Mary Magdalene: The First Witness

You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1509. Today's Devo is called Mary Magdalene the First Witness. Hey there. We're the Alessies, a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time. That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Good morning, everybody. Happy Thursday. And it is Stephanie. I hope that you've been enjoying this devotional series going over all the different characters. We talked about Peter, we talked about Pilate, we talked about the thief on the cross. And I love this. This is very exciting for me. This is could be a book, I feel, but I, I love these kind of devotionals and today I really love what we're going to dive into. And it is about Mary Magdalene. And the key theme that I pulled from this story of Mary Magdalene is God chooses unexpected people to carry the greatest news. Let's read John 20:11-18 in the NIV version. And it says now, 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 them. At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there. But she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, woman, 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, I don't know why that makes me cry. Sorry. Jesus said to her, mary. She turned toward him and, and cried out in Aramaic, rabbani, which means teacher. Jesus said, do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead of my brothers and tell them I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. So Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news. I'm sorry, I'm crying. I can't stop crying. I have seen the Lord. And she told them that he had said these things to her. You know what I love about Mary is that she followed Jesus faithfully all those years that he saved her life. She was delivered by like a legion of demons. And God delivered Her. And after that happened, he. She followed him faithfully all those years, took care of him. Watch the Chosen. It's a wonderful depiction of it. And she was there near the cross when everybody else fled, even when Peter denied him, like Peter, his best friend. But Mary was there and watched him die with his mom and her. Her greatest season in life following Jesus. I can't imagine what that must have been like to be the women that were able to travel with the disciples and with Jesus for those three years. I just can't imagine what that must have been like. That had to have been the best season ever. That season ended the worst way imaginable at first, with their teacher who gave them so much life and truth and hope gets killed. Like, not just killed, but brutally murdered in the streets and then hung on a cross like, she loved Jesus. And the man that she loved is killed. And then her being so faithful to God, so faithful to Jesus, she ended up being the first person to see the risen Christ. And then Jesus speaks her name. Like, how cool must that be for the Bible to eternally record Jesus saying your name? Like, we're gonna hear that in heaven. And Mary Magdalene gets to see that. Well, she can't see it, but we get to see it. Her name in the Bible of Jesus saying her name. And when he says her name, her grief turns instantly to joy, which teaches us that resurrection, God's resurrection power, it begins personally. And Jesus will meet us in the deepest moments of our grief, in the lowest moments of our life. And I've seen people in some low moments, and I've been in some low moments, and I believe to this very day that Jesus will meet you there. And I don't know how it happens, it's a mystery. But when you are going through the toughest times in your life, he's there, and you feel him, and you're confused. It's not like he brings all this joy. And it's all good. You're confused because you don't know why you're going through this. I'm sure Mary was like, what's going on? But, you know, he's there. He's there with you in your grief. He's there with you in your loss. And what I have learned is that that is where the faith grows, when you stay near to God through your suffering. You know, when I went through my miscarriage, a lot of people, I wrote a song after my miscarriage called Consider it All Joy. Because the verse of consider it all joy, Consider it all joy, when you go through trials and tribulations. That's what really stuck with me when I lost the pregnancy. And I remember hearing somebody say, man, when you're going through a really, really hard time, it must be hard to say those words, to consider it all joy. And, you know, I told them, I'm going to be honest with you. I'm so bummed. I'm so sad that the only thing I can say is consider it all joy. Because I have not one ounce of joy in me. I have not one ounce of hope. I'm going through it. I'm sad. And I'm not going to sit around here and say, man, life's just going to get better. Oh, it's okay. The tide will turn. Other people would say that to me, and that was fine. I loved that, but I couldn't say that. So all I could say was scripture. All I could say were words that the Holy Spirit gave me. All I could say were words that Jesus gave me, which was, consider it all joy. And I'm sure you have felt the same way where in your grief, in your loss. You are sitting here thinking, all I can do is turn to Jesus. What am I going to do? Run away? I can't run away. I don't have the money to run away. I can't go buy a flight and just get out of here. I can't. I can't. I have to stay. I have to suffer. I have to get through this. So if I'm going to get through this, then the only thing that can help me is Jesus. And then you now are the Mary who runs to the tomb and hears Jesus call your name and witnesses his risen body. And what happens through that grief, what happens when you stay with Jesus, when you suffer, is that he starts to reveal things to you and he starts to teach you things. I love that she called him Rabbi Ni, meaning teacher. Because in those lowest points in your life, you still learn things. In fact, I think you learn the most things because Jesus becomes your teacher. So if you're going through grief and you want to walk away, you want to give up on this, let me just encourage you. Stay in the fight. Cling to Jesus like Mary. Run to him in the height of your grief. Run to Jesus and watch how he reveals things to you in this season, watch how he teaches things to you. You will develop a deep well of wisdom about life that not many people have. But God will give that to you if you stay close to him in your suffering. I'm just gonna dive into prayer. And if this is you. I pray that this encouraged you today. But God, I just thank you for your love when you call us by name. I thank you for your grace that never leaves our side. I thank you for your strength when we are weak. I thank you for your joy when we are sad. And I just thank you that you choose the most random of us to reveal your wisdom to. So God, if any of us are grieving today, if any of us are lost, if any of us just want to give up and run away, I pray that things will start to change today and we will start to feel your healing power in our hearts and that we will receive one tiny ounce of hope and joy from you and from your spirit today to keep us going. And I pray God that you will give us the ears to hear and the eyes to see your revelation and the wisdom you want to teach us during this season. You might not give us the answers to this season per se, but you will give us wisdom and you will give us the grace to go through it. And in Jesus name we all pray. Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.