April 8, 2007

• Wonderful, wonderful reflection from Tim Challies:

  "Mary." Of all the sentences in the Bible, this is one of my
  favorites. Mary Magdalene has come to Jesus' tomb and is distressed to
  see that his body is gone. Convinced that someone has taken away His
  body, she stands outside the tomb weeping. Two angels appear and ask
  simply "Woman, why are you weeping?" She replies, "They have taken away
  my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him."

  But then
  she turns and sees someone. She does not recognize Him, though it is
  the very one she seeks. Somehow her eyes are closed so she cannot see
  who it is. This man says "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you
  seeking?" She supposes He must be the gardener and says, "Sir, if you
  have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take
  him away." She wants the body back and begs that this man might return
  it to her.

  But then, in an instant, her eyes are opened. Jesus,
  as He had called Lazarus out from the tomb, calls to her. He says but
  one word. "Mary." At at that very instant she knew. At that very
  instant she saw and knew and understood that the One she sought was
  standing right there behind her. She turned and cried out "Rabboni!"
  (which means teacher). I wonder, did she scream this word and throw
  herself at Him? Perhaps she could do little more than call out in a
  whisper as she feel at his feet. We don't know. But we do know that she
  clung to Jesus, overwhelmed with His presence, overwhelmed to know that
  He was alive. She saw and heard and believed.

  As I read these
  words, I think of the way Jesus called me and the way He has called
  countless thousands of men and women to Himself. Like Mary I was once
  unable to see Jesus for who He is. I saw a man who may as well have
  been a gardener. He was a good man, a moral man, and maybe even a great
  man. But only when Jesus called me by name was I able to see that He is
  the god-man. Only then was I able to see Him as the Lamb of God who
  takes away the sin of the world. Only then did I really and truly know
  Him. And only then were my eyes opened so I could see and my ears
  unstopped so I could hear and my heart renewed so I could believe. Like
  Mary, He called me by name.

  • 10:45 pm
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