Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

Let go of the flesh…

John 20:11-18 (NIV)

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and 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 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.”

16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending 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.

At this time, Jesus had not yet ascended. His instructions were not to hold on to Him…yet. Once He ascends, we are then to hold tight to Him. That time is now!

We are to hold on to Jesus with all of our sttength. A strength built through Faith in the Risen Son of Man. The risen Son of God. He was instructing us to not hold on to the flesh. Instead, the Holy Spirit is what we should hold on to. The Risen Son seated at the right hand of the Father. The great arbitrator for us. The great communicator to God as to who we are.

It was Jesus that cane down from Heaven to rescue us from sin. That work was done when He gathered all of our sins and removed them from is forever. It is Jesus that commands us to let go of not only His flesh and bone, but our own. We are to release and surrender ourselves to Him. It is His great gift by which we are redeemed and made whole and pure through the belief in His death and resurrection.

He knows it is hard. He sits with us as we wade through the long tangly weeds of sin. He understands our pkight. He went through the thickest of it and has come out the other side with wounds to prove it. This is not an easy life. It is a life filled with equal measures of pain and blessedness.

Hold on to His instruction. Hold on to His gift. Hold on to our Savior Jesus Christ. His work is finished. Carry the burden as He did, forever knowing that His plan is perfect and tailored made for each of us. Believe that….#JesusSaves

Amen
DK