John 20:17.2 “Jesus said to her, ‘Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, “I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.”'"
Before Jesus was crucified He told His disciples that He was going to the Father. It is interesting that between the time He was resurrected and the time He showed Himself to Mary that He had not yet gone to His Father. It was as if she was preventing Him from ascending to His Father, and it was time for Him to go. By the time she got to the disciples, He said to tell them He had ascended to His and their Father and His and their God.
This means that the delayed ascension was for one purpose, namely to launch the testimony of His resurrection with Mary. Once that was accomplished, He ascended into heaven to celebrate the glorious work of redemption with His Father.
Jesus is now not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters. The writer of Hebrews wrote, “For both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all from one Father; for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren” (Hebrews 2:11).
Join me with our brother Peter in blessing God today for His great love. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
Acknowledgment: Music from “Carried by the Father” by Eric Terlizzi. www.ericterlizzi.com
