I have recently been studying Mary Magdalene, she is a women that intrigues me, I guess having come out of a life of sin and feeling as if I were delivered from the clutches of Satan also I can relate to her.
I began to look up scripture about Mary Magdalene and just about every time she is recorded she is following Jesus or at his feet worshiping him or anointing him. She obviously loved him very much from the way she was so devoted to him.
In the years that I have studied the Bible I have come to realize that it is very easy for us to read the word of God and form our own opinions of why things are the way they are or why people do the things they do, but if we are not careful we begin to just take on our thoughts and not allow the Word of God to interpret for us. God allows us in his word scriptures that will show us his characteristics and how he properly responds to situations and how we should properly respond and as I was reading in John 11 this morning about the account of the only time that Mary did not come running to Jesus or was not recorded being the first one to him I began to think about why. I have heard it taught that she was bitter that her brother Lazarus had died but I saw it in a different light this morning.
In Luke 11 Martha ran out to meet Jesus when he was coming into town and it says that Mary sat still in the house.
Vs 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
Why did Mary sit still in the house? I wondered about this and began to ponder this. Has there ever been a time in your life in your life where you have lost something dear in your life? Have you ever felt as if God had let you down? You have spent all these years serving him and now when you need him the most he has aloud the thing you hold dear to go from you? I am not just talking about a death, I am talking about any trial in your life that you felt God just was not there?
I have lost some dear things in my life and wondered why God had allowed them to happen in my life. I know over this past few years having been taken out of the ministry and sat on the backside of the mountain, there were times I felt all these years we have served you and now we have to go through this, no income, no ministry, feeling like a fish out of water. My whole Christian walk has been to serve and to help people, and here I am sitting in the middle of no where with no one to lead to the Lord! I know that may not seem like a huge loss to some but it devastated me. I questioned God, I was a Martha and a Mary. I questioned like Martha and sat in the house away from God at times like Mary. I was broken before the Lord! I did not get bitter but I was so very broken, feeling as if the Lord just did not need me anymore or want to use me because of all the trouble I seem to get myself into with my big mouth.
As I was reading this morning I read over the part where Mary did finally come to the Lord after Martha went and told her that Jesus has called for her, which I do not see any place where he called for her. Sometimes others will help us and point us back to Christ.
Vs. 28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. 29As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.
The very first thing that Mary did when she saw the Lord was fall back down at his feet. It is so easy for us to get our eyes off of who Christ really is but the moment you get your eyes back on Him we will resume our position of worship.
I have heard it taught that Mary was bitter and that is why she did not come out at first, but think about this, remember back when I said it is easy to form our own opinions if we are not careful.
Think about the characteristics of Christ.
#1. He resisteth the proud.
#2. He giveth grace to the humble.
James 4:6 But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.
God cannot lie and he cannot go away from his characteristics. He is God he cannot change.
So if Mary was bitter and angry toward God isn't that a sign of pride? So Christ would of had to resist her according to his word.
Mary was broken, maybe questioning and not understanding but not bitter and angry and I say that for this fact, In the next verses she fell at his feet and he was moved with compassion.
32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, 34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus wept.
She did not understand why he had not come, why he aloud her brother to die but she still brought herself to a humble position of worship and he showed her grace.
I know through my trial there were times where I did not run to the Lord and sat in the house if you will, but when I truly regained my focus and saw him for who he really is, I fell at his feet and regained my position of worship once again. We need to realize that the Lord is moved with our pain, he loves us and only wants what will bring Glory and Honor to the Father in our lives. We loose sight of the fact that we are bought with a price we are not our own anymore and what comes into our lives might not be for us but it ultimately is to bring Glory and Honor unto the Father. Everything Jesus did in his ministry was to bring Glory to the Father, even when it cost him the discomforts of life and ultimately his own life.
Our lives must be lived for that reason only if we truly want to be Christ's servant.
Are you serving self or serving Christ?
We are to die to self and live to HIM!
