Let's take our Bibles and turn
back now to the Gospel of John, Chapter 20. We just considered the account. Mary Magdalene looked in, saw
the angels, they asked her, Why weepest thou? She told him, because they've
taken away my Lord, I don't know where they've laid him. As soon
as she said that, she turned her back. The scripture says,
verse 14, she saw Jesus standing and knew not that it was Jesus. Now as I said in the first service,
I wanted to just pick up and just right where we left off,
and for reasons known only to the Lord. Her eyes did not look
at him and know that it was the Lord. I'm sure she didn't expect for
him to be there. And obviously, the appearance
of His resurrected body was different from that body, His body, before
the crucifixion. Now, I'm basing that statement
on a description that was given by Isaiah in chapter 52 and verse
14. I want to read this to you and
set forth some of the wording, Isaiah 52 14 says this, as many were astounded,
now as many were stunned, as many were amazed, now this is
from Strong's Concordance, speaking of the the Hebrew, of that word,
astounded. They were astonished is what
the word is, but the wording also is stunned, amazed, and
devastated. Many were astounded at thee. And surely speaking of his appearance
because of the next words, his visage, that is, his appearance,
was so marred, and again, definition, disfigured. From the word that
means marred or injured, his visage was so marred, more than
any other man, and his form, his outline, his shape, his figure,
more than the sons of men. They looked at him, and I've
heard, and I'm sure it's right, they had beaten him. Roman soldiers
had whipped him. They had pulled his beard out,
spit on him, they put a crown of thorns on him. They made him
carry until one was made to carry his cross. And this is what Isaiah
said, under the inspiration of God's Spirit, Many were astounded,
they were stunned, they were amazed, they were devastated
at his appearance, his visage. It was so marred, it was so disfigured,
more than any other man. John Gill made this statement
concerning the Lord's visage. Though fairer than the children
of men, as he was the immediate workmanship of the Divine Spirit,
and without sin. Yet, what with griefs and sorrows
he bore, troubles he met with, with what watchings and fastings
and laborious preaching and constant traveling about to do good, what
with sweat and blood and buffeting, sin and scourgings, never was
any man's face so marred or his form more altered than his. The effects, the effects of what
he bore. The scripture sets forth his
visage was marred and they were amazed when they looked at him.
And now here's Mary and she's looking at the Lord And she doesn't
recognize him. She'd just seen him a few days
before. And the scripture says, verse
15, "...and Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? And she, supposing
him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne
him hence." Tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take
him away." Now here's the resurrected Savior. And He's looking at Mary, and
she doesn't recognize Him. And He asks her these questions,
but how beautifully do we behold the fulfillment of Isaiah 61.1,
the Scripture read by our Lord. In Luke 4, 18-19, here's what
he read concerning himself. He said, The Spirit of the Lord
is upon me because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the
poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach
deliverance to the captives, a recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the
acceptable year of the Lord. And here is the Lord of glory.
having borne all that He had borne, being made sin for His
people, He who knew no sin, beaten, abused, just marred. And now here He is to comfort
this broken-hearted object of His mercy. And Mary hears Him
speak. Now here's what she heard. Woman,
why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou? She heard
him speak. She heard his voice. But as the Lord asked her and
said the same words, why weepest thou? But then he said, whom
seekest thou? Can not every believer? enter
into that question, and here's your answer. Whom seekest thou? Here's your answer. Him. Him. That's who we seek. Mary, knowing
the one she seeks, still convinced, obviously, from her wording,
She still thinks somebody's taken the body of the Lord. She supposed
Him to be the gardener. He was there in the garden, you
know, close by. She rehearses those words to
the one that she doesn't know. She doesn't know where the Lord
is. She said, Sir, if you've borne Him, hence, Tell me where
thou slayed him, and I'll take him away." Him. You know, there's just the preciousness
in a believer's heart just to say this. Who do you love? Well, a believer can say, I love
the Lord. That's true. I love the Lord
Jesus. That's true. But there is just
that personal Him. I love Him. He is my Lord. Who are you looking for? I'm
looking for Him. Why are you weeping? I don't know where they've laid
Him. But now is obviously the time
of the revelation of who He is. The time for the Lord, according
to His good pleasure, to calm her fears and to dispel her doubts. and to dry those tears from her. In verse 16, Jesus saith unto
her, Mary, it may be that his resurrected
body and the evidences of his anguish that he had endured. You know, you look at someone
We can enter into this somewhat. You look at someone and they've
had a hard life, they've had a rough life, and they've gone
through a lot of travail and trials, and stress ages people. They'll age, you know. And maybe, maybe his resurrected
body and the evidence of what he had endured, suffered. Maybe that possibly, I'm trying
to, I don't want to speak so, you know, distinctly on this
thing. I'm just assuming. She didn't
recognize, her eyes were holding, I don't know. Maybe a lot of
that, the scarring. I know the scars in his hands
and his feet and side were still there. Because he's going to
talk to Thomas in just a few minutes. Maybe that's not there,
or a week later is when he talked to him. But I'll tell you this,
maybe she didn't recognize him because of that, but I'll tell
you what she did recognize. When he called her name, she heard that. She recognized
that voice. John 10, 28, my sheep hear my
voice and I know them and they follow me. The Lord said in John
10, 3 and 4, To him the porter openeth the sheep, hear his voice.
