He Calls Us By Name
Notes
Transcript
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11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb crying; and so, as she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb;
12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.
13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking 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 Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.
Opening Prayer
Opening Prayer
Setting the Stage
Setting the Stage
Peter and John have seen the empty tomb.
John says he saw and believed the resurrection.
But it was a logical conclusion to the observations.
It was a belief that still needed to be aligned with God’s word.
And now, Mary is back at the tomb.
She’s looked in the tomb and sees the linen wrappings empty where His body once lay.
The angels didn’t appear to Peter and John when they looked in.
But, at the Lord’s bidding, to Mary they have shown themselves.
Isn’t it wonderful how God knows each of us individually, and intimately…
And, ministers to each of us imminently & uniquely.
Now, I don’t want us to overlook what we see here in the spot where Christ body lay before He rose…
11 But Mary was standing outside the tomb crying; and so, as she was crying, she stooped to look into the tomb;
12 and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.
Do you recognize something here?
We have a wonderful image of what we know in the OT to be the...
The Mercy Seat
The Mercy Seat
The Mercy Seat was the covering of the Ark of the Covenant.
Atop the mercy seat there were two angels…
An angel at each end of the mercy seat, facing one another.
The mercy seat was the location where god promised to meet with Israel.
During the Day of Atonement, the High Priest entered the inner sanctuary…
And, sprinkled the sacrificial blood upon it multiple times.
This was a ritual that symbolized Israel’s annual seeking of God’s forgiveness.
The object in the Ark of the Covenant was the Law, the 10 Commandments.
The Mercy Seat functioned as the central point where God’s holiness and human sinfulness met within the Mosaic ceremonial system.
The mercy seat symbolized God’s mercy towards His people who transgressed His law.
It was the place where the righteousness of God covered the broken law…
And, the sprinkled blood represented the people who’d transgressed God’s law and needed mercy.
Recall what God told Moses…
22 “There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all which I will command you for the sons of Israel.
Who is Jesus?
Immanuel, God with us.
The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.
And he came for a purpose…
To be obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Why? to atone for the sins of His people.
And here, Mary who is weeping tears of sadness…
Has this wonderful picture of two angels seated at each end, of where the body of the Lord once lay…
But, no longer, because He has risen.
He has risen from His death because it was His mission to conquer death.
It was His mission:
To atone for the sins of His people.
To obtain for His own the mercy they need.
To cover their transgressions with His blood.
To seal the Ark so the transgressed Law can no longer be seen.
To remove the record of debt for all those who believe upon Him.
What we are beholding is the picture of the Mercy Seat of God…
Where divine righteousness met with man’s sinfulness…
And covers the transgressions of the Law for all who look upon Him.
Christ is…the true meeting place...between God and Man…
And, in Christ, we find mercy and grace in time of need.
At such majesty, grace, and wonder we can only join in with the Apostle Paul…
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
But, before we move on, let’s think about something here…
13 And they said to her, “Woman, why are you crying?” She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
Mary misses it.
She’s still so focused and so sad on what she observes against the truth that she misses this beautiful picture of Christ’s victory.
Application:
Application:
Because of Mary’s undue sadness…
Let me stop there, because some may raise a question there, and ask…
How can this be undue sadness?
Christ has just died on the cross.
Christ has just been buried in a tomb.
Christ is no longer in Mary’s presence to be in physical presence fellowship.
But, the truth is...
And, it’s seemingly impossible to argue someone’s emotions…
So the better thing to do is bring the emotions to the truth…
The truth is…
Jesus has taught repeatedly that He would rise on the third day, and He has.
Jesus has taught that it is better for Him to go, for the sake of the elect.
Jesus promises that His felt presence is real, even though He would not be physically present…
It will be a better situation for the elect of God.
So, Mary is sad:
because she believes Christ is dead.
because she thinks His body has been moved or stolen.
because she thinks she will never fellowship with the Lord again in this life.
But all of these feelings are based on falsehoods.
None of these feelings are based on truth.
And, so it is undue sadness.
And had Mary, at this time, been clinging to the truth of Christ’s words…
She would, instead of weeping tears of sadness while looking for the Lord…
She would be joyfully looking for the Lord.
Truth, had Mary been thinking rightly, would have replaced her sorrow with joy.
But, Mary misses this beautiful truth in picture…
This Mercy Seat picture that so displays:
who Christ is
what He has done
and that He is risen, not moved.
Because of Mary’s emotions being guided by sensory rather than the Words of Christ…
Mary is suffering needlessly.
And, I wonder if we would be willing to confess that we all too often suffer in the same manner?
Especially in times of sorrow, we all too often lack the faith to believe that God is at work, for our good, in and through our difficulties, discomforts, and sadness.
