"Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, 'Woman, why are you crying?' 'They have taken my Lord away,' she said, 'and I don’t know where they have put him.' At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked her, 'Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?' Thinking he was the gardener, she said, 'Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.' Jesus said to her, 'Mary.' She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, 'Rabboni!' (which means 'Teacher'). Jesus said, 'Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'' Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: 'I have seen the Lord!'" John 20:11-18 NIV)
Dear Teacher,
You've seen me all my life.
You saw my unformed body...and then made it fearfully and wonderfully.
You saw every day of my life before even one of them came to be...and then wrote them all in Your book.
You saw the demons that possessed me...and then drove them out.
You saw my availability...and then gave me a purpose.
You saw my sin...and then took it on Yourself.
You saw my confusion...and then called me by name.
You saw my faith...and then gave me a testimony.
Rabonni, You've seen me my whole life. You see my whole life.
But on that one glorious day, I saw You. I saw You as I'd never seen you before.
I saw Your resurrected body. I saw Your loving eyes that have always seen me. I saw victory over death. I saw hope. I saw the fulfillment of every promise. I saw God's "YES."
And I saw that You had given me, a woman once inhabited by evil, the privilege of proclaiming the news that good had won: "I have seen the Lord!"
I saw You. And in seeing You, I have never been the same.
Love,
Mary Magdalene
* * * * * *
Oh, God, You've seen me my whole life, as you saw Mary of Magdala. You see my whole life. Help me to keep the eyes of my mind and heart fixed on You. And until the day I see You face to face and then forever after that, give me a voice that proclaims, as Mary's did, "I have seen the Lord!"
(Based on the following Scriptures: Psalm 139:16; Mark 16:9; Luke 8:1-3; John 19:25; John 20:11-18.)
But on that one glorious day, I saw You. I saw You as I'd never seen you before.
I saw Your resurrected body. I saw Your loving eyes that have always seen me. I saw victory over death. I saw hope. I saw the fulfillment of every promise. I saw God's "YES."
And I saw that You had given me, a woman once inhabited by evil, the privilege of proclaiming the news that good had won: "I have seen the Lord!"
I saw You. And in seeing You, I have never been the same.
Love,
Mary Magdalene
* * * * * *
Oh, God, You've seen me my whole life, as you saw Mary of Magdala. You see my whole life. Help me to keep the eyes of my mind and heart fixed on You. And until the day I see You face to face and then forever after that, give me a voice that proclaims, as Mary's did, "I have seen the Lord!"
(Based on the following Scriptures: Psalm 139:16; Mark 16:9; Luke 8:1-3; John 19:25; John 20:11-18.)
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I'd love to hear from you! Feel free to tell me what you really think. Years ago, I explained to my then-two-year-old that my appointment with a counselor was "sort of like going to a doctor who will help me be a better mommy." Without blinking, she replied, "You'd better go every day." All of which is just to say I've spent some time in the school of brutal honesty!