April 12

He said to her, “Dear woman, why are you crying?  Who are you looking for?”  Mary answered, thinking he was only the gardener, “Sir, if you have taken his body somewhere else, tell me, and I will go and….”  “Mary,” Jesus interrupted her.  Turning to face him, she said, “Rabboni”” (Aramaic for “my teacher”) Jesus cautioned her, Mary, don’t hold on to me now, for I haven’t yet ascended to God, My Father.  And He’s not only My Father and God, but now He’s your Father and your God!  Now go to my brothers and tell them what I have told you, that I am ascending to my Father—and your Father, to my God—and your God!”  
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Then Mary Magdalene left to inform the disciples of her encounter with Jesus. “I have seen the Lord!” she told them.  And she gave them his message”. John 20:15-18 (TPT)

These few lines of scripture are so rich and powerful, so deeply touching, so filled with hope and promise—all from the heart of God to each of us.  Mary, like us, goes in search of the Lord she loves so deeply.  Not fully knowing all that was happening around her, she could not see Him, though He was in her midst.
 
His words opened her eyes, and the sound of His voice awakens something so deep with her, she cries out to Him in recognition—at last she has found the one her soul was longing for.
 
Jesus tells her He is here for her, and shares more fully what He had come to do—the very meaning of His life—to make His God, her God, His Father, now her Father.  The way His been made, the veil has been torn, separation that once was, no longer exists, because of His atoning sacrifice and redeeming love.
 
Then He gives her the honour, and the privilege to go and tell others this glorious, good news.  All that He meant to accomplish has been done, and perfect union and unity, in love, has come! Oh, deeply loved one, let our voices ring with joy this Easter Morn, and may this be a day that we declare, as Mary did, with great celebration, wonder, and thanksgiving, “I have seen the Lord!”
 
Prayer:
 
Jesus, I thank You today Your great sacrifice on the Cross—the extravagant mercy of God—the expression of Your great love for each other—and for all of mankind. In this great display of eternal love, You too all of my sins and shortcomings away, to be remember by You no more.
 
I thank for Your Resurrection Life, alive in me today, the gift of saving grace, joining me to Your Father, and now my Father too. How Jesus, I wonder, could I ever repay You?  Yet even this is something You are not asking me to do, for this was Your gift freely given.  The gift of life made new.
 
Open my eyes Lord, to see you afresh; to look for You always and everywhere, for I know You are always there. Saviour God, faithful and true, teach me Your ways, so I may follow You.
 
I praise and I honour You.