JOHN 20:18a I HAVE SEEN THE LORD

I HAVE SEEN THE LORD!

Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.

John 20:18

Mary Magdalene had gone early in the morning with some of the other women to complete the process of putting spices on Jesus’s body for burial now that the Sabbath had passed. The stone had been rolled away, and the astonished women reported this to the disciples. As Peter and John entered the empty tomb, Mary stood outside weeping. Two angels asked why she was crying and she, still not comprehending the meaning of the empty tomb, told them the body of her Lord had been moved. Mary turned around and saw Jesus behind her but thought He was the gardener who had moved the body. When Jesus called her by name, she fell at His feet and called Him “Teacher.” Jesus urged her not to cling to Him, giving her a message for the disciples that He would soon be returning to be with God the Father. At first the disciples did not believe Mary Magdalene or the other women. After all, a woman’s testimony would not hold up in their courts of law. But Jesus chose to have women be the first to see the resurrected Savior standing before them in human skin. According to Mark’s gospel, Jesus reproached those unbelieving men. Mary Magdalene, who was not only a woman but had once been delivered from demons by Jesus Christ had the extreme privilege to be the first to see Him alive and give testimony to His resurrection! We may think, “How dense could these disciples and women followers of Jesus be to not realize immediately that the empty tomb meant He had risen from death. After all, on more than one occasion, Jesus had point blank told them He would rise on the third day.” However, can we honestly say if we had seen Him hanging drained of life on the cross, wrapped in linen, and laid in the tomb, we would be able to fathom the idea that He was alive again?

Father, we thank You that Jesus not only died for us but was raised to life again to pave the way for us to be resurrected and join You in Heaven. As Gloria Gaither penned, “Life is worth the living just because He lives.” We thank You that Jesus’s death purchased us not only life, but abundant life both here on earth and eventually in His presence.