The following message from Pastor Kit Johnson comes to you from LifePoint Baptist Church in Apple Valley, California, where we pray that God's word is a real blessing to you. Amen. We'll turn your Bibles to John 20. John chapter 20. It's a blessing. It's enjoyable to sing all those songs and hope you enjoy that. A lot of wonderful truth to think about and meditate on through those various carols. So praise the Lord for that. Well, John 20 today, we're going to cover verses 11 through 18. But first, God loves to glorify Himself throughout the Scriptures by surprising us. And there's lots of examples you can give in the Scripture of how God likes to surprise us, do things that we don't expect. You think of the fact that God chose Jacob, the younger brother, instead of the older brother Esau. He gave Rahab the harlot of all people a significant role in the conquest. He chose Ruth the Moabitess to be in the line of Christ. And maybe the biggest example would be that God took David, the youngest son from the sheepfold, and He made him the king of Israel, the beginning of the Davidic line of the line of Messiah. And God does these things. He does these things in order to demonstrate to us that He loves the weak. God loves the poor. God loves the sinner. And He loves to surprise us by demonstrating love for the very least. So with that in mind, we return once again to John chapter 20. And John, again, as we said a couple weeks ago, really wants to persuade you to believe that Jesus rose from the dead. And he builds his case that Jesus has in fact risen through three eyewitness stories. So first of all, Peter and John went to the tomb and they saw, as we saw two weeks ago, they saw the empty tomb, they saw the folded up face cloth and the grave clothes lying there beside them. Second, Mary Magdalene meets the resurrected Jesus. And then the third story is that Jesus walks through a closed door and appears to the 11 disciples that evening later on. And today, we're gonna cover the second story, Jesus' appearance to Mary Magdalene. And this story is a big deal. It's a big deal because Jesus appears for the very first time. Can you imagine being the first person to see the resurrected Jesus? And that would be an incredible honor. And who did Jesus pick to be the very first person to see Him alive from the dead? You might think, well, of course, it's going to be Peter and John. They're His closest friends, and they actually went to the tomb. Or maybe Jesus is gonna pick someone really important, like Pilate, the guy who condemned him to death. Maybe he'd pick a high roller among the Jews, someone like Nicodemus, or Joseph of Arimathea, or Annas the high priest. No, Jesus chose Mary Magdalene. And she's not significant. She's not even one of the 11 disciples. In fact, she is a woman in a time when a woman's testimony would not even count in court. It's a shocking choice, but Jesus proves by that choice that he's not interested in human glory. God loves the weak, God loves the despised, and he proves it here. And he also shows us incredible patience and compassion and disaccount. Let's read the text. John chapter 20 verse 11 says, but Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping. And so as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been lying. And they said to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, because they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him. When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there and did not know that it was Jesus. 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.'" Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him in Hebrew, Rabboni, which means teacher. Jesus said to her, stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father, and my God and your God. Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her. This is a great story. At the beginning of the story, Mary is in despair. At the end, she gets to tell the disciples, I have seen the Lord. So it ends in a wonderful moment of joy. But again, it doesn't start that way. Instead, the story begins with grief and confusion. Grief and confusion. Now, really, that grief and confusion goes all the way back to verses one and two. So just by way of review, verse one says, now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb while it was still dark, and she saw the stone already taken away from the tomb. So she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved. and said to them, they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." So remember that Mary Magdalene, along with several other ladies, got up early on Sunday morning to tend Jesus' body. But when they got to the tomb, they see that the stone is rolled away. Now, you'd think that would just make you run in and see what's going on, but Mary, she just took off. She just took off and ran back to Peter and John. Of course, the other ladies, they stuck around and they actually look in the tomb and they get to hear the angel say to them, according to, that Jesus is not here. He has risen. But Mary, she missed that. Because when she saw the stone rolled away, she panicked and took off and ran to Peter and John. And she believes that someone has moved the body of Jesus. You know, she thinks potentially that Joseph of Arimathea kind of decided he wanted to keep his grave for himself and move Jesus to a different grave, or even worse, she fears that grave robbers have stolen Jesus. But either way, she is horrified. Because particularly in the ancient world, a dead body