Mary Magdalene: At Jesus Feet- (Doug Batchelor) AmazingFacts

your old daughter waiting at a bus stop and that you know we have a lot of tourists who come through Palm Springs that's how those poor folks don't realize the bus stops running to midnight I'll pull over and let them know and that's look if you guys are waiting for the bus they stop running at midnight they're out there all by themselves and they said no we called a cab an hour ago and it still hasn't come and I said well where are you going I did a lot of hitchhiking so I had sympathy for people waiting for a ride and guy said well we're heading up to the north end of town so we'll come on in I said it's a little all the way but I can give you a lift so they could climbed in the back of my Volkswagen which surprised me because you know if you know the old Volkswagen bugs you know you had to get car there we go sometimes there's a dead spot you had to do something wrong to be consigned to the back it was so small and so they both sat back there and so I drove up got to the north end of town and as I was driving along I'm looking in the rearview mirror and talking to him a little bit I could see this was not a father/daughter relationship and when we got to the hotel he kissed her goodnight and he got out and shut the door and walked away and she's sitting back there and I thought where are you going and she said well I live the other end of town totally other direction I just come from and so I said okay well so she stayed in the back and I turn around I started driving his light I'm tired but I'm driving her back to the other end of town I knew about that part of town that she was going to and I kept looking in the rearview mirror and she was kind of looking out the side window and I distinctly remember as we would drive under one of the street lights her face would illuminate for a minute and then it'd go dark and then it would illuminate and I could see see she looks so sad and I don't know what came over me I said do you want to stop and get a cup of coffee this is many years ago she said sure and so we pulled over and they have these all-night restaurants back then I don't know if anyone remembers Sambo's coffee shops now good that's all the old folks just identified themselves and it was all the coffee you could drink for ten cents and so we pulled over we went in there I talked a little bit and then I asked her a pretty direct question and basically the essence of my question was was she in the same line of occupation as Rahab and Tamar and she smiled and said she was and then I realized she misunderstood why I asked her that question and I asked her a question I said are you happy and the whole countenance changed and I had recently come to the Lord I read the Bible and accepted Jesus and and I started telling her about my past and how God had changed my life and and I said God's got a plan for you and she started to cry and tell me that she worked for this pimp that would you know kind of beat her up one day and give her gifts the next day and and she was 17 years old and I remember she told me her name was Marlene I never forgot that and she started to cry and she had too much mascara on it was leaving little riblets you know when she cried and I remember her saying I just want someone to love me I just want someone to love me and when I read in the New Testament the story of Mary Magdalene who was a woman that based on the Bible account had a bad reputation I see that there's someone there that was just really looking for someone that she thought would really love her with a pure love and the rest of the story is that I put Marlene in contact with a church and I hope that she I prayed with her and I hope that she made that decision to accept Jesus go with me to John chapter 8 there's a story here about a woman who is caught in the act of adultery Matthew I'm sorry John chapter 8 verse 1 Gospel of John chapter 8 verse 1 but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives now early in the morning he came again into the temple and the people came to him and he sat down and he taught them which he did frequently Bible says he was often teaching in the temple and the scribes and the Pharisees brought to him a woman caught in adultery and when they had set her in the midst they religious leaders standing around they throw this woman down in front of Jesus as a teacher this woman was caught in adultery in the very act there's no question about it now Moses in the law commanded us as such should be stoned that's the death penalty but what do you say now first of all you wonder if this is a trap because if she was caught in the act but usually takes to the law of Moses said the man also was guilty and the man somehow is not there it's like they set this thing up and they brought the woman in to trap Jesus now often tried to create the image that he would somehow a rebel they could turn over to the Romans now if Jesus had said yes you're right Blagh Moses said she should be stoned stoner they probably had rocks in their pockets and they were ready to take her out right away they didn't care about her they were going to execute her and then till the Romans that Jesus had ordered them to do it and they thought we've got him and they said if Jesus says don't stoner they say what you don't believe in the law of Moses so they figured no matter what he says