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1. Our First, Clumsy Steps
1. Our First, Clumsy Steps
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
Mary’s background is an interesting one. Apart from John’s account in this chapter, only one other thing is mentioned about her in Luke and Mark. Luke writes:
Luke 8:1–2 “1 Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him, 2 and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,”
Luke also numbers her among wealthy women who supported the apostles. That’s all the bible says about Mary Magdalene.
1 Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”
After this Peter and John run to and from the tomb, while Mary returns to wail loudly outside the tomb.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.
Mary’s actions show that the resurrection wasn’t a possibility for her. Despite all the evidence, she is sure that robbers scared away the guards, rolled away a stone and stole Jesus. That was the only explanation.
Two more times she asks the same question:
12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
I don’t want to disparage Mary here. It’s only her and a few women who even attempt to honor Jesus by visiting the tomb. No one, it turned out, had believed Him when He said “the Son of Man will rise on the third day”.
Mary’s first steps toward Jesus were sincere and proper. Visiting the grave of your Rabbi was the right thing to do.
This is what the first steps of following Jesus often look like, If I’m honest. We didn’t go because we believed, or really hoped. We went because someone invited us, or there was a funeral.
And then, like Mary, God surprises us along the way.
Application:
In most people’s minds, there is a big divide between unbelievers, people who call themselves Christians. Then there’s a big divide between Christians and “Christian Christians”. Like, the people who own a bible and take notes in it. I remember being a young man and thinking, “wow, those people take this way too seriously”. “Come on man, yes Jesus is cool but don’t be weird.”
What could cause those people to be so… strange, and be so crazy about Jesus?
I thought that such strange people had to have had a “eureka” moment to be so odd. Surely, the earth shook, or the had a vision, and that’s why they could believe so easily while I could not.
I’ve worked on staff at churches for the past 8 years and I’ve heard a lot of testimonies. I have to tell you: that that is almost never the case.
Yes, lots of us remember the moment we prayed for Jesus to be our Lord but before we bend our knee and formalize anything, we had to first believe. Typically belief is gradual. One day we’re skeptics, and then one day we find that we believe, and most of us can’t tell you when it happened.
Here’s how it looked for me. At 17 I started attending church because I live in the south, and that’s where teenagers went on Wednesday night.
When I went, the church people were nice and had free food, so I went next Wednesday.
They played games, and the sermon wasn’t so boring that night, so I went next Wednesday. On so on.
In those days listening to the sermon and bible readings was like watching a tv with static. It didn’t make sense and I wanted to change the channel.
But then, slowly, the static cleared up for me. One or two bible passage made sense to me. The sermons started to sound like English.
And then I heard it. I heard how Jesus loved me. I heard the good news of the gospel: I was guilty before God and deserved punishment from God. But instead of that, God loved me by sending His Son to take that punishment for me and defeated death for me.
After four months of going to church half-heartedly looking for Jesus, Jesus found me.
Maybe today you’re like Mary or like I was. You’re not alone. Millions of people everyday go to church because that's how they were raised. Millions of people read the bible because the words make them feel better, or they pray to God because in case He listens it couldn’t hurt.
No, that isn’t a good way to live your whole life as a Christian. But, you know what? I was waiting for a sermon to end when Jesus found me.
Mary may not have believed the tomb would be empty when she woke up that morning. And even so, her feet took clumsy steps in the dark and she found an empty tomb.
2. Jesus Finds Us.
2. Jesus Finds Us.
14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.
Why doesn’t Mary recognize Jesus? Lets look at two other times when this happens:
A. The Emmaus Road Sighting
A. The Emmaus Road Sighting
30 When he was at table with them, he took the bread and blessed and broke it and gave it to them. 31 And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. And he vanished from their sight.
Before we get into the pattern, we need to see that Luke’s account gives us the reason for this. They were prevented from seeing.
15 While they were talking and discussing together, Jesus himself drew near and went with them. 16 But their eyes were kept from recognizing him.
Some church people suppose that Jesus is glorified and He has an updated look. But no, nothing so severe is suggested in scripture at all. In fact, there are other times when disciples immediately recognize Jesus, like when Jesus appears to Thomas. Jesus even says to Thomas in John 20:29:
29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
So, no, it’s not that Jesus was unrecognizable. Its that He prevented them from recognizing Him up until He shows them another way.
These two disciples, one named Cleopas had followed Jesus for some time we can guess. What would they have done with Jesus? They would have walked, just as they did. They would have been taught, just they were. They would have broken bread, just as they were now. And then they see Him before their eyes can catch up. - And He’s gone.
B. The Boat Sighting
B. The Boat Sighting
4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea.
Just the same in this story, Jesus finds the apostles. He recalls what He said when He first met some in the boat. ?Who does that? I remember the first things I said to my wife and children, but I’m sorry I can’t recall our first words if we know each other. That only happens “when”? Yes, it only happens when you love someone.
Notice the pattern here in both stories. The disciples on the road, the apostles in the boat, and Mary at the tomb have not found Jesus. But then He finds them. Then, He communicates who He is by a loving act.
