Mary Magdalene and Jesus

Mary Magdalene and Jesus.

People often speak about decisive moments in their lives. Some of you are old enough to remember the day John F Kennedy was assassinated  a decisive moment they say. For this generation it may well be September 11 that is described as a decisive moment. Decisive moments in life change our lives direction in a decisive way. Such moments are etched on our memories. Some are surprising moments:

uh, dad about the car or honey, I am pregnant. Some moments are painful; I am afraid it is bad new or the test was positiv  or I do not want to see you again.  Some moments are expected, anticipated and even celebrated:  congratulations, it is a boy/girl or I now pronounce you husband and wife or you have got the job or you have passed your driving test. Though I am not sure that last one is not a mixture of all three. Such things are decisive moments in the life of an individual. I want to look at just such a moment in the life of a woman in the Bible  Mary Magdalene. The moment in her life was not just decisive for her but for all of humanity throughout all of history.

We know really very little about this woman Mary of Magdala. Magdala as place was notorious for paganism, prostitution and immorality. It was not the sort of place you would readily admit was your home. The sort of place you omitted to write on your C.V. This we do know about her. Luke tells us that Jesus had cast 7 demons out of Mary Magdalene (Luke 8.2) and that from that moment on she became a close follower of Jesus. John records that she was present at the foot of the cross when Jesus was crucified. Mark says that she was one of the women who came to the tomb of Christ early on the first Easter Day in order to anoint his body as a last act of love and devotion. In John 20 John records for us that she was left at the tomb when everyone else had left. He records for us the depth of her despair and grief at the loss of Jesus. She is distraught at his death and even more so at the removal of his body from his burial tomb.

This was truly a decisive moment in the life of Mary of Magdala.  Read chapter 20 of Johns gospel. John tells us it was early in the morning, probably around 3am. Mary and other women are making their way to the tomb of Christ. A few days before they had stood at the bottom of his cross watching their Lord die. They had taken his body down and prepared it for burial. They now come back to the tomb to do this last thing for him  to anoint his body with spices and ointment  a bit like the way we leave flowers on a grave. As they walk along the road they wonder how they will move the stone that they had witnessed the guards place across the entrance to the tomb. When the get to the tomb they see the stone rolled away and immediately Mary Magdalene runs to get Simon and John. The Greek implies that they were not together and Mary has to go two errands to get them both. Why these two?

Even though Simon had denied Jesus he is still seen as the leader. John is known as the beloved disciple and the one who is closest to Jesus. These two disciples run ahead of Mary to the tomb. John gets there first but for whatever reason he just peeks in. Maybe he was frightened, maybe he did not want to be ceremonially defiled, after all it is Passover. He looks in and sees the tomb is empty  he notices folded grave clothes and the linen head cloth lying where Jesus head would have been.

Simon,ever the impulsive, races on into the tomb and finds it empty. Luke tells us in 24.12 that Simon went away wondering what had happened to Jesus. Isnt that amazing? Simon goes away wondering. Verse 8 of chapter 20 simply tells us that John, the other disciple, went in and believed. Simon went away wondering and John leaves believing  both having seen the same thing  an empty tomb and empty grave clothes.

Verse 9 tells us why this was so  they were yet to understand the scriptures and how they applied to Jesus  Emmaus helped to clarify that. Verse 10 tells us that the two disciples go home. Isnt that amazing also? They go back home  again this may have been due to fear of the authorities. But to have witnessed what they had witnessed and just to turn and go home  well?

A Story of Grief.

Look at verse 11. Here was Mary Magdalene  a social outcast, a sinner, and Christ comes and meets her where she is at. She had nowhere to go but to this empty tomb. Her home was 65 miles away in Magdala  but there was nothing there but her old life of sin and demon possession. The road back to Magdala was no place for a lone woman to be travelling, it was too dangerous. There was nowhere else her heart wanted to be other than near Jesus and at this moment the only place to be was at his tomb, even if it was empty. Is this not a sad verse? Mary is left outside the tomb weeping for her Lord Jesus. She is left alone with her grief. Mary is at this moment in her life experiencing all that we experience when someone we love dies. She is confused and no doubt angry. Angry at death. Angry because the body has been taken away. Angry maybe even at Jesus  how could he let this happen? Why did he have to go to the cross? Why did he have to trust Judas? No doubt she is confused and disorientated. No doubt there is disbelief  how could they do this to his body? Was it not enough to whip him, mock him and crucify him? She is totally unable to move on  she comes to the last place where her Lord was  the tomb and she weeps from the depths of her heart  she weeps bitter tears of grief at the pain of her loss. What will ever fill this void of pain in her soul? But she is about to have another decisive moment in her life.

