Tune in for the final part of Can We Talk? & Easter Sunday! *Notes below!
John 20:10–18 (NIV84) 10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but 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 “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.” 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 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.’ ” 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.
The Disciples turned back after the funeral and missed the miracle.
They turned back:
To their old homes
To their old habits
To their old friends
To their old identities
Mary investigated the death of Jesus and the tomb more deeply.
She found:
Two Angels (messengers with a message)
A reason for Joy instead of mourning
A new understanding of Jesus
A new understanding of life and death
The Master fulfilling His Mission
Her own new identity
Refuse to go back to your old way of life. God has redeemed us through the power of the resurrection from every old identity. He wants you to hang on to Him and allow Him to transform you. Refuse to hang on to a powerless picture of Jesus. He is no longer on the Cross, but He sits at the right hand of the Father with the title deed to heaven and earth in his hands. Receive God’s Power for your progress in life. He is changing you from Glory to Glory
2 Corinthians 3:18 (NIV84) 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
