Intimacy with Jesus

VOTD.05.10.16 Slaves and Sons: Magdalene

Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  John 8:35,36

Last time we were talking about the mysterious lack of interest on the part of the disciples to see the risen Jesus. What could account for it?

I bet Jesus wasn’t surprised. You see, He had seen all this before. Take, for example, the history of the Israelites’ rescue from Egypt. They’d seen the Egyptian nation go through 10 horrible plagues. They saw the mighty Egyptian army destroyed at the Red Sea. Even manna from heaven.

They were delivered from slavery and saw God’s pillar of fire by night and pillar of clouds by day leading them. But when the time came to see God reveal Himself on the mountain, they weren’t interested. Well, to be more accurate, they were interested, but not in God. (more…)

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VOTD.04.26.16 Repentance: Magdalene

The Twelve were with [Jesus], and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had come out… These women served him out of their own means. Luke 8:1-3

Last time we saw that purity of heart has to do with walking in the enabling power God gives us. God supplies whatever He requires of us. Magdalene found that to be true. When we see her washing Jesus’ feet with her tears, Jesus saw them as tears of repentance (7:47).

You see, we repent when we see things from the Father’s perspective. That’s true repentance in a nutshell. Repentance enables us to embrace the truth and that truth changes us. Anything else isn’t repentance.

The truth is, Jesus is real, sinning harms us and those around us, and God has provided us with an escape (1 Cor 10:13). Magdalene saw Jesus from the Father’s perspective. That’s all it took. She behaved in accordance with that truth. (more…)

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VOTD.04.25.16 Pure in Heart: Magdalene

Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. Matthew 5:8

When Jesus told the woman caught in sin in John 8, “Go and stop sinning,” it was more than a clever way to end an awkward conversation. He meant it. God always supplies what He demands, particularly in the area of temptation (1 Cor 10:13).

We see in our verse for today, that the pure in heart are the ones who “see God”. Put another way, God reveals Himself to Christians who hearts are pure… and He is in the business of making our hearts pure. That is the Gospel in a nutshell.

Magdalene was the first one that Jesus revealed Himself to after His resurrection. I think it’s right to say that she had already been made pure in heart.

But this raises a more deep-seated question: Do we really even want to see God? The Israelites at Mt Sinai didn’t. They sent Moses to do their bidding, instead. Shepherd-boy turned king, David certainly did want to see God and even wrote about seeing Him (Ps 27:4). One glimpse of Jesus certainly turned the Apostle Paul’s life around. And the Apostle John…what more can be said? (more…)

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VOTD.04.19.16 Fanatic: Magdalene

But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been. John 20:11,12

A couple of angels. Maybe they were sent to comfort her? How do you comfort grief-stricken people? You point them to Jesus.

And when she turned around, she saw Jesus standing there, and He spoke to her. “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Supposing He was the gardener, Mary pleaded with Him to tell her what had happened to her Lord. “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” (vv.13-15)

Once again it was loud and clear: Magdalene just wanted to be where He was.
Then it happened. Jesus spoke to her: “Mary.” (v.16) (more…)

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VOTD.04.18.16 Intensity: Magdalene

So the disciples went away to their own homes, 11but Mary stood outside the tomb crying… Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Teacher.” Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. John 20:10-18

Sometimes the best way to understand something is to compare it to something just like it only different. Like comparing the anointing of Jesus by Magdalene to the anointing of Jesus by Mary of Bethany. Other times we can learn more from contrasting behaviors. John, Peter, and Magdalene are all at the tomb of Jesus on Sunday morning. Jesus showed Himself to Magdalene, but not John and Peter. Doesn’t that seem a little peculiar? All three were there…

To be honest, it is a mystery to me. But the more I’ve thought about this the more convinced I am that today’s verses give us a significant clue into the mystery…not only a clue to why Jesus appeared to Magdalene first, but a clue to what it was about her worship that made it “in Spirit and Truth” kind of worship— (more…)

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VOTD.03.29.16 Magdalene Crashes a Party pt 2

I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven. . . for she loved much. Luke 7:47

Last time, we talked about a woman anointing Jesus in the early part of his ministry who tradition tells us was Magdalene—the woman who became the first one to see the resurrected Jesus. She slipped into a dinner party at the house of Simon the Pharisee and wept Jesus feet clean and dried them with her hair; then she anointed his feet with expensive perfume.

Jesus was pleased by her actions. But the host and his invited guests were not so pleased by this unorthodox display of adoration. Were they uncomfortable? Mary was lost in the deep worship of Jesus. Perhaps a genuine display of Mary’s raw emotion troubled them. They had their own emotion: Anger. (more…)

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VOTD.03.22.16 Magdalene’s Devotion

The disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying.  John 20:10,11

Last time I wrote about my interest in Mary who was call Magdalene. What was it about her that Jesus decided to appear to her first after His resurrection? He sent angels to appear to others, but He, Himself, appeared to her first.

And while we’re on the subject, don’t believe everything you see in the movies: the structure of the text where Magdalene is talked about in the Gospels makes it a near certainty that she was older than Jesus’ mother, Mary. Her relationship with Jesus wasn’t a youthful, romantic infatuation as some movies and dramas suggest. (more…)

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VOTD.03.14.16 Trust Me

Trust in Me. John 14:1

I felt a wave of pain as a mom told me her family had been removed from the church they had attended and worked in for many years. She had no idea why. There had been no trouble up until a month their expulsion, and even then she and her husband had tried to determine what the problem was, but got evasive answers like “Why don’t you tell us…”

As a family who had had their trust betrayed, they felt unique. Unfortunately, they aren’t. I know of many others in similar situations. Some were the pastoral family. Some were congregants. All felt their trust was betrayed. All were concerned (more…)

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