He 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.”
TO PONDER:
All it takes is a word. One word to change the mood. One word which throbs in your head like the subwoofer at the party next door when you are trying to sleep. One single word to blanket your world with darkness. “Dead.”
For Mary Magdalene, the grief of losing Jesus was deep. She’s distraught. Her weeping is unrelenting and unrestrained. The Gospel-writer says Mary goes to the tomb while it is dark, not dawn like the other Gospels. Her grief is so intense, she can’t sleep. It’s dark outside. It’s dark inside. In the midst of that despair, in the darkest moment of life, the Risen One reveals himself. One word changes the mood. One word draws back the curtain of darkness and allows light to flood in. One single word transforms despair into hope, sorrow into joy, a cemetery of memories into a garden of new beginnings. "Mary."
"Mary." Jesus comes to her. Jesus knows her name. Jesus calls her name. That changes everything. Resurrection is personal.
Today is your day. The resurrected Lord calls your name. There is no sorrow he cannot transform. No sin he has not redeemed. No darkness he cannot lift. No life he will not restore. Today, the risen Jesus comes with a single word. “ _________” (Fill in your name). Because for Jesus, it’s personal.
The risen Jesus calls your name. How will you respond?
PRAYER:
Risen Lord Jesus, this is the day that you have made. I will rejoice and be glad in it, because you have come and called me personally by name. Amen.
He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God...On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:
KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
TO PONDER
Yesterday (Good Friday) we looked at when the Life-Light was extinguished, when for 3 hours the earth was in darkness. And then the Life-Light died hanging on the cross.
Jesus was also called the Word by John in the same passage he is called the Life-Light (John1), and while both titles used are different allegories John uses them to describe the same person, the important connection these titles share is they describe the same “person”, not the same “thing”, the same person.
The Greek philosophers at the time used logos (word) to describe the meaning of life, the “order of nature”, a thing to be discovered, but John uses the same word logos to describe a person. The real meaning of life was in a relationship with a person, the Life-Light was the same person.
In today’s verses, John uses logos again, the same Word who, at beginning of time, created everything was the same guiltless, spotless Word (logos) who hung and died on the cross in darkness, covered in his own blood because of our sin and guilt, was the same spotless Word marked with blood in today’s verses.
The spotless, Logos marked with blood for our guilt, the KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS carries the mark of our guilt on His spotless robes into eternity so we can be with Him in eternity.
PRAYER: Almighty Spotless Word, I thank you that through your immeasurable sacrifice hanging on the cross in darkness, stained with the blood of my guilt and condemnation by your grace I can live in your light and righteousness into eternity. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon…
With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
TO PONDER
“The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out” is how the Message Translation puts John 1:5 talking about when the Light (Jesus) moved into our neighbourhood.
In today’s verses we read when the “Life-Light” was extinguished for 3 hours, when God turned his back on himself for 3 hours, when the “Life-Light” died hanging on a cross…
Selah (pause)…
If you have the time, I would ask you for the next 3 hours to stop here, to think about what that means, the “Life-Light” was separated from the source for 3 long, excruciating, isolated hours, for you, for me, for us. In those 3 hours of heartbreak and pain, the Word begged that those responsible for this darkness would be forgiven, that WE would be forgiven…
Selah…
At the end of those 3 forsaken hours the Truth cried out in desperation begging for restoration and then, with a loud cry of despair God died. The eternal one died on a cross, deserted, the “Life-Light” died in darkness to bring the darkness of the world into the light…
Selah…
PRAYER: Father, Son, & Holy Spirit, I can’t imagine what those 3 hours of darkness, separation, forsakenness were like after an eternity of light, love, and communion. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”
TO PONDER
Most of us have probably participated in a “foot washing” service in the past where either the pastor has washed people from the congregation’s feet or where you have washed each other’s feet or have maybe seen it portrayed somewhere and have felt the discomfort of the whole experience.
I, for one, quite dislike the thought and definitely the experience of having my feet touched let alone having them washed by someone. Now, in my defence, the nerve damage caused by Multiple Sclerosis and a serious ankle injury, foot washing causes a lot of actual physical discomfort on top of the embarrassment side of the act.