The first was when Jesus cast out the demons. The second was when Christ died before her eyes on the cross of Calvary. The third begins when she decides to look into the tomb. What was it that the disciples saw when they went into the tomb? So with a broken heart and tear filled eyes she looks into the tomb. She sees two angels. John tells us one was sitting where Christs head would have been and the other where his feet would have been. In between are the folded grave clothes. Her tears flow even more. The tomb really is empty. His body is gone. Then one of the angels speak why are you crying? (v13). Mary answers they have taken my Lord away and I dont know where they have laid him (13). You see at this point Mary still thinks someone has stolen his body. How else do you explain I dont know where they have put him? She turns away from the angels and she sees Jesus, though she fails to recognise him. Verse 15Jesus asks her the same question and adds who is it you are looking for? She thinking he is the gardener asks what he has done with the body of Christ.  Please tell me and I will go and get his body and bring it back to the tomb. That is what Mary says. She wants Jesus back in the tomb. She wants him in the tomb so that she can come and grieve. So that she can come and remember.

The Story of Hope.

Verse 16 Mary. Now things are about to change forever.  Mary Jesus speaks only one word  her name. She replies with only one word Rabonni (Master). The one she has been grieving for. The one she saw die on a cross. The one whose body she had come to anoint with oils and spices is now standing before her. Her grief gives way to joy. A heart that was breaking with the searing pain of loss is now breaking with the joy of life. She runs to him and clasps hold of him. But we will come to that in a moment. I want to linger for a moment on these two words Maryand Master.

Mary it was her name. She did not recognise him when she turned to face him. Her eyes were filled with tears. Her sight was clouded with grief and her heart was dying with the pain of loss and separation. But when Jesus spoke her name she recognised him. She recognised his voice and she recognised his voice calling her name. In John 10 Jesus said that he called his sheep by their name and they recognised his voice and they followed him. Here is the fulfilment of that. In the midst of despair. In the midst of searing loss. In the midst of the pain of separation Jesus only has to speak her name and her heart is overwhelmed with joy, with hope and with love. What seemed hopeless to Mary. What seemed to be a helpless situation to her needed only her name called by her Lord for it to be transformed, renewed and restored.

All she could do in reply was to fall at his feet and cry Master.  Friends I have no doubt her tears flowed even more at that moment. Do you remember the joy of finding someone who was lost? Do you remember the tears when you were reunited with someone you thought you would never see again?  Mary can only reply Master and clasp him tightly to her.

Grief had dulled her heart and mind but the voice of Jesus calling her name restored hope to her soul. He speaks her name. He knows her. He calls her personally. She wanted him back in the tomb  tell me where he is and I will go and get him. She was seeking him with all her heart  little did she know how God would answer the promise I will reveal myself to you when you seek me with all your heart.  She wanted a body in the grave to remember and to grieve over. He came resurrected to bring hope and new life. Which was better? Which do you think Mary would have preferred?

Our Story

So friends  what is our decisive moment? We stand today before an empty cross, outside an empty tomb wherein lie empty grave clothes.

The Empty Cross

What does the empty cross of Christ say to us?

The first thing it tells me is that Jesus died there. He died. The Roman soldiers knew it. The disciples knew it. The women knew it. The Jewish leaders knew it. The bloodstains on the wood of that cross proclaim a man died here. He died as a public spectacle, to some as entertainment. He died. The empty cross tells me he died. But what does the empty cross promise?

It promises me that my sin is atoned for and my penalty paid. Gods Word tells me that the wages of sin is death.  When Christ died on the cross he paid the wages of sin. When wages are paid there is nothing more to pay. You see as the Scriptures teach all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God  all  that includes you and me. We have fallen short, we have sinned and the wages, the debt owed is death. But the empty cross promises me that the wages have been paid. Gods wrath has been satisfied and my sin atoned for by the death of Jesus. God by his love for us showed his love that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. When he said it is finished he proclaimed the penalty has been paid. In the book were it once read guilty of sin it now reads forgiven, paid in full.  So though the cross is empty it is full of the promise of forgiveness.

The Empty Tomb.

You see the empty tomb speaks of resurrection life. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 15.20 Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep. You see his resurrection promises our resurrection. Because he is risen we also will be raised from the dead. Therefore death has lost its power over me. I have no need to fear death any longer. As Paul states in 1 Corinthians 15  death has lost its sting and grave has lost its victory because they have been swallowed up in Christ and his resurrection. The empty tomb is full of promise  the promise of resurrection life for all who believe and trust in Christ Jesus.

