This week’s suggested reading: John 20
This week’s question(s) to ponder: Think of something in your life that causes you fear, anxiety, or worry. Now, imagine Jesus whispering your name while you’re in the midst of that fear or worry… “[insert your name].” What do you think would he tell you regarding that fear? What does he want you to remember/believe about him that will specifically impact how you view that situation? When thinking through your answers to those questions, make sure your answers align with the truths found in Scripture.
We’ve reached the point in John’s gospel when he recounts the resurrection. All of Jesus’ ministry foretold of this moment. The final enemy, death, could not defeat Jesus. After 3 days, he rose from the grave. Weeping turned to joy. Despair turned to hope. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is alive, just like he promised!
But that’s not all. There’s more good news…
Jesus knows you by name.
We read that Mary Magdalene was the first to interact with our risen Lord. But it wasn’t until he said her name that she recognized him.
10 Then the disciples went back to their homes. 11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).
A question that naturally arises from this text is, why didn’t Mary recognize Jesus before he said her name? The answer? No one knows for sure. It could have been that Jesus’ resurrected body looked slightly different, to the point that she didn’t immediately recognize him. It could have been that at this early morning hour the darkness came with limited visibility. It could have been that her grief and mourning drove her expectations of finding his dead body rather than a risen Lord. No one knows for sure.
But what is plain and clear from the text – as soon as Jesus called her by name, “Mary,” she recognized him. He knew her by name. He called her by name. In her moment of greatest grief, he spoke to her. And that moment reminds me of something deeply profound to the human experience: Humans have an innate desire to be intimately known and unconditionally loved. The problem is, we constantly pursue the fulfillment of that desire from other humans. Constantly. We continually seek out praise and approval from our fellow man thinking it will scratch the itch of that innate desire. And when we get it, our soul rests for a fleeting moment.
- Our boss praises us in front of our work team.
- Our coach gives us MVP status after a big game.
- Our social media post, that we put way too much time and energy into, goes viral.
- Our school, company, town, state, country elects us into a leadership position.
- Our church chooses us to publicly teach, pray, or sing on stage.
For just a few minutes, we believe that someone sees us, values us, knows us and loves us. But human praise won’t last because all humans are broken and needy, just like us. Humans move on to the next thing before we’ve had enough time to finish our celebratory glass of champagne from the previous moment of approval. It isn’t until we come into relationship with our Maker, that we experience the peace and joy that comes from being fully known and fully loved.
Only God knows us perfectly and intimately. Only he knows how many hairs are on our head, and their natural color. (Can I get an amen?) Only he knows every single pain we’ve experienced in this broken world and every tear we’ve cried in the dark of night. Only he knows how to mend those wounded places. Only he knows our deepest fears – the ones we’ve never voiced to another. Only he knows the secrets we try to keep hidden. Only he truly knows us, inside and out. (See Psalm 139)
And in his complete and total knowing of us, he still loves us more than we can even comprehend. He still sees the beauty in us, even when the world may reject us. He still wants good for us, even after we’ve failed. His love is so great that he sent his perfect Son into this broken world to die a brutal death to pay for my sins and yours. He did that because he knew we couldn’t reach him on our own – our sin had separated us from him. And all we have to do to begin our relationship with him is believe in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have an innate desire to be intimately known and unconditionally loved. But that desire only finds its ultimate fulfillment in our Maker. The one who knows us by name.
Mary Magdalene thought all hope was lost when she couldn’t find Jesus’ body in the tomb. But as soon as he said her name, “Mary,” joy erupted. Hope returned. The One who knows her intimately and loves her unconditionally had risen, just like he promised.
Fear causes us to hide.
Throughout this series, we’ve read many passages that detail the effects of fear. Chapter twenty gives us another example of what fear can do: fear can make us hide.
“19 On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being locked where the disciples were for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, ‘Peace be with you.'” (John 20:19)
The disciples were afraid of the Jews, so they locked the doors and hid. Why? On the surface, they hid because they didn’t want to be harmed. They feared what the Jews would do to them – probably physically and socially – so they locked themselves away. But if we dig a little deeper, we can see that at its root, fear is a liar. Because ultimately, fear says, “This thing is too big for God to handle.” And when we listen to the taunting of fear, we hide.