was something very significant. To desecrate a dead body was a huge deal. She believed Jesus deserved honor and she is horrified at the thought that the body of Jesus has been dishonored. And so remember as well that Peter and John, they're apparently horrified too. So they take off, they run to the tomb. Of course, talking about how John, speedy John takes off faster than Peter. They run back to the tomb. And apparently Mary follows behind them. Now she's not as fast as John, but she runs back to the tomb as well. But Peter and John, they get there, remember they crawl down into the tomb, they see that the grave clothes are there but empty, the face cloth is folded to the side, and they believe that Jesus is alive. And then verse 10 says, they go back to their homes. And Mary comes along apparently behind them after they've already seen this and left. And she is alone at the tomb. All the other ladies have left. Peter and John have left. Apparently the only sound at the tomb is Mary weeping. And by the way, she's not just shedding quiet tears. The word that's used here for her crying is a word that's used in John 11 to describe the professional whalers who came to the tomb of Lazarus. So the picture, you think of, we Westerners, we have it together and we don't show emotion, but you've probably seen videos or pictures of Eastern people weeping and mourning and very loud sorts of crying, and so we should imagine Mary here, she is at the tomb, she is wailing outside. And notice that her weeping is a big part of the story. So verse 11 mentions her wailing twice. Verse 13, the angel says to her, woman, why are you weeping? And Jesus asks the same question in verse 15. Woman, why are you weeping? And Mary felt overwhelming sorrow. She is grieving. And John wants you to know that God cared for Mary's grief. God cared for her grief. And of course, God cares about yours too. You know, many people are ashamed and embarrassed by sorrow. You know, they don't want anyone to see their tears, they don't want anyone to see their grief, it's embarrassing. But this story is here to say that God cares, and you don't need to be ashamed before God. Jesus is a man of sorrows, and he is acquainted with grief. He has not appalled at our pain. He understands. And he's gonna seek Mary out in her grief. And he wants to seek you out too. Well, returning to the story, in her despair, Mary finally, finally decides to actually take a look in this tomb and see what's going on. And when she did, verse 12 says that she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet where the body of Jesus had been lying. Now, these angels are apparently the same angels who earlier in the morning told Mary's friends, Jesus is not here. Why do you seek the living one among the dead? He is not here, but he has risen. But remember, Mary fled. She missed that announcement. So now she's back at the tomb, and the angels are apparently sitting quietly in the tomb, one at the head of the grave and one at the foot. And they're there as a symbol of God. Whenever you see angels in Scripture, angels are a symbol of the presence of God. And so the fact that these angels are here is a symbol to Mary that God has come, that God has done something miraculous, something glorious. They're a symbol that the resurrection has occurred. And so when she sees those two angels there, when she sees that there's no body, she sees the grave clothes and presumably the face cloth is still there, Like she should have immediately recognized Jesus is alive, but she doesn't. So when the angel says to her, woman, why are you weeping? Now, I believe he said this kind of out of, you know, as a mixture here of compassion, but also rebuke. You know, Mary, don't you remember Jesus said he was gonna rise from the dead? Like, I'm an angel. He's not here. Recognize that Jesus is alive. Now, suppose you were Mary. You put yourself in Mary's shoes. You go to an empty tomb. There's two angels sitting there asking you why you're weeping. How would you respond? Well, I'd like to believe that I would believe in the resurrection and say, Jesus must be alive. But Mary, she has a very odd response here. She just talks to the angel as if he's just another, just a guy. And she says to him in verse 13, because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him. So the resurrection is still not on her radar at all. Doesn't even occur to her. She's still talking about grave robbers. She was so convinced that someone had moved Jesus' body, so overwhelmed with grief, that she couldn't see what was clearly obvious before her. And very often, you and I are just as blind as Mary. The Bible is very clear about who God is. The Bible is very clear about His character, God's promises, but then something bad happens, and you feel overwhelmed, and you have a hard time seeing through the fog, believing and staying anchored to Christ. So we can sit here and think, man, Mary, what a fool. How could you not realize Jesus is alive? But very often we have very weak faith as well. And we do not see what should be so obvious, what is so obvious to us as we read this story. Well, she tells the angels, they've taken away my Lord. She's still convinced that he has been stolen. But interestingly, the angel doesn't get a chance to reply because apparently Mary's stooping down in the grave, she's looking, she's talking to this angel. But then she gets a sense that there's someone standing behind her. And she turns around and she saw the resurrected Jesus. Now, notice again, there's a star next to the verb saw, and we talked two weeks ago about the fact that whenever you see those stars, in fact, there's a whole bunch of them in this whole story, those are, in the Greek, what are called historical present verbs, and they indicate to us that the verb is in the past tense, or the verb is in the present tense, but it's describing a past act, and it's there to communicate vividness. So when you see those historical presence, that's John's way of trying to bring you into the story, make it come alive to you. And so he wants you to feel that moment that Mary turns around and she sees the resurrected Jesus. She is the very first person to lay eyes on Jesus after he rises from the dead. That's an amazing moment. But you know what, Mary has no clue that she is having an amazing moment. The text says that she did not know it was Jesus. Now, that's interesting to us. I mean, why? How could she not recognize it's not Jesus? Now, some have speculated that she didn't fully look at Him. She just kind of took a glance and didn't recognize what was going on. Some people, it's early in the morning, maybe the sun's in her eyes and she didn't get a very clear view of Him. Maybe she's crying so much, her tears are so flooded with tears that it's affecting her vision, but none of those explanations are adequate, especially because Mary is not the only one who struggled to recognize the resurrected Jesus. So a little bit later on, Jesus is gonna talk for quite a while on the road to Emmaus with two disciples, having deep conversation, and they don't recognize Jesus until they sit down for dinner. As well, Luke says that later that day when Jesus visits the disciples, that it takes him a moment to really believe it's Jesus. And then in John chapter 21, Jesus appears to the disciples by the Sea of Galilee. And again, John 21 says that they didn't immediately recognize that it was Christ. So in a couple of these stories, it seems like God intentionally blinded people so that they couldn't see what otherwise they should have seen. But it's also true. that the resurrected glorified body of Jesus didn't look exactly like his pre-resurrection body. And that's especially, and Paul talks about how God is going to give us very different glorified bodies in 1 Corinthians 15. So keep your finger here, but let's look at 1 Corinthians 15. I think this is something we don't think about often. but is worth our attention for a moment. So 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And Paul here is not talking about Jesus. He's talking about the glorified bodies that we're gonna get, and there are people at Corinth that were skeptical of that possibility, pushing back on the idea of a resurrection body. And notice what Paul says in verse 35. He says, but someone will say, how are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come? I mean, they're dismissing, this is ridiculous, that you're gonna put a body in the ground and there's gonna be a resurrection body that comes later. Verse 36, you fool, that which you sow does not come to life unless it dies. And that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as he wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh. But there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars, for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power, it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, the first man, Adam, became a living soul. The last Adam, Jesus, became a life-giving spirit. Now, there's a lot going on. You don't have to understand every detail of that to recognize that Paul is talking about the fact that we are going to be marvelously transformed when we are glorified. And I especially appreciate the seed and the plant illustration that he uses. You know, that when you plant a seed, the plant that springs up is not just an expanded form of the seed. It comes from the seed, but it's not the same thing. And so Paul is saying there that our glorified bodies have a vital connection to the bodies you have right now, but they are not the same thing. They are radically different. Your glorified body in particular is going to be far better, far better than the body that you have right now. And what I think we're seeing in our text is that it was the same for Jesus. He was glorified. Now, later that night, he's gonna show the nail prints and the spear hole to his disciples. So it's not like he just left the old body somewhere, it disappeared. There is a vital connection between the two. But his new body was different. In fact, it was so different that people didn't immediately recognize him as being the same person. Now, you're sitting there like, you're raising a lot of questions in my mind. And you know what? I have the same exact questions. Basically, what's my glorified body going to look like? And you're wondering, what's mine going to look like? Maybe you're thinking, how could mine look any better than the one I have? But it will. There's a lot that we don't understand here, all right? A lot that we don't understand. But what we can understand, that God is going to give us a very different body someday, and that when Jesus rose from the dead, His body was different, it was glorified. And because of that, at least in part because of that, Mary did not recognize Jesus. Now think about the irony. And again, she is the first person to lay eyes on the resurrected Jesus, but she can't see that he is standing right in front of her. And yet Jesus, he's not disgusted by her, he's not impatient with her. I mean, he chose Mary to see him first, even though Peter and John had just left. And frankly, I mean, he could have chosen anyone. He could have chosen anyone in the world to receive his first appearance, but he chose Mary, a woman who had once been possessed by seven demons. He loved this woman. He loved how she had been transformed. He's not disgusted by her blindness, he's compassionate. And so this story is a beautiful picture of the kindness and love and mercy of our Savior. Jesus is loving on Mary, and He loves on sinners like us the same way. But the fact that God is patient with our weak faith and our poor sight does not mean that He's content to leave us there. And you shouldn't be content either. You know, when you're struggling to see God's truth and struggling to believe God's truth, it's a problem that you need to address. So, in verse 15 of our text, let me get back there. Verse 15 of our text, Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? Now, I want you again to hear Jesus' compassion. Again, he loved Mary and he sympathizes with her grief. Psalm 103, 13 says, as a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him. For he himself knows our frame, he is mindful that we are but dust. Jesus is not disgusted by Mary's blindness. He moves toward her. And Jesus has the same response to you. He moved toward her weakness and he moves towards yours. But again, all right, that compassion that Jesus has for her here, it's not the same as resignation. And Mary's blindness must turn into sight. So there's also a mild rebuke that's built into these two questions that Jesus asks. Like, come on Mary, don't you remember what I said? Don't you understand that God is sovereign over death? How is it that the thought of resurrection is not even on your radar? Have faith in God. And by God's grace, you never have to resign to your fears and doubts either. But by the grace of God, Your grief, your blindness can turn into sight and trust and joy. But with that said, Mary's not there yet. Verse 15, she goes on to say, 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. I mean, again, she's talked to angels. Now she's talking to Jesus. And she's still, I mean, she is still convinced that someone has taken the body of Christ. And I think this is worth noting too, I mean, we talk about the glorified body of Christ, she assumes he's the gardener. So it's not like his glorified body looked like an angel, or looked like some ghost, or something totally cut off from what she knew. Jesus still appeared as a man. And you're going to look human for all of eternity, just one without the effects of the curse. But Mary, I mean, she sees Jesus and she thinks He's the gardener. I mean, it's early in the morning, who else is going to be in the garden that time of day? And she starts accusing Him of desecrating Jesus' body. She's not backing down. In fact, she says to him, hey, if you've taken the body of Jesus, please give it to me, and I will give Jesus a proper burial. Now, that's not actually a cheap thing to do. That's a fairly expensive step to take. But Mary here, Mary here is willing to do whatever she needs to do. I mean, she loves Jesus. And she wants to make sure that his body receives proper honor. She just didn't slow down and recognize that she's talking to Jesus. She's still convinced he's dead. I mean, the empty tomb, the two angels, none of it is dissuading her. So I think this is important to say again that we said last time that Mary did not invent the resurrection. You know, I mean, John heard it, I'm sure Mary heard it, I'm sure, and we still hear it today. You know, we talk about the resurrection, Jesus' grave is empty. And people say, ah, even if it is empty, they just stole the body of Jesus, they moved it, they hid it, they buried it somewhere else, and they made up this whole story of the resurrection. And John wants you to see again, as we saw in the first account, that Mary is not coming up with some ruse. She did not invent the resurrection. She saw the empty tomb. She saw angels. She saw Jesus. And she still was not thinking of the resurrection. So Mary did not invent this story. Mary did not invent this tale. It was not even on her radar. Because God raised Jesus from the dead. This is not some fairy tale. And in verse 16, Jesus proves it to her. By the sovereign grace of God, our story suddenly shifts from grief and confusion to joy and clarity. Now, this is one of the most precious and consequential moments in all of Scripture. And again, think about Mary. She is wailing over Jesus. And she's talking to this man that she assumes is the gardener, and she pleads with him to please point her to where she can find the body of Jesus and make sure that he gets a proper burial. And then she turns away from Jesus. Probably she's embarrassed how she's crying and she's frustrated at the situation. And after she turns away, with one word, Jesus changes everything. Jesus says, Mary, Now John 10 verse three says, the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. Jesus called Mary by her name. And when he did, she knew his voice. Now why did she know his voice? Was there something about his voice itself that she said, oh, that's Jesus? Was it the way he said her name? Was it the fact that he knew her name even though she assumed he was a gardener? Or did God supernaturally lift the blinders and all of a sudden her senses, her sense of reality is transformed? Well, probably it's a combination of those things. But regardless, when Jesus says her name, Mary knows