The Empty Grave Clothes.

We read in the gospels that when Peter entered the empty tomb he saw the grave clothes where the body of Christ was. John is very vivid in his description. He speaks of the linen cloth which would have been over the head of Christ lying separate from the strips of cloth that embalmed the body. If the grave had been robbed and the body snatched then such care would not have been taken to remove and fold the cloths around the body. In fact the body would have just been lifted, clothes and all. The empty grave clothes speak to me of the promise of fellowship with Christ.

Friends here is fellowship with Christ Jesus. Note will you it is not until she hears his voice calling her name that her eyes are open and her immediate response is to cling to him. That is his desire  for you and I to hear his voice call out our name and for us to cling to him. The empty grave clothes speak of his fellowship with us. He is no longer dead. He is no longer limited by an earthly human body. While he walked this earth only those who were physically and geographically close to him could have fellowship with him. Until the resurrection he could not be in two places at once. Once rise n from the dead he is able to fellowship by His Holy Spirit with all men, in all places and at all times.

Conclusion

Friends here it is. We all have had decisive moments in our lives. We have had those life changing experiences and we know that life has changed. We find ourselves  standing once again before the empty cross, the empty tomb and empty grave clothes. The question is not Is this a decisive moment for you today? But it is actually a statement of fact: This is the decisive moment of your eternity! Today the risen Christ calls your name  he calls your name and the choice is yours. Are you going to remain blind and unseeing or are you going to turn and recognise him? Are you going to turn to him today and as Mary did clasp him to yourself and know the power of his resurrection life flood your life and change your for all eternity.

 He is risen! He is here and He calls each of us by name. How are you going to respond?

 Amen.

GOD OF MERCY

God of Mercy

I once saw a sign outside a convent that read Trespassers will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.  Underneath it was signed Sisters of Mercy.  There seemed to be an anomaly there to me.  Prosecution to the full extent of the law and mercy? 

Did you ever get caught doing something you shouldn't?  What were you hoping for when you got caught?  Did you ever hurt someone by accident?  What were you hoping for when you begged forgiveness?  Mercy, that is what we were hoping for each time.

 we are going to look at the fact that God is Merciful. 

Read Exodus 34 and verses 6-7.  We read here of God revealing himself to Moses.  Read  verses 6-7.  We find here that God reveals his character to Moses and part of his character is that he is merciful.  When God says he is merciful he is saying to us that his gaze upon us is one of tender compassion.  In Isaiah 42.3 we read of this tender compassion, this relentless tenderness, this mercy towards us.  The children of the day would have used the reeds of the riverside to make flutes.  A reed that was bent or bruised would have been of no use to them  they broke it and discarded it.  But God says such reeds, those broken and bruised by sin, are not only of value but of use to Him.  In fact he will show them mercy and will not break them but restore them.  He supports that imagery with one of a smouldering wick which he will not snuff out.  This is the mercy of God being displayed to those who due to sin are almost extinct spiritually.  

Yet look closely at verse 7.  Gods mercy does not mean that he will set aside justice.  God will not clear the guilty  that is he will not and he does not turn a blind eye to sin.  He will not clear nor cleanse those who refuse to repent of their sin.  He will not clear the guilty without satisfaction to his justice.  That moves us then to the next step in Gods mercy.

Mercy requires blood to be shed.

On one occasion a mother came before Napoleon to plead for mercy for her son.  The conversation went along the following lines:

Mother  I plead for mercy for my son.

Napoleon  this is his second offence and justice demands death.

Mother I know what justice demands but I am asking for mercy.

Napoleon -  he does not deserve mercy.

Mother  if he deserved mercy it would not be mercy.

Napoleon capitulated and gave the mother her son back.  To what was that mother appealing?  Mercy.  What is mercy?  When we look up the definition in the dictionary it states the following:

Refraining from inflicting suffering, punishment by one who has the right, power to inflict it.

Mercy is not in the hands of the one who pleads for it but rests in the hands of the one to whom the plea is made.  Mercy is also related to justice.  Justice treats us as we deserve to be treated because of our words and or actions.  Mercy treats us differently than we deserve.  Let me give you a few Biblical examples of mercy.

