Blog

Fishing Lesson 3

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore.”
John 21:6-8 NLT

The penny finally dropped. It was Peter’s boat that Jesus used, in the Luke 5 account, as a platform to teach the crowd, and he would have immediately been reminded of that occasion, one that resulted in a tremendous catch of fish. Something stirred in Peter’s mind as he realised who the mystery Man was standing there on the shores of the Sea of Galilee. For Peter, this was where his journey started, in a boat with more fish than he could ever have expected catching. Peter was the man who had let down his friend and Master by denying that he knew Him three times, and his conscience would have been badly affecting his nights’ sleeps. And yet, Peter couldn’t wait to return to the shore. He put his clothes back on and waded or swam back to shore, leaving the others to sort out the boat and heavy net. It wasn’t Peter though who firstly recognised who the Man was. Once again it was “the disciple who Jesus loved”, who we know was John, the writer of this account in his Gospel. 

As we reflect on this story and remember God’s generosity, we turn to what Jesus had previously said in Luke 6:38, “Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back”. The picture of a generous God who multiplies our puny efforts in giving applied first to the disciples. They gave up everything to follow Jesus and He returned their commitment with the miracle of catching more fish than they could have imagined. We pilgrims may also have had a similar experience, finding out that God knows our needs and makes provision for them in response to our faith. 

Initially, the disciples failed to recognise Jesus standing there on the shore. But when they had come to the end of their own human resources, God, in the form of Jesus, was waiting to take over. And so often it is with us. Instead of praying about a problem and engaging God’s help and provision, we try every method we can think of to come up with a solution without Him. Then, finally, we think about prayer and more often than not, find God was patiently waiting in the wings with the answer all the time. Psalm 37:25, “Once I was young, and now I am old. Yet I have never seen the godly abandoned or their children begging for bread.”

Dear Lord. Please forgive us for our reluctance to pray and bring our needs before You. You are always wanting to bless Your children. We praise and thank You today. Amen.

Fishing Lesson 2

Posted on by korgrocker

“Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night. At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?” “No,” they replied. Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.”
John 21:3-6 NLT

A fruitless night’s work. In fact, they were depressed when they went fishing and returned, still depressed and now tired, after a night without sleep. In spite of their best endeavours they had caught nothing. Not even a tiddler. And to make things worse, this Person had turned up on the beach and rubbed their noses in their disappointment by asking if they had caught anything. A terse reply “No!” was their response, but then He, because it was Jesus, told them to throw their nets over a particular side of the boat. I suppose their first thoughts were resentment and “who does he think he is – we’re the experts around here”, but something must have cut through their thoughts, and, tired as they were, they cast their nets. The Man on the shore said that they would catch “some” but they caught so many fish they couldn’t pull their nets back into the boat. Another amazing miracle. 

The event was just like God. No half measures. No stinginess. Just an unstinting and bountiful supply of whatever was needed at the time. That haul of fish would have provided the financial resources to keep them all going for a while. There was a time when Jesus went fishing with His soon-to-be disciples. A crowd has gathered to listen to Jesus, in fact there were so many people that He borrowed a boat and used it as an oratory. And we read in Luke 5 what happened next. “When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.” “Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking”(Luke 5:4-7). The episode ended, ” … Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus” (Luke 5:10b-11). 

Faced with such a miracle, yet again, what were the disciples thinking? Peter and the others who had been present during that original miracle must have remembered the occasion. Then, Jesus commandeered their boat after a fruitless night’s fishing, and turned their fortunes around. Now He had repeated the miracle. Two miracles either side of the grave, emphasising that God is not bounded by death. All who believe in Him will experience eternal life, now and after crossing the Great Divide.

