John 20:17

John 20:17 says, Jesus saith unto her, "Touch met not, for I am not yet ascended to My Father: but go to My brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God."  Mary was seeking Jesus, and she wasn't going to be satisfied until she knew where He had been taken.  When we truly seek God through Christ, we need to understand that no one else will do.  We go to God through Christ alone.  If anyone else would tell us we must come through them, then we need to stay away from them and go to Jesus through the Holy Spirit.  She did not recognize Jesus, but He made Himself known to her.  God will never leave us wondering about Who He is if we are His followers.  Now that she recognized Him, Jesus told her not to touch Him.  She may have thought that Jesus was risen like Lazarus, and that wasn't the case.  He was no longer going to continue in His earthly role but was going to ascend to the Father.  We do not need to look for the earthly Jesus.  He is not here, but He has arisen to His Father.  Notice that Jesus gave Mary a task.  When we find Jesus and accept Him as our Lord, we will be called to service.  Notice also that Jesus promoted Mary to the status of sister.  God was Jesus's Father and Mary's, because He was Jesus's God and her God.  When we accept Christ as our Savior, we become not only brothers and sisters to each other, but to Christ as well.  We become children of God, because we accept Him as our God.  There are no grandchildren of God or cousins of Christ.  We are either brothers and sisters of Christ and children of the heavenly Father or we are not a part of the family of God.  It did not matter who Mary once was, nor does it matter who we once were.  Through Christ, we are fully restored to the Father.  Verse eighteen adds, Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that He had spoken these things unto her.  Jesus told her to go, and she went.  When He tells us to go, we must go and do what He tells us to do.  We never go on our own power, but in His strength.

John 20:13

John 20:13 says, And they said unto her, "Woman, why weepest thou."  She saith unto them, " Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid Him."  They were the two angels in the sepulcher.  Mary wasn't afraid of them, nor did she question how they got there evidently.  Peter and John hadn't seen them, and there was no mention of them walking past Mary into the sepulcher, but they were there.  I believe we can conclude they were sent to Mary.  She was very devoted to Jesus, even after His death on the cross.  She didn't know where His body had been taken, and she told the angels her concern.  Verse fourteen adds, And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing there, but knew not that it was Jesus.  She was looking for Jesus in the wrong place.  He was no longer in the tomb but was victorious even over death.  Mary did not recognize Him.  She was looking for a defeated Jesus not a victorious Christ.  We may be guilty of looking for God so strongly where we are sure He is that when He appears to us where He is at that we fail to recognize Him.  We may be looking at the world as if it is defeating God instead of looking to the victorious Jesus.  Verse fifteen continues, Jesus saith unto her, "Woman, why weepest thou?  Whom seekest thou?"  She, supposing Him to be the gardener, saith unto Him, "Sir, if thou hath borne Him hence, tell me where thou hath laid Him, and I will take Him away."  Though she was respectful to the man she thought was the gardener, she was still looking for the body of Jesus.  She was still willing to take responsibility for it.  We need to be careful that we don't get so devoted to doing what we know God wants us to do that we fail to recognize Him when He asks us what we are doing.  Had Mary fully understood Who Jesus was, she would not have been weeping tears of sorrow.  Verse sixteen concludes, Jesus saith unto her, "Mary." She turned herself unto Him and said, "Rabboni;" which is to say Master. Jesus called Mary by her name, and she acknowledged Him for Who He is.  We may sometimes be lost in grief or doubt, but God will not leave us there if we only listen for Him.  When God calls us by name, we cannot doubt that it is Him.  We, like Mary, must acknowledge Him for Who He is.

John 20:11

John 20:11 says, But Mary stood without the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre.  The disciples came, looked and left.  Mary Magdalene remained outside weeping.  She had been given hope through Jesus, and she was not given up easily.  She wept for Jesus's death and His body not being there, but also because of her love and devotion to Him.  We today, if we find ourselves somehow out of the knowledge of the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, should weep bitter tears until we know we are once again filled with His presence.  We do not really have to seek the Holy Spirit, but we have to acknowledge His leadership.  Mary was seeking answers, and we see God provided them.  Verse twelve adds, And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head and the other at the feet, of where the body of Jesus had lain.  Peter and John had looked in and saw only the grave clothes, but Mary saw two angels.  We might wonder why she saw them when they didn't but must acknowledge that angels appear where God sends them.  There was not a multitude of angels, but two.  Two witnesses were required to prove the truth of testimony, and they were there to attest to the truth of the resurrection.  They were dressed in white, to attest to the purity of Jesus.  He was not decaying in the tomb but was resurrected in victory.  Jesus had fulfilled His mission, and the angels were again serving Him.  The had proclaimed His coming and now they were honoring His resurrection. At any point in time between those two events, Jesus could have called on all the angels and have claimed a military victory, but He chose a victory based on humiliation and defeat.  We today need to realize that just because we have the power to do something doesn't mean that it is right to do it.  We must reach the world with a Christ like love, not and not a Pilate like power.  We must also realize that angels are but servants of God and never to be worshipped. They appear where and when God sends them.

