back in your Bibles to John chapter
20 we have we have read this earlier I want us to want us
to consider Mary I've just got a one-word title for my message
it's just Mary and I want us to to examine and for the Lord to teach
us what it is for this woman to be the first to witness the
resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, what it is for her to
be the first to hear from Him, what it is for her to be the
first to go and tell the disciples. What a very privileged position
God has for women. And the women in the scriptures
are so often a picture of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Church is the Bride. It is Christianity which has
exalted women to a status that so many other systems of religion
and systems in this world have reduced them, but in the Lord
Jesus Christ they are elevated. and put in their right and proper
place. And in the Lord Jesus Christ
there is neither male nor female, nor Jew nor Greek. We're all
one in Christ Jesus. And so Mary is just such a wonderful
picture. And I want us to look at Mary
in light of the fact that the resurrection is a factual reality,
the resurrection is historical reality, the resurrection affects
all of humanity. The resurrection is a vital significance
in declaring the fact that God is true and God's word is true
and that God's promises are fulfilled. The resurrection is a vital significance
to all the world. Everyone that's ever been born,
every one of Adam's children will be affected by the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But I also want to say, and I
think this is the picture of Mary, that it's intensely personal. and it reaches right down to
individual believers in the very, very walk of their life here
in this world. So turn with me back to John
Chapter 20. This is just such a remarkable
story of this remarkable woman. You might recall that in Mark's
Gospel it said that the Lord had cast out seven demons from
Mary, and 7 in the scriptures is the number of wholeness and
completeness. She was completely demon possessed.
If you want to go guessing what that is, go for your life. The
scriptures don't want us to go guessing. She was just like all
the children born in this world. They are born deceived and they
are born corrupted and only a new creation will make them that. new creation is required, is
the work of the Lord alone. can do. So let's read some of
these verses and I just want us to, in a sense, go back into
that garden and go back to that sepulchre and go back to this
conversation. It was 1 John 20 verse 1. The first day of the week cometh
Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre,
and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre. She came
early. Mary came. She came to where
she had last seen him. She came early. Seek me early,
says the Lord. And she came. She came on that
first day of the week. And then she saw the stone taken
away from the sepulchre and she must have seen that the body
wasn't there because the next verse says that she runneth and
cometh to Simon Peter and the other disciples whom Jesus loved
and saith unto them, they have taken away the Lord out of the
sepulchre and we know not where they have laid him. They know
not where they have laid him. And then we have the story of
Peter and John. It is running back to the sepulchre,
John being much younger than Peter. John runs and gets there
earlier and then Peter comes and in his normal boldness he
goes into the sepulchre. They both ran together, verse
4, and then the other disciple did outrun Peter and came first
to the sepulchre. He, stepping down and looking
in, saw the linen clothes lying and yet went not in. Then cometh
Simon Peter, following him, and went into the sepulchre, and
seeth the linen cloths lie, and the napkin that was about his
head, not lying with the linen cloths, but wrapped together
in a place by itself. So sometime that morning the
Lord Jesus Christ had risen from the dead and there was an order
about the way he folded up that napkin. He was in no hurry and
there was a remarkable, when you think of how much wrapping
the bodies were wrapped in, the thought that you could get out
of there and unwrap yourself. That was what happened at the
tomb of Lazarus, wasn't it? The Lord says, you loose him
and let him go. The Lord somehow, in a miraculous providence, went
through those linen cloths and they were just left there lying,
according to the scriptures, with the napkin. Then went in
that other disciple, also that other disciple, which first came
to the sepulchre, the tomb, and he saw and believed. He saw and believed. He saw and believed the report
of Mary. How far and how deep that believing
goes we'll see in further studies. For as yet they knew not the
scripture that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples
went away unto their own home. And this is the part that I just
think is so extraordinarily special. This needs to be lived in our
lives and studied and rejoiced in. But Mary stood without, stood
outside the sepulchre, weeping. And as she wept, she stooped down and looked into
the sepulcher. Mary stood and she stayed. Mary wept. Mary stooped down. She was bowed
down. She was looking for him, and
she looked into the tomb. Verse 12, and seeth two angels
in white. sitting. One at the head, the
angel was in no hurry, one at the head, the other at the feet,
where the body of Jesus had lain. These two angels had come to
be there and speak to Mary. Why? Why the angels? Well, the word angel means messenger. And if you're going to meet the
risen Lord, you will hear from a messenger. The pastors of the
churches in Revelation are called the angels of the churches. Romans
10 makes it abundantly clear that faith comes by hearing,
hearing by the word of God, and it's only those who are sent
to preach will bring the gospel which brings salvation to people. You read the Lord's declaration
about his servants in Romans 10. And I love the fact that when
the Lord does speak to Mary, he speaks exactly the same words
as the messengers. His words and his messengers'
words are the same. But let's go back to hear what
they said in verse 13. And they say unto her, Woman,
why weepest thou? And she said unto them, because
they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have
laid him. Woman, why weepest thou? Why are you weeping? God never
asks questions to gain information. God knows everything and everyone.