Is there anyone reading this today who needs a miracle? Well, the same Saviour who filled a net with fish will fill our hearts and lives with His provision, just when we need it. He is an unstinting God, who delights in His children. Our circumstances might be riven with fear, but Jesus says to us what He said to he leader of the Synagogue, “But Jesus overheard them and said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith“” (Mark 5:36). David knew all about God’s provision and he wrote in Psalm 23:5-6, “You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever“. The Lord is not just a passive presence, He “pursues” us with His “goodness and unfailing love“. He is with us, before us, behind us and around us. Everyday of our lives.

Dear Lord Jesus, we worship and praise and thank You today, for all You have done for us. Amen.

Fishing Lesson 1

Posted on by korgrocker

“Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples. Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.”
John 21:1-3 NLT

This last chapter in John’s Gospel is entitled “Epilogue”. Seven of the disciples decided to go fishing, back to the time when Jesus called them from this very profession. A night-time excursion out on the Sea of Galilee. So they readied the boat and presumably headed off into the places where they knew they would normally have caught something. They returned to their comfort zones, as they struggled to get their minds around the grief over what had happened to Jesus, as they wondered what the implications would be from His appearance to them in the locked room, and at a loss to know what to do next. We read what happened after hours and hours of toil, “but they caught nothing all night”. How discouraging was that? They would have usually caught something, but nothing at all? So the depressed disciples ended up even more depressed after a fruitless night’s labour.

Do we pilgrims sometimes find the same? We encounter something that totally throws us out of our routines, or we experience a discouraging event, losing a job or a loved one, or suffer some other life event in our journey that totally throws us and all we can do is to get back into our comfort zones, doing something familiar to find comfort and give us time to make sense of what has happened. But that might not be the best place for us, because rather than reach into the temporal, we should instead be entering the Kingdom realm where we can find Jesus. Peter wrote in 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you“. Paul wrote in Philippians 4:6-7, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus”. 

The disciples lost their way for a bit, but Jesus had a solution, as we will soon find out. We too may lose our way sometimes, but we must always turn to Jesus instead of looking for a solution in a world corrupted by evil. Our comfort zones may not align with God’s Kingdom, and we run the risk of becoming depressed as the disciples did, catching nothing of any value even if we work hard at trying to make something happen. There is only one way to eternal life and that is through Jesus. Only He is the Way.

Dear Lord, You are the Way, the Truth and the Life. The comfort our souls crave for can only be found in You. Amen.

Many Other Miracles

Posted on by korgrocker

“The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name.”
John 20:30-31 NLT

The Gospel of John is drawing to a close. John is starting to wrap up his book, which had become a remarkable document of Holy-Spirit-inspired accounts written down by a fisherman called by Jesus from the side of a lake where he was mending some nets. He was perhaps reflecting on some other miracles, many in fact, that had happened but he hadn’t recorded them. He had done enough and he wrote down his account so that people would continue to believe that “Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God“. Mission accomplished. 

Have we pilgrims anything to write down? Some thoughts and experiences collected on the way through life, that now may be of value to a future generation? That was how I started writing blogs in 2017, going through the Bible to record my thoughts. They may or not be of value to others but they have certainly helped me to understand more about God from the Scriptures that have be combined in the wonderful and priceless book we know of as the Bible, and we remember that it is all inspired by the Holy Spirit working in people’s lives, the ordinary men and women who put pen to paper during times touched by God.

John finishes this chapter by writing, “by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name”.There is, of course, nothing significant about Jesus’ name on its own. It is not a magic word that will unlock mystical results, such as healings. We cannot delay death, for example, by the use of His name alone. The power comes from the Man behind the name, Jesus Himself. About Jesus, the writer to the Hebrews wrote, “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Hebrews 1:3). When we call upon the name, Jesus, we call upon all that the name represents, undertaking a deep dive into the character of God Himself. 

There is an intriguing story in Acts 19 about seven sons of a Jewish priest called Sceva, who were using the name of Jesus to try and cast out demons. They were not believers, but nevertheless they used Jesus’ name in a vain attempt to emulate the Apostles works. We read in Acts 19:13b, “ …They tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus in their incantation, saying, “I command you in the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, to come out!”” And then in Acts 19:14-15 we read what happened, “But one time when they tried it, the evil spirit replied, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” Then the man with the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them, and attacked them with such violence that they fled from the house, naked and battered“. The result in the community was “the name of the Lord Jesus was greatly honoured“. 