In today’s verses we see the aftermath of Jesus washing the feet of His disciples but if you read some of the previous verses you see the protest voiced by Peter at the suggestion of Jesus washing his feet. Jesus patiently tells Peter that he still missed it, that he is still not getting why “God with skin on” had moved into the neighbourhood to be a servant. Jesus told Peter and the other disciples that they were supposed to do the same for each other, serve each other.
See, the foot washing is a physical representation of the spiritual, an uncomfortable reminder of the discomfort of our self-sacrifice we are to practice for the figurative, stinky feet of others, and the required humble attitude required to have the same done for our stinky feet.
PRAYER: Almighty God, I again thank you for your amazing act of sacrificial love you demonstrated when you came to earth to wash my stinky feet, when you demonstrated what grace looks like and when you commanded me to show others your grace. Amen.
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. “We are going up to Jerusalem,” he said, “and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.”
TO PONDER
I have started to text our two boys when I’m “asking” them to do a chore because that way I have a written, certifiable, recorded evidence that I have actually asked them to do the chore.
I have been forced to add this extra step due to the oft’ used excuse of, “You didn’t tell me to do that!” So far it is working…
In today’s verses it seems that Jesus was obvious with what was about to happen in the coming days but they still missed it. Jesus on at least 3 separate occasions in the book of Mark predicted His death and resurrection on the third day but they still missed it. After three years of living with, travelling with, working with, and learning from Jesus, they were given the behind the scenes access to who He was and what was to be expected but they still missed it.
God texted us on stone tablets, God texted us in the 39 books of the Old Testament, and then God texted us in the incarnation of the living Word, God texted us again through His sacrificial death on the cross and to text us yet again in the 27 books of the New Testament but have we still missed it?
Jesus even sent us a “life-hack” short text, summarising a bunch of His other text messages when he said to love God with your everything and to love others as well as you love yourself (Matthew 22:37-39) but have we still missed it?
PRAYER: Jesus our living Word, the Word who became flesh and blood, the Word who died on the cross for my sin, today I give you my all and repent of all the times I still miss it. I thank you for your grace shown through all the messages you've sent me. Amen
Today's devotion written by Dany Brock, LifeWay Westside
“Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
TO PONDER
I was a youth pastor for well over 10 years. I was an expert in humans of the teen variety. I had counselled parents and their troubled teenagers on too many occasions to count. Within our church, I was the one to seek out when you needed help with your young person.
See, I knew teens and their angst towards parents… until I graduated to living with one of those argumentative, know-it-all, non-listening, rebellious angels of my own. Then I realised I was no longer the expert.
We get to read in the gospels time and time again. The interactions between Jesus and the experts in messiah lore, between Jesus and his apprentices (also called disciples), between Jesus and his family who knew him best, and with Jesus and total strangers. We read how wrong people were with who they thought Jesus was and who they thought he should be.
In today’s verse we read Zechariahs’ prophecy of the coming Messiah, given some 500 years before it was happening here in the gospel, the future king of the Jews, now come in the flesh arriving on a donkey only to die a criminal’s death. We read again and again how unexpected this King of the Jews was, how wrong the experts, how wrong his disciples, how wrong even his family were about the expected Messiah, now arrived among them.
Now, over 2,500 years on from the prophecy given in Zechariah and over 2,000 years since His incarnate arrival intersected the history of the World, knowing what is written within both the Old and New Testaments, even knowing the end of the story we often continue to make the same mistakes.
Jesus is still so much more, so different, than what most of us expect.
PRAYER: Almighty God, You are the true King, the King who came down form glory as a servant, the King who gave his all to redeem the world through your death on the cross. Amen
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the reign of King Herod. About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”
TO PONDER
Back in my late teenage years and early 20’s I had formulated a checklist for a future spouse, well I would have if I was the type of person to actually do checklists…
I knew the “one” I was searching for, I knew what marriage would be like with the target of my search.Turns out, I knew nothing, but was blinded by my ignorance.
In today’s verses we hear about the wise men/magi who were coming to pay homage to the new king of the Jews, the one foretold in the heavens, guided by astrology, they thought they knew who they were coming to see. Their gifts were fitting of royalty, selected specifically for a king they expected to find within a palace. We know this because the initial place they went in search of this king was at the palace of King Herod.