He calleth his own sheep by name, leadeth them out. And when he
putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them. And the
sheep follow him. That is, they exercise their
love toward him in self-denial and obedience. They follow him.
They deny themselves. If it's going to be between them,
their desires, and the Lord's will, according to His Scriptures,
according to the Spirit of God, speaking to their heart, and
bearing witness to their heart, and speaking to that new conscience,
a good conscience. Let me tell you what they're
going to do. They're going to follow. They're going to follow. They're going to follow. You
say, well, I tell you what, I know sometimes they might want to
follow. No, they're going to follow. Again, as I've said,
go back and read the book of Jonah. Let me tell you what a
believer is going to do. They're going to do exactly what
the Lord says they're going to do. I know them and they follow
me. Saul of Tarsus, it's hard to
kick against the pricks. You're going to lose. My sheep,
they follow Me. Why? For they know His voice. God's people know what I'm talking
about. They hear the voice of the Lord
as the Scriptures reveals Himself and as the Spirit of God reveals
it to their heart. They know Him. They speak to
Him. They fellowship with Him. They
follow Him. They know Him. He's not a figment
of their imagination. They know Him. This is the voice of Him that
spoke to Mary. This is the voice that's heard
by the redeemed. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob. You that know Him, you know,
you entered into that. Yeah. That's who I am in myself. The supplanter, the trickster,
the huckster. O Jacob, he that formed thee,
O Israel, prince with God. There's that new man. There's
that new man. That new man created by the Spirit
of God, imparted in regenerating grace. O Jacob, he that formed
thee, O Israel, fear not, for I've redeemed thee. I've called
thee by thy name. Thou art mine. I tell you what,
just in your mind right now, you that know Him, just think
to yourself, to hear His voice. I think to myself, if the Lord
were to say to me, Marvin, He spoke to her, called her name,
and she heard His voice, she heard that voice, she knew who
that was. And the scripture says, Verse
16, she turned herself and saith unto him, Rabboni, which is to
say, Master, it's you. Lord, it's you. She heard that voice that called
her personally and spoke to her and now she knew Nobody's taking
your body away from you. Now, now, now I know you're raised
from the dead. And he's triumphed over death
and hell and the grave. And she's found the one who is
her life. She hears these words now spoken
to her by the Lord. Now listen to this. I'm going
to admit. This is a passage of scripture
that has long, long, long perplexed me. And again, I'm not going
to try to speak emphatically. I've read many, many commentators. on explanation of this passage
of Scripture. And I'll tell you the one that
I truly feel, that I've come to think, this is what I truly
believe. This is what I believe the Lord
is saying to her. She said to him, in verse 16,
Rabboni, was to say, Master, and Jesus saith unto her, Touch
me not. For I am not yet ascended to
my Father, but go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend unto
my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God. Touch me not." What did he mean? What was he
talking about? Now, let me tell you what I know
He couldn't have meant. He could not have meant that
He was not to be touched at all, as if there was something sinful
or wrong in touching Him, because it was recorded, it is recorded,
that the Lord allowed the other women who had been to the grave with
Mary to touch Him. He allowed them to touch Him.
Matthew 28, 9, here's the account of one of the other writers.
And here's what it says, and as they went to tell His disciples,
what happened? They had come, Mary had gotten
there, she saw the stone rolled away, she bolted and ran to go
get Peter and John. These other women are standing
there. And these angels tell these other women, that are there,
you go tell his disciples too. As they went to tell his disciples,
behold, Jesus met them, saying, All hail! And they came and held
him by the feet and worshipped him. Now, here's one writer that I
read, and I read numerous, some so disrespectful I won't even
bother you to tell you what some of them said, but this is what,
based on the wording of scripture, I believe is actually what he
was talking about. Touch me not. I know that soon
he's going to tell Thomas Thomas, I want you to put your hands,
put your finger into these prints in my hands. Take your hand and
put it into my side. And Thomas at that time will
then say, because he had just said before, Unless I see the
prince in his fingers and I see the cut in his side, the scar,
I'm not going to believe. I don't believe. Unless I see
that. Now, Thomas was required by the Lord to touch him because
Thomas doubted whether or not he had actually been restored
to life and raised from the dead. Mary did not doubt. She saw it. She believed it. Rabona, my master. The reason that I truly believe
that he did forbid her to touch him, the reason must be sought
in the circumstances of what he said. Mary was filled with
joy and gratitude. She had been torn to pieces And
she had been searching for some way, someone to tell her, can
you tell me what has happened to the Lord? They've taken him
and I don't know where he is. If you'll tell me where he is,
I'll get him. And now she reveals, it's revealed
to her that the Lord is standing before her and she cries out,
Master, it's you. Ready to prostrate herself before
Him, disposed to stay right there with Him, offering Him her homage. This is my risen Lord. And this word, touch, It seems
to include this meaning. Do not approach me now and delay
yourself. Not that he could not be touched
at all because those other women touched him. Thomas touched him. He was touched, but when he was
telling Mary, touch me not, He's saying because I've got something
for you to do. You cannot delay or cling or
attach yourself to me and not leave. Spend no longer time in
that way. There's something required of
you now. that I want you to do. Mary would
have been satisfied to have stayed right there with the Lord and
having Him right in her sight, but that was not the Lord's will.
