GIVE FREELY WHAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED
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“Heal the sick, cleanse the leper,
raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely
you have received, freely give.”—Matthew 10:8
Mary Magdalene, a follower of Jesus, went very early in the
morning to the tomb where Jesus had been buried after His death. When she arrived, she saw that the stone that
had been rolled in front of His tomb was rolled away. She than ran to tell Peter and another
disciple that Jesus’ body had been removed, and that she did not know where it
had been laid. Peter and the other disciple
ran to the tomb. When they arrived, they
saw for themselves that Jesus’ body was gone; the only things that remained in
the tomb were the linen cloth that He had been wrapped in, and the handkerchief
that been around His head. The disciples
went to their own homes, but Mary stood outside of the tomb weeping. Weeping
she looked into the tomb again, and saw two angles sitting where Jesus’ body
had lain. The angles asked Mary why she
was weeping. She told them that the
reason she was weeping was because her Lord’s body had been taken away, and
that she did not know where it was.
Turning around, she saw Jesus standing there who asked her why she was
weeping. Mary thought that the man was a
gardener and spoke to him saying, “Sir,
if You have carried Him away, tell me where You have laid Him, and I will take
Him away.” After Jesus spoke her
name, Mary recognized Jesus. Jesus told
Mary not to cling to Him for He had not yet ascended to His Father. He then gave Mary an assignment. She was to go to Jesus’ brethren and tell
them that He was ascending to His Father, and to their Father, and to His God
and to their God. Mary went and told the
disciples what she had seen and what the Lord had spoken to her (John 20:1 –
18).
Mary Magdalene had experienced deliverance and had become a
follower of Jesus. He was the one that
she had set all of her hopes on. She had left everything to follow Him. She had
watched her Saviors’ crucifixion, and experienced a sense of loss and heartache,
the gloom of death and separation encompassed her. Moreover, she felt frustrated and confused.
Mary was a grieving woman that Jesus had delivered. He had ministered to her. She had followed Him and believed on
Him. Mary represents many of us. Jesus loved Mary and cared so much
about her individual pain that He was willing to delay His ascension until He
had been able to see Mary. Jesus let Mary
see Him. He comforted her, assured her of His resurrection, and entrusted to
her the first message of the resurrection.
Jesus cares about your grief, your individual circumstance,
your loss, and your crises in life. He
cares about those heart things that no one seems to understand. He is willing to go out of His way and make a
special effort to encounter you, to comfort you, to heal you, to restore you,
and to empower you to be a special messenger of His Good News! Expect Him to wipe away your tears with His
presence and His love.
Prayer—Father thank
you that you care so much for me, and that today you wipe away my tears. Thank you for empowering me to be your
special messenger to give freely what I have received from You, in Jesus Name.
Amen.
