John 10:10-18 – A Woman’s Devotion
Being at church every time the doors open. TV Bingo. Facebook or online gaming. Gentlemen… start your engines. Let’s get ready to rumble. Oh, the good old hockey game. Sa-wing, batter batter batter, sa-wing. Martha Stewart, Rachael Ray, Oprah, Ellen, or Jerry Springer. What do all these have in common? They are all things that people find themselves devoted to. There are all kinds of words we use to describe “devotion”: enthusiastic, dedicated, fanatical, loyal, committed, supportive… even affectionate, loving, or dutiful. You’ll find sports fanatics, devoted to their team. You’ll find TV watchers, devoted to their shows. You’ll find staunch political pundits, devoted to their electoral party. The world offers as many things we could devote our lives to, as there are people in the world. Today we continue our series called I Serve a Risen Saviour: Lessons from John 20-21, we come to a lady who was devoted, completely, 100% to her Master, Jesus. The woman is Mary Magdalene, and she got the privilege to be the 1st person to see Jesus on Resurrection Day. Let’s read John 20:10-18.
We don’t know as much about Mary Magdalene as some would say we do. Back a few years ago, she was the middle of a conspiracy theory that stated that she and Jesus got married, had children, and the Catholic Church has been covering it up ever since. That was the gist of The Da Vinci Code, an interesting but purely fictional read. Over the years, people have connected her to a sinful woman, perhaps a prostitute, but the Bible doesn’t say that either. The Bible says she was from a town called Magdala in Galilee, and she was set free by Jesus from demons.
Now some of you just tuned me out because I said the word “demons”. You say that demons were the old superstitious way of explaining mental illnesses, but now in the realm of science, there are better, more rational ways, to explain sickness. Well, I see where you’re coming from, but hear me out. Most everybody believes in God, right. Not absolutely everybody, but most would believe in some sort of spirit being, and most would call him God. And further, most would call this God good. He loves us, He takes care of us, He watches over us, and the dead go to be with Him in heaven. Most listening to my voice would believe this much.
So there’s a good spirit called God who loves us. So, why is there so much evil in the world, then? Who’s at fault for that? Most of the same people who believe that God is good would also believe that people are basically good, too. So, if God is good, and people are good, generally, where does evil come from? Why do people do horrible things? How could there be Osama Bin Laden’s, and Adolf Hitler’s, Josef Mengeles’, and Pol Pot’s? Why is it such a stretch to believe that if there is a good spirit called God, why wouldn’t there be an opposite, a bad spirit, a spirit who is the other extreme of God, who hates instead of loves, who hurts instead of heals, who destroys instead of fixes…? Myself, I don’t see how a person who believes in God couldn’t believe in a devil. But anyway…
Mary Magdalene was devoted to Jesus for what He had done for her. She stuck with Him at the cross, and she watched His body be set in a borrowed grave on Friday afternoon. She and some other ladies went to the grave on Sunday morning, and saw that the stone was rolled away. They fetched the disciples, and Peter and John found the grave empty. Mary was confused about all this, not knowing what had really happened.
So, even though she had doubts, perhaps, and she had fears, certainly, she showed her devotion to her Lord. Now, even though, as far as we know, she was not a mother, today, this being Mother’s Day, we will learn from her devotion. No matter who you are, you can learn from a woman’s devotion. Not devotion to a sport, or a TV show, or a TV personality, but devotion to Jesus. How can we become more devoted to Jesus? Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11 that he wanted his readers to have a “sincere and pure devotion to Christ”. What does that look like?
For Mary Magdalene, devotion looked like 5 things. The 1st was sorrow. She was crying. She didn’t know what had happened to Jesus’ body. She was sad, broken-hearted even. It had been an emotional couple of days. She had watched her Lord suffer and die. She had watched Him get placed in a grave. And now, He was gone. She was crushed.
Now, I know that the circumstances are different. We didn’t watch Him die except in a skit or a movie. And we believe that He’s alive today. So, where does sorrow fir into our lives today? Sometimes, not enough. When was the last time you felt so bad for your sin that you were broken over it? When was the last time you cried before God because of your sins or your apathy? When was the last time you felt a crushing weight on your chest for the lostness of the people around you? When was the last time you prayed in passion for God to forgive you and to use you? When was the last time you humbled yourself before God and cried out in sorrow for how you’ve ignored Him?
Psalm 51 says this: “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Oh yes, there is a place for brokenness, for weeping, and for sorrow in a Christian’s devotion. And it’s a good thing. It’s OK to let God humble you, to stir up emotions, and to be honest and real before Him. Be real before God.
