Hey friends! Today I want to continue my Easter countdown miniseries. It’s my goal to cover topics you may or may not know because these are things I learned way later about the crucifixion and resurrection. I had the main points down but some stuff had a ton of symbolism and I’m over here hiding eggs. Just being honest…
So, hopefully you all know that Jesus was resurrected after He was crucified (this was a main point I was talking about 😉). When we was resurrected, a woman was the one to see Him first. Why was that? Let’s talk about it.
Let’s talk about Mary Magdalene or Mary M for short. I really like her. To be fair, I like most (if not all) the stories about the women in the Bible. There is a story to be learned in every single one because God is always purposeful. To catch you up on who she was, she had a special connection to Jesus. Mary M became a different person when Jesus came into her life (like all of us). You see, Jesus cleansed her of her demons and because of this, she was a DEVOUT follower. She loved Jesus with all her heart. Her story showed us that your past does not dictate your future.
The day Jesus was crucified, she was there. As anyone who was a follower, I am sure it was hard to watch (honestly, I am sure it was hard to watch if you weren’t a follower). She stayed with Him until death. After He died, He was put in a tomb with a large heavy boulder as a door so NO ONE could move it. But on the third day after His burial, the women went to anoint the body (Mark 16:1) because they loved Him and wanted to continue to care for Him (Luke 8:1-3). I can hear the conversation now on the way to the tomb, “Mary! How are we going to get in? We can’t move that stone.” Mary M- “I don’t know but we’ll figure it out.” It sounds like something I would do.
They get there and bam! Stone moved. You know their initial thought was “woohoo!” and then, “hold up. What is happening here? This is weird and not good.” So she runs and gets Peter and it was then discovered that Jesus was gone. After everyone left, Mary stayed at the tomb and just cried. I mean, I get it. There was A LOT of trauma that she had just witnessed and now, Jesus’s body had been stolen (or so she thought). Two angels appeared and talked to her and she was still upset. And then…mic drop…Jesus was there. He told her He was all good now and He was ascending to “my Father and your Father”. Mary M was ecstatic and went to tell everyone she had seen Jesus. (John 20:1-18)
Great story right? But why did Jesus appear before Mary M? A woman. For context, women at that time were considered less. They were not allowed all the way into the Temple to worship simply because they were a woman. They had no rights. They were second class. On top of her being a woman, she was a FALLEN woman (gasp!). You can imagine when she tried telling the disciples, “HEY GUYS!!! Jesus is alive! He told me to tell you He was good!” You know they rolled their eyes and said, “Sure He did Mar-Bear.” They didn’t believe her (Luke 24:11 and Mark 16:11).
You see, Jesus didn’t see different classes, gender, or race. Jesus only saw people when He walked this Earth. He didn’t care if you were a man, woman, disabled, smelled to high heavens, had an eye hanging out, or wasn’t nice…He was going to talk to you. And in Mary’s case, at one time she was demon filled and Jesus healed her. And then, she followed Him to the end. And she truly loved Him with all her heart. Jesus knew that and He rewarded her with His presence after His resurrection. Jesus valued a sin filled, former demon possessed, second rate citizen who was a woman to share the good news.
If Jesus can see past all of that, why can’t you? We tend to pass judgment when it is not warranted. We are all sinners. My sin and your sin are probably different. That doesn’t make me better than you. We are both sinners. God put us (me and YOU) here on this Earth for a million reasons. But one of the reasons is to learn from and help each other. Don’t forget that when you get frustrated with people. People who are hungry and you think they just need to get a job. Or an alcoholic, who just needs to stop drinking. Or a coworker, who isn’t pulling their weight. We all have a story and maybe if we were more like Jesus, they would/could be a Mary M.
God is so intentional, isn’t He?
Love you all,
Jennifer
Nancy Taff Brasher
Thanks so much for this post! So enjoyed your comments.