Doctrine and Practice

We are going to finish John in the next few weeks, and in these next 3 weeks, we’re going to talk about Jesus’ interaction with 3 different people: Mary, Thomas, and Peter. Each of these people will show us something different about God and us.

John 20:1-18.

The question is, what do we learn from the interaction of Jesus and Mary?

What we Believe [Doctrine]

From what we see with Jesus, we get to learn what we believe.

Jesus is risen

We believe in a God who is alive!

He didn’t just die for our sins, He rose from the dead and beat death itself!

And if He’s alive, that means all of that stuff that He’s talked about offering a new life to you and I is legit!

And beyond that, it means that if you believe in jesus, your sins are forgiven!

If He was still dead, I wouldn’t believe that God really saved me because it was clearly too much for Him. But if He paid for our sins and still came back, that means that He’s a God worth-following!

Jesus ascends to the Father.

Jesus tells Mary that He will ascend to the Father

This is so important because it means that Jesus is God!

He’s not just a good teacher or a sacrifice, He’s God in the flesh!

Jesus makes our relationship with God personal.

Jesus tells Mary that He is going to His Father and our Father, His God and our God

That’s weird phrasing, but Jesus is doing 2 things here.

He is stating that He and the Father are together

He connects us with God.

Because of Jesus, God is accessible! We can have a real, meaningful relationship with a personal God through Jesus!

What we Do [Practice]

In this interaction with Jesus and Mary, we see some of the type of relationship that Christians can have with Jesus

Love the Lord

The primary thing we see from Mary is a desperate, longing love for her Savior!

She loved Jesus as her Savior, and then she watched Him die in front of her! She is falling apart!

We see her sadness in the passage, she weeps bitterly! In fact, there’s some discussion on how maybe Mary couldn’t tell that it was Jesus who was there because of her tears!

And then, Jesus says “Mary” He calls her name!

Instantly she is brought out of her despair and is at the feet of Jesus!

She calls Him ‘Rabboni’ as opposed to ‘Rabbi’, which means MY teacher

Jesus isn’t just God to her, He’s her Lord.

Know that He’s greater

Mary goes to bear hug Jesus, but He stops her.

This isn’t because He’s saying that He’s better than her, it’s that their relationship has changed.

She wants to hold on to Jesus as she knew, but He’s calling her into something better.

With Jesus ascending, we get to have God so close to us!

So, know Jesus, love Him; and let Him draw you in!

Questions

What is the farthest from home you’ve ever been?

How does the stuff we believe about Jesus (doctrine) change what we do with Jesus (practice)?

Why is having a personal God so important?

How can you grow in your love with Jesus?