Why are you crying? - John 20

Read John 20

For Christians around the world, this is a day of celebration.  This is a day of joy.  This is a day where many who have been disconnected come to worship the Lord.

Do you remember the song, I Love to Tell the Story?  The third verse begins this way.  I love to tell the story, for those who know it best seem hungering and thirsting to hear it like the rest.

We who already know the story, long to hear it as much as those who hear it for the first time.

This a day that we all look forward to in so many different ways.  We love to hear of the women going early in the morning  to the empty tomb.

We love the part that the women were the first to share the good news, even though in John's account what Mary shared may have have been more shock that joy as she did not yet understand why Jesus was not in the tomb.

We enjoy the race between Peter and another disciple, likely John.

We chuckle a little when after seeing the empty tomb, the two disciples went home.  They went to where they were staying.  

We love the encounter between Mary and her Lord. 

Sometimes we wonder, how could they not know that Jesus had risen?  Being in shock and disbelieve is just a human condition.

But Jesus appeared to brokenhearted Mary and in a single word, “Mary” everything was right again.  He explained that he was yet to ascend into heaven to be with his Father, his God and your God.

He appeared later that same day to the disciples who were gathered in a locked room.

He appeared later to Thomas who was not there for the first visit and who was skeptical of the report of his brethren.

We love Thomas proclaiming, “My Lord and my God.”

And we love the response of the Master. 

“Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”

That verse really speaks to us.  None of us were there; yet we believe.  Because we have not seen and still have believed, we are blessed.

The world would call us delusional or foolish but we know that we live in the truth and are blessed for it.  Many of us owe our parents a sincere thank you for bringing us up in the way we should go.  Some have come to know the truth in spite of the way they were brought up.

But for those who have come after the time that Jesus walked the earth in the flesh and have believed, they are blessed. We are blessed!

Some know the exact hour in which they believed.  Some may not know the exact time but are certain on this day that the Lord has made, that they believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that God raised him from the dead. 

We have believed this.  We have professed this.  We know that Jesus is Lord.

He is Savior.  He is Lord.  He is risen. We are blessed.

We cannot always look back and identify the exact path that we walked, but somewhere on that path was the word of God that we know as the Bible.  Consider John’s words at the end of this chapter.

Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

There’s only a little more in John’s gospel, but these words should sustain us now.  We have read or listened to this scripture many times.  We have read the other gospels.  They are not simply history.  They help us to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.  He truly died to take away our sins.  God raised him from the dead.  He ascended into heaven and we received the Holy Spirit as a good deposit on what God has in store for us.