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by Ralph Bouma
For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again
from the dead. Then the disciples went away again unto their own
home. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping: and as she
wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher (John 20:9-
11).
There is a distinct message in these verses. Until our eyes are
fixed on the resurrection of Christ we have the tendency to keep
looking into the sepulcher, the things of death, instead of
having our eyes taken off of the circumstances and the things of
this life and looking to the power of the resurrection of Christ,
which raises us above the things of this life. We are raised
above the things of darkness and we look unto the living God.
Mary and the disciples had all witnessed the crucifixion of
Christ, however, until we obtain a right understanding of His
resurrection, His crucifixion has less meaning. The importance of
the cross is not to be slighted because thereby the justice of
Christ was satisfied, but it does not stop there. It is a
milestone to our deliverance. The cross of Christ is the way sin
is removed, and we become reconciled with God. However, if Christ
had remained in the grave, Peter would have never known what it
is to be forgiven of forsaking Jesus.
We read in Romans 4:23-25: "Now it was not written for his sake
alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it
shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our
Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was
raised again for our justification." Our consolation is in Him
who raised up Jesus from the dead. Our justification was
purchased by His death, but it was sealed by His resurrection.
When we look to His resurrection we begin to live above the
things of death.
Mary Magdalene's heart overflowed with love for Jesus, as she
knew Him in the flesh-for all He had done for her, but she had
not yet learned the fullness of salvation. Notice Luke 8:1-2: "And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every
city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the
kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, And certain women,
which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary
called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils."
We must not
have our joy settle in the benefits we receive from Jesus. Our
joy must be in the Person of Christ.
There are seven steps of discovery to receive the knowledge of a
resurrected Jesus.
First, as long as we have our eyes fixed on present
circumstances, our whole world caves in and anxiety reigns.
When
the Lord comes with His blessings in our soul, our circumstances
do not change, but our perspective changes.
We read in John 20:1-2:
"The first day of the week cometh Mary
Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and
seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher. Then she runneth,
and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus
loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of
the sepulcher, and we know not where they have laid him."
Her
love moved her to come to the tomb of Jesus. However, all she saw
was an empty tomb. She did not realize He had been resurrected.
If we cannot see beyond the death of Christ to His resurrection,
we still have emptiness in our hearts. In a resurrected Christ,
we find full freedom and joy in believing.
Even while coming "when it was yet dark" her soul was filled with
anxiety, yet her love for Jesus was as a vehement flame, even the
waters of despair could not drown it. In Luke 7:44-48 we read:
"And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon [who had a form
of godliness-but denied the power thereof], Seest thou this
woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my
feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with
the hairs of her head. Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman
since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head
with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my
feet with ointment. Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which
are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is
forgiven, the same loveth little. And he said unto her, Thy sins
are forgiven."
Jesus uses the example of Mary to show Simon how
she demonstrated her love by her attitude and actions. The Lord
looks at our heart, but if our love ends in a crucified Christ,
then we never come to that full deliverance and joy that there is
in salvation. We have to see that in the resurrected Christ.
We read in Romans 6:4-13:
"Therefore we are buried with him by
baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the
dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the
likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his
resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with
him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we
should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin. Now
if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live
with him: Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no
more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died,
he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,
but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Let not sin
therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in
the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments
of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as
instruments of righteousness unto God."
That is being raised together with Jesus, that we start coming
above the things of this life. This is living in the resurrected
Christ.
Mary showed her love by her actions and attitudes, by her walk of
life. This is where we come to the full assurance of our pardon.
In the resurrected Lord, we come to where sin has no power over
us.
Second, looking after a dead Christ leaves nothing but
disappointment.
We read in John 20:10-13:
"Then the disciples went away again unto their own home. But Mary stood without at the sepulcher weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him."
The disciples who looked in,
saw the tomb empty and went home, missed what Mary experienced.
They did not see the two angels sitting there.
When we go searching for a dead Jesus we are going to find an
empty tomb. When we tend to look for Jesus in the wrong places we
find nothing but emptiness.
It is so common to seek Jesus in the way of encouragement, but we
find Him in times of discouragement. We read in John 20:13-16:
"And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto
them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where
they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned
herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was
Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom
seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto
him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast
laid him, and I will take him away. Jesus saith unto her, Mary.
She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say,
Master."
Such disappointment is of God's appointment. Encouragement comes
in disappointment. We often find in our greatest struggles that
Jesus is walking with us.