The 2nd thing that Mary Magdalene’s devotion looked like is this: seeking. Jesus showed up. She thought He was the gardener. I know that sounds odd, but 3 times after He rose from the dead, His followers didn’t recognize Him at first. Mary’s concern for the body of Jesus overwhelmed her recognition of the presence of Jesus.
You know, our questions and our doubts and our theological bunny trails often distract us from seeing Jesus in our midst. You probably don’t care that I’m an Arminian with slight leanings towards supersessationalism and New Covenant Theology. You probably don’t care that I’m post-tribulational or maybe even slightly amillenial. And even among them, I don’t fit into theological labels very well. What you care is that I believe in Jesus and that I preach to help you understand how to follow God better. Don’t let arguments or theological wanderings or quibbling over details distract you from seeing Jesus.
So when the Lord appeared, Mary Magdalene was unaware. And Jesus asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” She was looking for Him. Part of our devotion is seeking, looking for Him.
I hate to get to the point where I say, “This is what you must do – dot dot dot.” But over the years, I and countless others have seen the importance of a few things to help us in our devotion. The first is prayer. Talking to God regularly. A minutes at a time, turning off the radio in the vehicle, asking Him to help your situation while you’re doing dishes, and so on. Prayer matters. Another thing is reading the Bible, even if it’s a few verses a day. Listen: anything is better than nothing. Reading slowly through Philippians or John or the Psalms.
Folks, these are important. It’s why, traditionally, they have been called “devotions”. Some of you may want to fast. Some of you may want to take an extended period of time and get away, just you and God. Some of you want need to turn off the music, turn off the TV, turn off the computer, and go get alone with God. Folks, seeking Him is important. It’s part of devotion to Him.
The 3rd thing that Mary Magdalene’s devotion looked like is this: serving. V15 goes on to say that Mary Magdalene wanted to take care of Jesus’ body. She wanted to serve Jesus, even if He was dead. Realistically, folks, service is a characteristic of followers of Jesus. Service is part of devotion to Him. It doesn’t look the same for everybody, but wanting to help out with what God is doing in the world is normal for Christians.
Romans 12:1 says this: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.” That phrase, “spiritual act of worship”, can also be translated, “reasonable service”.
Reasonable, normal, expected… Giving yourself to God, offering yourself to whatever He wants to do for you, in you, through you… this is normal for a Christian. It’s reasonable. It’s not far-fetched, it’s not science-fiction. It’s normal. It’s normal to give yourself to Him, it’s normal to serve Him, it’s normal to worship Him. It’s normal for a believer like yourself to say, “Here I am, God. I will do anything You want me to. Just let me know what that is.” That’s reasonable service.
The 4th thing that Mary Magdalene’s devotion looked like is this: seeing. She saw Jesus, finally. And even though we see Him differently – she saw in the flesh, with her own natural eyes – we still see Him. We see Him move and act in this world. He see His hand doing great things. He’s doing things on this island right now, but like Mary, He has to open our eyes.
And very often, we see Jesus when we are serving Him. When we are praying for God to use us, when we don’t know how to get through this thing without praying, when we are on the front lines of sharing our faith or serving in the church… that’s when we see God at work. Realistically, if we want to see God moving, we need to be part of a ministry somehow, somewhere, inside these walls or out. Too many people want to see before they believe; very often, we need to believe, and then we will see. When we take our faith seriously, we see God in ways we never did before.
And finally, the 5th thing that Mary Magdalene’s devotion looked like is this: sharing. She saw Jesus, He spoke her name, she wanted to cling to Him and never let Him go, but He said, “Go tell the others.” Jesus is too good to keep to yourself. I’m not saying you have to go door-to-door, and I’m not saying you have to preach Him from your rooftop. I’m saying, find a way to share Him.
Yes, most people on the island have heard about God, but they may not have heard to truth. They may have seen wackos preaching foolishness, they have heard about scandals and cover-ups, but maybe they haven’t heard what you’ve heard. Maybe they don’t know what you believe. Maybe if they knew what you know about Jesus, they may be interested. He’s my best friend, He’s my hope, He’s the One I love and the One I live for. It doesn’t take a Bible degree or much theology to let someone know about what you believe.
Pray about it. “Lord, is there someone You want me to go visit? Is there something You want me to do?” And if you get a feeling, that may be God letting you know about His will. Act on it. Reach out in faith. Believe. This is devotion.
