I've Just Seen Jesus

Good Morning! 

Ugh!  Another posting regurgitating a Wonderful Wednesday Prayer Meeting Message.  Please … endure this one.  I think the message is great.  By the way … I don’t repeat the message verbatim … just the impact on me.

The messages for the last few weeks have been on the miracles as reported in the gospel of John.  This week’s focus was on the greatest of the miracles … the resurrection of Jesus.

Let’s begin by understanding that Jesus was really dead.  There are some theories that have been advanced that claim He just swooned and revived in cool of the tomb or that His body really was just carried off … and all the rest of the witness of Him is just a fairy tale.  But the one thing that has always stuck in Mr. Jim’s mind is this one action … John 19:34 But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.  Confirming the death of a person was an action that Roman soldiers were very adept at doing.  The Jews had requested Pilate to finish the crucifixions of the three before sunset as it was the beginning of yet another holy day. The soldiers did this by breaking the legs of the two who were crucified with Jesus, causing them to suffocate.  But, when they came to Jesus, they observed that He was already dead … but to make sure, one of them speared Jesus in the side. Listen, if there was any one thing the Romans knew how to do, it was to know how to kill someone.  Had Jesus not been dead before the spear thrust, He certainly would have been dead thereafter.

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus took the body of Jesus and laid it in a tomb that belonged to Joseph. They prepared the body for burial … but because of the late hour (it was approaching sunset and the beginning of the day of worship) … they had to leave the work.  This is why the women were coming to the tomb on the first day of the week.  John’s gospel account focuses only on Mary Magdalene … but the other gospel writers fill in the blanks of who the other women were.  As we read the account in John 20, we find that Mary ran to where the disciples were hiding … and then followed John and Peter to the tomb.  After they had left, she stayed behind … and we read this

John 20:11-18 English Standard Version (ESV)

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she 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 him in Aramaic,[a] “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Footnotes:

John 20:16 Or Hebrew

I can’t help it.  As the preacher was teaching, the following refrain from “I’ve Just Seen Jesus” was running through the vacant space between the ears …

“I've just seen Jesus
I tell you He's alive
I've just seen Jesus
Our precious Lord alive
And I knew, He really saw me too

As if till now, I'd never lived
All that I'd done before
Won't matter anymore
I've just seen Jesus
And I'll never be the same again.” 

Jesus said one word … and immediately Mary Magdalene believed.  Paul, who had his own encounter with seeing Jesus, would write about the need for us to believe in the resurrection of Jesus in his letter to the church at Corinth. Until the moment Jesus said “Mary”, she did not believe. But, with that one word, her doubt and her fears were wiped away.  And she became the first to proclaim that Jesus was alive!!! 

One last statement that the preacher made is important for us to consider.  The accounts of the resurrection of Jesus in the gospels is not about information … it is about revelation.  The gospel writers are not trying to convince us that Jesus arose … Paul makes that argument later.  They are pointing to God revealing to all of us His power over death.  There is nothing more final known to the human race than death … and Christ Jesus conquered death. 

Have you seen Jesus?  Have you heard Him call your name?  A couple of questions to ponder this good, good day …

May God’s richest blessing fall upon you this good day …

Agape’

Mr. Jim

  

Prayer:  Father, thank You for the message on the resurrection of my Lord, Christ Jesus. Thank You for revealing Your power over all things in the resurrection. In Jesus’ Name … Amen.

Scripture for today:  John 19 and 20