Rabboni! ♡♡♡

 

"Dear Woman, why are you crying?" Jesus asked her. "Who are you looking for?" She thought he was the gardener. "Sir, she said, "if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him" Mary! Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, "Rabboni!" (which is Hebrew for Teacher") - John 20: 15-16

Mary Magdalene had showed up at Jesus's tomb. His body was no longer where it was laid [did someone hijack or abort mission?] Scripture says the angels had seen Mary crying and asked why she was crying. Mary answered-------> "Because they have taken away my Lord, & I don't know where they put Him" John 20:13  - So as I pondered on Mary's response to the Angels, I realized how amusing it was to think that someone had taken "Her Lord" away and put Him someplace else so that no one could find Him. Then that funny scenario in Genesis 31 popped up in my mind. Rachel, Jacob's wife had stolen her father's household gods, and fled with Her husband. Rachel's dad then finds Jacob and amongst many other things he adds - "Now you have gone off because you longed to return to your father's household. But why did you steal my gods?"- [hmm stolen gods? what kind of god might this be?] I digress, but only to point out that, the God that died for Mary was very much ALIVE. The God that died for you and I could never be stolen. Scripture says Jesus has the authority to lay down His life, and He also has the authority to take it back. John 10:18 :) Friends, Our God is very much ALIVE.

Haven said that, I can relate with Mary in this place of despair and confusion. Mary, sorrowful, heartbroken, and rightfully so. Jesus had cleansed Mary of seven demons. She had supported His ministry and she also witnessed his crucifixion first hand. Mary soon finds out though, that her Lord was not taken away from her, but that He had only really fulfilled the prophecies of scripture and everything He said about himself on His way to the Cross. Jesus would now live even more powerfully through humanity. And Mary was famously the first person to see Him after his resurrection. 

"She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn't recognize him. Dear Woman, why are you crying?" Jesus asked her. "Who are you looking for?" She thought he was the gardener. "Sir, she said, "if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him" Mary! Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, "Rabboni!" (which is Hebrew for Teacher") - John 20: 14-16.

I suppose Mary was about to head home to continue the rest of her crying. I love how scripture says "She turned to leave and saw someone standing there" Dang!!!!!!. She did not recognize Him at first. Infact when she looked again, she thought it was the gardener, and even when this man had asked who she was looking for, she still didn't recognize Him. But that's ok, Jesus calls her by her name "Mary", she turns and cries out "Rabboni". What an intimate moment. What a precious moment. Mary and her Lord. This serves as a strong encouragement to us. For when we think that the Lord is nowhere to be found. When we are not able to recognize Him or when we think Him to be some random gardener. When we go around looking for the Lord in all the wrong places, and from all the wrong people. Jesus is right there still, always willing and ready to get very personal. The Lord knows you by name and address. The Lord is never lost, even when you may be. Hear This!!!!!

"From one man He made every nation  of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and  He determined their appointed times and the boundaries of thier lands. God intended that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for Him and find him , though He is not far from each one of us. For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, We are his offspring. And since this is true, we shouldn't think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone" - Acts 17:26-29

Love

SR