we've got him it was a trap it was a setup and so they pressed him this they said testing him that they might have something of which to accuse him but Jesus stooped down and he wrote on the ground with his finger as though he did not hear he knew what they were up to so right there in a clear spot where they're all gazing down you get the woman she's sobbing there at the feet of Jesus Jesus begins to write in the dust of the temple more now the Bible doesn't say what he wrote but it's significant the Jesus writes it's only a few times that you see God writing in the Bible get the Ten Commandments you've got the hand that wrote judgment on the walls of Babylon and you've got Jesus here writing in the dust on the temple floor probably he was writing out the sins of her accusers the laws that they had broken because as they're standing there and they're asking him what do you say Jesus finally stops they continued asking him they thought we're not letting you off you've got to give us an answer they weren't prepared for what he said he stood up some day Michael will stand up and he said he that is without sin among you let him throw a stone at her first says again he stooped down he wrote now they finally start to notice what he's writing he's writing their secret sins he that is without sin among you well they were all overcome with guilt and shame and something about the power and the resonance of his voice and the authority of his presence they realized they were in the presence of someone holy that knew the secrets of their lives and and he's writing it out there and they were overcome with gain and guilt and shame and none of them felt like they dare say that I am sinless and I am worthy to somehow stone this woman and one by one they dropped their rocks and they walked out it's interesting it says beginning at the eldest even to the least you know the Bible talks about a prophecy in Ezekiel chapter 9 where there's a judgment on the house of God and it tells us that this angel of judgment is sent through among God's people in the temple says begin with the ancient men now why would the judgment begin with the eldest well they got the longest record they've had the most opportunity makes sense right right away they realized we have no right and then went out until they've all gone out isn't it amazing the brilliance of Jesus how with one sentence the plotting of all these men is brought to nothing and that finally they went out from the oldest even to the last and Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in his mitts at some point she had stood and Jesus raised himself up he saw no one but the woman he said to her woman where are those thine accusers has no one condemned you and she said no one Lord and the only one there that had a right to throw a stone was who Jesus know before I get to the punchline as they say I want you to have the picture in your mind here is this woman who is caught in a very embarrassing situation but she's not just caught she's caught by the pastors who then take her through the streets of the holy city and bring her to the Holy Temple talk about humiliating and then throw her down at the feet of the only person who has never sinned the holiest person who's ever lived how mortifying could that be I woke up one time I was sleeping in abandoned building and I was surrounded by police and they said get up well I didn't have anything long that's a little embarrassing you know the Bible says all things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do and we all God knows everything right there's nothing you can hide from him we can put on our religious pretense when we come to church but God knows our hearts but you know Mary was there and I heard a pastor say one time when you're in trouble the best place you can be is at the feet of Jesus and to be there at his feet he was more merciful than all the church religious leaders around her ready to stone her they were ready to kill her how does God feel about it when we're ready to cast stones at the woman what does a woman and in prophecy Church and is the woman sometimes unfaithful to Jesus read the book of Hosea but does he want us casting rocks we got to be very careful I saw this video online and it showed America's dumbest criminals show this guy take a great big cinder block over his head like King Kong and he went running up to this store window and he tried to hurl it through this jewelry store window but he didn't realize it was made out of bulletproof glass which just had enough resilience to bounce the stone back on his head and clobber him so the police could easily come and scoop him up you want to be careful about casting stones because they tend to ricochet and the Lord doesn't like it he said she said no one Lord no one had a right to condemn her he had a right and nobody says neither do i condemn you because adultery is now okay since I I'm gonna die on the cross it's not what he said some people just read that part I don't condemn you sin is okay no he said what you've done is a sin the penalty for her sin was death he said sin no more she had an encounter with Jesus who forgave her what right did he have to tell her that she could go didn't the law say she should be stoned now I may be reading too much into this story but I think it'll make sense I think the reason Jesus could say that tour is because there's something