You know how you can read a story you think you know, and then you read it again and see something you’ve   never seen?

    You know how you can read about the same event 100 times and then on the one hundred and first hear something so striking and new that it makes you wonder if you slept through the other times? Maybe it’s because you started in the middle of the story instead  of the beginning. Or perhaps it’s because someone else reads it aloud and pauses at a place where you normally wouldn’t and POW! It hits you, You grab the book and look at it, knowing that someone copied or read something wrong. But then you read it and we’ll, what do you know…there it is! Well, it happened to me. Today. Only God knows how many times I’ve read the resurrection story. At least a couple of dozen Easter’s and a couple of hundred of times in between. I’ve taught it. I’ve written about it I’ve meditated on it. I’ve underlined it. But what I saw today I’d never seen before. What did I see? Before I tell you, let me recount the story.

         It’s early dawn on Sunday morning and the sky is dark. Those, in fact, are John's words. (John 20:1) It’s a dark Sunday morning. It had been dark since Friday. Dark with Peter's denial. Dark with the disciples’ betrayal. Dark with Pilates cowardice. Dark with Christ's anquish. Dark with Satan’s glee. The only ember of light is the small band of women standing at a distance from the cross—“watching from a distance” (Matthew 27:55) Among them are the two Marys. One the mother of James and Joseph, and the other is

    Mary Magdalene. Why are they there? They are there to call Jesus’s name. To be the final voices He hears before His death. To   prepare His body for burial. They are there to clean the blood from His beard. To wipe the crimson from his legs. To close His eyes.   To touch His face. They are there. The last to leave Calgary and the first to arrive at the grave. So, early on that Sunday morning, they leave their pallets and walk out onto the tree- shadowed path. Theirs is a somber task. The morning promises only one encounter: an encounter with a corpse. Remember, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary don’t know this is the first Easter. They are not hoping the tomb will be vacant. They aren’t discussing what their response will be when they see Jesus. Their dreams have been dashed.

        They have absolutely no idea that the grave has been vacated. Mary Magdalene’s tears show us that she didn’t wake up that Sunday morning expecting Jesus to be alive. Her Lord was dead, and she was devastated. Yet, even though He was executed on a cross—a shameful way to die—she wasn’t ashamed of Him. She wasn’t angry with Him. She didn’t betray Him. Mary Magdalene embodies loyalty. No matter what other people said about Him, what she understood of Him, or what hopelessness she felt, she chose to stand by Jesus. She served Him to the end …or what she thought was the end. This lesson, as we look at her faith, let’s ask God to give us Mary Magdalene devotion. Let’s ask God to help us stand by Him and serve Him no matter what life brings or how hopeless we feel.

            Let’s ask Him to allow the resurrection story to stir fresh excitement in our hearts and remind us of the devotion our risen

      Savior deserves. Prayer: Jesus, You are alive! You are worthy of our devotion! Today, we pray that You will give us a steadfast and unswerving love for You, like Mary possessed. May the promise ofthe resurrection outshine any hopelessness we feel and any challenge we face.

             In Jesus name we pray. Amen

 

Prayer Ministry Team - Tom Drotleff, Judy Greenisen, Marian Yeagley, Richard McKenzie, Ron Stanley, Rebekka Hom, Dawn Jackson, Dorothy Conser, Michele Riesen and Caryl Evans.  ----   If you have a prayer request you may contact any member of the Prayer Ministry team, the church office at 330-332-5042 or email the church office at lutheran251@gmail.com.