There was a thought I had. The demoniac in the Gadarenes,
he had been delivered by the Lord. And he wanted to go with
the Lord. He wanted to stay with the Lord.
I'm going to stay with you. Where are you going? Wherever you're going, that's
where I'm going. And he said, No. No. I want you to go home. I don't want you, you're not
allowed to go with me now." You go home and you tell your friends
what great things the Lord has done for you and has had compassion
on you. So just knowing the mere fact
that he had been touched, there wasn't something about somebody
touching him that obviously was wrong. There was another reason
that he told Mary, touch me not, that is, to stay attached or
to cling to me at this time continuing. For I am not yet ascended to
my Father. Meaning, I have not yet ascended
back to my Father. Now, let me tell you what he
had already done. When he died, on the cross, or as he was dying. Let me say that. Luke 23, 46. I'll just read this. I don't
want to misquote it. Luke 23, 46. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having thus said, he gave
up the ghost. I commend my spirit into your
hands." Who is he talking to? The Scripture says the Father.
So I know that he had ascended back to the Father. I know he
had. What is he talking about then
right here? He has not ascended back from the Mount of Olives
as he's going to just a few days from now. The Lord Jesus Christ
had ascended back to his father having given up the ghost. He
has now risen from the dead. His spirit has entered back. He's raised from the dead and
he's standing before her and he tells Mary, when he reveals
himself to her, and she cries, Rabona! Master! And him saying, touch me not,
meaning to delay, to stay, to be here, clinging to, touch me
not. I have this to say, I'm not yet
ascended to my father. I have not yet ascended back
into glory to be there until my second coming. This is what
I want you to do, Mary, right now. You go to my brethren and
you say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father and
to my God and your God." Here is the first time that it's ever
recorded that the Lord addressed his disciples as brethren. You go to my brethren. Here is
the risen Savior, the firstborn among many brethren. This event,
right here, was prophesied, Psalm 22, 22. I will declare thy name
unto my brethren. In the midst of the congregation
of his people will I praise thee. You go tell my brethren. He's not ashamed to call us brethren. And he tells Mary, again, Don't
delay. You cannot delay. You cannot. That word touch means more than. You cannot cling to me now. I've
not yet. I'm not. I will be here. I'm
not left yet to ascend into my Father. You go and tell my brethren. I go to my Father, your Father. My God, your God. You tell them
that I have risen from the grave and now I ascend into heaven
itself to my Father in God who is your Father and God as you're
found in me. I go as your representative and
your forerunner. All He is to me as your elder
brother, as the God-man mediator. All He is to me, as your representative,
is I am made like unto my brethren. All He is to me, being made flesh,
He is to you, who are my brethren. And this woman who was so perplexed,
so torn, so in anguish. I found him. I just, I didn't
know if I'd ever see him again. I didn't know where they had
laid him. And here he is, and now I see him. I don't want to
ever have you out of my sight again. I don't, I just, you know,
Mary, not now. I want you to go tell
my brethren. And I want you to listen to what
this obedient servant did. Mary Magdalene came and told
the disciples that she had seen the Lord and that He had spoken
these things unto her. What a commission! What authority in her words! She said, the Lord told me to
say this. She had seen the Lord and He
had spoken these things unto her. It reminds me of the wording
of the Apostle Paul that we read every time we observe the Lord's
table. He said, 1 Corinthians 11.23,
For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto
you. Mary has all God's sheep. You're going to have to walk
by faith. She's going to have to walk by faith, not by sight.
Rabboni, Master, Mary, touch me not in the way that you desire
to. Just stay right here, and to
cling to me, and to adhere yourself to me, and to do what you want
to do, I know, not leave. You go tell my brethren what
I'm telling you right now." And she did. By faith we rest. The Lord is not going to forsake. He's not going to leave us. I
pray the Lord bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake.
Amen.