unwritten here that he was going to take her penalty and I think she somehow understood that she knew that these religious leaders were wanting to destroy Jesus and when he said you go go and sin no more I'm not gonna condemn you and he showed her grace and he showed her mercy and forgiveness I believe at that point she became one of Christ most dedicated followers now it doesn't tell us what her name was just as a woman you only find this story in the Gospel of John but I believe that woman was Mary Magdalene I think that was the first encounter when she's caught at Jesus feet in shame and I think she's the same as Mary of Bethany now you're gonna read about this Mary that appears several times in the Gospels it's interesting that she always appears at Jesus feet and I counted seven times that she appears at Jesus feet one time in shame one time and study one time in sorrow one time in sacrifice one time in surrender one time in service and then finally in song she starts out in shame she ends up in song now hear the reasons I think Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany the sister of Lazarus and Martha is the Saint Mary first of all they have the same name they never appeared together the both women that have means they have money as you'll see later they're both unmarried they both have bad reputations and they always seem to be at Jesus feet and as I mentioned they're never mentioned together at the feet of Jesus represents a sign of submission it's a sign of worship it's a sign of humility and this is where we need to be now as we study these different places where Mary appears at the feet of Jesus keep in mind we are married we are the church and all of us are guilty of sin and all of us deserve death and we find Grace from Jesus and Jesus says to us what he says to Mary go you're free I'll die in your place and sin no more you notice he didn't say to Mary go and try to commit just a little less adultery he didn't say that did he he said go and sin no more jesus healed another man who hadn't walked in 38 years he said you're free go and sin no more or less a worse thing come upon you so when we meet Jesus he wants us to be saved from sin now what makes that possible we love Him because He first loved us how do we obey Him says if you love me keep my Commandments the more we love him the more devoted we will be but tea surpassed it I got fallen so many times stay with me Mary had the same problem next you go to Luke chapter 10 and here I think you find one of the keys to Mary being among the most devoted disciples you know I sometimes ask people who was the most devoted disciple of Jesus and they'll say John some might say Peter I'm not saying apostle I'm saying the most devoted disciple I think Mary was probably the most devoted look here in Luke chapter 10 verse 38 it happened as they went he entered a certain village and a certain woman named Martha welcomed him into her house they evidently did this often and she had a sister called Mary who sat at Jesus feet and heard his word you know Jesus was always teaching he went from town to town he was teaching and he was teaching in the villages and Jesus was the consummate teacher and and the Sermon on the Mount as he sat down and taught the people Jesus didn't yell and scream and shout and throw things when carry on on some of the antics you see preachers Jesus taught and sometimes I think all the drama that preachers resort to is because a lack of content but what Jesus said was so powerful that people would listen to him talk for hours and they never even think about eating am I having flashbacks and hearing voices or is someone streaming the sermon so here she is she's sitting at Jesus feet and she's hearing his word she's drinking him in but Martha was distracted with much serving and she approached Jesus you know I imagine this he went from room to room and she'd go from the kitchen to the living room she's setting things out for a big supper they're having and Bethany you read about the supper a little later and every time she kind of comes through she's thinking about all she's got to do so she can serve Jesus she sees her sisters sitting there just drinking it all in and she's thinking well that's wonderful that you can have this quality time but we have a lot of work to do you know and and a little bit of teaching is good but eventually you got to get back to work and she'd probably come through carrying a platter and go hmm you know trying using body language and everything he's kind of eyeing Jesus and you know pointing to his sister and Jesus just keeps teaching Mary just keeps listening she's oblivious to everything else happening because she is just drinking in the truth from Jesus lips finally Martha can't handle it anymore and she stops on her way back to the kitchen for another platter and she folds her arms she taps her foot she says Lord come on now can you look at all the serving I'm doing here do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone therefore tell her to help me she won't listen to me she never listens to me tell her to help me and jesus answered and said Martha Martha you are worried and troubled about many things but one thing is needed and Mary has chosen that good part which will not be taken away from her now I'm so thankful for the Martha's in the church nothing would get done if it wasn't for the Martha's