John 20:11-18 English Standard Version

Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, “Do not cling 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, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

Discover what is the most important thing here by reading this section of scripture over and over again until the Lord says something to you. What I see and hear is for me. What you see and hear is for you.

See and hear the Lord for yourselves.

We have pastors and teachers and shepherds in our lives and each and every one of them are given to us by the Lord with purpose. None of them are given to replace our personal relationship with the Lord.

The Lord was given to us to give meaning to our lives. We have a purpose and the only way we can discover that purpose is to see and hear our Lord.

Matthew 27:62-66 English Standard Version

62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

We can only imagine what was on the minds of the priests and Pharisees when they called Jesus an imposter. We know that they said this to Pilate which makes their meaning even more complicated because it takes into account what Pilate thought and what influences he had over the previous day’s events.

Were they saying Jesus was a false Messiah or a false King? We tend to draw our own conclusions on these matters based on our own personal understanding of the scriptures. In some ways those who accused Jesus of being an imposter might have done the same thing. They might have gotten the interpretation of the coming Messiah wrong and Jesus did not fit what they believed.

This is one of the things we have to deal with in reading the scriptures. The word reveals what was said and done without dealing with the motivations. We can only look at what is said and done and draw our own conclusions. Scriptures only take us so far in what is revealed.

These men did everything within the power to hold onto their beliefs and motives and Christ proved them to be wrong. Everyone who said He was not the Messiah was proven wrong. Everyone who said there is no resurrection were proven wrong. Everyone who said there is no life after death was proven wrong.

Then there was that group who in the face of the truth still denied the truth. For their own reasons they refused to accept they were wrong.

That sounds a little like people that live today, acting on their own beliefs and motives with total disregard for the truth.

What is the truth? Jesus Christ will reveal the truth when we meet Him and we will no longer be able to deny we were wrong.

Come, meet Jesus Christ. He is no imposter.