Genesis 3  the Fall of Mankind.  You all I am sure know the story well.  Adam and Eve deliberately disobey God and bring sin and death into creation.  When they realise what they have done they run and hide.  God comes and searches them out.  God had warned them in his word to them that if they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil they would die.  Justice demanded death.  Adam and Eve deserved death.  What happens?  God displays his mercy to them.  He does not turn a blind eye to their disobedience and their sin.  He does not choose to ignore it.  What he does is to pardon their sin.  How?  Look at the text closely  mercy comes at the expense of a life.  In this case the blood of an animal was shed to atone for the sin of Adam and Eve.  How do we know that?  Well we read that God clothed them in animal skins to hide their nakedness.  Mercy came at the expense of a life, at the cost of the shedding of blood.

Read Exodus 25.17-22.  We have here described the Mercy Seat of the Ark of the Covenant.  I want you to note that the Mercy Seat covered the Ark.  It was over the Law, it covered justice and judgment.  But I want you also to note it only came into effect when blood was sprinkled on it.  When the blood from the sacrificial lamb on the Day of Atonement was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat then the throne of Gods judgment and justice became the means of his mercy to a sinful and wayward people.  Mercy was offered at the price of a life. 

You see no one has the right to mercy.  It took blood to make the mercy seat work and mercy still requires a life and it still requires blood to be effectual.  Why blood?  Well if you turn to Genesis 4.10 we read that blood speaks  it cries to God.  Then turn if you would to Hebrews 12.24.  Do you notice the difference?  Abel's blood spoke of justice and judgment.  The blood of Christ speaks of Gods mercy.  For God to show us mercy he cannot set aside justice.  Justice must be fulfilled or God would not be just. So God in his mercy towards us satisfies his justice, his holiness by taking the punishment which our sin deserves, death, upon himself and the blood of his Son shed on the cross effects mercy for us.  Mercy required the shedding of blood and yet as the letter to Hebrews 9 tells us the blood of goats and heifers could not and would not cleanse us from sin for eternity.  But as the author of Hebrews goes on to point out the blood of Christ brought a new covenant, an eternal covenant, in his own blood which does cleanse us from sin for all eternity.

Read again Exodus 34 and now to verses 8-9.  Do you see the result in the life of Moses of God revealing his mercy?  Moses immediately bows his head in humble reverence and adoration.  He immediately gives God the glory due to his name.  He is then moved to repentance in verse 9.  Repentance because he is before God as the representative, the mediator, of a stiff-necked people.  He then immediately asks God to pardon their sin and to take them as his, Gods inheritance.

You see friends in order for you to appeal to Gods mercy you must be aware of your sin, Moses certainly was.  You see mercy can only be exercised where there is guilt.  Mercy always presupposes guilt.  The penalty of the law must have been incurred, otherwise there can be no scope, no grounds for mercy.  When Moses appealed here for forgiveness, for God to show mercy he was saying I am guilty.  If Moses was not guilty then he could have appealed to justice to defend him and to offer him redress but he knows that not only is he guilty but that all the nation of Israel is guilty before God.  Therefore he appeals for mercy. Let me illustrate this with a few examples from the Bible.

Joseph and his brothers.  You know the story how they threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery in Egypt.  Through the providence of God Joseph became de facto the Prime Minister of the land and how his brothers came to buy food because of a famine.  Towards the end of the story in Genesis we read of how Joseph plants a silver cup in Benjamin's sack and then demands he stay in Egypt as punishment.  The brothers plead to Joseph for Benjamin. Joseph then reveals who he is and we read that the brothers bow before him and Joseph shows them mercy.

The Prodigal Son  that parable speaks of mercy.  The Prodigal knows he is guilty and deserves nothing but punishment form his father.  Yet his father shows him mercy.

David and Nathan  when Nathan confronts David with his sin over Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah  Gods mercy is declared but it is at the expense of a life, the child's.

In order of us to cry to God for mercy we must come to the realisation that we are guilty and that we deserve the punishment.  It is only when I am convinced and convicted of my sinful state before God.  It is only when I am convinced and convicted that my sinful state deserves death, eternal death, that I am led to cry to God for mercy.  I cannot appeal to him for justice because justice demands my death  the wages of sin is death.  Gods holiness and his justice demands my eternal damnation and yet because he is merciful he has provided the means for me to escape death and receive eternal life.

Mercy implies my guilt.  Mercy is what I appeal to when I come to the realisation that I have nowhere else to turn to and no one else to cry to.  Friends you know God leads me to that point in many ways but significantly he does it by revealing to me by His Holy Spirit the extent and the consequences of my sinfulness.  Read Deuteronomy 8.2-3, 15-17.  We read here of God humbling the people of Israel for 40 years in the wilderness.  Why did God do that?  Moses says the reason was so that the people might come to a realisation of their disobedience, their sin before God.  It was to show them, and subsequent generations, that sin had consequences but that even in the midst of their sin God was merciful to them.  God allowed them to dwell in misery, not because he enjoyed it, but because only when they realised the consequences of their sin would their hearts be turned to repentance and faith in God.  the father allowed the Prodigal to end up in the pigsty  not because he did not love his son but because only in the mire of the pigsty would the sons heart be turned to repentance and his eyes opened to the love of his father.

