Scripture: John 20:1-18
The Empty Tomb
20 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”
3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus’ head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying.
Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. (NIV)
Observation:
“Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’” Until that moment, Mary did not recognize Jesus. However, when Jesus called her by name, it was unmistakable to her. No one else could speak her name as he did, and she immediately knew he was her Lord. Jesus knows each of us intimately and calls us by our name. He desires a relationship with every individual and understands us better than we understand ourselves.
Application:
Since Jesus knows each of us intimately, why fight revealing ourselves to our Lord. Let Jesus see into our hearts and our minds. Let him search you and know you, and allow his Holy Spirit to show the areas in your life that need to be conformed to his will. For he knows the plans he has made for you, plans to prosper you and give you a hope and a future.
Prayer:
O Lord, my God, search me and know me and show me the areas in my life that I need to conform to your best intentions for my life. Help me to cooperate with your Spirit as you show me myself and the areas in my life that I need to yield to you. Please be the Lord of my life. Amen!