Get a Grip! In the Word 4-17-17
This past week we celebrated the memory of the death and resurrection
of Christ Jesus. It seems we put a lot of stock in the “Easter Story” but not
as much on what happened next.
For instance, after He rose again He
went to the place where his disciples were staying and morning His loss. These
men and women who had spent time learning at his feet, hanging on every word
while he was alive walking the earth; they were a mess! They were emotionally
drained over all that had happened that week; from Jesus telling them about being
sold for coins, and being hauled away and then forced to stand trail and ended
up dead on the cross.
Sometimes we need a little help to get
the clue of who Jesus really is, sometimes it takes a lifetime of searching or
grasping but Jesus just wants us to get a hold of the truth and reality and not
let go.
Mary was standing outside the tomb
crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the
other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying “Dear woman,
why are you crying?” the angels asked her.
“Because they have taken away my Lord,”
she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
She turned to leave and saw someone
standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.
“Dear woman, why are you
crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking
for?”
She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,”
she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I
will go and get him.”
16 “Mary!” Jesus said.
She turned to him and cried out,
“Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).
17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet
ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending
to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and
told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message. John
20:12-18
I sometimes
thing that Jesus told Mary in the one word “Mary”,
get a grip! I am He!
She knew it was Jesus as soon as she heard Him say her name and
then He told her to go and tell His brother.
Meanwhile the group was in the room. Trying to make sense but to
them this was chaos and totally not making any sense. After all they thought he
was their earthly king, sent to rule them as David did. They were so wrong.
They were a bunch of basket cases especially Thomas! Word got to the group that Jesus had left the
tomb and everyone was up in the room together worried. Some thought His body
had been stolen, some thought that He walked away and was never dead but only a
few ‘got it’.
Jesus came into the room and they were amazed! Jesus told them He
was real. Basically Jesus told them what to do and to stop morning because
there was work to be done; basically He told them also to get a grip!
Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time
Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was
standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here,
and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be
faithless any longer. Believe!”
28 “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed.
29 Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you
have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” 1 Corinthians
20:28-29
He touched his hands and
feet and felt where the holes were and knew it was the truth!
The words Christ spoke to Thomas spoke of us; now its our turn!
Get a grip on this! Grab hold and know that you are blessed today!
Jesus said “blessed are those who believe without seeing me”! Do you get it? We are the blessed in this statement for we did not get to see and touch Jesus, we believed without it. We did this by faith. Faith is trusting in God who can move mountains, calm seas, take care of us and direct our paths. Faith is believing in what we cannot see and trusting that it is so. Faith is what we need to get a grip on! Do not let it go, hold it tight and trust God when things go wrong. When we know the Word, study it to really get it into our heart and mind then with the Holy Spirit’s help we can get a grip.
Its like opening a jar of jam, you have to get a good grip and
turn, then when its open it is sweet! The grip you ‘get’ is that He is alive,
He is real, and He is God. When you get that, life is sweet even when things
seem to be chaotic because that is when you know that you are walking with Him.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to
help us to ‘get a grip’ on what is real, what is truth and what really matters
in life. Help us to teach others how to get a grip in the Word You have given
us; in Jesus name, amen.
Suggested Reading
38
For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good
News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose
its power. The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed
for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. As the Scriptures say, “I will destroy the wisdom of the
wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent.”
1 Corinthians 1:17-18