We say we love Jesus... Do we?

How much do you love Him?

I was really desperate about my spiritual condition. Was longing for a change and fresh revelations (voice of God) with all my heart. It was when the Holy Spirit started to speak to me in a deeper and clearer way than what I have been experiencing in the past lately. I was reading the above passage from an NIV translation one day and my mind started asking this question,

“Why did Jesus appear to Mary Magdalene in person first before He ever appeared to anyone after He rose from the dead?”

That seemingly-simple question initiated a whole lot of thought processing and search for the answer. I started to read and re-read the passage thereafter. Then I discussed it in the group of young disciples that we work with and shared it to three different small congregations in the following week. In the process, I found a reason which is encouraging me to be like Mary though I am nowhere near her commitment. But I believe if I continue to long for Him and not lose the momentum in between nor get distracted by worldly cares and comforts, He would appear to me too in 2011.

John 20:1-17 (New International Version, ©2010)

The Empty Tomb

 ¹ Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. ² So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

 ³ So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. ⁴ Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. ⁵ He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. ⁶ Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, ⁷ as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. ⁸ Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. ⁹ (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) ¹⁰ Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

 ¹¹ Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb ¹² and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

 ¹³ 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.” ¹⁴ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

 ¹⁵ 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.”

 ¹⁶ Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

   She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

 ¹⁷ 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.’”

Let me share with you what reason I found for Jesus’ special favor towards Mary.

In verse 1 of chapter 20, John says that Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early in the morning. But other gospels which have recorded the same incident says there were at least two other women who went to the tomb early in the morning with Mary M. Why is there a contradiction or miss? Matthew and Mark seems to be not physically present while this whole incident took place whereas Luke wrote the account of Jesus later to clear the doubts in the mind of his fried Theophilus. From chapter 21 of John’s gospel it is clear that it was the beloved disciple of Jesus, John himself who was an eye-witness to the incident who is writing the book. So John might have intentionally omitted the names of the other two women. But Why? Isn’t it injustice?

Let me put before you a scenario to logically conclude that it was not injustice or a mistake. How many of you have lived with close friends away from home while you were in high school or college? If you were to do what Mary M did and you told that plan to your friends what would they say.

C’mon buddy, you are crazy, don’t you know that the Roman officials are really looking for Jesus’ disciples to persecute them. Moreover you are a woman and what would people think if they see you in dark. (At that time Mary too would have thought, its true and even my past life-style would help people think suspiciously about me).

But Mary’s love to see her Lord was greater than her fears. Then her friends would have told her, if at all you want to go to the tomb, why don’t you do so after the dawn break? But Mary would not change her decision. Finally two of her close friends or companions said we’ll go with you too. If that was the reason why Mary the mother of James and Shalome went to the tomb, it is not injustice on the part of John to omit their names.

Still you are not convinced. I’ll give you more reasons to believe that the other women were not as serious as Mary M to see Jesus.

As we read through, we notice that the women went and told the disciples, Peter and John that they did not find the body of Jesus in the tomb. Peter and John ran to the tomb. Having done an initial investigation in human way they returned. After that the crucial verse of the whole passage is stated.

Verse 11- Mary stood alone outside the tomb weeping …(the other two women were gone by then).

What made Mary to stand alone in a graveyard outside an empty tomb weeping in public?

Was it Faith?

Was it Hope?

Was it Lust? (…keep thinking as you continue to read)

A young disciple from our group with whom I discussed this passage said like this:

“All others had somebody waiting for them to go back to, but Mary M did not have anyone to go to.”

 I too agree. Having been a demonized prostitute for a large part of her life, she was an outcast in the society. Her only hope and comfort was Jesus before He died. Only Jesus understood her. After His death since two days, her fear of isolation and being despised for her past might have started to haunt her. May be one or two of her own companions would have passed hurtful comments on her. So she thought, it would be better for me to be in this graveyard for the rest of my life than going back to the society, if I could not find Jesus.

In verse 11 it continues to say that, “….as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb again.” Then something strange happens. She saw two angels sitting inside the tomb. Where did they came from, why?

Psa 91:11  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

Heb 1:14  Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?

I believe that those two angels were the ministering spirits appointed unto Mary M. Why did not they appear earlier?  Angels take charge in emergency situations where things are beyond human intervention. If they fail to do that they are to give an account before God. So when they saw Mary weeping, they appeared immediately and began to minister to her.

While I was thinking about it, God asked me, “Dear son when was the last time you gave your ministering angels a chance to serve you?” It is something to think about? Angels don’t take charge in normal conditions, but only in supernatural conditions. If our Christian life does not have anything for the angels to do, then it is time to think about the level of your love and passion for the Lord. Does your love for the Lord force you to take some extreme steps where only the supernatural can intervene and help?

Soon after the angels appeared Jesus appears too. It is true that Mary M could not recognize Him. But we cannot blame her for that. Going to the tomb to apply perfume on a mortal body shows how little faith she had about Jesus’ resurrection. Standing outside the tomb and weeping even when everyone deserted her shows how hopeless she was about the situation.

But can we prove that she did not love the Lord sincerely. Is’nt it true that her love for her Lord was not adulterated. Can’t you see that it was deep to the core.

^{1Corinthians 13:13} And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I never understood the meaning of this verse fully, until last week the Holy Spirit was making it clear to me the reason for Jesus’ special favor to Mary M. was nothing else but her undivided love for Him. We know that by faith we can please God. We also know that Abraham hoped against hope the promise of God and saw the miracle.

Mary M did not have Faith nor Hope, but she had Love. And she gained everything she lost through that Love. Love was proven to be the greatest of the three. If anyone desires to pray for spiritual gifts may it be for more Love.

If you have love(agape) you have it all.

How much do you love Him?

How much do you love Him?

How much do you love Him?

May this question ring in your mind over and over this year. You’ll surely meet Jesus in 2012 if you do so and act upon the findings.

Amen!