in the church but there would be no church if it wasn't for the Mary's because if you do not make Jesus a priority if you do not make the truth of priority if you do not make personal devotions a priority you don't have a church and it is possible to get so busy in doing the work of the Lord that you forget about the Lord of the work if everybody here love the Lord the way Mary loved the Lord we'd have plenty of Martha's to do the work but sometimes we think that serving the Lord is a substitute for worshiping the Lord I know people that come to church week after week and they work and they work in their work and you say when was the last time you actually heard the sermon well I you know I'm so busy you can't be that busy and there's people that are just so dedicated and I appreciate the hard workers but do you have personal devotions what's the most important thing you're not saved based upon the work you do jesus said in the judgement many will come and they'll say Lord Lord and you'll say I don't know you so we know it's me I taught in your streets I did many wonderful works I cast out devils I I guarded the parking lot I cleaned the kitchen pick your list and to say I don't know you what's the most important thing eternal life is this is eternal life that they might know him do you know the Lord from carrying the casserole or do you know the Lord from sitting at his feet now they're all important they everyone gets that I am so thankful for what the workers are doing and we need more workers but don't forget to worship Mary sat at Jesus feet she heard the word you know that demoniac after he was saved from his demons that people from the village came out they saw him sitting at the feet of Jesus Jesus teaching him how to stay out of trouble so the next time we find Mary so you see she's at the feet of Jesus in shame finding forgiveness then she's at the feet of Jesus in study and then you go and you find her she's at the feet of Jesus weeping for her brother that is dead good John chapter 11 and what is death a symbol of Jesus says our friend Lazarus asleep but Bible talks about those who are dead in trespasses and sin right you go to John chapter 11 here you've got the story of the resurrection of Lazarus and Lazarus was the brother of Martha and Mary and it tells us that Jesus sees Mary there it says many of the Jews verse 19 had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother and they couldn't understand Martha says in verse 24 Lord I know he'll rise again in the resurrection at the last day and Jesus said I am the resurrection and then martha tells mary verse 28 Jesus has come they had all been waiting for him he didn't come right away they didn't understand why and secretly she called Mary because Jesus was in trouble in that part of the country that was in Judea he came at the risk of his life the teacher has come and he's calling for you as soon as she heard that she arose quickly and she came to him now Jesus had not yet come into the town but he was at a place where Martha had met him and when the Jews were with her in the house comforting her when they saw Mary arose quickly they followed her thinking she was going to the tomb to weep there and Mary came to where Jesus was she saw him she fell down where did she fall at his feet saying to him Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died and Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping he groaned in his spirit and he was troubled here you see Mary she's at the feet of Jesus and she's weeping for her brother that is dead now that's talking about the sorrow that we all feel for those who may be dead in sin they've been taken captive by the devil the situation may look hopeless and she is praying that Jesus will do something miraculous and bring her brother back to life I'm guessing everybody here knows somebody that is dead spiritually might be a brother a sister parent a child some family member a co-worker here's what you do is you see Mary she's kneeling weeping at the feet of Jesus she's praying she's supplicating the Lord that he'll do something for the one she loves that is dead and does Jesus answer that prayer he performs a miracle and he raises her brother I think we not only need to spend time at Jesus feet weeping because of our sins at his feet studying sometimes we may need to spend time at his feet in sorrow because of the loss those who are dead who have been taken captive by the devil isn't it interesting that someone noted Jesus wrecked every funeral he attended you know that including his own we may need to weep and pray at the feet of Jesus that he will raise to life the loved ones we have that are dead in sin now one of the most remarkable stories is the next one this is the fourth time we find Mary at Jesus feet and this is in a dinner in Bethany at Simon's house and you can read about this in John chapter 12 verse 1 through 8 it's in mark 14 verse 3 through 9 but I'm going to go to Luke chapter 7 verse 36 and we're gonna look at it there now I told you that there in Bethany it tells us that Lazzara Lazarus and Martha had a home Mary would sometimes stay with him the reason she gets the name Magdalene is because well Magdala was a city on the borders of the Sea of Galilee it was a resort that the Roman soldiers went to when they were on vacation you know soldier gets R&R and it did not have a good reputation