There Was Jesus

Gratitude 2020  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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We can be thankful this month because Jesus is there for us.

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This month, we are focusing on gratitude 2020.
Even though there just might be evidence that this year has been a disaster for a lot of people.
For just a moment, let’s embrace the humor… (Show pictures)
While I know how difficult it is to make light of a tough time, I want to encourage you to focus on all the good that God has done this year and claim victory. There are plenty of reasons to believe that God has blessed His people in a tumultuous time. We can still claim victory.
Zach Williams wrote a song called “There was Jesus”.
What is it about the presence of Jesus Christ that brings so much joy, felling of safety, and fulfillment?
Today, I want us to look into the life of an important character in the New Testament: Mary Magdalene
In Luke 8:2, we read that Mary Magdalene was one of the women who followed Jesus along with the disciples. She had been healed from the demonic possession of 7 demons.
Jesus released her from a very distressing existence.
In the Patriarchal culture, women were often mistreated and undervalued; in contrast, Jesus welcomed them as His followers. Most rabbis (teachers) refused to teach women.
She ministered to Jesus in Galilee by providing for Him.
Mary Magdalene was with Jesus at critical moments
At the foot of the cross
She was the first to see Jesus at the tomb.
In Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, she is charged by Jesus to share the good news of His resurrection from the dead.
She is often called the 1st evangelist.
We don’t know why Mary had been possessed by demons but we know that everything in her life changed once Jesus entered her life. She left everything in her previous life and devoted her life to following Jesus. We can tell by her presence in the stories of Jesus.
When everyone had run away, she stayed by His side before and after His death.
READ John 20:11-18 (Mary was so grief stricken that she could not understand the significance of the empty tomb.)

1. Jesus is there when we are too upset to notice.

Mary Magdalene was the kind of person who would stay in places after everyone else had left. She loved Jesus and was devoted to Him. She was there at the cross for every gasp of Jesus’ breath, drop of blood, and saw the Lord when He gave up His spirit.
She saw Him placed in the tomb owned by Joseph and was bringing spices for His body.
This woman was grief-stricken. Her tears and pain were in a raw place. She was experiencing extreme grief because of her loss.
Why?
The death of Jesus opened up the pain she had felt in the past. Her past was dangerous and terrifying. The demons who churned about inside of her and caused her to think and do actions that she didn’t want to perform. Before Jesus entered her life, everything was unraveled and sinful. She felt nothing but shame and fear every day.
And then there was Jesus…
He came to her and removed everything that was destroying her. His words brought the relief she had been looking for. Knowing Jesus gave her purpose. Chances are, Jesus was the only adult male she could trust.
When Jesus was in her life, she knew that she was going to be ok.
But in her mind, she had lost everything that she had gained now. Jesus was gone and so was her hope. She was back at nothing now and felt extreme grief. She didn’t know who she was anymore with the presence of Jesus.
She was in so much grief, when she saw the empty tomb, there was no reason to think that this was good news. Now, the body of Jesus had been taken!
The stooped down, looked into the tomb and wasn’t appalled that she was looking at two angels. Under ordinary circumstances would have terrified her, but enters the conversation as if she is talking to normal people.
There was no fear in her grief.
A healthy dose of grief is good. There are stages that people must go through in order to accept loss when it comes our way. There is also such thing as unhealthy grief. The type of grief that keeps us from noticing good even though good is staring us in the eye.
Our grief can keep us from noticing the good that God is trying to do in our life. Grief can tell you how things are before God gets the final word.
Have you already decided the outcome of your life? (We often leave God out of this picture)
God is standing at the end of our tomorrows holding today in His hand. Instead of walking in constant grief with closed eyes to the sunrise God wants to bring, I invite you to be open to the fact that God can change bad years into to good years with the snap of a finger.
If your grief keeping you from noticing what God is doing?