Perhaps we pilgrims are sometimes guilty of adding words like “in the name of Jesus …” to our prayers for the sick, but without really being in the zone of understanding about the implications. Do we wonder sometimes why our prayers are ineffective? We used to sing a song “There is power in the name of Jesus”, and, scripturally, that is correct but do we really believe that? Sometimes we omit faith and belief in Jesus from our lives and prayers.

Dear Lord Jesus. Please forgive us for the weakness of our faith and our failure to really believe in You. We confess that our faith muscles are sometimes weak or even non-existent. Please help us to know and understand more and more of the  power of Your name. Amen.

Christmas 2024

Posted on by korgrocker

“All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).”
Isaiah 7:14
“For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6 NLT

Two well-known verses from the prophet Isaiah, fore-telling an event yet to come many years hence. A Son was to come, born of a virgin mother, to be called Immanuel, or “God with us”. We of course know about that Son, called Jesus, and the meaning of His name was not far from the Isaiah promise. “Jesus” means Saviour and the name is derived from the Hebrew Yeshua, meaning to deliver or to rescue. And we celebrate the virgin birth of Jesus once again, experiencing the excitement around seeing the Saviour of the world starting His journey. We read again the Scriptures, about Simeon and Anna, the journey to Bethlehem, the manger, shepherds and angels. And the Magi from the East appear on the scene, with valuable gifts, God’s provision for a young couple entrusted with the care of His Son. This year, Christmas is a time indeed of celebration, becoming a ray of light in a dark and evil world, riven by wars and strife. The only Hope for a depressed world convinced that things are getting worse, with people worrying about the future for their children and grandchildren. Light and Hope. That is what the coming of Jesus was all about, but, amazingly, He comes again each Christmas. His presence is always with us, and His message of salvation, foreseen by Isaiah, and accomplished by Jesus, is still hanging in the air before us today.

Here in the UK, most families will be sitting down together to a Christmas meal, enjoying an opportunity to laugh with each other, perhaps reminiscing about things that have gone before. In some family gatherings there will be sadness because a loved one passed away in the time since the previous Christmas. In others there will be happiness at the birth of a new child, bringing pleasure and hope to the family. But how many will stop, pause for a while, thinking about the first Christmas? Saviour? Prince of Peace? Immanuel? God with us? Such thoughts, even if they happened, dissipate quickly, crowded out by the meal being shared.

But the coming of Jesus brought a message far beyond the turkey and tinsel. In a dark and evil world it brings the only message of hope worth considering today. We pilgrims know about how the story ends. Our journeys coincide at the doors of Heaven where we will find the Saviour of the World waiting for us. The invitation in Revelation 22:17 is still with us. “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life”. In Jesus we remember His birth, life and death, and we have felt the refreshing of the “water of life”. In the darkness we turn to the Light Himself, reaching out for the refreshing that our thirsty souls so desperately need. Wars and rumours of wars? We know that they are just the birth pangs of the End Times, not the end themselves. We turn away from the darkness and gaze intently at the Source of Light. There is no better way to spend Christmas.

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for coming to this world, bringing Your Light and Hope. Amen.

The Unbelieving

Posted on by korgrocker

“One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in his hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in his side.” Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and my God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.””
John 20:24-29 NLT

Why wouldn’t Thomas believe what the other disciples had told him? He wasn’t with them when Jesus first appeared in the locked room – I wonder where he was? – and he totally rejected the disciples’ testimony. He knew these men. He had been with them for over three years at least. He had seen Jesus’ miracles and even the dead raised. And yet he was unable to accept the account of how Jesus had appeared in their midst. He wanted to see the risen Jesus at first hand, with his own eyes, although even that wasn’t enough for Thomas. He wanted to supplement the visual with other senses, by touching Jesus’ wounds. 

