Hope Is Found When He Calls Us By Name
Many in our world today feel hopeless, discouraged, and overwhelmed
People in the past believed they could trust in their leaders to do what is best for them
But as many have found out over the last couple of years that is false
Those who have built their lives on the foundation of the world and its system find it crumbling
They find themselves in uncertain times
This is why I believe the message of the gospel and especially the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the most important message for this hour
The events of Calvary have left all those who truly love Jesus feeling hopeless
They have watched Him suffer in unspeakable ways
They have watched Him die upon the cross
All they thought would take place seems like it is lost
The disciples believed He would establish His kingdom now and all of it seems like it was for nothing
After the events of Calvary the disciples hide away fearful for their own lives
The women who stood by Jesus during His earthly ministry were there at the foot of the cross to hear Him say Father into your hands I commit my Spirit
John the apostle was there, and he heard Jesus tell him to take care of His mother Mary
But now as they have watched Jesus die and Friday has moved into Saturday and now as they approach Sunday morning it seems nothing is going to change
But what they will find is that the King is no longer dead but He is alive
John 20:1-2
Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
Mark 16:1
Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.
Mary with two other woman have gone to anoint the body of Jesus
The main reason a dead body was anointed with spices was to control the smell of decomposition. Jews did not practice embalming, and the funeral spices were a way to help minimize unpleasant odors.
At the tomb of Lazarus, when Jesus asked for the stone to be rolled away from the mouth of the tomb, Martha objected: “By this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days” (John 11:39).
The spices the women brought to Jesus’ tomb were intended to eliminate such an odor and honor the body of Christ.
The fact that the women brought spices to anoint Jesus’ dead body showed they did not expect Jesus to literally rise from the dead.
But what they find is the stone has been rolled away
Not rolled away so Jesus could get out but that those could witness the empty tomb
Immediately Mary goes and tells the disciples what she has found
John 20:3-10
3 Peter therefore went out, and the other disciple, and were going to the tomb. 4 So they both ran together, and the other disciple outran Peter and came to the tomb first. 5 And he, stooping down and looking in, saw the linen cloths lying there; yet he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb; and he saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the [a]handkerchief that had been around His head, not lying with the linen cloths, but folded together in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who came to the tomb first, went in also; and he saw and believed. 9 For as yet they did not [b]know the Scripture, that He must rise again from the dead. 10 Then the disciples went away again to their own homes.
Peter and John immediately run to the tomb
We must remember that the last thing Peter did before Jesus was crucified and endured Calvary was to deny Him three times
Jesus had told the disciples that during His earthly ministry that He must suffer at the hands of the religious leaders and gentiles, die, and rise on the third day
Matthew 16:21
21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.
The disciples didn’t fully understand what this would mean until they had received the Holy Spirit
John was younger than Peter and outran him to the tomb
But it was Peter who entered
By the way the grave clothes were found it was impossible for Jesus body to be stolen
The only explanation is that when He came to life He simply pass through them as He did the door when He met the disciples after His resurrection
We must remember Jesus has a glorified body
When John looked in He believed
He was an eye witness to all of this
But even though they found the tomb empty and found the linen clothes as they did they did not fully understand how this fulfilled the scriptures from Genesis to Malachi
As they return to their homes there are many questions that fill their hearts
But now Mary will come face to face with the risen Lord
We must remember that Jesus had casted seven demons out of Mary
Jesus said those who have been forgiven much love much
Mary’s life was forever changed by Jesus
And now she finds herself at the tomb weeping
John 20:11-13
11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
She said to them, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.”
Mary believes the body has been stolen
She first watched Jesus suffer and die and now she is beside herself because she believes the body is stolen
There are seasons and moments in our lives in which we are overcome with discouragement
It may be the loss of a loved one
It may be something physically we are going through in which we feel it is hopeless
It might be issues in our families or marriage in which we feel things are hopeless
As Mary speaks to the angels she is simply overwhelmed
But everything will change when Jesus calls her by name
John 20:14-16
14 Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?”
She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take Him away.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary!”
She turned and said to [c]Him, “Rabboni!” (which is to say, Teacher).
We must remember Jesus has a glorified body
Mary doesn’t recognize Jesus at all
Jesus knows Mary by name
Jesus knows why Mary is weeping
He knows who she is seeking
But Jesus asks these questions to draw Mary to Himself
Mary believes this may be the gardener and they have moved the body
But this isn’t the gardener, this is the risen Christ
Everything changes when Jesus calls Mary by name
Everything changes when Jesus calls us by name
Jesus said in John 6:44 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is God who calls us
It is God who draws us
It is God who seeks after us
He knows every hair on the top of our heads
He knew us before the foundations of the world
Ephesians 1:3-6 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
None of us have come to Christ by accident, but all have been saved by the grace of God
Nothing can separate us from His love
Paul writes in Romans 8:31-38
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We have hope today because of the empty tomb
We have hope today because Jesus is Alive
We have hope because nothing can separate us from His love
We have been bought at a price
We have been redeemed
If we are in Christ than God is for us
If God be for us, who can be against us
For God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son
Nothing can separate us from His love and in Him we have brand new life
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