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by Sandy Shaw
If Jesus Christ rose from the dead then certain consequences follow as do spiritual responsibilities. We are in John Chapter 20 reading of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Peter and John leave the scene.
Mary is lingering. Mary so loved Jesus that she stays at the place of her last association with Him. Love lingers.
This woman had been in the very grip of Satan, and Jesus Christ had set her free.
Can you imagine the gratitude? Can you imagine the sorrow when she witnessed Jesus Christ being crucified?
This incident appears only in John. It is so personal and so intimate and so revealing. Mary must have told it to John. She is weeping and she stoops down and looks in. The tomb wasn’t empty. It was full – full and alive with life – as Mary sees two angels, positioned at the place where Jesus’ head and feet had lain.
33 years previously these angels had seen Jesus become a Baby. What were the angels seeing now? We have no record. But they ask, “Why are you crying?” “They have taken My Lord away and I don’t know where they have put Him.”
You can almost sense and feel the message of the angels, “If you had seen what we have seen, you would not be weeping!”
Mary glances round, and she sees a figure, and she thought this was the gardener. “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?” “Sir, tell me – I’ll get him and bring him back to the grave.”
And the risen Jesus reveals Himself to her in a beautiful way as He says “Miriam”. Jesus uses her Aramaic name. And Mary cries out in Aramaic – Rabboni – Teacher.
A joy comes flooding in and she wanted to cling to Christ, but it was not to be a physical clinging now. Mary, don’t hang on to me. Don’t keep me to yourself. Share me. Go and tell others, and she did.
When the Evidence and the Experience are married together, there has to be Obedience. When you hear, see, or meet the risen Christ there will be spiritual consequences.
As God speaks to you today, or reveals Himself to you in some way, you will have to do something about it.
John heard and went and saw and believed. He was there that night when Jesus appeared in the room.
John was a man who knew what it was to carry out his responsibilities and duties.
When Jesus Christ was hanging on the Cross, Jesus showed a very special concern for His mother. It is assumed that she was a widow, and although she had other sons, Jesus asks John to look after her.
There is a profound challenge which we must not run from or avoid. What Jesus Christ started He wants to continue and complete. What He started in you, He wants to finish in you. He’s not finished yet!
He’s not finished saving souls.
He’s not finished trading sorrow for joy.
He’s not finished giving peace that passes all understanding.
He’s not finished making a way out of no way.
He’s not finished loving you and me.
He’s not finished healing the sick.
He’s not finished delivering the captives.
He’s not finished mending broken hearts.
He’s not finished breaking that alcohol addiction.
He’s not finished breaking that drug addiction.
He’s not finished delivering from sin.
He’s not finished opening doors no man can close.
He’s not finished being our hope for tomorrow.
He came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Although we may not be able to see Him right now, His stimulus package lets me know that He’s not finished giving life more abundantly.
I’m not guilty. I’m more than a conqueror. I can do all things through Christ that strengthens me. I don’t have to worry about tomorrow. I have been bought with a price. I am redeemed. I have hope when it seems all hope is gone.
Jesus is coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle. Jesus has gone to prepare a place for you that where I am there you may be also.
He said He will never leave you.
John writes all this down for good reason – so that you may believe who Jesus is, and that by believing you may have life in His Name.
Believing the evidence has spiritual consequences.
The risen and living and glorified Lord Jesus Christ is not finished – not nearly finished!
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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