it would almost today be like saying Mary of Vegas you got the point right and so no one else is called Magdalene in the Bible because it was not a compliment mary had a brother and a sister that live in Bethany Schieffer business spent time up in Magdala and you can even read some of the historians that say that the the roman boats would go out from Magdalene they would have music in wine and women and the soldiers that was what they did for their vacation so Mary Magdalene they didn't always call her that because it wasn't a compliment sometimes it would say yeah Martha's sister but we know about her and the girl from Bethany but so here you read it tells us in Luke about this dinner what did I say I said Luke chapter seven I got another passage in Luke I was running to thank you 11 Luke 7 verse 36 it says the one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with them and he went to the Pharisees house tells us his name is Simon and behold a woman in the city who was a sinner when she knew that Jesus was at the table and the Pharisees house brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil and she stood at his feet behind him weeping there she is again at his feet and she began to wash his feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair of her head and she kissed his feet and anointed them with fragrant oil so several things are happening here she bought a flask a very expensive ointment that was used as a concoction 29th Kings when they were coronated or for a burial that it was very expensive ages for this perfume this point meant and says she's washing his feet with her tears when I first read that I thought how exactly do you do that you really got to be ball one to produce enough tears they kind of like wash a person's feet and in Bible times I read that during times of mourning and sorrow they actually had these flasks that have a gentle curved lip on it and when they cried they would hold it up to their eyes and they would capture their tears they felt there was something sacred it was like a symbolic of their sorrows and they keep their tears in this flask it represented the sorrow in their life she took this flask and in her life with her problems she may have had a plenty in there she poured this Mystere by on his feet and washed his feet and then not having a towel handy she's evidently got long luxuriant hair and she's drying his feet with her hair and it's created a little bit of a spectacle because she's also anointing him with the oil she put some on his feet you read the book desire of Ages and you compare the other gospel stories you have to read all of them together and you get the whole picture she also pour some on his head now this is very significant see Jesus about five times he says the disciples and he says it in the presence of the women that followed him and among the women that followed him it says in Luke chapter 8 was Mary Magdalene he said I'm going to Jerusalem I will be betrayed I'll be handed over to the Gentiles I'll be scourged I'll be crucified I will rise the third day he said it as plainly as I just said it to you he said several and the disciples at all what's he's speaking in symbolic terms they refused to believe that that was gonna happen because it didn't fit in with what they wanted but Mary heard that she thought yeah I've always thought that he would be dying in my place and so that didn't surprise her and she thought you know sometimes we give flowers to people after they die she said I want to do something for him to show him my love for him I want to make a sacrifice for him while he's alive and she goes and she must have some money because she spends a year's wages on this one gift you know I read somewhere that the ladies of the night in Las Vegas can make up to $2,000 a day I'd known amazed she told you I hope no one gets any ideas I'm just saying that they you can accumulate money and so she went and she bought this gift fit for a king she's anointing him before his burial which is what Jesus said and she stood behind him washing his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and she his feet and anointed them with fragrant oil and when the whole room is filled with a fragrance and everyone's going to what is going on and when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this he spoke to himself he's not even speaking out loud he said this man if he was a prophet would have known who and what manner of woman this is who is touching him for she's a sinner everyone knows about Mary now if you read the other Gospels here it says a woman the other Gospels say it was Mary so we know it's the same woman and he's this answered he said something to him Simon I have something to say to you by the way Simon is called in another gospel Simon the leper now why would Jesus be eating at a lepers house slippers are unclean unless he had cleansed him and so some theologians say this was a feast that Simon held to honor Jesus and thank him for cleansing him from leprosy so here he had leprosy Jesus forgave him and cleanses him from his leprosy and he's so quick to condemn somebody else and he can't help but wonder how did he know so much about her reputation he can't help but wonder what's he you contribute her so he says Simon he's reading his mind you know one reason we know Jesus is God is he knew the thoughts of men's hearts Christ knew what