HE KNOWS MY NAME

I pray each of you have had a blessed and joyous Easter in the middle of a global pandemic.  It has surely been a historic day for we could not gather together in our churches but met online to sing and hear our pastors preach the Easter message using the Internet.  Different?  Yes, but could  see the faces of our beloved brothers and sisters in Christ in our minds as we worshipped our risen Lord.  

IT IS EASTER - OUR LORD IS ALIVE.  This is the foundation of our Christian faith for without the resurrection of Jesus, we would not have salvation.  Jesus gave himself to be crucified, which is a horrendous way to die, to pay for the sins of all people who have lived, are living, and will live until He returns to take us home. On the third day or the first day of the week He arose from the dead and lives forever in Heaven.  Hallelujah and praise His Name. 

In all four of the Gospels in the New Testament, there is the account of the day Jesus arose.  My favorite is  found in John 20:1-18 for it tells of Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene.  He appeared first to a woman, which was most unusual in Biblical times.  Women were often not considered to be equal to men in that time but Jesus had broken that tradition several times in his ministry.  

Mary went to the tomb Sunday to prepare.the body of Jesus properly for he had been taken to the tomb hastily on Friday.  The body had to be removed from the cross and placed in the tomb before sunset and the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath.  Not being able to go on the Saturday, the Sabbath, Mary hurried early on Sunday, the first day of the week, to place the burial spices in the burial linens which were wrapped around his body. She wanted to do this last service to Jesus as she was grieving for him. 

You can imagine Mary and the other 2 women’s surprise when they arrived at the tomb and found the stone which covered the entrance rolled aside, no body in the tomb, and two angels sitting there.  She ran to tell Peter and he and another disciple  went back to the tomb with her to discover she was telling the truth. There was no body, the body linens were folded on the stone ledge where the body had been placed.  Believing that the body had been removed, they hurried back to their homes for they were afraid they would be persecuted for following Jesus.

Mary stood outside the tomb, unmoving and bewildered and not understanding how the body could have been removed leaving the grave clothes folded neatly.  She fell to her knees and began to weep, looking back into the tomb to make sure it was empty, she saw two angels sitting on the burial ledge and they asked her why she was weeping?  They have taken away my Lord and I don’t know where they took him.

Feeling the presence of someone, she turned and saw a man she thought was the gardener. He questioned her asking why she was weeping and who was she seeking?  He then said, “Mary”.  Instantly, when she heard her name, she knew it was the Lord standing in front of her.  

He knows our name!  He knows who we are!  He knows all about us, past, present and future.  If we have met Him, we are changed forever and we belong to Him.  We cannot meet Him, hear him call our name and stay the same.  We, like Mary, have to run and tell others that we have seen Jesus and you can see him too.  

Now He comes into our lives as the Holy Spirit and lives within us to guide us as we walk  the narrow path through this life.  He gives joy which no pandemic or any other disaster can take away .We know that He is in control of everything though we may not understand why He allows events like pandemics to occur.  What we do know is that He sees the whole picture and we see only the day in which we are living.  We trust Him and rest in the  assurance that whatever we have to endure God our Father walks with us and can use whatever happens to us to His glory.  

Yes this has been a unique Easter for us for most of us have spent it sheltered at home, worshipping by Internet, having Facetime or Skyping with beloved children and grandchildren, even observing the Lord’s Supper around our table with family.  Tomorrow we face staying at home, social distancing, communicating by phone or Internet but we know that He knows our name and we are His.  

If you don’t have this assurance, please message me and I will be glad to share how you can have this new life and be a new person with joy, peace and a wonderful life as a Child of God.  He knows my name! Praise His Name!!!

Frances