But we have a God who can walk through the doors we’ve hidden ourselves behind. We have a God who can speak peace into the most chaotic of souls. Nothing is too great for him. No one and no thing is more powerful than him. Yes, fear will come. We’re human. We can’t see past this very second of this very day. And yes, trials will come as long as we’re on this planet. But fear isn’t our inheritance in Christ. Fear only gets to take the ground we give it. In Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit within us, we can reject fear even when the unexpected and unwanted happens.
We can say to our own soul when the fearful thoughts come, “Nothing is too big for my God to handle. Lord God, I don’t know what you will do in this situation that is tempting me to fear, but I trust you. I believe in you. I know you love me and have good for me, and good for those I love. So I reject fear in the name of Jesus and I step into faith that you will carry me through. Help me. Sustain me. Grace me with your peace that passes human understanding. Amen.”
When fear comes knocking, we do not have to take it by the hand and follow where it leads. We are daughters and sons of the Most High God. Nothing is too big that he can’t handle it. Nothing.
Believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, that you may have life in his name.
John writes, “30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30-31)
John clearly tells us why he wrote this gospel. He wrote what he wrote – he testified – so that we would believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing we would have life in his name.
So what is life in Jesus? It’s being made spiritually alive so that we can experience his presence both now in our present-day lives and forever in the life to come. Let’s break that down.
First, the Bible teaches that we’re spiritually dead in our sin, but God makes us alive through Jesus.
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” (Ephesians 2:1-7)
We are spiritually dead in our sin. That’s the human predicament. We don’t need cleaning up. We need breath. We need to be made alive. Believing in the person and work of Jesus gives us life. We’re brought to life in and through him. And once we’re made spiritually alive by faith in Jesus, we’re now in his family, forever sealed by God. We will now be with him forever because our sins have been paid for by the blood of Jesus.
And though being with God forever is an absolutely incredible gift of grace, life in Jesus Christ is meant to affect us while we’re still on this planet as well. In John 10, Jesus says, “10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” (John 10:10) Life abundant.
The word in the Greek translated “abundantly” means “superabundant (in quantity) or superior (in quality); by implication, excessive; exceeding abundantly above, more abundantly, advantage, exceedingly, very highly, beyond measure.” (Strong’s, G4053) Jesus tells us that he came to give us a life that far exceeds the human experience apart from him. And in him, we’re supposed to experience “kingdom living” while we’re still on this earth.
So what does the abundant life look like practically, in the day to day? Is it money and prosperity and every earthly good thing? Not necessarily. The abundant life in Jesus looks like peace when the world is writhing in fear. It looks like hope when the world shouts despair. It looks like joy even in unwanted circumstances. It looks like quiet of soul even when we don’t know what’s around the next corner. It looks like forgiving our enemy even when they don’t deserve it. It looks like standing with the weak and needy even when we have a seat at the emperor’s table. It looks like love even when hate seems justified. The abundant life carries the peace of God from one room to the next, confident in the faithfulness of a really good God.
If we read that and think, that sounds really nice but I’m not experiencing that in my real life, then I believe that’s a red flag of warning that we desperately need to take our thoughts captive to truth. The enemy is a liar. Fear is a liar. And if we aren’t meditating on what’s true, we will not experience all Jesus died to give us.
Jesus died to give us more than death insurance. He died and rose so that we could experience his kingdom starting now in our everyday lives on this planet. And as we experience the abundant life he gives, his love and life will overflow through us onto the people he places beside us that they too may hear and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and have life in his name. We thank you, Father. Amen.
P.S. The whole point of this website, “Think True Things,” rests in the truth that we’ve been commissioned and empowered by God to take our thoughts captive to what’s true. And when we do, we will experience the life Jesus died to give us. If you’d like some guidance on taking your thoughts captive to truth, click here to download my free “thought life challenge.”