The king they found was certainly not the king they expected, while the nativity scene we see celebrated at Christmas is a fictional recreation of the wise men’s visit, they did not meet the newborn king while he was swaddled in a manger, the King they found was not in a palace, this King was not even in a mansion, the King they found was in the house of a carpenter, in the dwelling of a peasant.
The king of the Jews they found was a child of peasants in a humble dwelling, with no crown, no royal sceptre for a rattle. They found someone not fitting of a visit from such company.Yet, the wise men fell to their knees to worship this King who was so much less than they expected but also, so much more than they could have ever imagined.
If the god we worship is who we expected to find, if the god we serve agrees with us, if the god we follow never challenges us, then chances are, we are worshipping a fictional recreation. Our King is so much more than we expect. So much more than we can imagine
PRAYER: Almighty Lord Jesus, you are so much more than I could ever imagine, more than I could expect. I repent for creating a god I could control. I worship you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Danny Brock, LifeWay Westside
Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”
TO PONDER
A long time ago I went to a fast food restaurant on King Street, Newcastle, with some mates. After ordering and paying for the meal we made our way to a table and before taking my seat I checked to make sure I wasn’t sitting on anything unpleasant (after all it was Newcastle) when I glimpsed something quite unexpected, a large wad of cash!
Jealous exclamations, disguised as joy, were shared by my mates at how lucky I was to have found what amounted to a weeks pay, changed to shock and disbelief when I walked to the counter to hand the “windfall” in.
Fast forward six months to a year later a new guy started working with the company I was working for and after a few weeks working with this guy and getting to know each other he asked me what he called a strange question; if I had ever found a wad of cash at a fast food restaurant some time before and then told me a story.
He had just been paid one week earlier, so had decided to take his wife and five kids out for a special dinner and had lost his whole weeks pay packet somewhere. Expecting it to be lost for good he, out of desperation, decided to retrace his steps and went to the counter of the restaurant with no expectations, other than for disappointment, of finding his lost pay.
With tears forming in his eyes he asked if I was the one who had found that money as all he had been told was the name of the person who had handed it in.
Today’s verses are about a lady who wanted to show unreasonable hospitality to a rabbi who had shown kindness, respect and forgiveness to her, what she meant as an extravagant act of personal blessing became a prophetic act of preparation for an event that would change the history of the world.
We never know when our simple/extravagant act of blessing towards someone will be used to change the history of that individual or perhaps even the world.
PRAYER:
Almighty God, I thank you that an act of hospitality to a person I encounter today could be the blessing that changes their life and perhaps the world. Amen.
Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
TO PONDER
I wonder how many of us could name a famous 'faith healer'? I guess the biggest name in this area during my earlier years was Benny Hinn. Regardless of what name comes to mind, since the time of the early church right through until today, there have been stories of miraculous healings that have occurred in the name of Jesus.
Jesus himself performed many miraculous healings, and as the writer of the Gospel of John puts it, "these were done (and recorded) so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing, you may have faith in his name.
I have another book on my shelf, called "God's Generals". It is a collated record of some of the healing ministries of other well known and renowned 'faith healers' in more recent church history (the last 200-300 years or so). In each of these stories, what seems to happen is that what begins as a ministry of the Holy Spirit which testifies to the saving and restoring power of Jesus, ultimately gets corrupted and shifts into a ministry that becomes all about the human leader. No longer is it a 'Jesus' ministry but it becomes, for example, Benny Hinn ministries.
If you have ever witnessed or received a miracle of God in your life, think about how you might, like John, be able to share that story in a way that helps others to recognise Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. Don't be afraid to share it with others, but remember to share it in order to point people to Jesus. We can often make these things all about us and while we can be thankful if, and when, we do experience miracles in our lives, they might not be just for us. They may also be the story he wants you to share to bring others to faith in him.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, I know that at the very least you have worked the miracle of faith in my life, and for that I give you thanks and praise. Help me to see the other miraculous ways you are at work in me, through me, and around me so that I can share those stories and help others find faith in you. Amen
Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle.