Day 8: SUNDAY - He is Risen!

Suggested Reading:

  • Matthew 28:1–20

  • Mark 16:1–8

  • Luke 24:1–53

  • John 20:1–21:25

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 Aramaic (Hebrew), “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). John 20:15-16 ESV

This is one of the most intimately touching passages in the entirety of the Bible: 

A woman weeping, her heart crushed that her “Rabboni” was most brutally killed. And a hopeless, sinking feeling sets in when she thinks the body has been taken. Now she can’t even weep over His dead body and process what had happened—she’s utterly devastated. 

In steps Jesus, whom she suspects to be the gardener. He knows and sees her heart. He could have been ascending to His Father; He could have been bragging all over town about rising from the dead; He could have been making His first grand appearance to His disciples. But Mary’s heart was crushed, and He attended to her before anyone else, most tenderly calling her by name. 

This is the heart of God on display for us; soak in its goodness. Too many people think that God doesn’t notice them. But even when He was “busy” rising from the grave, He noticed and He stopped everything for a broken-hearted woman. Nothing has happened to us that He hasn’t noticed in detail. When our hearts have been broken, He kept every one of our tears in His bottle. When no one else on earth saw Mary crying there, Jesus didn’t miss a thing. Nothing can separate us from His love—not even death by crucifixion. 

Today as we celebrate His rising from the grave, consider His heart for you. Consider what He went through to remove the shackles of sin from your life to be close to you. Meditate on His limitless love and the fact that He is the God who sees you, knows you deeply, and loves you fully. Praise Him and pour out your heart to Him like you never have before! He is risen and has come to us! Can you hear Him in your heart right now, right where you are, tenderly calling you by name?

Matt & Jessica Stallbaum - EEC - https://eccc.us/holy-week/