C. Now today:
C. Now today:
We don’t have a record of what happened when Jesus cast out a demon from Mary. But, if Mary’s reaction is any indication, Mary remembers the darkness ended with a man named Jesus who already knew her name.
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
Application:
Millions of people in millions of churches today find themselves today to be like Mary. Perhaps they’ve kept perfect attendance, or perhaps they’ve had a few absences. Faith and belief in Christ seem like the furthest thing possible. Maybe you’ve been there before. Like going to the gym as a new year’s resolution, you’ve probably tried to be spiritual before. So have I, I know how this is.
You’ve probably tried to read your bible daily, to go to a bible study. You’ve probably tried to pray and meditate on God. You’ve probably tried being good and not sinning so much.
And if you’ve done all that, you’ve probably came to a painful understanding. “I can’t do this”. “I try to be consistent and I fail.” “I try to avoid the sins I normally do and I fail.”
Well I have bad news for you- I don’t know anyone who has been a good enough person to earn God’s love by working hard at it.
Any Christian can attest. We’ve all tried to work hard at being righteous (we’ll say goodness here).
Here is the good news. Jesus already knew that. In fact, the New Testament teaches us that no one in the history of mankind has ever worked hard and become good.
Romans 3:23 “23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”
But there’s a verse after that which changes everything. If it’s not by work that I live righteously, how can I obtain goodness? If I can’t buckle down and earn my forgiveness, how will I ever receive my forgiveness?
Romans 3:24 “24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”
Jesus has to find you. And when He does, He will accomplish these things in you.
Scripture tells us that when we are saved, the cross of Jesus has paid our sentence. And then the goodness of Jesus is taken and robed around us. Christians wear a robe of Christ’ goodness and are treated by the Father as such. Then, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells with us. He is there to comfort us, and also to grow us. He helps us to pray, and read, and live like Jesus.
It is God who calls you, God who saves you, God who empowers you, and God who will resurrect you.
No, faith isn’t a project you get around to. You can’t put “find Jesus” on your calendar and make it happen.
But it His own way, in His own time, He will find you.
Perhaps today is that day for you.
What happens when Jesus finds us? What comes next?
For some of us, Christianity can sound like an endless to-do list. Read this. Stop that. Serve here. Grow more. Witness more.
And yes, Christians should do those things.
But before Mary ever does anything for Jesus, she runs to hug Him and cries out “Rabbi!”
When the risen Christ finds you, what’s the next step? Rejoice!
3. (Closing) From Duty to Delight
3. (Closing) From Duty to Delight
I want to take a step back here and look at the conversations Mary has with the angels and Jesus at the tomb.
Angels:
13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”
Oddly, Angels often do this in scripture. They ask probing, obvious questions at times. In Genesis, an angel sees an abandoned mother named Hagar weeping. The angel knows, but still asks: “What troubles you, Hagar? In the NT, as the disciples look up at Jesus ascending to heaven, angels ask “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?”
Here they ask another a similarly obvious question. Mary is looking into the tomb they are standing in, mourning Jesus with tears staining her face and they ask her “why are you weeping?”
If I were visiting a graveyard and saw someone crying I wouldn’t say “why are you crying”?
Mary has to be thinking “Well, isn’t it obvious?” She believes her Lord is dead, and worse than that, robbers have stolen His body.
And then Jesus shows up.
14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
He asks her the same thing. But John records a follow-up question that makes the point.
The angels ask with almost a wink: Why would you be weeping? Because it can’t be for Jesus.
The tomb is empty. He is alive!
They’ve pointed out to Mary, that her grief has no merit. Yes, you may weep for a time, but if the resurrection is real, despair becomes nonsense.
Why would you be crying? Do you know what this means? Easter is more than a holiday we spend at church. It’s the day this all became real.
Tomorrow, if you were to see on the news an alien spaceship were to landing - everything would change. History, science, theories, philosophy, religion would all have to adjust.
Your whole world would flip upside down. Maybe you can imagine how that might feel.
The New Testament records that this is what happened to the disciples of Jesus. If you look at followers before the resurrection, they are half hearted at best. They doubt, they shuffle their feet, they deny Jesus.
After all, the ancient world was filled with teachers who claimed to know God and have power. Maybe the disciples thought the same of Jesus. He’s a great guy, but He makes some big claims and I’m not sure.
But when Jesus appeared in the flesh before them everything changed.
“Wait, it’s all real?”
From there everything changed. The doubters became the doers. People sold their houses. They spend every day together. Shy little people became bold courageous prophets. Cowards became witnesses who were unafraid of death.
If Jesus Christ was risen from the dead, then everything is going to be alright.
Can I tell you something? Mary showing up at the tomb was no accident or coincidence.
She might have felt (like you) that she woke up on her own and had the courage and strength to walk in the dark.
But that isn’t true. Far before you ever took your first step, He was with you.
Like a Father who teaches a child to walk, He says in Hosea 11
Hosea 11:3–4 “3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk; I took them up by their arms, but they did not know that I healed them. 4 I led them with cords of kindness, with the bands of love...