He asks questions to reveal the hearts of his own, and her words
are wonderful, aren't they? They've taken away my Lord, and
I don't know where they've put him. My Lord is taken away, and
I don't know where they've laid him. For any of you who know
the Lord, you know something of Mary's cry. For you who have
walked with the Lord for many years, you know something of
Mary's tears. How often our Lord seems to be
distant from us. But for Mary, his absence and
his distance brought tears. This is so often the story of
God's people. I want us to see that this just
is intensely personal and particular, but also it speaks of the Lord
coming in resurrection glory to revive the hearts of his people. David said he wet his bed with
tears so often. Depart from me all you workers
of Nicarita, the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. David wept. God's children in
this world have real human emotions. We love the truth of all of the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. But we continually are like the
Shulamite in the Song of Solomon where the Lord's absence causes
us to reach out for him and to cry to him. In Psalm 39 verse
12, Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear unto my cry. Hold not
thy peace at my tears, for I am a stranger with thee and as sojourner
as all my fathers were. There are so many other places
in the scriptures where the Lord's people are weeping. Mary and
Martha were weeping and the Lord wept with them at the tomb of
Lazarus. We have a God who is intensely
personal. Does his absence cause you tears? For every born again child of
God there will be times when you feel his absence and so often
you'll be feeling his absence and you'll know that part of
his absence is the fact that you've sinned against him. And
so we become so thankful Those of us who have met him know his
absence, but also we know the sweetness of his coming to us
again and speaking words of comfort. I love, and we quote often, Jeremiah
31. Just turn with me in your Bible
to Jeremiah chapter 31. It's after the book of Isaiah.
It's a great glorious chapter. It speaks of the new covenant
in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But at the beginning
of the chapter it speaks of the love of God. and I love what he says in verse
3. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love, therefore with lovingkindness, with grace have I drawn thee. And he draws his people, verse
9, and they shall come with weeping and supplications. They'll come
with weeping and cries and pleas. Will I lead them? I will cause
them to walk by the rivers and waters in a straight way wherein
they shall not stumble. For I am a father unto Israel. Those who have known his presence
know his absence. I love what he goes on to say
if you're still there in Jeremiah 31 in verse 13. Then shall the
virgin rejoice in the dance and both young and old, young men
and old together for I will turn their mourning into joy and I
will comfort them and make them to rejoice from their sorrows. Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for? Verse 14 of John chapter 20.