Healing shows up in sickness, and we learn how His grace is
sufficient for us is our difficulties. This is how the Lord shows
us that we need Him and makes Himself precious.
Matthew 15:22 says, "And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of
the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O
Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a
devil." Sickness brought her to her Lord. We look for healing
when there is sickness. We learn to see that sin is a grievous
spiritual disease, and we seek spiritual healing from the Lord.
See how that disappointment came before encouragement. We read in
verses 23 and 24:
"But he answered her not a word. And his
disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto
the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
Do you see why we cannot
rely on the doctrines of election and say, Well, if I am saved, I
am saved. She was not discouraged when He said He was not sent to
her.
Without a felt knowledge of the disease whereby we are emptied of
everything of self there is no need for healing. Continuing in
verses 25 and 26 we read: "Then came she and worshipped him,
saying, Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet
to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs."
Many times we will find that the shortest prayers are the most
powerful. Once, when I was at my wit's end and I had no knowledge
of what to ask for, all I could say was, "Lord, help me." This is
the point the woman of Canaan came to. See the depth of
discouragement that preceded deliverance. She had no hope of
election, no hope of being of the promised seed, no hope of
anything. All she could do was worship Him and say, Lord help me.
Answers to our problems show up in the extremity of our
difficulties. This is the way the Lord leads us to a risen
Saviour and weans us from self. We read in verses 27 and 28: "And
she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall
from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her,
O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.
And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." She
confessed herself to be a dog unworthy of the children's bread
but she asked for a crumb.
Third is sorrow: Mary stood as one bound by the cords of love to
that empty tomb while Peter and John came, looked and returned
home. They went home unfulfilled.
This is the way many people
come to church. They come empty, and they go home empty because
they are not earnest enough seeking blessing for their soul.
Mary was not satisfied with the empty tomb. She wanted her Lord.
Our eyes can become so blinded with sorrow as we wait at an empty
tomb that we do not see our Lord Jesus while He is speaking with
us. Many times our Lord is speaking with us and walking with us,
but our eyes are withheld and we do not see that it is Him.
Notice this in Luke 24:13-17:
"And, behold, two of them went that
same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem
about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these
things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they
communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went
with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know
him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are
these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad?"
Just
as with Mary, they saw Him but did not recognize Him. Many times
the Lord enters a dialog with us in our hearts, and He reasons
with our logic, and He tries to get us to understand that the
logic of our thinking is wrong.
We read in Isaiah 1:12-20:
"When ye come to appear before me, who
hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no
more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new
moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away
with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and
your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me;
I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I
will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I
will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you
clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes;
cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the
oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now,
and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be
as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red
like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and
obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: But if ye refuse
and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of
the LORD hath spoken it."
The Lord wants us to reason with Him. He wants us to understand
why we ask and He will not hear, that our religion is an
abomination to Him if we have this type of attitude toward our
brother.
Fourth is mistaking what we see. It is possible to become so
overwhelmed with our imaginary loss that we fail to recognize
Christ in the very trial.
So often we may see but not understand what we see. Mary saw Jesus but did not understand who He was. We read in John 20:14-15:
"And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away."
So often we wonder why others are doing certain things to us, and we do not realize that they are instruments in the hand of God to bring us in a right attitude before God.
The disciples mistook Jesus to be a stranger as He was walking with them and teaching them concerning Himself. We read in Luke 24:25-29:
"Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them."
The Lord speaks with us and reproves us, but we do not see that
it is Jesus talking to us.
Fifth, we discover it is a living, resurrected Christ who is
speaking through His Word and providence.
Now we understand where
Christian liberty is found, to be delivered from all these things
that vex us in this life.
John 20:16 says: "Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself,
and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master."
After He
said her name, her whole understanding did a complete about face.
The eyes of her understanding were opened and she saw that this
was Jesus that she was talking to.
His disciples were equally amazed when Jesus revealed that it was
He who had been speaking with them all the while. Look at Luke
24:30-32: "And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he
took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And
their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of
their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn
within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he
opened to us the scriptures?" Sometimes our hearts burn and our
consciences smite us when the Lord speaks to us out of His Word.
Sometimes, the resurrected Christ leads us in our hearts and we
do not recognize it. The disciples' joy was not filled until they
saw the resurrected Christ. We start to understand who Christ is
when we see Him as a resurrected Christ.