How do we get better at preaching the gospel back into our minds and hearts so that we respond to circumstances according to God’s truth instead of feelings?
We learn to lament, biblically.
We stay in the Word, constantly.
We have trusted friends that we allow to speak into our lives, critically and helpfully.
There’s no one we are more blind to seeing faults in than self.
We are the most blind to our self to spot ourselves being driven by emotion rather than truth.
And, we need trusted brothers and sisters that we invite to speak critically of us, to us, so that we can realign to the truth of God’s word.
Now let’s continue and read…
14 When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking 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.”
Still in the same condition as before…
To miss the angels and the picture of Christ being the fulfillment of the Mercy Seat…
Mary now, through undue sadness, misses the Lord, as well.
But, I don’t want us to overlook the questions Jesus asked…
Penetrating Questions
Penetrating Questions
Woman = respectful language…Madame or Mam.
Woman, why are you crying?
Jesus is asking Mary what is causing her to cry.
IOW…What situation have you encountered that would bring such tears?
Jesus is gently leading Mary to emotionally respond to truth instead of responding with emotions not based on truth.
What on earth are you crying about?
Then Jesus asks, Whom are you seeking?
IOW, why would you be looking for a dead Messiah when I told you I would rise after three days?
Penetrating questions that cause one to come back to this question…
Is truth driving your behavior?
Now look with me at this beautiful picture of the unceasing pursuit of Christ to minister to His own…
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).
He Calls Us By Name
He Calls Us By Name
Oh, what a beautiful picture we have here of what Jesus has already taught us.
His sheep hear His voice and He calls each by their own name.
She recognized His call to her by name.
She felt the familial way in which He spoke her name.
And she responds…
Rabboni = Teacher
And she most likely fell to her knees and clung to his legs at His feet.
Oh, how the word of God is true that our Savior…
Exchanges our sorrow for joy.
Falsehood for truth.
Condemnation for redemption.
Isaiah 35:10 (LSB)
10 And the ransomed of Yahweh will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
With everlasting gladness upon their heads.
They will attain delight and gladness,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.
Application:
Application:
In our times of undue sadness, in our times of true, biblical sorrow, sufferings, sinfulness…
In all the times of life, the cure for what ails us is to have our eyes fixed again on Jesus Christ.
Let the eyes of our heart be re-aligned to behold the beauty of our risen Lord.
And lift us out of our unbelieving emotions and behaviors.
Now, there’s another truth Jesus is teaching here…
17 Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’”
Jesus is calling Mary to…
Trust Christ’s Word
Trust Christ’s Word
Christ has been teaching intimately to the eleven…
But, throughout His ministry, He’s been teaching these truths to His disciples…
That His relationship would change after His death and resurrection.
That He would go to the Father.
And, yet, would not leave them alone…
But would leave them in a better circumstance…
By giving the Holy Spirit.
So, Jesus’ ascension increases their fellowship with Christ rather than lessening it.
And, so by Mary clinging to Him…
She is behaving in a manner that displays belief that the normal interaction is the best interaction…
And, that is the physical presence of the Lord.
It’s almost like a grip that won’t let go because they prefer the reality of the physical presence over the alternative.
And, we understand this behavior, right?
But, Jesus is calling Mary, and us, to trust Him when He says He must go and prepare a place.
He must ascend, because the ascension is what gains the elevation of Christ, His human nature, to glory…
And guarantees and confers the same for those in union with Him.
Let me give you an illustration from the Apostle Paul…
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
How did that originally happen?
Who was the first human to fall short of the glory of God that thrust us into falling short of the glory of God as our representative?
Adam
And, now who is that elevates us to that glory by union with Him?
Christ
What is the glory of God that we lost in Adam, but gain in Christ?
It is the glory of eternal life in the presence of God in a state of immutable righteousness.
Adam was offered eternal life in the Tree of Life…
But he lost it by acting against wisdom and taking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good & Evil and eating.
By transgressing the law of God Adam fell short of the glory of God…
Which was eternal life, no longer able to sin, having an immutable righteousness before God, forevermore.
However, and hallelujah, Christ has procured such glory by being tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin…
And being obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
And, so the human nature of Christ is elevated to the glory of God that Adam and all mankind fall short of…
And He takes with Him to that state of glory all whom the Father has given Him to redeem.
As the Apostle Paul says…
14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We obtain the glory that in Adam we failed to obtain.
In ourselves, we failed to obtain.
But, in Christ we gain it.
We, who have fallen short of the glory of God and rightfully deserve condemnation…
Have been removed from the condition we deserve…
Exalted to a status we do not deserve…
And, obtain the glory that God has created us for.
To live with Him in sinlessness and immutable righteousness, forevermore.
It’s coming brothers and sisters.
The day is coming!
Hallelujah, what a Savior!
Closing Prayer
Closing Prayer
