“I have told you these things, so that in me you may
have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I
have overcome the world.”
Jesus spoke those words a couple millennia ago, but don’t they seem
more true every day? John recorded them in his gospel, chapter sixteen,
verse thirty-three. In this world you (yes, you) will have trouble.
—
ISIS. Islam. Jihadists. Terrorists. Al Qaeda. The Taliban. Mohammad. Allah Akbar. Jesus.
To be honest, I did not enjoy typing those words. But typing Jesus
after them felt like spraying a fire with an extinguisher. Isn’t there a
stark contrast between Mohammad and Jesus? Let us consider Mary
Magdalene.
—
Many Muslims practice female genital mutilation to keep women from
experiencing sexual pleasure. Many Muslims require strict dress
guidelines and head coverings for women. Many Muslim women are raped
and/or forced into marriage at ages as young as nine years. When women
are raped, if they report it, they are often beat for being
“promiscuous.” In Muslim courts, a woman’s testimony is worth only half
that as a man’s testimony, anyway.
Mary Magdalene had seven demons. Some assume she is the same woman
who “was a sinner” (Luke chapter seven, thirty-six through fifty), which
many assume meant she was a hooker. Jesus met Mary Magdalene, and with
his authority sent the demons she had packing and she began to follow
him. Jesus did not force her to follow. She willingly followed a man
who loved her in spite of her demons and past. Jesus made no conditions
besides, “Just follow me and see what I do for you.”
Why wouldn’t she love the guy who saved her life? It was not a
humanly romantic love. It was the undying gratitude of grace-saved girl
who was on her way to hell until Jesus stepped in.
—
Sometimes, all hope seems totally lost. At a time when it seems like
radical Islam rules the world, a savior is whispering your name. He
saying, “Shh, calm down. Take my peace.”
In John chapter twenty, verses eleven through eighteen, Mary is approaching the burial site of Jesus. How could he die?
He raised others from death… he spoke hope and joy… he calmed storms
and multiplied food for hungry folks and opened blind eyes and mended
broken hearts and saved people from hell… yet there was the tomb up
ahead.
As she got closer, her heart dropped, eyes opened wide, and pulse
beat hard in her ears and chest. The grave is opened! She began
crying, hard. Oh, Mary. God loved you so much! We read how God sent
two of his angelic messengers to calm her heart. They sat on the
grave-table where Jesus had lay. “Why are you crying?” They asked her.
“They took Jesus away!” Can’t you hear the hopelessness in her
voice? She turned away from the tomb and then saw another man. He
asked the same. “Why are you crying?”
She supposed this guy was the grave-site gardener. She begged him,
“Sir, if you took his body just tell me and I will take care of it!”
Anxious frustration probably leaked through her words. The body of the
only one who ever could care for her with a perfect and undying love was
dead, but now even his corpse was gone!
Then the man spoke her name. “Mary.”
Have you ever burnt yourself and then put ice on the burn? Isn’t it
amazing how the coolness quickly brings relief and the pain melts
away? I bet that is how Mary’s heart felt as she heard that familiar
voice whisper her name. The man was Jesus. He is alive.
—
I am crazy enough to believe Jesus is saying your name right now.
Can you hear him? He wants to calm your heart. He is not dead, he is
alive, kickin’, and ready to give you his peace. “Peace be with you.”
Questions about God?
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