that's Jesus. For the very first time, and for the very first time, she looked with eyes of faith at Jesus. The very first time someone saw the resurrected Jesus and knew that's him, and she believed. And the text says that she blurts out rabboni, which means teacher. Now that title does not have any sort of grand theological significance. It's just a common word that means teacher. But John here is giving another vivid detail from an eyewitness account, and that's because when you're making up a story, you don't give details like that. You just kind of make stuff up, you leave out specific things, because they didn't actually happen. But Mary, but again, when you have a core memory, something that was a big moment in your life, you remember strange things, you remember specific things like they were just yesterday. And Mary distinctly remembered her response was to yell, Rabboni. I imagine Aunt John probably heard Mary tell this story later the same day. And I bet Mary told this story many, many times afterwards. She saw Jesus. She heard him say her name, and she knew he was alive. And Mary is overjoyed. She's overjoyed. And Jesus, I mean, I'm sure Jesus is happy too, right? I mean, we think about the joy of Mary, but think about the joy of Jesus. He loves this woman. He's alive. And Jesus had to be so happy to share this moment of joy with this woman whom he loved. What an incredible moment. I mean, can you imagine? Can you imagine that moment for Mary? I mean, have you ever, you know, we've all probably been asked at some point in time, like, if you could put yourself in the shoes of one Bible character, who would you want to be? You know, Moses parting the Red Sea or something else. I don't think I've ever heard anyone answer by saying, I want to be Mary in this story. But what an incredible moment for her to hear Jesus say her voice, to be the first person to see the risen Lord. You know, there's been a few times in my life where I've got to sit down with someone that I really respect, someone I really appreciate, and they just give me their full attention and care and counsel me, encourage me, spend time with me. I think about this moment for Mary. It's Easter morning, it's resurrection day, and she gets this special moment with Jesus. It's incredible, it's incredible. And as we think about Mary having this moment with Christ, we need to understand that Jesus cares for you the same way. He knows every detail about you, just like he knew about Mary. He loves you. He loves you the same way he loved Mary. And when you come to Jesus with your burdens, he is just as engaged with you as He was with Mary that Easter morning. Praise the Lord that we have a wonderful Savior, wonderful Savior. Well, returning to the story, Mary is overjoyed. She's overjoyed, and she goes from grief, from wailing to euphoric joy, and she does what women do in those moments. She grabbed on. She gave Jesus, apparently, a big, big hug. And we know that because Jesus says to her, stop clinging to me. Now, kids, teenagers, you've probably had that moment. Grandma comes up to you, grabs a hold, gives you a big kiss on the lip and her cheeks. And you're like, Grandma, get off me. This is a little embarrassing. You know, and I don't think that's what's going on with Jesus here. He's not embarrassed. He's happy with Mary. No, rather, look at what he says in verse 17. He says, stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brethren and say to them, I ascend to my Father and your Father and my God and your God. Now, you probably hear that and think, what in the world is Jesus saying? Well first, when he says, stop clinging to me, for I have not yet ascended to my father, his point is, is that I really have come back from the dead. I'm not in heaven yet. You don't need to grasp onto me like I'm just poof, gonna be gone somewhere. I really am alive. And he's not rebuking her for touching him, as if there's a problem with touching him, because in verse 27, he's going to actually invite, ask Thomas to touch his hands and his side. So Mary, no, instead, Mary was clinging to Jesus because she's afraid that she's gonna lose him again. So Jesus is saying, I'm here, I'm not leaving, I really am alive, you don't have to hold on to me. But he also wants Mary to know that they're not just going to pick up life after the resurrection as if it was the same as before the resurrection. So he instructs her, go to my brethren and tell them that I ascend to my father and your father and my God and your God. So in other words, Mary and the disciples must understand that they are entering a time of transition. And it probably would have been really easy for them to think, well, hey, Jesus is alive. So let's go back to our camp outs. Let's go back to our just life together all the time. Everywhere we go is the same. And Jesus wants to make clear that He has accomplished redemption. He has paid for our sins. He's risen from the dead. He has fulfilled the law. He has done all that was needed for redemption. And so times are changing. And life is not going to just go back to the way it was. So Jesus is gonna make several post-resurrection appearances to prove that he had actually risen from the dead, but otherwise, his work on earth is done. So they need to understand that they're going to see Jesus, but they're not going to permanently be with Jesus the same way they were before the cross. Now, I imagine that that was deeply disappointing for the disciples, deeply disappointing for Mary. You know, and us, man, we'd love