Dear Woman

John 20:¹⁴ “She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.”

The only thing that could satisfy the thirst Mary had was Jesus. Like we said yesterday, Mary was not impressed with the linen wrappings, or with the head covering that was majestically arranged, and she was not even impressed with the angels. Mary came to seek Jesus and nothing else will do, nothing else! When you go to church, you are supposed to go seeking Jesus. But sometimes people go to church and they are impressed with the linen, they are impressed with the folding of the cloth, and they are impressed with the order. They are impressed with the parking, the choir, the ushers, the media, and with the backdrop.

They leave church impressed with how beautiful church was. Some will see beyond the linen, the order, and the arrangement. Some will actually have a supernatural experience and they will see angels. A lot of people have told me they saw angels at different times in God’s Favourite House. Mary was not impressed. Some people are satisfied with seeing angels alone. I went to church and I saw angels. Some people will flock to church just because they heard about the angels there. Some people are drawn to the supernatural part of church and there is nothing wrong with the supernatural part of church. But Mary was not impressed, she came to see Jesus and she was not going to leave because she had seen the linen or the headcover, and definitely not because she had seen angels.

Some people see angels and they testify about it. The question is, did you see Jesus? I did not see Jesus, but God opened my eyes and I saw powerful angels. It means nothing. We are seeking Jesus! The angels are here but we are seeking Jesus. It is so important that we understand our priorities. You can have a supernatural experience without actually seeing Jesus. But when you have a supernatural experience, it is a pointer that Jesus is somewhere near. The challenge is when people experience angels, they are satisfied. They do not know that the presence of angels shows that Jesus is around the corner. If you are seeing angelic presence, do not get distracted, Jesus is around the corner. Just keep seeking Him and you will see Him.

John 20:¹⁵ “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.” Note that the angels did not ask Mary who she was looking for. Pause here for a moment; this was a woman. Perhaps she was the only one left there, perhaps the other Mary and Salome had gone. This was Jesus’ dead corpse and this woman was saying to someone she thought was a gardener, ‘just show me where He is, and I will carry Him myself. I do not need to call Peter or John; I do not need their muscles. I will carry Him myself.’ Profound!

Prayer [song]: King of endless worth, no one could express, how much You deserve. Though I’m weak and poor, all I have is Yours, every single breath… Amen!