2. Jesus is there when you think He’s gone.

We don’t know how Mary Magdalene sensed someone behind her. Maybe she heard footsteps outside of the tomb or she just sensed His presence. I would love to believe that the angels, who already knew the truth smiled past her as they gazed at the resurrected Savior Jesus Christ.
We know that Mary turned around to where Jesus was standing having defeated death itself. And yet, she still couldn’t believe who she was talking to. Maybe her eyes were too filled with tears but the truth is, she had already decided the end of the story when everything was only beginning in her life.
At first, she though Jesus was the gardener. Maybe the gardener had moved Jesus’ body and not His enemies.
She couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
Mary Magdalene had no reason to believe that Jesus was standing in front of her. Everything in her senses confirmed what she had already seen. She had seen His lifeless body pealed off the cross and had seen him placed in the tomb. Jesus was 100% dead. Why would she think anything different now?
The rest of the world can look at a Christian and believe that we are “hopelessly optimistic”. Almost as if we are children who refuse to face reality.
For many, the ability to have faith in uncertain times may feel impossible because of all the problem you have had to deal with. Instead of optimism, you feel nothing but dread. This is the kind of pain that keeps people in bed instead of wanting to get up. There are even Christians that feel this way from time to time.
It’s almost as if we don’t feel as if God is there. He seems gone from our life.
Dear friend, Jesus Christ is closer than the next breath. We don’t stand on our feelings about Jesus. We stand on the truth.
Do you want to know the truth?
Every time man has taken control of anything in history, we messed it up.
God gave Adam and Even a garden… They ruined it.
God gave man a law to follow… They broke it.
God gave Israel a king… He didn’t turn out.
God gave the world a savior… They killed Him.
God gave us family… We broke it.
God gave us sex as a gift in the confines of marriage… We warped it into something that has destroyed society.
God gave us the church… We split it.
And yet, He hasn’t left. He’s still here even when He’s not invited.
He took everything we broke and gave Jesus who was broken on the cross for people. In His death, everything we ruined has the opportunity to be redeemed.
Jesus is there. The only reason we think He isn’t is because we are blaming Him for something man did wrong.

3. Jesus is There. Period.

For Jesus, all it took was one word to get Mary Magdalene’s attention.
For the past three days, we know that Jesus had gone into the depths of Hell..
Ephesians 4:8-10 says “ For it says: When he ascended on high, he took the captives captive; he gave gifts to people., But what does “he ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower parts of the earth? 10 The one who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens.”
Jesus didn’t just hang around waiting to come back to earth. He was ruling.
To wake up her spirit, Jesus said her name. “Mary”.
Once she heard Him utter her name, she recognized Him immediately. What a tender portion of scripture.
The “shepherd” had called her name and like John 10:3-4 says, she recognized His voice.
“Rabboni!” (Teacher)
She tried touching Him thinking that the way things used to be with Jesus were back for good.
But Jesus stopped her. Why?
Communion with Jesus was no longer based on human senses. Communion is only possible by faith through the Spirit. He had already entered the new stage caused by ascension.
Mary would know Jesus the same way we know Jesus.
Everyone one of us have experienced some form of abandonment. Some more than others.
Jesus is...
Advocate - 1 John 1
Bread of Life - John 6:35
Bridegroom - Matt. 9:15
Faithful & True - Revelation 19:11
Good Shepherd - John 10:11
Holy Servant - Acts 4:29-30
Immanuel - Isaiah 7:14
Light of the World - John 8:12
Lion of Judah - Revelation 5:5
Our Hope - 1 Tim 1
Peace - Ephesians 2:14
Redeemer - Job 19:25
Rock - 1 Corinthians 10:4
Sacrifice for our Sins - 1 John 4:10
Savior - Luke 2:11
The Door - John 10:9
The Way - John 14:6
The Word - John 1:1
Truth - John 8:32
Indescribable Gift.. - 2 Corinthians 9:15
Jesus “being there” is different than someone else being there.
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