No More Tears

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

10 Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15 "Woman," he said, "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."

This is one of my favorite passages in the Bible. What a Day, filled with great celebration, ultimate spiritual awakenings, supernatural strength, a stone heavier than a truck was simply rolled away, Angels talking to humans. This was the day that the authenticity of Jesus had promised became factuallity. This is the greatest day in history. Along with all of these reasons for absolute and holy joy came an example of how human emotion can and is influenced. Satan was part of this day too.

Several years ago I became infatuated with this passage. I had been reading books about positive thinking, although, at that time I attributed the importance of this verse and what I saw in it to one word. At that time, I did not understand the concept of "Who Said," for those of you who are unfamiliar with this concept please listen to the "Naked Sermon." To summarize "Who Said," it is a way to recognize and defeat the thousands of times each and everyday that Satan tries to infiltrate our state of mind. To get back to the discussion at hand, the one word that I associate most to this passage of scripture is doubt. Let's read this scripture again, Jesus said to her, 'Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?' She thought it was the gardener and said to him, 'Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.'

I believe the Bible leaves room for the Holy Spirit to tell us "the rest of the story" in such a way that He makes the Bible applicable to our individual lives and the specific time that we are in. So, let me give a brief description of what this verse means to me.

Imagine yourself sitting in a corner crying over the news that you just became aware of. Imagine you just found out something horrible. You sit in the corner crying over this thing that has devastated your life. It came on as a rush of emotion. You felt as if your life was no more. You reached into the spaces of your mind to try and decipher levels of misery. You say, "why did this happen to me and immediately become lost between two roads. One road leads to blaming yourself and the other travels towards blaming others. You continue to think about the circumstance that you are in and the negative events that are running towards you as a result of this horrific day you find yourself in the midst of. As you sit drowning in despair you notice glimpses of Promise and Truth cross the matrix of your mind. For a mere second you realize that now is the time where certain examples from the Bible would apply to your life but are quickly pulled back into the corner of the room in which you sit. You are being ripped from the clutches of hope. You reach for the walls of the black dark hole that you are falling into but the force is just too strong. The pressure of your situation has brought you back into emotion instead of reason. For many this what they call life.

Mary Magdalene could not see that the God of the universe, the man that she had walked with just days before, the man that she had watched suffer and die on the cross. She could not see that the man, the son of God, the Savior of the World that had promised her He would return. She could not see that the man who she had witnessed heal the sick and raise others from the dead. She could not see that Jesus was standing right beside her. She was sitting in her despair, she had let the emotion of her circumstance flood her vision. The rip current of tribulation took her ability to decipher the truth from lies. She had believed exactly what the devil had convinced her to. She had given into doubt.

As you sit in the corner of your room crying over the harrowing news you found out you are blinded that the same God that rose from the grave, the same God that you gave your life to and granted you eternal life is standing- right beside you. Let's go to the next verse to see how Jesus responded to Mary's doubt.

Let's read the next verse... 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary."

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, Teacher. 17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "

18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.

Jesus had work for her to do. Others needed her to replace emotion with Truth.

Don't you see, as we are sitting in our ocean of tears and self mutilation we are displaying the work of Satan. We are drowning in his lies and gasping for air. During this time we are numb to God, we can not see the fact that God has not changed. He wants to use the seemingly bad situation to Glorify Himself and we get to reap all of the benefits of being a part of that. Try to imagine yourself sitting by the tomb, head in hands because you are doubting anything that Jesus had told you was true. Imagine someone yells your name you look up and all Hope is restored. You get up and say to the demon who had been telling you that Jesus is a lie, "Who Said?" Satan flees. You and the heavenly realms rejoice. Then you go and let others experience the benefits of joy in the midst of despair.

Do you not understand that this can happen everyday. You can experience the same joy that Mary felt over and over again. We all doubt. We all have moments of fear and emotional wreckage. We all listen to Satan who has been whispering in our ear lies. He is grasping for straws as he displays his fating attempts on the welfare of mankind. Satan knows that Jesus is standing there. Jesus is saying to get your head out of your hands. Realize His presence and continue His work. Matthew 28:19-20 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

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