We all know the story of Jesus’ Resurrection. It’s the one true pivot point in history. It’s God’s ultimate victory, when we come to realize God always wins. Jesus, the conqueror, the King of kings, loves us so much that he died on the cross for our sin, and rose again three days later. We see the Resurrection story as something truly beautiful, and it truly is.
However, we tend to forget that the beauty came out of ashes. Love came because the pain and misery came first. The third day, when Jesus rose from the dead is beautiful because of the two days of silence, death and misery before it.
This is one of the biggest truths in the Bible: God makes truly beautiful things out of completely disgusting, depressing, and ordinary circumstances. You see it time and time again. The Amazing power of God is seen through the weak, the humble, the incapable, the guilty. Incredible miracles come in the most unexpected ways. God shows his glory to the most ‘unqualified’ people. That’s the way our God works.
You may be dealing with some difficult stuff in your life right now. God hasn’t given up on you, you shouldn’t give up either. Here’s why.
Think about Mary Magdalene. This woman followed Jesus as if she was one of His twelve disciples. She experienced His miracles, listened to His teaching, and was even healed by Jesus. One thing that I love about Mary is that she gave her whole life to Jesus. Every hope, every dream, all she had, she put into the hope that Jesus was the Messiah. Both in the the good times, when Jesus’ healed those who were hurting, and the bad times, when Lazarus died, she didn’t gave up on who Jesus was.
When Jesus died on cavalry, upon a rugged, bloody cross, I’m sure that a lot of people not only saw Jesus die, but felt their hope die too. The disciples, and all who gave their life to Him were laughed at for being fools, and the group of believers were scattered. Jesus had made promises that He would come back, but I’m sure at that time, no one quite believed it. After all, how could you come back from a brutal death on the cross?
Throughout this time, I don’t know what was going through Mary Magdalene’s head. “Where is the redemption in this? How did my Hero end up like this? This wasn’t the way it was supposed to turn out!” She had followed Jesus ever since He healed her from being demon possessed. She believed that He was the Son of God. She believed that He was going to be King. She believed He had the power to conquer anything… and yet… she watched Him suffer and die on a cross. I’m sure that in that moment, everything felt hopeless.
Have you ever felt like this?
Despite what she might have been going through, this is the one thing that never ceases to amaze me about Mary Magdalene. After Jesus breathes his last breath, after she sees him die, after He’s buried in a tomb, despite the horror and the loss… she went back to the tomb where Jesus was buried. She was going to help preserve Jesus’ body and pay respect to Him, even after all that has happened! Think about how amazing that is! After Jesus says that He is the Savior of the world, and then dies a criminal’s death on the cross, I’m sure she wasn’t feeling an overwhelming amount of trust or security in Christ. I think she felt fear, depression, and almost a sense of betrayal. He was supposed to be the One that brought the Kingdom of God to earth. He was supposed to be the Son of God… and now He’s dead. Yet Mary Magdalene was still willing to go back to Jesus, even when everything around her tells her to give up on Him. That is amazing.
In the Gospel of John, We also see that when Mary came back to the tomb she found it empty! I can’t even imagine what went through her head at that moment. Have you ever had one of those times where you just lost it? I’m pretty sure Mary felt a lot like that. Her whole world was falling to pieces. The Bible says she started to weep, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t just a little cry either. This was one of those deep, bitter, lonely, cries. In that moment, Mary felt nothing but hopelessness.
Then God did something amazing.
Out of nowhere, two angels appeared. They asked Mary why she was crying and she replied,
“They have taken my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” (John 20:13)
There’s something significant out of this sentence: She still referred to Jesus as Lord, even when she thought He was dead, even when she felt a bit betrayed and confused, even when her world was upside down… she still called him Lord. She still thought of Jesus as the King, even when the world around her said otherwise.
She then turned around… and saw Jesus. She didn’t recognize him at first. When Jesus asks her why she was weeping, she thought that this was the man who stole the body of Jesus, so she said,
“Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”
It’s here that Jesus reveals himself, and calls her by name.
Mary.
Her eyes are suddenly opened. She sees Jesus standing before her, alive, with open arms. Her tears of despair turn to tears of joy. Anxiety turns to hope. Fear turns to love. Jesus has won.
No matter where you are today, no matter what you have done in the past, no matter what you have seen, I want you to do one thing: Come back to Jesus. To those who think God has given up on them, or even believe that God hates them, to those who believe that they are unforgivable, I am here to tell you that Jesus is willing to forgive you, He loves you, and He wants to have a relationship with you, but in order to receive all that, we need to follow Mary Madeline’s example and come back to Jesus, even if we think there is no hope left for us. Remember, God makes his best miracles out of hopeless situations. If you put your trust in Him, you will not be put to shame. (Psalms 21:3)
Maybe you’ve had a relationship with Christ for a while, but recently, things have been tough. Do not give up! God hasn’t brought you this far just to leave you. Like I said before, the third day is beautiful because of the two days that came before it. God is writing your story as you read this, and it’s going to be absolutely beautiful, but it will be beautiful because of the struggles that God has rescued you from. With God, beauty rises from the ashes. No matter what happens, wait on The Lord. The trials will pass, Jesus is coming, I promise.
“Those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength,
They will mount up with wings like eagles,
They will run and not be weary,
They will walk and not faint.”
-Isaiah 40:31.