John 20:11-18
There are three things about this gospel that are intriguing.
Mary weeps outside the tomb. As long as she stays outside the empty tomb she is overcome with sadness. She has an uncontrollable fit of tears that consumes her.
The moment she goes inside the tomb, the moment she enters empty tomb things begin to change. The reality begins to take over and bring about an opportunity of conversion. She enters upon the opportunity of encounter with the risen Lord.
She moves from seeking evidence to having an encounter. This is truly the hallmark of faith. Evidence can be easily manipulated, but an encounter is truly lasting.
Notice the encounter with the Risen Lord occurs in three stages.
First there is the initiative. Jesus initiates the encounter. Then there is the recognition. Mary hears Jesus call her by name and this encounter is personal. Then she is given a mission to go forth and spread the message to the apostles.
Evidence is surpassed by encounter. And the encounter empowers her to go forth.
Here in lies the matter of faith and exposes what is the matter with us as believers.
We have a tendency to stop at the evidence and keep Jesus distant or if we do go further then we usually stop at the encounter and make it about our own personal relationship with Jesus and we cling to him as Mary did with out realizing it is about the mission. We never move beyond the encounter to go forth and spread the message.
This last stage is essential; we too must busy ourselves with the proclamation. By our lives and actions the risen Lord is proclaimed.
No comments:
Post a Comment