Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying.
He (Jesus) asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” John 20: 13, 15 - 16
The Gospel accounts of the resurrection vary but the basic facts are consistent. Jesus appeared first to the faithful women who had gone to the tomb, not sure what they would do as they could never move the stone, but they had to be there.
John’s Gospel is my favourite account. Jesus met Mary who only recognised him when he called her name. How precious.
As I was pondering again the terrible account of the death by crucifixion of our Saviour, I came back to the original thought ‘Why? Why would Jesus do it?’ The answer has to be love and love of a magnitude that we have no comprehension of.
If we consider all other ‘gods’, and many other leaders only interested in power, all they demand is slavish obedience, fearful worship. They only want people who will bow down and do their will. They may sit in fake grandeur, high and distant from their subjects surrounded by obsequious attendants and ‘ministers’ but all they engender in these people is fear. There is no relationship.
Instead, our wonderful, magnificent God created a beautiful world with Man as the pinnacle of his creation, made in his image, with whom he desires to walk in the cool of the day. Ever since Man rebelled from God’s plan, He has been working towards restoring the original design and the only way for Man to be redeemed from his sin and rebellion was for His precious, sinless son to pay the penalty in our place.
The reason he would do this is love. God doesn’t want slavish obedience, he wants relationship based on love, his love for us and our love and adoration in return, freely given. We have only to read the accounts in the Bible of God’s presence and we see clouds of glory, majesty that creates such awe in sinful man that they fall flat upon their faces. Anyone who has come face to face with God in any measure whether Moses, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Peter becomes overwhelmed by their sinfulness. Yet God wants to breach that gap between sinful man and holy, holy, holy God and the price was high, extremely high.
Love always finds a way because love grieves over separation, love wants relationship - face to face relationship and the only way was the death of the sinless, perfect, beautiful Jesus.
As we celebrate again the victory of Easter – not just the death but the glorious resurrection conquering death, sin and all its attendant woes, let us be those who walk in the victory that Jesus won for us, not wallowing in our sin, guilt and shame but letting the work of the cross, the body and blood of Jesus do the work God intended to set us free, to walk in beautiful relationship with him. He loves us and all he wants is our hearts, our love and everything follows on from that. Our salvation and freedom came at a terrible cost, but Jesus says again, ‘I love you. It was worth it.’
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