Life-spark: Find your story in life’s mystery. (John 20:1-14)
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. (John 20:1, NIV)
Before dawn that special Sunday morning, Mary wasn’t the only one in the dark. What had happened three days before made no sense to the disciples. So often, when God does something new, it begins as a mystery. Mary’s deep devotion put her in a place where she would receive the first few pieces of the new puzzle. At the resurrection, God said “Ladies first.” Mary joyfully shared her experience.
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. (John 20:3, NIV)
Recently, I told a group of men that I was born in a hospital in McMinnville, Oregon. Then I asked where each of them was born. They came from all over the map, east, west, north, south. They all had a birthplace but none of us were born in a graveyard.
The birthplace of the Christian faith, a tomb, was the last place you’d expect to find life. When it comes to God, one learns to expect the unexpected.
Peter ran into the tomb and John looked into the tomb. Different people approach a miracle in different ways. Jesus’ body was gone, but the cloth that had covered His head was folded and lying near where His body had been placed. This seemed to say to Peter and John that the Lord’s body had not been stolen. It left things open ended. As the famous new commentator Paul Harvey used to say, “And now, the rest of the story.”
At least three people were raised from the dead by Jesus. Now the Resurrector was resurrected. Mystery became reality. And that mystery, now history, has become part of God’s story and my story.
Life challenge – Write down one piece of the puzzle of life that is a mystery to you. Ask God to shed some light on it.