John’s account continues by fast-forwarding to another meeting, again behind locked doors. This time there was a full contingent of disciples including Thomas. Again, Jesus said “Peace be with you” and then He turned to Thomas, telling him to do what he had previously asked by fingering the wounds in Jesus’ hands and side. Incidentally, had these terrible after effects of crucifixion started to heal, or were they still red and raw, seeping blood as they had on that fateful Friday? Jesus had a new body that was able to pass through locked doors, but a body that still bore the scars. It was a resurrected body, recognisable by all who knew Him, but a body without human limitations.

Jesus’ response to Thomas has resonated with many believers over the years since. Thomas, faced with the evidence, could only utter “My Lord and my God”. But Jesus rebuked him for his lack of faith, telling him to “Believe”, and then said, “You believe because you have seen me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing me.” 

Thomas missed out on Jesus’ first post-resurrection encounter with the disciples because he wasn’t present with the rest of them. Isn’t it the case, when we look out of the window on a cold and wet Sunday morning and decide to have a duvet day, that we are in danger of missing out on an encounter with the risen Jesus. In the church I attend there was a wonderful presence of the Holy Spirit last Sunday. There was a time when the worship just seemed to attain new heights. There was a holy pause and a Presence joined with us. A time of silence where we almost had to hold our breaths in case we destroyed the moment. But after the service I looked around and there were several people absent. They had become like Thomas, missing out on a precious God-encounter.

Today there are no people, believers or otherwise, who have had a physical encounter with the risen Jesus. But we believe anyway, that Jesus died and rose from the dead on the third day. We believe and will never stop believing, until we see Him again, welcoming us through the gates of Heaven. 

Dear Lord Jesus. You graciously appeared to the disciples all those years ago, in a body resurrected from the grave. They believed and never stopped believing for the rest of their lives and neither shall we. We praise You today. Amen.

Peace and Forgiveness

Posted on by korgrocker

“Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.””
John 20:21-23 NLT

Once again Jesus said “Peace be with you”. In a world that had seen the disciples’ bumpy ride following Jesus in His ministry, the chaos was continuing in their souls. They had seen the miracles, the dead raised, Jesus walking on water. They had received training for the future in Jesus’ University of Kingdom Life. They had experienced the abuse from the Jewish leaders. They had even gone out themselves, healing the sick and preaching the good news about the Kingdom of God. And now, following a couple of days of grieving for their crucified Leader, entombed and graveyard dead, He was now standing with them, alive and well, in a locked room. And He said “Peace …”. They needed a shed load of that, for sure.

Jesus then said to them, “As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” The disciples commissioned, sent out to continue Jesus’ mission. The handing on of the Kingdom baton, charged with the message of hope for an otherwise dying race of people. Then Jesus breathed on them. This wasn’t just a febrile puff. It was a full throated blast of air from the bottom of Jesus’ lungs, emulating what was to come on the Day of Pentecost, where the disciples would indeed “Receive the Holy Spirit”. The connection was that on their own, and in their own strength, they would be unable to carry out their mission. They would need the Holy Spirit without doubt, empowering them and working through them each and every day. 

Jesus continued, “If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven”. Does that mean that Jesus was giving the disciples the authority to forgive sins? That can’t be true of course, because only God can forgive sins. There seems to be a problem with the translation, according to Greek scholars, and a better translation might be, “If sins have already been forgiven, then they are forgiven. If they have already been retained then they are not forgiven”. Perhaps another of the Bible’s foibles that needs further scrutiny, which is why we need to read the Scriptures often and in depth, prayerfully asking God to reveal the meaning of His Word.

Peace and forgiveness are both features of God’s Kingdom living. We pilgrims can experience both on our journey to Glory.

Dear Father God. Living in Your Kingdom here on earth provides a foretaste of what is to come, and we are so grateful. Amen.