was in man Simon I've got something to say to you said say on teacher there was a certain creditor that had two debtors one owed five hundred denarii I and one owed fifty and when they had nothing with which to pay he freely forgave them both tell me therefore which of them do you think will love him more Simon answered and said I suppose the one he forgave more he said you're right and then he turns to the woman who's washing his feet do you see this woman I entered your house and you gave me no water for my feet and that was considered good manners back then says but she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head you gave me no kiss yeah you'd greet a friend they'd give him a hug kiss on the cheek you've seen a lot of the Middle Eastern people do that said you didn't give me any kiss but this woman it's not ceased to kiss my feet you didn't anoint my head with oil she's anointed my feet with fragrant oil therefore I say to you you know there's only a record of two people kissing Jesus I mean I'm sure his mother kissed and his father kissed him only two people are recorded as kissing Jesus Judas kissed his face and betrayed him Mary kissed his feet and served him and at the dinner it says Judas complained about Mary's generosity because his greed was convicted he was the one who was stealing from the bag here he saw her giving such a generous lavish gift and he starts to condemn her generosity not because he really had a problem with the generosity he was convicted and he went from the dinner you read about it it says he went from the dinner and he covenant 'add with the priests to betray Jesus because he was so upset when Jesus stood up for Mary and not for him she kissed his feet the one who kissed his face betrayed him he said yes her sins are many they're forgiven for she loved much for whom little is forgiven the same loves little and he said to her your sins are forgiven now it's not the first time she'd heard that what was Jesus saying was he saying that only those who go out and you know just become really terrible sinners and then repent will really love much I've met people before who read this verse and they say faster day it seems like God is saying to me I've got to go out there and go on a crime spree and just to just live a terribly prodigal wife and do all these scandalous things and then I repent and then I love the Lord and everything will be okay but here I've been raised in the church and I haven't done any of these terrible the bosphorus things and how could does that mean I'll never really love the Lord and that's not what Jesus is saying jesus said he who is forgiven much loves much it doesn't mean you need to go out and be a big sinner you already are it's those who know how much they have been forgiven love much you get that it's not that you got to go out and sin more than other people you've just got to recognize how much you've already sinned he who is forgiven much loves much do you know how much you've been forgiven think about any one sin is enough to put Jesus on the cross then compound that over the course of your life how many times have you crucified Him and yet he still loves you and he died for you when you realize how much he loves you we love him because he first loved us right she saw that she loved much she gave much so there she is at his feet in sacrifice in the next section and you know your liking that's the rose much I got a whole book and this gives us a lot under each one of these sections you now see her in surrender at the cross it's interesting that when Jesus was betrayed in the garden all the disciples forsook him and fled and John kind of followed Jesus into the judgment Hall with some trepidation Peter listened out with the servants and he ended up denying Christ they followed at a distance when Christ was crucified you read in Luke 23 49 but all his acquaintances and the women who followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things notice this is the women who followed him from Galilee Magdala was at Galilee but it says by the cross Mary wasn't in the group that watched from a distance Luton 1925 now there stood by the cross Jesus the cross of Jesus his mother his mother's sister Mary the wife of Clopas you know Cleophus is you remember him he's the one who's on the road to Emmaus Jesus appears to Cleopas and a friend when they're going down to Emmaus and Mary Magdalene it's interesting how it just always mentions Mary's name last when everyone else was afraid or ashamed Mary stood by the cross you remember we talked about the thief on the cross it seems like it's interesting to me that you've got there Mary who has the reputation the least for being a harlot or something and she is at the foot of the cross and the thief is declaring from another cross their love and their faith in Christ there's a quote from the book desire of Ages I'd like to read you page 83 this is that classic on the life of Christ it would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day in contemplation of the life of Christ we should take it point by point and let the imagination grasp each scene especially the closing ones and as we thus dwell upon his great sacrifice for us our confidence in him will be more constant our love will be quickened and we will be more deeply imbued with his spirit if we would be saved at last we must learn the lesson of penance