Journey to the Cross

Pause

Be still. Be quiet enough to hear your own breathing. Listen to it. Listen again. Ask that the Holy Spirit come into your heart with every breath.

Listen

Mary stood outside near the tomb, crying. As she cried, she bent down to look into the tomb. She saw two angels dressed in white, seated where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head and one at the foot. The angels asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

She replied, “They have taken away my Lord, and I don’t know where they’ve put him.” As soon as she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she didn’t know it was Jesus.

Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who are you looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she replied, “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 and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabbouni” (which means Teacher).

John 20:11-16

Think

Why did Jesus ask Mary why she was crying? Why ask what she was looking for as she stood next to his empty tomb? Weren’t the answers to these questions obvious?

Perhaps she needed this exchange. Perhaps she needed to verbally express her desire to find him. On the other hand, maybe Jesus was wondering why she was looking in the tomb instead of outside the tomb among the living. Even though she was looking in the wrong place, it was Mary’s expression of desire to see Jesus as much as it was his calling of her name that opened her eyes to his resurrection and presence.

Do you desire to see Jesus? Do you want to witness resurrection in your life? Are you willing to go looking for him? Are you willing to speak your desire aloud? Scripture promises that those who seek Jesus above all things will never be disappointed. Mary wasn’t. You won’t be either.

Wade Griffith

Pray

Jesus, I want to see you. Help me to want you above all things. Help me to discover that you are right there beside me, alive and calling my name. Amen.

Go

Go forth with one thing in mind. Shunning all else. Go forth to seek Jesus. Seek him now. Do it today.