Peace Be With You

Posted on by korgrocker

“That Sunday evening the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said. As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord!”
John 20:19-20 NLT

The eleven remaining disciples had called a meeting, and to make sure they were not disturbed, they locked the doors. In those days door locks were very basic and may have consisted of little more than a wooden bolt. Doors were ubiquitous though and the disciples took steps to prevent unauthorised people from entering. John recorded that they were afraid of the Jewish leaders, with good reason because they were now on a roll and would do anything to stamp out Jesus’ influence on Jewish religious society. But I wonder what the disciples were discussing? Obviously, the report from Mary Magdalene would have been at the top of the agenda, and they must have discussed how valid and reliable her feedback was because women were not exactly well considered in those days. They would also have been discussing what to do next, now that their Leader and Master, Jesus, was no longer with them. But then, Jesus suddenly appeared. John’s language in his account was very factual and unemotional, but to be sitting or standing around in a group, and then to suddenly see a person appear before them, must have been a significant and even fearful situation. “Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them!”. This was no gradual “beam me up” moment, with a figure gradually appearing before them. It all happened suddenly, and the first words that Jesus spoke were, “Peace be with you”. The disciples were a superstitious lot, and they were already in an advanced state of fear, hence the locked door. So Jesus’ greeting about peace would have gone some way to allaying their nervous states, and after He had showed them His crucifixion wounds we read that “They were filled with joy”. Of course they were! What else could they be? But the initial joy would have been accompanied by the thought that something was happening here far beyond their experience and understanding. People just do not walk through locked doors. As an aside, if Jesus was able to pass through locked doors, then He would have been able to exit the tomb without removing the stone, which must therefore have been rolled away for the benefit of the disciples, so that they could see it was empty. 

Sometimes people lock the door to their hearts, for a number of reasons including previous hurts and disappointments. They put up a barrier to prevent more pain in the future and that applies to their contact with God as well. Perhaps they had a bad experience in a Sunday school as a child. Or a church experience turned sour and they left, never to return. But in Revelation 3:20 we read, “Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends“. A poignant invitation from Jesus to everyone, including us pilgrims. We must be sensitive to hear Jesus’ knock at the door of our hearts. Once allowed in, He will bring His message, “Peace be with you”, and our troubled thoughts and situations will take on a different perspective in His presence. 

We also remember that Jesus said He was the door. John 10:7, 9, “So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. … I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture”. Jesus’ door is never locked and all can enter into eternal life if they believe in Him. 

Dear Lord Jesus. You are the Way into Your Father’s presence. There is no other way – please help us to communicate with those who have chosen the wrong way, so that they too can find the Door. Amen.

Stop Clinging

Posted on by korgrocker

“Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Thinking that He was the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you put Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher). Jesus said to her, “Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.’ ” Mary Magdalene came and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and that He had said these things to her.”
John 20:15-18 NASB

What else could Mary Magdalene do? Here was the Man, Jesus Himself, who she had seen being crucified and dying on the cross. She knew that He had been buried in a sealed tomb. Yet here He was, standing before her. In spite of the misogynistic culture of those days, Mary was overcome with all sorts of emotions, and just couldn’t help herself. She gave Jesus a big hug. How long it went on for we don’t know, but Jesus had an important message for her to take to His  brothers, the disciples. Factually, and unemotionally, John wrote that Mary “came and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”. I suspect that, if I had been a fly on the wall, I would have found it was more than that. Mary would have burst into the room where the disciples were and exploded with shouts of joy as she delivered the message Jesus had given to her. But what would those disciples who were there have made of her display of emotion? We know that Peter and John had seen the empty tomb, so they must have been wondering. But, as cold logic goes, a corpse does not just climb out of a grave and start a conversation with a random woman who just happens to be there. The disciples must have had some thoughts about the reliability of the woman’s account. That something significant had happened would have been without doubt, but Jesus, risen, alive and well? Surely that can’t be true, must have been their thoughts. 

