Master – Me From the Inside Out

Adapted from the study, She Volume 2, pp41-44

Read: Mark 16:1-15 and John 20:1-18

SHE WATCHED HIM DIE ON THE CROSS.
SHE SAW HIS BODY BURIED INSIDE THE TOMB.
SHE WAS THE FIRST TO SEE JESUS AFTER HE HAD RISEN.
SHE, VOLUME 2, P41

Mary Magdalene is the Mary from whom Jesus cast out seven devils (Mark 16:9), and according to Mark’s gospel (16:9), she was the first to see Jesus after He arose from the grave. Her master and teacher, whom she had seen brutally tortured and crucified, was no longer in the grave but standing behind her calling her name (John 20:16). She had seen HIm, but had mistaken Him for the gardener (Jn 20:15), until He said her name: Jesus saith unto her, “Mary,” and she immediately turned and called Him Master.

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
John 20:16

I love that the study guide for this journey points out that “He knew her name, just as He knows ours,” but I am just as moved and somewhat convicted by the evidence that even though she did not recognize Him when she saw Him, when He called to her, she recognized His voice. “Knowing the Lord’s voice indicates experiential knowledge through a relationship with Him.”¹ This is an important lesson Jesus had taught the disciples earlier in His ministry. May we never be so busy or preoccupied with life that we fail to see Jesus, and may we always know His voice when He calls our name.

“…she stooped down, and looked into the sepulcher..”

Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. 2 Then she ran and came to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him”
John 20:1-2

“Mary neglected to remember what Jesus had said would happen.”

We know from Mark’s writings that Jesus had taught His disciples that men would take Him and kill Him, but that He would rise again on the third day (Mark 9:31). However, when she found the tomb was empty, she forgot what had been said and panicked she found the tomb was empty. In her panic, rather than running with the jubilant cry that Christ had arisen, Mary Magdalene ran to tell the others His body had been stolen, and we do not know where He is.

Friends, we would be wise to learn from Mary Magdalene and not allow fear or other distractions to cause us to forget what we have heard and seen from Him.

Scripture: Our Roadmap for the Journey: Matthew 24 / SoAp: 42–44

Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready; because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. Matthew 24:42-44. NLT

Observation and Application from the Journey

Whether this was your first time or the one-hundredth time reading Jesus’ answer to His disciples questions: “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” there is a lot to take in. I encourage you to read every word and to search trusted commentaries, like bibleref.com¹ and gotquestions.org,² for help in understanding Jesus’ words. However, the bottom line will always come down to this truth: It isn’t a matter of if He will come but when He will come, and we are wise to live each day as if that day is today,(my paraphrase of vs44).

The one who is ready is the one who has believed on the name of the Jesus, for only those who have believed will be saved. In Jesus’ first parable of Matthew 24:45-51, these are the ones found faithfully serving the Master when He returns. All others will be destroyed (vs. 51).

Jesus has promised to return, and He is the ultimate Promise Keeper. What He has promised, He will do. So while we wait for His return, Jesus wants us to live our lives alert to His coming. This doesn’t mean that we live in fear but in expectation. We live our lives on mission, with a purpose, and focused on advancing His Kingdom with the days we’ve been given. When we live the way God instructs us to live, we don’t have to worry about when Jesus will come back.
From the LGG Journal: Come, Lord Jesus, Come / p158

The return of Christ is always presented in Scripture as a great motivation to action, not as a reason to cease from action. In 1 Corinthians 15:58, Paul wraps up his teaching on the rapture by saying, “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord.” In 1 Thessalonians 5:6, Paul concludes a lesson on Christ’s coming with these words: “So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled.” To retreat and “hold the fort” was never Jesus’ intention for us. Instead, we work while we can. “Night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4).

The apostles lived and served with the idea that Jesus could return within their lifetime; what if they had ceased from their labors and just “waited”? They would have been in disobedience to Christ’s command to “go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15), and the gospel would not have been spread. The apostles understood that Jesus’ imminent return meant they must busy themselves with God’s work. They lived life to the fullest, as if every day were their last. We, too, should view every day as a gift and use it to glorify God.³

We will experience tribulations in our lives, as people have all over the world through the years. No matter what we face: persecution, sickness, war, oppression, famine, or abuse, our hope is in Christ. We will endure suffering as believers in Christ, but our hope is not in being saved from suffering. Our hope is in the sacrifice of Christ, in His atoning work on the cross, and in His resurrection power that we have when we believe in Him. When we have placed our faith in Christ, our future, and our eternity, are secure in Him. He is our hope.
From the LGG Journal: Come, Lord Jesus, Come / p158

Prayer of Response to the Journey

borrowed from the Love God Greatly Journal p158 of Come, Lord Jesus, Come

Dear Lord, help me live my life alert and ready for Your return. Please use me powerfully in the lives of those who do not yet know You. Give me a heart for the lost. I pray for salvation for those who are far from You and for those who don’t believe they need You in their lives. Please use me for Your glory in these last days as I wait for Your return. Until that day, I pray, come, Lord Jesus, come. Amen

The More we Know: Side Trails of the Journey

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Tag: Master

Mary Magdalene