Friday, July 27, 2007
John 20:1-2 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. 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."
MARY MAGDALENE: DOUBTING MARY
Mary isn't Jesus' wife or lover no matter what the so-called scholars say. But is she Thomas' sister? There is no reason to believe that or even suspect it, but she surely acts like Thomas on Easter morning.
In point of fact, Thomas really gets the raw end of the deal. Everyone knows about "Doubting Thomas," but it isn't really fair to say that Thomas was any harder to convince than any of the other disciples. It's just that he didn't get a chance to see the Lord with his own eyes until much later than everyone else. Mary certainly shows in these passages that she is no quicker to believe. Despite the fact that she knew personally, first hand, what the Lord was capable of; despite the fact that she sees the empty tomb, she sees the angels, and she sees the Lord himself, she still doesn't get it.
After teaching the story of blind Bartimaeus in Vacation Bible School, I got this response from one child: "If Jesus were here, He could heal my Dad." Talk about missing the boat. We are all of us all too often more like Thomas and Mary than we would like to admit. After all the things that Jesus has done, and all the prayers He has answered, how slow are we to believe that He will help us even when we cannot see Him. But the Lord loves us and answers us despite our doubting. All praise to Him.
"He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him freely give us all things" (Romans 8:32).
