30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 24 9-12 MEETING THE RISEN LORD 04 11Mar2022 Luke 24 09-10 Jesus calls us by our name
📖 Luke 24:9-12
04 – 11Mar2022 – Jesus calls us by our name - Luke 24:09-12 - MEETING THE RISEN LORD - Bible reading: John 20:15-16
"Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You reached out to Mary Magdalene and enabled her to see You as the risen Lord. She became a powerful witness for You. This is Your desire for each of us. Thank You, Lord. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.”
We continue to look into the encounter of Mary Magdalene with the risen Lord.
Luke 24:9-12 Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. (10) It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles.
Yesterday, we saw that the Lord was standing by her side but Mary did not recognise Him.
Her perplexity was all surrounding the disappearance of the body of Jesus. She was clinging on to Jesus even if it was just His dead body. She wanted Jesus, from whom she had received healing and deliverance.
John 20:15 Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, "Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away."
Her response to Jesus reveals the pain in Mary’s heart. She wanted the ‘Gardener’ to tell her, where he had laid the body of Jesus and she would take Him. Mary was clinging to the dead.
Whereas, it was the risen Lord who was standing by her side. She was not looking for the living Lord.
"Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” These were the Lord’s questions to Mary. Why was the Lord asking her, what is obvious? Didn’t the Lord know the pain in Mary’s heart?
He was asking her if she was still seeking the dead body of Jesus or was she even considering that the Lord could be living.
We come back to the message of the angels. Luke 24:5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?
Mary was seeking the living among the dead. Her search was wrong.
Often in life, our search is wrong. Many of us are seeking and searching for things that are dead, thinking that if we find them, our pain will be cured.
Jeremiah 2:13 "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.
Many of us have kept God out of our lives and instead, pursuing broken cisterns that can hold no water. We should be seeking the risen Lord not the dead body of Jesus. This was the basis for the questions that the Lord was asking Mary. The Lord was making Mary look into her heart and realise that her search was wrong.
Isaiah 55:1-3 "Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. (2) Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance. (3) Incline your ear, and come to Me. Hear, and your soul shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—The sure mercies of David.
The Lord is calling us to seek Him, the fount of living waters, and not seek for the dead things of life. He wants us to be sold out for Him and for Him alone.
Though we are like Mary, seeking the things that can never bring fulfilment in our lives, the Lord is patient with us. He does not cast us aside. The Lord had not forsaken Mary, though her search was wrong. The Lord called her by her name.
(16) Jesus said to her, "Mary!" She turned and said to Him, "Rabboni!" (which is to say, Teacher).
The Lord calls us by our name.
Isaiah 43:1 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
Even though we are often so foolish and are seeking the dead things of life, the Lord calls us by our name. He longs to be dear to us and He also has a task for us to complete.
Isaiah 42:6 "I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles,
The Lord is giving us as a covenant to the people. He is our God of the covenant, in the same way, we are to be a covenant to the people. People must know us as covenant people. We are people of the covenant because our life is based on the covenant-keeping God.
God had a plan and purpose for Mary. He called her by her name, for her to be joined with Him and to fulfil His purpose. Jesus calls us by our name so that we will be one with Him and then fulfil His purpose for each of us.
Thought to ponder
Are you willing to throw out the dead weights in your life and seek the living Lord?