PT-2 "Christ's Appearance to Mary Magdalene" (John 20:11-18)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/27/2017 10:40 AM

My Worship Time                                      Focus:  PT-2 Christ’s Appearance to Mary Magdalene

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  John 20:11-18

            Message of the verses:  “11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." 14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" 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." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, ’I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’" 18 Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and that He had said these things to her.”

            I can’t imagine the joy that Mary must have felt as she was the very first person to see the Lord Jesus Christ in His risen body.  She surely went from weeping to be so very full of joy.  Joy surely did come in the morning for her.

            We really don’t know how it was that Mary became aware of Jesus being there, perhaps that angels pointed to Him, or maybe she just sensed His being there.  At any rate she did not recognize Him at first, which is similar to the men that Jesus encountered in Luke chapter 24 on His way to Emmaus.  What did Jesus look like at this point? Well certainly different from the battered bruised body she last saw.  His body had to be more glorious than what it was like before the crucifixion when Jesus was walking with His disciples.  John MacArthur writes “There have been several suggestions for her failure to recognize the Lord.  She was sure that He was dead, so the last thing she expected was to see Him alive.  Further, her eyes may have been blurred from tears.  Moreover she, like the others, was prevented from recognizing Him until He chose to reveal Himself to her (cf. 21:4; Luke 24:16).”

            Jesus then asks Mary the same questions that the angels asked her and she gave similar answers.  Mary was totally devoted to make sure that Jesus had a proper burial as this was first and foremost on her mind.

            I want to look now at John 10:3-4, and 27 “3 “To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” “27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”  With one word, Mary, she recognized Him, with just one word.  It could be that way with you as you search the Word of God perhaps for something that you did not even know you were looking for and one word, or perhaps one verse just kind of jumped off the page for you.  I think all believers have had that happen to them.  Or it could be that you don’t know Christ and then all of a sudden the Spirit of God opens your eyes to understand that you are a sinner in need of salvation and that one word, or sentence you read or someone says to you and it all becomes clear to you, you see Jesus in a spiritual way that Mary say Him in a physical way and your heart is all of a sudden filled with that same joy she had, all believers have once they come to Christ knowing that their sins are forgiven and they are now a true child of God with all the privileges that go along with that.  

            We will look at the rest of this wonderful passage in our next SD as there is something in it that has kind of been confusing to me and I hope it will be cleared up.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Seeing Jesus in His Word is something I desire to do each time I open up His Word. Perhaps the following song lyrics will help us understand Mary’s feelings:

 

I JUST SAW JESUS

We knew he was dead
It is finished, he said
We had watched as his life ebbed away
Then we all stood around
Till the guards took him down
Joseph begged for his body that day

It was late afternoon
When we got to the tomb
Wrapped his body and sealed up the grave
So I know how you feel
His death was so real
But please listen and hear what I say

I've just seen Jesus
I tell you he's alive
I've just seen Jesus
Our precious Lord alive
And I knew, he really saw me too
As if till now, I'd never lived
All that I'd done before
Won't matter anymore
I've just seen Jesus
And I'll never be the same again

It was his voice she first heard
Those kind gentle words
Asking what was her reason for tears
And I sobbed in despair
My Lord is not there
He said, child! it is I, I am here!

I've…

I've just seen Jesus
I tell you he's alive
I've just seen Jesus
Our precious lord alive
And I knew, he really saw me too
As if till now, I'd never lived
All that I'd done before
Won't matter anymore
I've just seen Jesus
I've just seen Jesus
I've just seen Jesus
All that I'd done before
Won't matter anymore
I've just seen Jesus
And I'll never be the same again
I've just seen Jesus!

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I am praying that God will give me health so that I can teach my Sunday School lesson tomorrow.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What did Solomon do to make an alliance with Egypt?”

Answer in our next SD.

5/27/2017 11:33 AM