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June 7, 2009
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=========================== TODAY'S ARTICLE ==========================
Go to My Brothers and Tell Them, by Phil Ware
She had been there through the whole nightmare. Now that the brutality
was over, she was committed to do the final acts of love to the one she
called her Lord.
Having purchased spices late on Saturday evening after the Sabbath had
ended (Mark 16:1-2), Mary Magdalene and the other women got up before
dawn and made their way in the dusk of morning to the tomb of Jesus.
Upon arriving at the tomb, the women found the stone moved away and the
tomb open and empty (John 20:1).
Mary's mind raced to try to understand what she was seeing. "What had
happened to his body?" "Where have they taken my Lord?"
After alerting Peter and the beloved disciple, Mary Magdalene was left
alone in her grief and confusion:
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over
to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where
Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my
Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him."
At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she
did not realize that it was Jesus.
He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking
for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried
him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which
means "Teacher").
Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to
the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am
ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'"
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen
the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her
(John 20:11-18 TNIV).
This incredible, simple, and touching appearance of the resurrected
Jesus' to Mary Magdalene is filled bits of glory-filled wonder.
Confusion becomes conviction. Horror transforms into hope. Weeping is
replaced by witness!
Mary Magdalene, once terrorized by seven demons (Luke 8:2), is saved
once more by Jesus. Her intended acts of faithful kindness to Jesus'
battered and lifeless body become the turning point of human destiny.
In a time where women were to be neither seen nor heard, the
resurrected Jesus commissions Mary to become the apostle to the
apostles: "Go instead to my brothers and tell them ..." (John 20:17).
Her voice will be the first human voice to proclaim history's most
profound truth: "I have seen the Lord!" (John 20:18).
And for us, the journey of this one woman reveals the marvelous truth
each of us so desperately needs to hear: "You are known. Your tears are
noticed. You are valuable to me. You have a mission."
Is this the most important question we will ever answer?
No matter your gender, no matter your past, no matter your brokenness,
no matter your loss, the resurrected Jesus longs to enter your life as
Lord and give you comfort, hope, community, and purpose. And if you
ever doubt this is true, remember Mary Magdalene and her trip with
spices to an empty tomb.
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The following questions are intended for your personal reflection, your
use in a small group or house church, or a discussion with friends. I
would also love to get your reaction on my blog:
http://thephilfiles.com
Since the testimony of women was not trusted or appreciated in Jesus
day (Luke 24:9-11), why do you think that Jesus had Mary Magdalene and
the other women be His first proclaimers of the resurrection?
Mary Magdalene's journey from a woman tormented by demons (Luke 8:1-2)
to the first proclaimer of the good news of Jesus' resurrection is a
powerful story with a wonderful message for each of us. What is God's
message to you, in your situation, in this story?
How does Mary's journey from a woman tormented by demons to the first
person who proclaimed Jesus' resurrection from the dead illustrate the
following two principles in Scripture?
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for
all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves
with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor
free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs
according to the promise (Galatians 3:26-29).
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The
old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17).
In this important life-story of Mary Magdalene and Jesus, Jesus asks
Mary a very important question: "Who is it that you are seeking?" (John
20:15).
* Is this the most important question we answer when we "go to
church"?
* Is this the most important question we will ever answer?
* How can this question help us in our life's most important
decisions?
Our Summer Series on the Post Resurrection Sayings of Jesus
---------
(c) 2009 Phil Ware <phil@heartlight.org>. All rights reserved.
RELATED LINKS:
* Resurrection Day!
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200704/20070408_resurrection.html
* Faith Awaiting a Dawn
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200803/20080323_dawn.html
* Who Will Roll Away the Stone?
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200904/20090411_rollawaythestone.html
* Southern Hills Church of Christ
http://www.southernhillschurch.org
This article can be found on the web at:
http://www.heartlight.org/articles/200906/20090607_first.html
=========================== FEATURED PRODUCT =========================
PAGAN CHRISTIANITY! EXPOSING THE ROOTS OF OUR CHURCH PRACTICES, by Frank Viola, George Barna
Frank Viola and George Barna come to the startling conclusion that most
of what Christians do in church is rooted more in pagan culture than in
the New Testament.
http://shopping.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/link?223
Find more great books, CDs and videos at the Heartlight store! With
each purchase you make, you're helping to support Heartlight's
ministry. Thanks SO MUCH for your help!
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