Friends God will allow you to wallow in the mire of your sin so that your eyes might be opened to the consequences of your sin and your heart turned in repentance to him and that you might cry to him for mercy.  Jesus said  the Prodigal came to his senses in the pigsty.  The question is will God have to lead you into a pigsty for you to come to your senses and come home?  You see in 1 Kings 8.38-39 God says that each man will know the disease, the affliction of his own heart and that will lead him to stretch out his hand in prayer seeking forgiveness.  Paul says the same thing in 2 Corinthians 1.8-9.  God desires that we would cry to him for mercy and so he leads us to realise exactly who we are before him  a sinner. He leads us to realise exactly where we are before him  lost.  He leads us to realise exactly what we deserve before him  eternal death.  He leads us to realise exactly what we can do before him  nothing.  All so that we might turn to him and seek his mercy.   my prayer for each and every one of you is that God would make you miserable in your sin.  I pray that God would make you miserable in your sin that your eyes might be open to the offer of his mercy.  Like the people of Israel God may well lead us into a wilderness in order to break our stiff-necks and soften our hard hearts.  I pray that he will take us like he did Elijah (1 Kings 19.11-12) and hide us in the cleft of a rock and when he has shaken our worlds by wind and earthquake then we will be in a spiritual position and place to hear his still small voice speak to our souls.  While you and I remain unconvinced of our sin and the fact that we are sinners then sin will lie hidden in our souls and it canker will corrupt our lives.  It is only when God opens our eyes by the convicting of the Holy Spirit that we will be on the road to redemption.

We all know the story of Scrooge and how the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future come to haunt him on Christmas Eve.  Friends there is some truth in what Dickens wrote. God sometimes in our lives brings the ghosts of the past and the present and in his mercy the spectre of our future to come into our souls.  You know I don't mean literal ghosts, there are no such things as ghosts.  What God does is by his Spirit to almost quite literally haunt us with the sins of our past, our present and the consequence of them in the future.  He convicts us of our sin and convinces us of their punishment so that we might what?  Live in fear and dread?  No! So that we might repent of them and turn to him and call on his grace and mercy for forgiveness.

You see when I turn to Gods mercy I am acknowledging my deep heartfelt guilt at my sin. When I turn to God for mercy I am admitting I have no hope of redemption but his forgiveness.  When I turn to God for mercy I am saying that I trust and believe that he is merciful.  I believe that his nature is merciful.  I believe and trust Paul when he writes in Ephesians 2.4-5 that God is rich in mercy and will make me alive in Christ even though at this moment I am dead in my sin.  Gods mercy takes note of me and it also takes action for me.   In Hebrews 4.15-16 we also realise that Gods mercy identifies with me.

Trusting in Gods mercy I admit my guilt.  I no longer seek excuses or justifications for my sin.  I cry for his mercy and I rest assured in the knowledge that because he is merciful and because he is faithful (Ex. 34.6-7) he will forgive me my sin.  He will forgive me on the grounds of the shedding of the blood of  his Son Christ Jesus.  And it is that blood sprinkled on the mercy seat of God which brings the mercy of God to bear on my life and yours.

Conclusion

We often hear people say God helps those who help themselves.  Friends the truth is God helps those who are unable to help themselves.  Our God is a God of Mercy. He does not treat us as our sin deserves.  In his love and mercy for you he sent Christ to die in your place, to take your punishment.  He shed his blood for you so that when he carried his blood into heaven and sprinkled it on the mercy seat before the throne of his father  his fathers justice would be satisfied, atonement for sin made, and his fathers mercy towards mankind become effectual.   I want each and every one of us to bow our heads and to be still before God.  I want you to know deep in your soul before whom you stand  the sovereign creator of this universe.  A God of holiness.  A God of justice. A God of wrath at sin.  A God of grace.  A God of mercy.  A God of mercy.  as we bow our heads, we bow our hearts and all we can do is thank God for his mercy towards us.  We plead nothing before him  but the blood of Christ.  We turn to him for forgiveness trusting in his grace, his mercy and his faithfulness.  Our God is a God of mercy and we are eternally thankful.  Amen.