Since Christmas is now past, I thought I would share a few more thoughts about Christmas.  Many of the gifts that were received have already started to lose their appeal and have already started to wear out.  The gift that Jesus gave the world is just as new and powerful as it ever was.  Time does not wear His gift out, and if we are His followers it should never lose its appeal to us.  Many times, people, especially children, don't want to share the gifts that they received for Christmas.  We as Christians , God's children, should feel an urgency to share the gospel, the gift Jesus gave us, with the world.  Santa Claus has gone to the North Pole until next year.  Even those who weren't the real Santa will soon disappear.  Jesus does not disappear the day after Christmas.  He came to save all people for all time.  There are no stand ins for Christ.  If we accept Him as our Savior, we must go to Him and Him alone.  Then, He will not go away for a year or a day or even a second, but will indwell His followers always.  Santa has to go rest up and start getting things ready for the next year.  Jesus never runs out of strength.  He, through the Holy Spirit, is with us always to empower us.  We have received the best gift if we accept His gift of salvation, and no Dirty Santa can take it from us.  We don't need to try and hang on to salvation, but we need instead to willing share it.  Finally, Santa Claus is a mythical figure that has changed over the years and is not seen the same everywhere.  Jesus is a real person, the Savior of the world, Who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow and is the same everywhere.   We, as His followers, need to be sharing His message and His love with the world, not just Christmas day, but everyday.

Luke 2:7 says, And she brought forth her first born Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, for there was no room for them in the inn.  As we celebrate Christmas today, we often display nativity scenes to remind us of that first Christmas.  This has become a problem for many people, because, like that first Christmas, there is no room for Jesus in their lives.  They not only don't have room in their lives, but they don't want Jesus in anyone's life.  The question is whether we as His people have room for Him in our lives today.  The world today puts more emphasis on Santa Claus than on Jesus.  After all, Santa brings presents to all good little girls and boys, but when children get up on Christmas morning, what do they see that Jesus brought.  In the material world, we are more excited about things we can see, and on Jesus' birthday, we want to see what presents we got.  Now, I am not against Santa and presents, but wonder how much room we really have for Jesus.  That first Christmas, the angels appeared to the shepherds and verse ten says, And the angel said unto them: Fear not, for behold I bring to you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.  Jesus was the source of the great joy.  The shepherds got no material presents, but they received the good news, the good tidings of great joy.  This news was not only for them, but for the whole world.  We need to make sure we share those good tidings today.  We need to share the news of Jesus' birth with the world, especially on His birthday.  Verse eleven says,  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.  This is the present, the gift, that Jesus gives, though it cannot be wrapped under a tree.  We must keep this as our focus on Christmas.  Jesus gives more than Santa ever can.  Jesus give everlasting life, and batteries are not needed.

I am going to leave the passage we have been looking at since it is Christmas eve and look at Christmas for a couple of days.  This will be my first Christmas without at least one of my parents alive since momma passed away July first.  Momma was always big on Christmas decorations, but she was even bigger on the Christ of Christmas.  When we were young boys, my brother and I went with daddy, mommy, and our sister, into the woods and cut our tree every year.  Some Christmases were not filled with lots of presents, but they were all filled with lots of love and the presence of God.  We didn't start thinking about celebrating Christmas before Thanksgiving.  I once said I was a wiseman in a lot of Christmas plays, but I was actually a shepherd.  Daddy would make us shepherd staffs, hook and all, and momma would make our costumes.  I have been caroling a few times in my life, where I would at least make a joyful noise.  Today, Christmas seems to have become more about material things than the birth of Christ.  Thanksgiving has become more of a day to think about Black Friday than to celebrate blessings as we gear up for Christmas.  We are told we only have sixty something shopping days left until Christmas, as if we did not know what day Christmas is and shopping is our main priority.   We have Christmas in July for television movies, Christmas parades the first few days of December, and the worry about what gift to get for each person we feel the need to buy for.  By Christmas Eve, we are worn down with Christmas.  So, what was that first Christmas Eve like?  Mary and Joseph were still completing there journey to Jerusalem, and the world was continuing its normal routine.  Mary especially had to be tired, but not from shopping.  The world would not note the birth the next day, and they certainly didn't pay attention to Mary and Joseph.  Still, Mary and Joseph knew the promise of the meaning of the coming birth.  The world today still does not understand the true meaning of Christmas, which is why we as followers of Christ must point them to it.  This Christmas Eve, let's keep Christ first in our Christmas thoughts and let the material things come second.

John 20:8

John 20:8 says, Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.  After Peter had gone in, then that other disciple, John, went in.  He may have faltered at first, but he didn't stop wondering without seeing for himself what was true.  Peter saw and wondered, and John saw and believed.  The cross had brought doubt and defeat to their thinking, being but the empty tomb offered hope.  Anytime we find our faith wavering, we need to remember the empty tomb beyond the cross.  Jesus is victorious, and we can be through Him.  Verse nine adds, For as yet, they knew not the scripture, that He must rise again from the dead.  I don't believe this means they weren't familiar with the Scripture. Matthew Henry says they just hadn't applied it to Jesus yet.  We may be familiar with a lot of scripture, but until we accept it as truth for our lives, it really has no meaning.  The scripture, the Bible, is not just a book of words to point us to how to live better, but it is the Living Word of God.  If the Bible doesn't come to life as we read it, then we are just reading words on the page.  The Bible needs to light up hope in our lives every time we read it.  If we are simply reading it to feel that we have met an obligation as followers of Christ, then we are going to miss the truth it contains for us.  Until the tomb, the truth of the scripture had not really meant anything to John, but now the truth was beginning to come alive for him.  Verse ten continues, Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.  They were now sure that the tomb was empty except for the burial clothes.  I would wonder why, if the body had been stolen, the burial clothes were still there.  Peter and John had seen all there was to see at the tomb, and they returned home.  At least John was thinking about the resurrection of Christ.  We as followers of Christ, when we have gotten all the facts we can about a situation, must just continue on with life knowing that God will reveal the truth to us.  There is never a reason to linger in doubt.  Peter and John went away with a little more hope than they had before.  They may not have yet understood the truth of the resurrection, but they knew the truth that Jesus's body was not in the tomb.  We today may not understand everything about God, but we can know the truth of the empty tomb and the resurrection that it signifies.  We can claim victory over this world because of the sacrifice of Christ.  Even when we do not understand everything, we just need to continue to live by faith.