to have the physical Christ among us. But remember what Jesus said in John 14 through 16. It is to your advantage that I go away. Because if I don't go away, the Spirit will not come. We have the Holy Spirit. And you having the Holy Spirit inside you is better than if Jesus were sitting right there. It's better. And so don't be disappointed by that. It is to our advantage that Jesus left and the Spirit came. And Jesus emphasizes this by saying, I ascend to my Father and your Father, my God and your God. The resurrection and the gift of the Spirit have provided you with new and a profound relationship to God. So Jesus wants Mary to know, And he wants her to tell the disciples that Jesus is alive. They're gonna see Jesus, but they're not going to dwell with Jesus the same way that they had. He's setting expectations. And I think that's just helpful for us. I know for myself, like there's been times I've, you know, some of the stories about the post-resurrection appearances of Jesus are strange, a little bit different from what we see before the passion. But we need to understand what's going on here is that Jesus, the work is done. Jesus appeared plenty of times to prove that he is alive. He had a few things he needed to tell the disciples before he ascended to heaven. But there was no need for him to live with them the same way that he had before the cross. But all that said, I mean, Mary, man, Mary is pumped. She is pumped. She saw Jesus. He's alive. She doesn't need to worry about burying Him. He's alive. And verse 18 says that Mary turned her joy into proclamation. Verse 18 says, Mary Magdalene came announcing to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that He had said these things to her. Now remember that the other women had already left the tomb and they had already gone and told the disciples what they saw and heard. But Luke says that these words appeared to them as nonsense and they would not believe them. So now Mary shows up, she's got her own story. She's not just saying that she saw the empty tomb, she's saying that she saw a resurrected Jesus. I love how she puts it. I have seen the Lord. And she also reported what Jesus had said about going to the Father, that they should expect to see Jesus, but they shouldn't expect His permanent presence. And I imagine they probably mocked her the way they did the other women. Mary, you're crazy. There is no way Jesus is alive. He died. But that evening, they're gonna see Him for themselves. So folks, this is a great story. This is a great story. What do we do with this story? Well, I have three applications to wrap up our time together. First of all, believe in the resurrection. Believe in the resurrection. Today's passage tells of a powerful journey from a lady in despair, doubt, and blindness to a place of sight, faith, and joy. And I wonder, where are you in that journey that Mary experienced within our account? Are you Mary at the beginning of the story, the middle, or the end? And if you doubt the resurrection, then please hear Jesus' voice. It may be right now He is calling your name the way He called Mary's name. And He is saying to you, My word says very clearly. and credibly that Jesus rose from the dead. Jesus is alive, and if He is alive, you can't just ignore Him. You need to acknowledge that He is the Lord, and He is the Savior, and respond to Him with Mary's faith. Confess that Jesus is Lord. Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead and the scriptures promise you will be saved. And if you've never been saved before, then I would urge you today to call on the Lord. If you've got questions, we wanna talk with you and share how Jesus can save you. So please believe in the resurrected Christ. Second application, rest in Jesus' love. Christian, Jesus has the same personal fatherly love for you that he had for Mary in this account. He knows all your cares, he is patient with all of your weakness, he is engaged, he is there, and he cares. So take all of your cares to him, And Jesus will care for you just like he cared for Mary. And then third, tell everyone. Tell everyone. You know, again, Mary, when she saw Jesus was alive, she came announcing, I have seen the Lord. Now, she sounded crazy. I mean, who, I mean, if someone showed up and said, hey, you know, I saw grandma, she's alive. You'd say, you're nuts. But Mary didn't care that she sounded crazy because she knew it was true. And Christian, you know it's true as well. It doesn't matter if the people you tell think you're crazy for telling them Jesus is alive. You know he's alive. So tell them that Jesus is alive. That you have seen the Lord through his word and he has transformed you and he can transform them. And some people might mock you. Some people might think you're nuts for believing in the resurrection, but Jesus will save some. The sheep will hear his voice and they will follow. So you tell them that you have seen the Lord and they can be saved. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for raising Jesus from the dead. Thank you for your love and compassion toward us. And Lord, thank you for the privilege we have of being ambassadors for Christ. So help us, Lord, to be faithful witnesses, bold witnesses for you. Lord, help our weak faith, and God, strengthen us. I pray for any who are here who do not yet believe. Lord, I pray that your spirit would call them and they would respond and leave today knowing Christ. Lord, help us this week to live in the power and strength of the resurrection. In Jesus' name, amen.