And when she had thus said, she turned herself back and saw Jesus
standing, but knew not that it was Jesus. It really was him,
but he had something more to say to her before he revealed
himself to her. Now we don't know the situation
but it seems as if as she was looking at the angels and hearing
from the angels, we're in John chapter 20, they may have bowed
at the presence of the Lord, they may have done something
that indicated that behind her was the Lord Jesus Christ. They looked possibly to him and
caused her to look and see the Lord Jesus Christ. These are
the first words of the resurrected Lord. What words they are to
the church, what words they are to those who are grieving and
lamenting, what words they are. Jesus saith unto her, woman,
why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? Why are you crying, and who are
you looking for? Who do you want to have? And she supposing him to be the
gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou had borne him hence,
tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him. My lord is gone, and I can't
find him. As I said earlier, it's interesting,
the Lord's first words, the resurrected Lord's first words are the words
of the messengers, the words of the angel. Woman, why weepest
thou? Whom seekest thou? What a searching question from
a resurrected Christ to each and every one of us. It's not
a what, it's a whom. Whom seekest thou? All of our
salvation is in a Whom, not a What, but a Whom. Our Lord is declared
in all his glorious character in his scriptures, but there
are many Jesuses in this world. The real Jesus promised that
there are many other Jesuses, and many other Gospels, many
other spirits. But when there is a resurrection,
when there is a new birth, and when there is a coming of this
risen Lord Jesus to his people, it's a whom, it's a whom that
they're seeking. The new creation will always
be seeking a whom. I love to know about him. but I love his presence. I want
us to know his presence. I know he's made promises to
be present with us, but I just love the fact that in this resurrection
visitation with Mary the first, he lays a foundation which is
so, so special for all of his visitations with his people.
Have you met him? Has he come to you? And has he spoken to you? of who the Lord Jesus Christ
is, you'll know all the what. If you know the whom, all of
the rest of it, all of the rest of the issues of who God is and
what God is doing and how God saves sinners and what happened
at the cross and what happened in eternity and what is going
to happen and what's happening in this world, all of it is solved
in just one question, isn't it? It's a whom, isn't it? And those who have been with
him, like Mary was, after seven demons were cast out of her,
it seems as if she was by his side for most of the next part
of his incarnation. And she knew what it was to have
his presence with her, and she knew the pain of his absence. His absence breaks the heart
of his people, and he continually does it. He does it in love,
he does it in grace, so that we will cry out and call out
and come to him. See, without the Lord's presence... She said, if you can tell me
where you've put him, I'll come and take him. I'll take him.
I'll take him and I'll take him to myself. So without the Lord's
presence, she was anxious to find him. She sought him with
tears. She came, very wisely, she came
to the last place that she'd seen him. If you've lost something,
that's a good place to start, isn't it? The last place you'd
seen him. We see him and we meet him in his word and we meet him
in the company of his people, we meet him as his gospel, his
priest. And she came, she came to where
she'd last seen him and she looked for him and she bowed down, she
stooped down. So many people in religion are looking
for experiences and looking for emotions. They're looking for
some gratification of what they have done and what they haven't
done. They're looking for some affirmation of how righteous
they are. People are looking for forms
and ceremonies and numbers and associations. I met a young fellow
yesterday, on Saturday, and he was looking for a church where
there's entertainment with young people. God's children are looking for
Him. God's children are always looking for Him. Those who have
met Him are continually looking for Him. Not forms and ceremonies
and numbers and associations with organisations. Just Him. The Lord's people have a cry
in the heart, they're my Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the
same yesterday, today, and forever. What he did with Mary is typical
of what he does with his people. The sheep hear his voice, and
he calleth his own sheep by name, and he leadeth them out. John
10 verse three. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him. Why? they know his voice, and a stranger
will they not follow, will flee from him, for they know not the
voice of strangers. Mary, Mary, Mary, she turned
herself and said unto him, Rabboni, which is to say master, but in
the Aramaic that she spoke, it was a very, very exalted term
for the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not quite the same as Thomas
saying, my Lord and my God, but it has similar connotations.
