MAY 4 READINGS…JOHN 20
Once again, we are brought to the greatest event in human history…the Resurrection of Jesus. John’s account emphasizes Mary Magdalene. She was the prostitute who was filled with many demons, and Jesus set her free. From that point she became a devoted follower of Jesus. She was at the tomb that Sunday morning, even before the disciples. She weeps because the tomb was empty, and she was worried someone had stolen the body of Jesus. As she stood outside the tomb Jesus appeared to her, but she thought He was the gardener…she did not expect to be speaking to the living Lord. She had been there when the crucified Him, she had experienced the horror of His death. Jesus asked her why she was weeping, and when she told Him, He called her name. Immediately she knew it was Jesus…there was something in the way He said her name. Do you remember when Jesus called your name, and you responded to the Lord in faith? It is always something extra special and wonderful when the Lord calls our name.
Jesus then appears to His disciples and shows Himself to them, but Thomas was not with them. Jesus gives them the Holy Spirit and commissions them to continue His ministry. Thomas refused to believe that Jesus was alive, and said he would not believe unless he could see and feel the wounds Jesus receive in the crucifixion. In a week, when Thomas was with the other disciples when Jesus appeared to them. Jesus challenged Thomas to believe, and he did with one of the clearest proclamations about Jesus. Thomas responded to Jesus by calling Him, “My Lord and my God”. Is Jesus your Lord and your God? If not then you cannot be a born-again Christian. Christianity is not an attempt to mimic Christ…it is trusting Jesus to be our Lord and our God. The last part of our reading today affirms that John wrote this Gospel that we may know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him we would have life.
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
TOMORROW’S READING…JOHN 21
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