Easter

Read:

John 20:11-16 “Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 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.’ At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 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.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Mary.’ She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, ‘Rabboni!’(which means ‘Teacher’).”

Think:

The grieving women who buried Jesus' body on Friday returned on Sunday with spices and perfumes to anoint his body. To their surprise, they found the stone rolled away from the tomb and no body inside. They saw an angel dressed in white, sitting where the stone had been. Upon peeking in the tomb, they saw the empty slab where Jesus had lain, the burial cloths he had been wrapped in, and the shroud folded up. Their minds must have been racing, wondering what had happened.

Suddenly, Jesus called out to Mary by name. He called Mary Magdalene, the woman who had been possessed by demons and lived on the outskirts of town. She had lived in fear and shame until she met Jesus. When he called her name, it brought her back to that first moment they met, when he delivered her. The memories of her salvation moment flooded her mind. Hearing Jesus call her name calmed the chaos and confusion, and she once again felt hope and peace.

Jesus is calling your name too. All you must do is listen. 

Apply:

If you haven’t accepted Jesus as your personal Savior, he is calling your name. He wants to rescue you today. You can accept the free gift that is offered by admitting you are a sinner, believing that he is the only way for you to experience forgiveness and asking him to take control of your life. 

Prayer:

Jesus, thank you for calling my name. Thank you for reaching out to me when I didn’t deserve it. Help me to seek your presence like Mary. In Jesus’ name, Amen.