#288 Weeping and Finding 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 16:11-16)
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.”
When it is late at night and our boat is a long way from the shore, at the mercy of the waves with the wind dead against us, we like the disciples do not recognize the one who walks out to us on the water. But Jesus speaks, “It’s all right! It’s I myself, don’t be afraid!” Matthew 14:23-27 Phillips
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 He knows us by name and he knows who we are in every emotional, physical, earthly and spiritual detail. John 3:47-49; John 10:14; Hebrews 4:12-16
As a Gardner, as one who comes in the midst of the storm, in whatever form he may come to us in untoward experience and in the greatest of joys, may we recognize him, and know that he stands for us as our Risen Lord—our Savior, High Priest and King.
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 16:11-16)
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.”
When it is late at night and our boat is a long way from the shore, at the mercy of the waves with the wind dead against us, we like the disciples do not recognize the one who walks out to us on the water. But Jesus speaks, “It’s all right! It’s I myself, don’t be afraid!” Matthew 14:23-27 Phillips
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 He knows us by name and he knows who we are in every emotional, physical, earthly and spiritual detail. John 3:47-49; John 10:14; Hebrews 4:12-16
As a Gardner, as one who comes in the midst of the storm, in whatever form he may come to us in untoward experience and in the greatest of joys, may we recognize him, and know that he stands for us as our Risen Lord—our Savior, High Priest and King.
