11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. 15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” 16 “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”). 17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ” 18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.
John 20:11-18 (NLT)
BECOMING A VOICE FOR JESUS
The second way that Jesus rewarded Mary’s devotion was by making her His voice in the most important message delivered to His disciples: “I have seen the Lord! He told me to tell you that He is going to be ascending to His Father and our Father, to His God and to our God. He is going to Galilee, and we are to meet Him there” (Mark 16:7; Matthew 28:6-10). Can you imagine the astonishment? Can you imagine the change of emotion for her then, and for the disciples when they heard? Total despair to a renewed sense of hope—all because Jesus had chosen Mary to deliver this message. How honoring is that? “Mary, go and tell the others, my brothers, that I have risen and will meet them in Galilee before I go home! Hurry, Mary! Go and tell my disciples, and Peter, that they will see me soon, just as you are seeing me now!”
Mary Magdalene was to be Jesus’ courier of a most important message.
And Jesus has given us the same job. If you are a child of the King, you too have seen the empty tomb and have been told, “Go and tell the others!” Our purpose is to SEE Jesus daily and get to know Him more intimately so that we can go and tell the others! The others are those who have not seen the empty tomb; they are the doubters, those in darkness, or those who have lost hope. Can you do that? Can we, as a church—meaning the individual parts of the body of Christ—be like Mary and live sent, carrying the light into a PERFECTLY dark world? I believe we can! I believe that when we are saved out of the darkness, we are compelled from deep within to go and tell the others: “He is alive; and He has gone to His Father and our Father, to His God and to our God! And because He lives, you too can walk in the light.”
Be God’s voice!
He loves you so much forever!
Quite simply, Dave Griffith loves getting to know Jesus better by studying His Word daily and is passionate about teaching his siblings in Christ how to study His Word as well. He is passionately in love and like with his helpmate, Jackie; and is most fulfilled when he is hanging with his 10 kids (3 of his, 2 of Jackie’s, 3 are married, 2 more spiritually adopted) and 9 grandkids. He is a small group leader and a men’s group leader. He is a serial entrepreneur owning or having owned numerous businesses. He also enjoys naps!
