March 31 John 20:10-18 [I have seen the Lord]
If you went to the observation deck of a tall building or to the top of a mountain with high hopes, and you couldnt see the view because it was covered in clouds or particulate matter, you would be disappointed. Weve been praying through Johns Gospel QT at the Mount of Beatitudes during the last Passion Week, and today were at the top of the Mount of Beatitudes, and what do we see? We should see the week of the resurrection. In todays text, Mary Magdalene sees the risen Lord and exclaims, 'I have seen the Lord!' May we all have a miracle in our lives where we can say, 'I have seen the risen Lord!' Lets follow along today to see how Mary said, 'I have seen the Lord'.
First, you meet an unexpected angel when youre crying over a problem.
Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb of Jesus at dawn on Sunday, but the stone door that sealed the tomb is open and the body is missing. Thinking that someone has stolen Jesus body, she tells Peter and John, but the two disciples check the tomb inside and out and then go back to their homes. Its so much like us, busy looking away and avoiding tough problems. But then Mary Magdalene stands in front of the tomb. She stands where the trouble happened, where she doesnt want to think about it, and she stands and she cries. Mary Magdalene was a prostitute, possessed by seven demons, at the bottom of her sinful life, with no family, abandoned by everyone, completely broken physically and spiritually, and then Jesus, her only hope in life, dies on the cross, and shes going to make it her lifes work to come to Jesus tomb every day, and then the body is stolen, and she cant help but weep. And just then, out of nowhere, two angels in white robes ask her, 'Why are you weeping?' The angels mean to say that this is no cause for weeping, that she shouldnt cry, but Mary doesnt understand the intent of the question because shes focused on the problem of Jesus body being missing. We do the same thing. we think about our problems and we dont hear others when we think about our problems. Thats why life hurts, thats why were sad, thats why were tired of fighting the same battles over and over again. But the Lord came to earth to save weak, sick sinners like us. He came at this hour to raise us from the dead.
Second, He nurtures and calls us by name in unexpected circumstances.
We dont see Jesus because were so focused on the event that we dont see him, and we look for him because we think hes a garden keeper, because we think everything should be in its place. But Jesus says, 'Mary, Mary, why are you weeping, and whom do you seek?' He already knows why she is weeping, but he nurtures her with words. Suffering is not something to avoid, but something to reflect on. It is also a stoplight and a roadblock that stops us in our tracks. When we meet Jesus, the one who made us and saves us, our wandering ends. Jesus cannot be met by human power, which is why the Jesus of the resurrection comes through places and people we least expect. Jesus calls Marys name to shift her gaze from the problem shes crying about to the Lord. Only then does Mary recognize the living Jesus. He comes to you first, right where you are, crying, and calls you by name, and then you just believe youre going to live.
Third, he sends you on a mission: 'This is what he said.'
When Mary recognizes Jesus, she tries to hold on to him because she remembers being with him before, and she wants to go back to that time, dreaming of the good times, because when things are hard, they seem to get a little better. Jesus says, 'Dont hold on,' and now, with a new resurrection value, she selflessly goes on a mission to tell the disciples, 'I have seen the Lord, and he has told me this. The conclusion of my life is the fulfillment of the Bible, we must be thirsty for the Bible until the end, and we must be witnesses of the risen Lord and cry out, 'I have seen the Lord.'
My husband died in one day, and like Mary, I was weak and had nothing to offer, but the Lord made me respond to the words of Ezekiel 18, telling me that my husband had gone to heaven, and I was commissioned like Mary. As I held the funeral at home, I thought how wonderful it would have been if he had been alive and believed with me, and I cried because I was saved that day, and I cried because I couldnt interpret it.
That night, in front of his body, I opened my cutie and my Bible. The Lord told me it was fair, nurtured me with His Word, and called out to me, 'Tailor!' 'Whom do you seek now, why are you weeping? The prophet Ezekiel also took his wife in one day do not mourn for the dead, but lament in silence, wrap your head in a towel, and become a prophet of signs.' My perfectionist husband was a gynecologist who performed liver tests once a month, but when his body collapsed overnight from liver cancer, he confessed his sin of abortion as a gynecologist. After he repented, he said he was only concerned about me and was sorry that I had to go through his funeral without him.I didnt know about my husband, who said that he laid down his life and prayed for me, but God made me greatly realize and repent of the shallowness of the breadth and depth of my love for him, which made me think of divorce and death, and my tears have never dried up until now. I had a stereotype that my husband would never change, but from then on, God made me lay down my fleshly expectations from him and live a life of mission, going to the lost and exclaiming, 'I have seen the Lord!' This survival in my case is not just a comfort, but a witness.
We need to see the Lord in front of us, and need to hear the name of the Lord calling us and turn around and see the Lord who has nurtured us through the most unexpected circumstances, the betrayal of a spouse, the problems of illness, the problems of a child, and need to see the Lord, so that we may live a Bible-fulfilling life, witnessing, 'I have seen the Lord!' in the midst of lifes challenges, and I bless you in the name of the Lord.
