Darkness to Light 2

Hello Everyone,

The first aspect, of the salvation that comes through faith in Jesus Christ is this:

I am saved from the darkness of confusion, and enter into the light of a new commission.

In the Gospel of John, the fourth book of the New Testament, the twentieth chapter. 

John 20, verse 1, says this:

Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance (NIV).

Now, let’s pause there.

Think about Mary’s state of mind that Sunday morning. 

She had to have been grief-stricken; she had just two days earlier witnessed the brutal crucifixion of Jesus, the man in whom she had placed so much hope.

She had seen him suffer things that she probably couldn’t get out of her mind, and would probably never forget.

If you’ve ever lost someone close to you, someone important to you, you know that grief doesn’t go away overnight. It lingers. Sometimes, it even festers.

So I think we can be pretty confident that Mary was not whistling a happy tune as she walked to the tomb that day.

She was probably in a very low state of mind, a very dark place.

Maybe you can identify with her right now.

But it’s unlikely that many, if any, of us here this morning are much worse off than Mary was that morning.

But look what happens next.

Look down further in John 20, to verses 14–18:

She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her (NIV).

She sees Jesus, but at first doesn’t recognize him! She thinks he’s the gardener!

Now, maybe, as the video clip portrayed, the morning light, and maybe even the radiance of his appearance played tricks with her eyes.

Maybe her vision was clouded by tears.

Maybe she didn’t look directly at him, but just noticed someone there.

We don’t really know; it could have been a combination of things.

But in any case, her confusion disappeared when Jesus called her by name.

Her grief evaporated like the morning fog.

Her darkness lifted, and in its place excitement and joy rushed in.

And then, notice what happened next: She was given a commission.

Jesus told her to take the news of his resurrection to others.

She became the first evangelist of the resurrection in Christian history.

Church, so it is with me, and with you.

You may be downhearted, confused, even depressed about many things, but if you have invited the risen Christ into your heart and life, many things become clear.

His resurrection tells you, among other things, that THIS life is not all there is.

It tells you that death is not the END.

It tells you that if you hope in Christ, all your hopes can be REVIVED.

It tells you that your Savior has triumphed over the worst this world can THROW at you. 

And, like Mary, the PERSON that has trusted Christ is given the same commission: to spread that news.

Jesus’ word to Mary is His word to me and you, too: GO!

In fact, I think the darkness of confusion actually lifts, not in the hearing, but in the going.

Like the ten lepers Jesus healed, who were healed as they WENT, as they obeyed his WORDS, so I think our confusion lifts as we go.

The darkness is dispelled in the light of a new commission, a new purpose.

Greater Things Are Still To Come!                                                  2

Hello Everyone,