I don’t think it was any accident that Mary Magdalene was one of the first to experience the resurrection. We don’t know a great deal about Mary, but we do know this: she was a woman who had been possessed by seven demons. It had been as if Mary was one of the living dead. Her daily life must have been unbearable. We can only imagine the things to which she had been subjected or the things to which she had subjected others. Have you ever met someone who seemed like they were the living dead? Someone whose body has been ravaged by the long-term effects of alcohol, nicotine or drugs? Someone who has been victimized by sexual abuse? Someone who has failed repeatedly at something and lost all confidence? Someone who has been abandoned by a parent or parents? Someone who has lost his or her health to obesity or a terminal disease? Someone who is despairing of life itself?
Or, maybe you have felt this way, or maybe you feel this way right now. Life has no luster. You are just going through the motions – doing whatever you can to get by. There is no joy. No hope. When everyone else is laughing at a joke, you can’t laugh with them. When everyone else is excited about something, you feel like a sad spectator on the sidelines. The same God who brought Jesus Christ back to life is the only one who can bring us back to life! And when this happens the black and white movies of our lives are suddenly bright with Technicolor. We become excited and exciting. Life has meaning and purpose. Suddenly the world is filled with possibilities. The resurrection of Jesus Christ has radically changed the past, the present and the future! Like Mary Magdalene, it can be the defining moment in your personal history.
Pray with me…Father God, thank you for the power of the resurrection to change lives then and now… for Mary and for me.
In Jesus’ name, amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Ken
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