He also charged each one with the words that they
needed to hear. When He appeared to the
disciples later that evening, they were told “As the Father has sent me, I
am sending you.” They were to leave their hiding place, and go to reach
out to all who had yet to come to know the Lord and His ways.
A week or so later, when Thomas had returned to the
group, Jesus came to him, and told him “Stop doubting and believe.” The group as a whole needed to understand
that they were to be carrying on with the ministry that the Father had given to
His Son, and that the Son was now passing that task on to His followers. When He spoke to Thomas with different words,
the man would come to realize that faith didn’t always involve physical proof,
and yet that would be exactly what Jesus would give him.
And from that time on, believers have been called with the very words
that each have needed to hear. In my
case, the Lord knew that I needed to hear “Trust Me” – words that made
all the difference in my walk with Him.
And from Christ’s individual commands for each of us, we not only receive
our own word of encouragement, but we also receive the command that He gave to
the disciples - that we, too, are being sent out into the world to proclaim the
hope, the promise, and the way of Jesus Christ.
Mary may have been the first to testify as to who
the Lord Jesus had become for her, and later, the disciples would begin to
offer the same thing in their own personal ways. But
the call never stopped with them. Believers
have responded in the same way ever since the day of Christ’s resurrection, and
have been living out the call that Christ has placed on the lives that have
been offered to Him in faith.
We are all being “sent” out by Christ to witness to
the people of Earth, that they, too, might come to understand what God may be
saying to them. In our testimonies to
each other during Sunday morning worship, we are preparing each other to follow
the word that Jesus has for each one of us individually. And all that we need to do is to claim His
call, and to follow His lead. And just
as Jesus has always done, He will provide everything else that our service in
His name requires.
It's all about faith, and yes, Jesus always calls
the most unusual of people to fulfill His needs. And yes again, He is always
right in calling both you and me, whether we think so or not! And all that He asks of us, is to go where He is,
and to share the word that He has placed in our lives with those who are still seeking His grace and way for
themselves.
After
all, that’s not such a difficult thing to do, is it!
