It is true. . . He is alive!

When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, and I don't know where they have put Him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. "Woman," He said, "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 onto Me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to My brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" John 20.11-17

from Matthew 28 - So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell His disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. "Greetings," He said. They came to Him, clasped His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see Me."

Good Morning.

Put yourself in their shoes--they saw Jesus brutalized and crucified; they saw Him buried, and where He was laid to rest---but now He is not in the tomb, and they are not just scared of being a flock without a shepherd, and left to the wolves (Romans and Jewish leaders), they are heartbroken as well. We find Mary Magdalene weeping about where the body of her Lord may have been taken. Someone else comes on the scene, and while she is fully aware of his presence, just assumes it it the groundskeeper--that is, until. . . He speaks her name.

Matthew's account has the encounter between Jesus and the women, as they turned and left the empty tomb. It seems they saw Jesus, but didn't recognize Him--that is, until. . . He spoke to them. So Jesus' physical appearance was different; He certainly did not look like they had last seen Him--bloody, bruised, and swollen. Why was Jesus not at once recognizable? Truthfully, all suggestions are merely conjecture. But something happens when Jesus addresses these women; His voice is familiar, and there is no doubt, He is their risen Savior. 'Makes me think of the verses in John 10, where Jesus talks about the shepherd-- "the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. . . he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. . . I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me. (vs. 14) You might recall that the kind of shepherding the people of the day were familiar with was quite different from sheep ranches we drive by on long stretches of open highway. The shepherd raised the sheep from lambs, and typically was most always with his sheep, and yes, they knew his voice. At night, when the sheep were enclosed in a fold, with one shepherd guarding the gate, as the shepherd was ready to call his own sheep out, they knew who they belonged to, they knew whose voice to follow, and came to him. Surprising--because sheep are allegedly dumb animals? No, because their recognition of their shepherd came from his always being with them, and their being with him.

So, when Jesus spoke to Mary Magdalene and the other two women, they knew His voice, and immediately worshipped Him.

Do I spend enough time with the Shepherd to know His voice?

And, more importantly--would HE recognize ME as His own?

Before we leave these first sightings of the risen Lord Jesus Christ, let us remember that Jesus revolutionized the social mores of His day--particularly for women. He did the same in His death, and the accounts He left for us to study in which women were first to the cross, and last at the cross. Women were the first to discover the empty tomb, and the first to come face-to-face with the resurrected Messiah. One thing is sure--Jesus loved and valued women; the Romans, Greeks and Jews kept women as second-class citizens, but Jesus did not. He came to set them free and elevate their living, just as He came to set us free, and elevate us to abundant living--life to the full, in Him. Don't be detoured or deterred by religion, hypocrites or skeptical, ignorant people--have your own encounter with Jesus. "He is the resurrected Lord, whose empty tomb gives His followers rock-solid confidence that as He has overcome the grave, so they will also." Lee Strobel

While I've watched people just sort of stumble through life, looking for love, looking for meaning and purpose, it seems elusive, and just out of reach--that is, until. . . they hear the voice of their Shepherd, and follow Him.

In His footsteps,

Christine