The Words of Christ gained Mary's attention when He called her by
name. Do you know what it is to have Christ call you by your
name? Your eyes then become fixed on a living Jesus. In Isaiah
43:1-2 we read:
"But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O
Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have
redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and
through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou
walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall
the flame kindle upon thee."
When verse 1 was made precious in my
heart, I saw the Lord in a new dimension. He became a personal Saviour. This takes away all fear of the future. We go through
some deep waters in this life, but we have no fear. We now live
in a totally different world and we know that a living Saviour is
walking with us day by day. No matter what discouragements we
have, the Lord will make them right in the end. When Mary called
Jesus Master, this meant unconditional surrender to His service.
No one who looks to a resurrected Christ finds a powerless
Saviour. The deepest longings of the soul are for a relationship
with the living God. We need a personal relationship with God. We
need that assurance in our soul that a living Christ is walking
with us hand in hand. We read in Psalm 42:1-2: "As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O
God."
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I
come and appear before God?" We want a resurrected Saviour, one
who lifts us above the things of this life. The Lord gives us
many blessings, but He wants our hearts. He wants us to
unconditionally surrender to His service.
Sixth, a relationship with or a saving knowledge of the living
Saviour gives boldness.
We read in John 20:16-17: "Jesus saith
unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni;
which is to say, Master. Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for
I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and
say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to
my God, and your God." Mary gave the first testimony of the risen
Christ. She had to go back to the disciples who had gone home
empty and proclaim to them that Christ was raised from the dead.
Mary wanted to hold onto Jesus physically forever, but now she
had to learn to walk by faith and not by sight. Look at 2
Corinthians 5:14-16:
"For the love of Christ constraineth [moves
on our heart irresistibly] us; because we thus judge, that if one
died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that
they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but
unto him which died for them, and rose again. Wherefore
henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have
known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no
more."
When we understand a resurrected Christ we no longer live
unto ourselves, we live unto Him. Our heart's desire is to please
Him. So many people are concerned about the dos and don'ts, what
we can or cannot do, but when we live unto Him we are not
concerned about what we may or may not do, we are concerned with
what pleases Him.
It is just as if you had a child who lived just within the rules
of the house or a child who did everything he could to please the
parents. This is where we are with our relationship with Christ.
Is it our desire to do whatever pleases Him? If your children
just tried to please you to make sure they got their inheritance
but you could tell that they did not love you, how much
inheritance would you give them? Would it not be better for a
child to do whatever pleased you and the inheritance never
entered their minds? Who would get the inheritance? Can you see
how dangerous it is to seize on the death of the Son for the sake
of the inheritance?
Now we are commanded to boldly lay hold of Him by faith. We read
in Hebrews 4:14-16:
"Seeing then that we have a great high
priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God,
let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest
which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but
was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us
therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may
obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need."
One time
one of my children confided about a temptation he was facing, and
I had faced that same temptation too. I was able to understand
and help him in this situation.
Seventh is obedience of faith.
After Mary discovered the living Christ, she was given a
commission to testify of what she had seen, and she obeyed. This
commission is given to all members of the Body of Christ, and
that is to testify to our fellow man of what Christ has done for
us. We cannot be mum. We are commanded to testify of Him to
others. We read in John 20:17-18:
"Jesus saith unto her, Touch me
not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my
brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your
Father; and to my God, and your God. Mary Magdalene came and told
the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken
these things unto her."
Jesus told her: I am above the things of this world. I want you
above the things of this world, and I want you to testify of this
to my and your brethren. We have a family relationship with Him.
You and I are also commanded to go forth unto the brethren and to
the world and testify of what we have seen of a living Saviour
and what He says unto us. We read in Matthew 10:30-33:
"But the
very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore,
ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore
shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my
Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before
men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven."
We deny Him by refusing to testify of Him.
The victory Christ obtained for His church is eternal. No one can
reverse it. John 10:27-30 says:
"My sheep hear my voice, and I
know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life;
and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out
of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all;
and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and
my Father are one."
See the eternal security for those in Christ.
As we grow in the knowledge of who we are, we can grow in the
knowledge of who Christ is. The Lord Jesus Christ does not reveal
Himself to hypocrites or to those who have no desire for Him. He
reveals Himself to people like Mary who show their love for Him.
Source: Gospel Chapel Ministries
See Also:
Sermons,
Bible Commentaries and Bible Analyses for Kyomtho - Easter Sunday
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