#347 The Voice of our Risen Lord John 20.16
Stooping, she looked yet again into the tomb. Now she was startled by the appearance of figures sitting there within, even where the body of Jesus had lain. "Why are you crying?" they ask, to which Mary pours out her grief. Her words reveal the state of her mind, and lack of comprehension. "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him..."
Then she heard that voice…the same question echoed, this time from the lips of a stranger standing there behind her. "Why are you crying? Who are you seeking?" It has to be one of the most poignant moments in sacred history.
She turns to see, her first thought that this may be the keeper of the garden. He may have the answer to her distress. Was it you? Did you move the body? Tell me where, that I might bear it away. She was standing, looking at, but not recognizing, the answer to all her fears and all her grief. It required one familiar sound for the scales to fall from her eyes. The sound of her name, spoken in the way that only her Lord used. "Mary!" (John 20:11-16)
Let us think too of the holy emotion of that Master, Who knows all that is in the heart in that moment of great closeness, in which He awaits recognition. Donald Holliday
He is so close to us in our experience, but we do not see him.
At times we weep, and our senses say that we cannot find him, and he still “awaits recognition.”
If we do not listen for his voice in the midst of our emotion we will not hear or recognize him.
If we do not ask in the moment of grief and confusion we will not hear his answer.
As part of his flock, we know his voice. John 10:4; Song of Songs 2:8
“I was asleep, but my heart was awake.
A voice! My beloved was knocking;
‘Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one!
For my head is drenched with dew,
My locks with the damp of the night.’ Song of Songs 5:2-3
O teach us to know your voice, the voice of our Risen Lord!
O teach us to respond quickly, empowered to do whatever you bid, in the power of your resurrection power.
As a Gardner, as one who comes in the midst of shattered dreams and raw emotion, or in whatever form he may come to us—in untoward experience and in the greatest of joys, may we recognize him, hear his voice and respond. For he stands for us as our Risen Lord—our Savior, High Priest and King, with all power in heaven and in earth.
Stooping, she looked yet again into the tomb. Now she was startled by the appearance of figures sitting there within, even where the body of Jesus had lain. "Why are you crying?" they ask, to which Mary pours out her grief. Her words reveal the state of her mind, and lack of comprehension. "They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him..."
Then she heard that voice…the same question echoed, this time from the lips of a stranger standing there behind her. "Why are you crying? Who are you seeking?" It has to be one of the most poignant moments in sacred history.
She turns to see, her first thought that this may be the keeper of the garden. He may have the answer to her distress. Was it you? Did you move the body? Tell me where, that I might bear it away. She was standing, looking at, but not recognizing, the answer to all her fears and all her grief. It required one familiar sound for the scales to fall from her eyes. The sound of her name, spoken in the way that only her Lord used. "Mary!" (John 20:11-16)
Let us think too of the holy emotion of that Master, Who knows all that is in the heart in that moment of great closeness, in which He awaits recognition. Donald Holliday
He is so close to us in our experience, but we do not see him.
At times we weep, and our senses say that we cannot find him, and he still “awaits recognition.”
If we do not listen for his voice in the midst of our emotion we will not hear or recognize him.
If we do not ask in the moment of grief and confusion we will not hear his answer.
As part of his flock, we know his voice. John 10:4; Song of Songs 2:8
“I was asleep, but my heart was awake.
A voice! My beloved was knocking;
‘Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my perfect one!
For my head is drenched with dew,
My locks with the damp of the night.’ Song of Songs 5:2-3
O teach us to know your voice, the voice of our Risen Lord!
O teach us to respond quickly, empowered to do whatever you bid, in the power of your resurrection power.
As a Gardner, as one who comes in the midst of shattered dreams and raw emotion, or in whatever form he may come to us—in untoward experience and in the greatest of joys, may we recognize him, hear his voice and respond. For he stands for us as our Risen Lord—our Savior, High Priest and King, with all power in heaven and in earth.
RSS Feed
