Post by Les on Apr 4, 2021 15:22:37 GMT -5
In the Garden By: Alyson Kieda
Click here for the audio message
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!”
John 20:18
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 20:11–18
My dad loved to sing the old hymns. One of his favorites was “In the Garden.” A few years back, we sang it at his funeral. The chorus is simple: “And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known.” That song brought joy to my dad—as it does to me.
Hymn writer C. Austin Miles says he wrote this song in spring 1912 after reading chapter 20 of the gospel of John. “As I read it that day, I seemed to be part of the scene. I became a silent witness to that dramatic moment in Mary’s life when she knelt before her Lord and cried, ‘Rabboni [Teacher].’ ”
In John 20, we find Mary Magdalene weeping near Jesus’ empty tomb. There she met a man who asked why she was crying. Thinking it was the gardener, she spoke with the risen Savior—Jesus! Her sorrow turned to joy, and she ran to tell the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” (v. 18).
We too have the assurance that Jesus is risen! He’s now in heaven with the Father, but He hasn’t left us on our own. Believers in Christ have His Spirit inside us, and through Him we have the assurance and joy of knowing He’s with us, and we are “His own.”
Reflect & Pray
How is it comforting to know that you don’t have to do this life on your own? When have you intimately felt Jesus’ presence?
Jesus, I’m so thankful You’re alive and that as Your child You live in me!
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
While there are differences in each of the gospel accounts of the discovery of Jesus’ empty tomb, John’s account (John 20:11–18) is unique in that Mary’s emotion takes center stage. Mary is crying when she’s introduced in this scene, and her tears are the impetus of the question asked by both the angels and the risen Lord: “Woman, why are you crying?” (vv. 13, 15). To the angels she responds, “They have taken my Lord away” (v. 13). She has lost Him twice—first through death and now through an apparent conspiracy. The angels and Jesus knew why she was crying, but this is where Jesus meets her. When he says her name—“Mary”—she recognizes Him (v. 16). He meets her where she is in her grief and confusion.
John 20:11-18
King James Version
11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
13 And they say 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.
14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
Click here for the audio message
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!”
John 20:18
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 20:11–18
My dad loved to sing the old hymns. One of his favorites was “In the Garden.” A few years back, we sang it at his funeral. The chorus is simple: “And He walks with me, and He talks with me, and He tells me I am His own, and the joy we share as we tarry there none other has ever known.” That song brought joy to my dad—as it does to me.
Hymn writer C. Austin Miles says he wrote this song in spring 1912 after reading chapter 20 of the gospel of John. “As I read it that day, I seemed to be part of the scene. I became a silent witness to that dramatic moment in Mary’s life when she knelt before her Lord and cried, ‘Rabboni [Teacher].’ ”
In John 20, we find Mary Magdalene weeping near Jesus’ empty tomb. There she met a man who asked why she was crying. Thinking it was the gardener, she spoke with the risen Savior—Jesus! Her sorrow turned to joy, and she ran to tell the disciples, “I have seen the Lord!” (v. 18).
We too have the assurance that Jesus is risen! He’s now in heaven with the Father, but He hasn’t left us on our own. Believers in Christ have His Spirit inside us, and through Him we have the assurance and joy of knowing He’s with us, and we are “His own.”
Reflect & Pray
How is it comforting to know that you don’t have to do this life on your own? When have you intimately felt Jesus’ presence?
Jesus, I’m so thankful You’re alive and that as Your child You live in me!
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
While there are differences in each of the gospel accounts of the discovery of Jesus’ empty tomb, John’s account (John 20:11–18) is unique in that Mary’s emotion takes center stage. Mary is crying when she’s introduced in this scene, and her tears are the impetus of the question asked by both the angels and the risen Lord: “Woman, why are you crying?” (vv. 13, 15). To the angels she responds, “They have taken my Lord away” (v. 13). She has lost Him twice—first through death and now through an apparent conspiracy. The angels and Jesus knew why she was crying, but this is where Jesus meets her. When he says her name—“Mary”—she recognizes Him (v. 16). He meets her where she is in her grief and confusion.
John 20:11-18
King James Version
11 But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
12 And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
13 And they say 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.
14 And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
18 Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.