In a way, Mary was a very fortunate woman, who saw the fruit of her commitment to Jesus. Note that there were no disciples hanging around the tomb that Easter Sunday morning. The experience of being the first to see and hold the risen Jesus would never have left her, and I’m sure that there came a day when she was with Him again. Hearing His voice once again say, “Mary”, as she crossed the Great Divide. As we pilgrims take our final breaths, our spirits will also follow Mary into our new home. Will we too renew our friendship with Jesus as He calls our name? We won’t have had the opportunity to cling to Jesus but we can talk to Him in prayer. We can fellowship with Him, walking with Him through the Gospel pages. Constantly wondering about how He loved us so much that He did what He had to do, just for You and me.

Dear Lord Jesus. Will we really hear You call our name one day, as You welcome us into Your home? Thank You for all You did that weekend long ago. Amen.

Rabboni

Posted on by korgrocker

“She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?” She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).”
John 20:14-16 NLT

Mary Magdalene had just received a vision of two angels in the empty tomb, seen through her tears of grief, and she was now turning away to leave, broken-hearted. But she then became aware that there was someone standing there. The person asked her why she was crying and who she was looking for. Perhaps at this point she thought there was something familiar about the person she saw, but her first impression was that she was conversing with the gardener, who was looking after the cemetery where the empty tomb was situated. She thought that perhaps it was he who could have removed the body of Jesus, so Mary asked where He was now so that she could make other arrangements for His burial. But there was then a pivotal moment in Mary’s life. The person before her knew her name and spoke it out. And all of a sudden, Mary turned to the Person before her and called out “Rabboni”, which we are told means “Teacher”. She recognised it was Jesus standing before her. But why refer to Him as Teacher? It explains much about their relationship, because she could have used His name, or Master, or Lord. The word “Rabboni” signified respect and her close friendship with Jesus, and could even have raised her expectations that Jesus had returned from the dead, as He said He would, to continue His ministry. 

That moment on the first Easter Sunday morning brought a message of hope, not only to Mary, but to the disciples and for anyone reading this Biblical account over the years since it was written by John. There were many ways in which Jesus could have used Mary’s name. Harshly, unfeelingly, or even dismissively, but I’m sure that when Jesus used her name, Mary felt waves of love and acceptance wash over her. Had Jesus spoken her name before? He must have done because in Luke 8:2 we read, “along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons“. Mary had been a follower of Jesus for some time, grateful for her release from demonic influences, and she knew Him as her Teacher and friend. 

There were several times when Jesus called someone by their name. Worthy of note is the time when Jesus called the dead Lazarus, now resurrected, from the grave. The account is in John 11, but in verse 43 we read, “Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”” But before Mary on the Easter Sunday morning it was the resurrected Jesus who was calling out another name.

Our names are important to God. We get a glimpse of God’s love for us from Isaiah 49:14-16, “Yet Jerusalem says, “The Lord has deserted us; the Lord has forgotten us.” “Never! Can a mother forget her nursing child? Can she feel no love for the child she has borne? But even if that were possible, I would not forget you! See, I have written your name on the palms of my hands. Always in my mind is a picture of Jerusalem’s walls in ruins“. In Hebrews 13:5b we read, “ … I will never fail you. I will never abandon you”. We pilgrims are truly favoured children of God and He knows our names. And sometimes in a moment of quiet, He whispers them so that we can receive the assurance that He is still there and is still with us. One day each of us will receive a new name that will only be known to Jesus and to us. Revelation 2:17b, “ …  And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it“. 

Dear fellow pilgrims, our names are important to both us and to God. There was no special relationship between Jesus and Mary, exclusive just to them. Jesus knows our names too because we matter to Him. He loves us and will never abandon us. Ever.

Father God. We can only pray prayers of thanks and worship today, saying that we love You Lord, and we always will. Thank You. Amen.