4/10/17
The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
When we are faced with a sad situation it is appropriate to spend time in grief. In John 20:11-18, Mary was outside the tomb where Jesus had been laid. She had no expectation of his resurrection. She was crying. It was a very sad occasion. Yet her sorrow was turned to disbelief, then to joy. When she looked into the tomb she saw an angelic appearance but no body of Jesus. Like so many of us, she already had reached a conclusion about the situation. Someone must have taken the body of Jesus away. Without waiting for a response from the angelic messengers, she turned away from the tomb.
In the garden, she met Jesus, but assumed he was a gardener, a caretaker. Again, she asked a question. To where did the caretaker move Jesus’ body? It is only after Jesus has called Mary by name that she recognized him. He promptly sent her on an errand. She was to announce the resurrection to the disciples.
We frequently have our own conclusions about what the truth must be. Those conclusions are not always right. Yet, as in the case of Mary at the tomb, the truth is normally staring us in the face. Has God spoken through His Word? Does the Bible have nothing to say about the many situations we find ourselves in every day? Yet we ignore all of that until Jesus comes and calls us by name, redirecting us.
This often happens as we slow ourselves down enough to receive what God would say in the Scripture. Sometimes we need the counsel of others. Sometimes we hear or read something that will redirect us. However it happens, may the Lord be glorified by our belief that he really is the God of resurrection, that he really is superior to sin and death, and that he really does have a plan for us in our world. May we have the grace to receive those plans.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
When we are faced with a sad situation it is appropriate to spend time in grief. In John 20:11-18, Mary was outside the tomb where Jesus had been laid. She had no expectation of his resurrection. She was crying. It was a very sad occasion. Yet her sorrow was turned to disbelief, then to joy. When she looked into the tomb she saw an angelic appearance but no body of Jesus. Like so many of us, she already had reached a conclusion about the situation. Someone must have taken the body of Jesus away. Without waiting for a response from the angelic messengers, she turned away from the tomb.
In the garden, she met Jesus, but assumed he was a gardener, a caretaker. Again, she asked a question. To where did the caretaker move Jesus’ body? It is only after Jesus has called Mary by name that she recognized him. He promptly sent her on an errand. She was to announce the resurrection to the disciples.
We frequently have our own conclusions about what the truth must be. Those conclusions are not always right. Yet, as in the case of Mary at the tomb, the truth is normally staring us in the face. Has God spoken through His Word? Does the Bible have nothing to say about the many situations we find ourselves in every day? Yet we ignore all of that until Jesus comes and calls us by name, redirecting us.
This often happens as we slow ourselves down enough to receive what God would say in the Scripture. Sometimes we need the counsel of others. Sometimes we hear or read something that will redirect us. However it happens, may the Lord be glorified by our belief that he really is the God of resurrection, that he really is superior to sin and death, and that he really does have a plan for us in our world. May we have the grace to receive those plans.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
RSS Feed