You are the teacher. You are the master. You call
me Master and Lord, he said to those apostles in John 13. You
call me Master and Lord, for you say, well, for so I am. If I then your Lord and Master
have washed your feet, you ought to also wash one another's feet. Jesus, save unto her. Don't cling onto me. Touch me
not. He's not denying the intimacy
of physical fellowship with his people. 1 John 1 says that we
touched and we handled the word of life. He says to Thomas, you
come and touch me, if you put your hand in here. That which
was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have
seen with our eyes, I love what John says in 1 John chapter 4. As he is, so are we in this world. He says don't cling to me Mary. You'll have plenty of time. I'm
going to be here for 40 days. I'm very happy to be clung to,
but you have a message to deliver to my people. You go and say
to them, I'm ascending unto my father and your father and to
my God and your God. I will ascend, but my ascension
is so sure that he speaks of it in the present tense. My brethren,
he calls them my brethren. You go to my brethren. If you
have come weeping, looking for the Lord, and he has revealed
himself to you, the message from God is you go and tell my brethren.
Brethren, First time he uses that word regarding his apostles.
You go and tell my brethren, we are members of the same family. The Jerusalem which is above
is the mother of us all. You can read about it in Galatians
chapter four. My brethren, a new relationship,
a new name, by which he declares them as members of one family. And Mary Magdalene came, verse
18, and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that
he'd spoken these things unto her. What a glorious meeting. She came anxious to find him. Are there any here who are anxious
to find him? She sought him with tears. Have you sought him with tears?
She came to where she'd last seen him. She looked for him
bowing down. She stayed when others left. And the Lord raised up this Mary
to be the one who was to first declare the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ. An extraordinary privilege. This her weeping was turned into
joy and you can read many places in the Old Testament. I'll just
close by reading some verses out of Isaiah chapter 30 in verse
18 and 19 of Isaiah 30. The Lord prophesied this event. And therefore will the Lord wait. He was not hurried at all, don't
you agree? Isn't it wonderful? He was in
no hurry after the resurrection. Our Lord God waits. Therefore will the Lord wait
that he may be gracious unto you and therefore he will be
exalted. He'll be exalted in his waiting
and he's going to be exalted in his grace. that he may have
mercy upon you, for the Lord is a God of judgment, and blessed
are all they that wait for him. Because, verse 19, the people
shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem. Zion's a picture of the church.
They dwell in Zion. A monument raised up, that word
means. It also has the connotations
of a sepulchre, a tomb that's now emptied. That's the church,
and they're at Jerusalem. In the midst of Jerusalem, where
all of these people had been so At the same time Mary was
weeping there were people preparing their daily activities and there
was a bunch of people in Jerusalem rejoicing at the death of the
Lord Jesus Christ. They finally got rid of him.
For the people that shall dwell in Zion at Jerusalem, thou shalt
weep no more. He will be very gracious unto
you, unto thee, at the voice of thy cry. When he shall hear
it, he will answer thee. Don't you love that? Don't you
love the promise of our great and glorious God? He draws his
people to come to him and they come with weeping and cries. and he turns their tears into
joy. And in that one word, Mary, Mary
knew that all was well. May it be so with you, all of
us, and all that we love. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we thank you for The reality of the Resurrection, we thank
you for the significance of us having a living, resurrected
and reigning Saviour and friend of sinners. And we praise you,
Heavenly Father, for what you showed in your visit to Mary,
that your visits are real and personal and powerful and comforting
to your people. We thank you, Heavenly Father,
that you sent your son into this world to save his people from
their sins, that he is the friend of sinners. And we thank you,
Heavenly Father, that in our straying, we can come with crying
and we come with pleas that you who alone can comfort the hearts
of your people will come and reveal to us yet again your faithfulness,
your glory, the wonder of redemption finished, the wonder of our great
King and Saviour reigning all things in this world. gathering
his sheep to himself and holding them in his arms and carrying
them through this world. We thank you Heavenly Father
for your visits. May we, like Mary, be privileged
to hear you. you call our name and that we
might follow you wherever you might lead for your glory and
for the good of your people in this world. We thank you again,
our Father. We thank you for the Lord Jesus
Christ, for sending him. We thank you that he's now seated
and all of his family are seated together with him in heaven.
What a glorious hope your children have. May we walk in that, our
Father. And we pray in Jesus' name, and
for his glory. Amen.