John 20:10-17

John 20:10-17  Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying.  As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.  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.”  At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.  “Woman,” he said, “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.”  Jesus said to her, “Mary.”  She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).   Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 

The angels and Jesus asked Mary, why are you crying?  Why is your heart so stressed, so burdened, so overwhelmed by Jesus' disappearance.  Of course the angels and Jesus knew why she was crying: her tears represented her heartfelt desperation over the absence of Christ's body.  This deceased Jesus could do nothing for her now, but she loved him; and in Jewish tradition she revered his body, felt concern over someone removing it from the tomb.  As with Joseph and Nicodemus, the account of how people reacted at the empty tomb reveals their love and loyalty to Jesus.  Mary loved him so much she could not bear the thought that his body might be neglected or desecrated by some grave robbers.  Her love was palpable, everlasting, and uncompromising: Christ's death had not changed her love towards him.  But with natural eyes, she did not readily recognize him when she first saw him and He spoke to her: she did not realize that it was Jesus.  She was looking for corpse, a shrouded body, not a living being.  Does our love radiate the same loyalty and unfailing constancy for Jesus or do we love him for what He can do for us and then draw back from him when we think He has failed us or neglected us in some way?

American Christians lead such a secular existence filled with so many material blessings, so many things, we do well to undergo a spiritual inventory.  We do well to search our hearts, asking the Holy Spirit to shine the gospel light on our lives.  Surely we will cry out with the psalmist: Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.  (Psalm 139:23-24)  So often our love and our passion for God remains situational and fleeting.  When we need something, we come to the Lord or we attend church, seeking the help and fellowship of believers.  When a prayer is answered and God graces our lives with a miracle, we shout joyfully and rejoice in our good fortune often pointing to how much we prayed for this awesome happening.  But during the lean times of pain, sorrow, sickness, and struggle; we sometimes wander afar, casting aside God and those who would stand with us to comfort, help, and sustain us through the valleys.  God seeks a people who will say with Job: Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.  (Job 13:15)  Conditional love tells us to look at what's going on instead of walking by faith and trusting God.  A person of faith does not say: "What can God do for me or my family?"  God's servant says: "What does God want my family to do for him?"  Sometimes people come to the Lord in times of great trouble, such as a war.  Foxhole prayers have saved many a soldier: "Lord, if you get me out of this war alive, I will serve you forever."  Some of those foot soldiers remembered their promises; others forgot the Lord spared their lives and went right on with their worldly pursuits.  Unfortunately, such prayers lead a person to constantly bargaining with God, treating him like a machine rather than Lord of our lives.  Rather than fully surrendering to him, giving ourselves completely and wholeheartedly, we try to make deals, saying, "If you give me this, Lord, then I will give you that."  God is not in the business of making deals.  He seeks sons and daughters to take up the cross and follow Jesus.  

If we love God with all our hearts, all our souls, all our might, we will say, "I love you Lord.  I want to serve you with my life, please only you.  Not my will but yours be done."  That is the love Mary evidenced for Jesus.  Such love stands the test of time.  We all die someday.  The time will come when the Creator of all things and the controller of all time will say, "Next."  Our turn will come as we pass through the throes of death.  Will our love for God say, "Your will, not mine," or will our fleshly self hold on to seeds of bitterness and anger, unforgiveness and criticism because we held onto our selfishness and rage; we kept shame and quilt alive instead of nailing everything to the cross?  When it is our time to fly away on eagle's wings to be with our blessed Lord, we do not want to be encumbered by anything, by any weights from this sinful world.  The godly love overflowing from our hearts should be palpable, everlasting, and uncompromising.  No other love will endure the trials and vicissitudes of life.  Without a doubt, the angels and Jesus knew why Mary was crying.  They knew Mary's strong and enduring love for Jesus; they knew the overwhelming circumstances that morning, but they also knew no thieves had taken away her Lord.  Jesus was not going to abandon Mary that morning.  When He said, “Mary,” the song of heaven broke forth in her spirit.  When she recognized him, she knew the lover of her soul was with her.  Jesus comforted her that morning, but He also spoke words of faith to her that would forever comfort her soul: Go instead to my brothers and tell them, "I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”   Tell them that I am going home to my father and God, and tell them that I am going home to their Father and God, and that someday they will be with me forever.  These words changed Mary and Christ's followers' lives forever.  If we truly believe them today, none of us will ever be the same.  For Christ went to his Father that his Father might be OUR FATHER.