20:11 But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she
stooped down and looked into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white
sitting, one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had
lain. 13 Then they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?”
How much of our heartache and
suffering is necessary? How many of our tears fall simply because we either
don't know or don't believe?
It was September 11, 2001 and
Susan had been working at her desk for about half an hour when suddenly a
ripple of gasps and shocked horror went through the cubicles in her office.
Looking up she saw people staring at the television screens mounted on the
walls around the room. Others were rushing to the windows to see the smoke
rising up from the World Trade Center. As they stood there a second plane
approached and with helpless horror they watched as it slammed into the second
tower. Susan let out an indescribable sound from deep within her as she
crumpled to the floor weeping. Her husband worked in the top of that building.
Her coworkers tried to console her. Suddenly she tried to get up. "I have
to find him!" she kept muttering as she attempted to pull herself
together.
She stumbled to her cubicle while
her coworkers tried to guide both her actions and her thoughts. Arriving there
she fumbled for her keys and her phone. As she touched her phone it began to
vibrate. Turning it over she saw "12 missed messages". It turned out
her husband had gotten stuck in traffic and had been trying to let her know he
was safe for the past half an hour but she had noticed the blinking light
indicating text messages were waiting. Her moments of horror thinking her
husband was gone could have all been avoided.
Is she alone? Is she the only one
who has suffered much more than she would have had she gotten the message?
"Woman why are you
weeping?" Usually the first words from an angel to a human are "Fear
not" but Mary is too distraught to be afraid. Jesus is either dead and His
body is missing or He is alive but gone. Either way He's gone - at least based
on the information she has absorbed that is the case.
"Woman why are you
weeping?"
It's hard to know what Mary's
reaction was to this seemingly harsh ignorant question but it's likely she is
too upset to be offended. To her it would be like asking someone with a freshly
broken nose why they are bleeding. However the question is meant to arrest her
thoughts, to get her attention. "Why are you weeping?" What is the
reason? Should you be? You sat at His feet. You paid attention to His words
more than anyone else. Didn't you hear Him?
Jesus spoke openly about what
would happen to him: His death and His resurrection from the dead. "The
Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief
priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again"
(Mark 8:31; see also Matthew 17:22; Luke 9:22).
He also spoke of it in other
ways. For example, Jesus said that if his enemies destroyed the temple (of his
body), he would build it again in three days (John 2:19; Mark 14:58; cf.
Matthew 26:61). He also spoke allusively of the "sign of Jonah" -
three days in the heart of the earth (Matthew 12:39; Matthew 16:4). And he
hinted at it again in Matthew 21:42 - "The very stone which the builders
rejected has become the head of the corner."
"Woman why are you
weeping?"
Let's face it, Mary is neither
the first nor last to weep inconsolably by the grave of a loved one. Adam and
Eve were the first to do so at the graveside of their murdered son, killed by
his own brother. They certainly had reason to weep but the angel has gently
rebuked Mary. Her tears are misplaced. Her heart that only wants to be where
Jesus is has deafened her to what He said. Her emotions have choked out the
message or her bias prevented her from ever hearing it.
Either way the result is the
same. She is weeping over a tragedy that is no tragedy at all.
Now consider these words:
1 Thessalonians 4:13 "But I
do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen
asleep (died), lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe
that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep
in Jesus."
You see God has sent us a Text
message before the apparent tragedies of this life ever occur. Some have never
gotten the message and are left to weep and wonder where their loved one went.
Others got the message but for whatever reason(s) didn't believe it.
What will we do with God's Text
messages? Are we reading them? Do we believe them? Are we weeping blindly over
tragedies that are not as bad as we think?
1 Thessalonians 4:15 For this we
say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the
coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep.16 For the
Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the
Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
No comments:
Post a comment