JOHN 20: 15 – 30
15Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 16Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. 17Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. 18Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the LORD, and that he had spoken these things unto her. 19Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. 20And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the LORD. 21Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. 22And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost: 23Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained. 24But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God. 29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 30And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, 31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.
Monday Morning Meditations is an interactive process. I encourage each of you to submit your comments, questions and testimonies. I will share them as the Lord leads me. This is not about what I think! I encourage each of you to read the word of God daily and to pray daily and if you have questions send the to me via email or the website and I will answer them. I have two great Pastors that is always ready to teach and guide me as well. Peace of God Outreach Ministries has a full compliment of ministers and clergy and if I can not find the answer, I know where to go to get assistance. You can also use the telephone numbers below for prayer request and questions as well. If I get enough questions and/or testimonies, I may even get a few read over the radio and you can tune in a hear your answers live. The main focus for this ministry is to lead people to Jesus who is the Light of the world!
Here is a recent question and correspondence from Sister Lillian of Newark, New Jersey:
Sister Lillian: Pastor Hargett, “Something just had me a little puzzled. WHY WOULD'NT JESUS LET MARY AND THE OTHER WOMEN THAT CAME TO THE TOMB TOUCH HIM WHEN HE ROSE? HOWEVER, WHEN HE CAME AMONGEST THE DISCIPLES HE WANTED THEM TO TOUCH HIM TOO PROVE IT WAS HIM?”
Pastor Hargett: “Sister Lillian this is a great Question! Let's look at the scripture you are referring too. John 20:15-31 In verse 17 the bible says "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God." Jesus explained it to her. He had not ascended (or went to the Father) at the time Mary saw him. Furthermore it was because of her faith that he revealed himself to her first. (See my comments from last week) In a natural human response she probably went to hug and embrace him but he had not ascended to the father at that time.
But look at what happens next in the text from John 20:20 “20And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the LORD.” They too saw the Lord and yet they did not attempt to embrace him. Was this lack of embrace a symbol of doubt or a lack of faith? Why did Jesus have to show them his wounds? We hear and we see Jesus' goodness and still we doubt (Again, see my comments from last week). We look for answers everywhere but from the living word of God. Many of us are still looking for the wounds on Jesus.
As we continue with John 20:24 - 27 “24 But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. 25The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the LORD. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 26And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 27Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.” Some time has passed. Eight to ten days have went by and Jesus had plenty of time to ascend into Heaven and be with God and then return to complete his work. Mary was first to see Jesus and was not allowed to touch him because he had not yet ascended. But more importantly, her faith was greater than that of the disciples and there was no need for the human embrace. She did not have to touch or feel or even see Jesus to believe what was already there. Now let us close this out... John 20:28 - 31 28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God. “29Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 30And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: 31But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name. “
Notice how much a Christian may lose by not regularly attending church with other of God’s people. Thomas was not at the first meeting. The Bible does not say why or where Thomas was, but the Brother could have missed his blessing of seeing the Savior. Nevertheless, notice how kind and merciful God is to the slow to believe, the sincere doubter. When a man doubts after proper evidence, God calls it folly and foolishness. But to the sincere doubter, the Lord says, "be not faithless but believing"
In closing let me point out that it is not because she was a woman that she could not touch Jesus. He had not ascended to the Father at that time. She was the first to see him! Besides, there was no need for her to touch him because her faith had already placed her where she needed to be, in the Garden. But check this out... The most significant point of the scripture we covered today is the fact that Mary saw Jesus first in the Garden. It was in the first garden with another question, asked of another woman, and as a result sin was brought into the world. (See Gen. 3) Now this woman was weeping, in another garden. Sin began and was defeated in a Garden! Think of the tears through the years. Tears that would have never been a part of life if there had been no sin. MY GOD! Even Jesus wept - shortest verse in the Bible. Here Jesus stands on resurrection ground and asks, "Why weepest thou?" He did not take away the tears but he was there as an answer to her tears. He will not take away your tears yet but he is the answer to the reason for our tears. Mary was the first to see Jesus because she had a greater faith and a greater love than the others. And because of this she was the first called to preach the resurrection of the savior! Jesus is standing ready today to take away your tears if you would just trust in him as Mary did. Have a blessed week! In Jesus' name AMEN!
Comments