ListenDaily - 15 April 2009; Care for the one...
"Then the disciples went back to their homes, but 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." 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)." (John 20:10-16) (find this or any other passages at www.Biblegateway.org)
One of my favorite New Testament stories, told in the eighth chapter of Acts, recounts the story of Philip in Samaria. Philip had just led one of the greatest evangelical crusades of all time. The Apostles sent Peter and John in, and God called Philip out of the city, to one man, the Ethiopian eunuch. He had been leading hundreds and hundreds to Christ, and now had a congregation of one.
I love this story because it shows the importance of the individual, the one. Each one, every one, equally important to, and loved by, God.
Today's passage, another from that first Easter morning, brings us Jesus, newly resurrected. Two days before He had willingly gone to the cross for every person that had ever lived. He died for Adam's sin and Eve's, for the children of Abraham, for the Chief Priests and Romans who had crucified Him. He died that day for the sins of the Crusades, the Nazis, pirates, and terrorists. He carried the sins of every single person who had ever lived or ever would. He went through the physical, mental, and spiritual horrors of crucifixion, then He died. He lived, suffered, died, and lived again for all people of all time.
And yet, our first recorded words of His, after the resurrection, are not from a hillside to thousands, or the Temple to dozens, or even a closed room to a group of His closest followers.
They are a soft, tender, expression of love for one person. "Mary."
To one hurting, shattered soul, He says one word that brings her peace. "Mary."
The story of Philip shows that God cares for each and every person's salvation and and uses us to reach out with that message...even to just one.
This story of Jesus and Mary shows that in time of need, He is there, even just for one.
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Questions:
1. We know that God loves "the world", but what do you think about His love for the individual?
2. Why do you think He took this time with Mary?
3. What does this say about His love for you?
INTERESTING THOUGHT:
"God does not give us everything we want, but He does fulfill His promises,
leading us along the best and straightest paths to Himself."
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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