<html><head></head><body><div><div><div><div><br></div>John 20;15-18<div><br></div><div><b>15. &nbsp;Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? &nbsp;Whom do you seek?” &nbsp;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.”</b></div><div><b>16. &nbsp;Jesus said to her, “Mary.” &nbsp;She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rab-boni!” (which means Teacher).</b></div><div><b>17. &nbsp;Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”</b></div><div><b>18. &nbsp;Mary went and said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.</b></div><div><b><br></b></div><div>Finally, when Jesus speaks her name, ‘Mary’,&nbsp;she comes into focus and the miraculous, wonderful, supernatural&nbsp;reality of the&nbsp;bodily resurrection of the living Christ&nbsp;is recognized by her!</div><div><br></div><div>Why Mary Magdalene&nbsp;first? &nbsp;Peter and John were just there moments earlier. &nbsp;Jesus could have revealed himself alive to them at that time. &nbsp;Why did Jesus chose to reveal himself first to Mary? &nbsp;Some have suggested that Mary’s emotional need to be comforted and given hope&nbsp;were&nbsp;greater than the disciples. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>In a way I can understand that. &nbsp;After all, Mary was most likely unmarried, no children, no support system,&nbsp;of bad repute among&nbsp;all who knew her before Jesus cast out seven demons from her. &nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>Consider, how did Mary feel when Jesus died? &nbsp;She was desolate! &nbsp; Perhaps her helplessness, her sorrow&nbsp;was greater than all others. &nbsp;<span>We could&nbsp;say&nbsp;it was the merciful heart of God which would not&nbsp;allow her to go on in utter despair&nbsp;any&nbsp;longer. &nbsp;All this is certainly true, but I believe there was another reason for Jesus revealing himself alive to Mary first.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Jewish men did not put much stock in anything said by a woman. &nbsp;Therefore, the message Mary brought to the disciples (although perfectly true), came from one considered lowly and least.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>&nbsp;&nbsp;It is not ‘who’ is telling God’s truth, but rather the truth of God itself which alone&nbsp;matters. &nbsp;It is not the ‘messenger’, it is the ‘message’. &nbsp;If Jesus selected the least and the lowest to be the first to&nbsp;carry the greatest news ever told to humanity, then that means we also, each one of us, qualify as God’s messengers too. &nbsp;No one can say they are unworthy to bring&nbsp;the Word of God to others.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Prayer: &nbsp;Merciful Father, you have called each one of us by our&nbsp;name in Baptism. &nbsp;Bless us to know we too are loved, forgiven, and made your&nbsp;‘sent-ones.’ &nbsp;We are&nbsp;entrusted with the greatest message of all time; “He lives! &nbsp;We are God the Father’s own dear children, Christ is our elder Brother, we are heirs of the Kingdom of God!” &nbsp;Bless us to be faithful in this greatest of all commissions. &nbsp;In Jesus we pray, Amen.</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span>Love,</span></div><div><span>Dad/Baba/Eric</span></div><div><span>Grandpa Pickle Pastor</span></div><div><span>“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.”</span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><span><br></span></div><div><br><br><a href="https://overview.mail.yahoo.com/?.src=iOS" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"></a><br></div></div></div></div></body></html>


John 20;15-18
15.  Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?  Whom do you seek?”  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 Hebrew, “Rab-boni!” (which means Teacher).17.  Jesus said to her, “Do not hold me, for I have not ascended to the Father; but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”18.  Mary went and said to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Finally, when Jesus speaks her name, ‘Mary’, she comes into focus and the miraculous, wonderful, supernatural reality of the bodily resurrection of the living Christ is recognized by her!
Why Mary Magdalene first?  Peter and John were just there moments earlier.  Jesus could have revealed himself alive to them at that time.  Why did Jesus chose to reveal himself first to Mary?  Some have suggested that Mary’s emotional need to be comforted and given hope were greater than the disciples.  
In a way I can understand that.  After all, Mary was most likely unmarried, no children, no support system, of bad repute among all who knew her before Jesus cast out seven demons from her.  
Consider, how did Mary feel when Jesus died?  She was desolate!   Perhaps her helplessness, her sorrow was greater than all others.  We could say it was the merciful heart of God which would not allow her to go on in utter despair any longer.  All this is certainly true, but I believe there was another reason for Jesus revealing himself alive to Mary first.
Jewish men did not put much stock in anything said by a woman.  Therefore, the message Mary brought to the disciples (although perfectly true), came from one considered lowly and least.
  It is not ‘who’ is telling God’s truth, but rather the truth of God itself which alone matters.  It is not the ‘messenger’, it is the ‘message’.  If Jesus selected the least and the lowest to be the first to carry the greatest news ever told to humanity, then that means we also, each one of us, qualify as God’s messengers too.  No one can say they are unworthy to bring the Word of God to others.
Prayer:  Merciful Father, you have called each one of us by our name in Baptism.  Bless us to know we too are loved, forgiven, and made your ‘sent-ones.’  We are entrusted with the greatest message of all time; “He lives!  We are God the Father’s own dear children, Christ is our elder Brother, we are heirs of the Kingdom of God!”  Bless us to be faithful in this greatest of all commissions.  In Jesus we pray, Amen.
Love,Dad/Baba/EricGrandpa Pickle Pastor“A chapter a day, every day, progressively, be transformed, ‘soak’ in the living Word.”



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