and humiliation at the foot of the cross and there is Mary is standing at the foot of the cross she is at Jesus feet once again and she is beholding him now on the cross because he traded places for her she remembers the day when she was going to be stoned for her sins and he said I don't condemn you why could he say I don't condemn you because I love you so much I will die in your place if you love me go and sin no more this is what conversion is all about where do you get the power to be a transformed person it's at the cross you ever flipped through the hymnal and seen how many songs are talking about the cross at the cross at the cross where I first saw the light beneath the cross of Jesus the old rugged cross because the the great Christians of history understood that the power is in the cross Paul said I'm determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified why said I'm not going to glory in anything but the cross why what's his preoccupation with this instrument of torture that they seem to have it's not the instrument of torture it's what Jesus did on the raus in showing his love for each of us and so we need to spend time not just in study at his feet we need to spend time worshipping Him surrendering to him on the cross what does the Cross mean to you and me self-denial whoever would come after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me and that's when you'll find your life and something happened there in a special way so Mary's there she's there for the six hours finally when he dies she's still there Joseph gets permission to take his body and bury it she's there and that brings us to point six in service at the tomb mark chapter 15 verse 45 and when Pilate knew of it he the of the Centurion gave he gave the body to Joseph and he bought fine linen and he took him down this is Friday afternoon and he wrapped him in linen and laid him in a Sepulchre which was hewn out of rock by the way he put him in his own tomb I and Joseph was one of the richest men in Jerusalem he was part of the Sanhedrin but he was one of the secret followers of Jesus who came out of the closet after the cross just like Nicodemus came at night they they were afraid to be associated with the truth and Jesus the Bible says was buried in a rich man's grave and notice and Mary Magdalene I'm in mark 15 verse 45 and Mary Magdalene in the Mary the mother of Joseph beheld where he was laid that man they oversaw what was going on you can look at Luke 23 55 and the women also which came with him from Galilee followed after and beheld the sepulchre and how his body was laid and so there are these women are involved Joseph got the the cloth and Nicodemus they got hundred pounds of pointment spikenard very expensive for embalming and they gave it to the ladies and they opened up the tomb and they're wrapping the body of Jesus you remember when they came later they found the grave clothes had been unwrapped they didn't have everything they needed so they came back Sunday morning to finish but they had wrapped him and I can't prove it but I just kind of have my own private interpretation here that Jesus body was there and and Mary said let me wrap his feet she had spent so much time at his feet and then they rolled the stone in front of the tomb and there she is again serving at the tomb finally you go to John chapter 20 verse 1 they probably spent a very difficult Sabbath in Jerusalem and you read now on the first day of the week John 20 verse 1 on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early while it was still dark and saw the stone had been rolled away from the tumor it's something I want you to notice when you read the four different Gospel accounts you're gonna probably this weekend if you listen to Christian radio you'll hear a lot of sermons about the resurrection during Easter and you're gonna notice some of them do sound like they're little different accounts when you put it all together what happened is the first one there was Mary Magdalene gospel is very clear about that other women were coming from different parts of Jerusalem they decided to rendezvous there Mary gets there first the tomb is empty she runs back to the city she tells Peter and John they run back to the tomb with Mary trying to catch up with him they look and they see Jesus isn't there they leave the other women go back to the tomb with Mary the angels appeared they talked to those women they go what's going on they leave Mary stays and so so Mary is just hanging out at the tomb because she says this is the last place I saw and she kind of made herself the deputy of the tomb that morning Luke and Mark 16 verse 9 when he rose early on the first day of the week he appeared first now that can't be misunderstood Kennan to Mary Magdalene out of whom he had cast seven demons that's interesting it says that several times in the Bible Mary Magdalene Luke says that out of whom Jesus cast seven demons now what does that mean how can you have how can you reconcile his most devoted follower with the one who's got seven devils I mean Jesus had this man who had a whole Legion of demons cast out of him does that mean at one point when Jesus first met Mary he cast out Seven Devils and she became a faithful follower you know I was reading about this in the book of desire of Ages and the author there says seven times Mary heard him casting out the Devils it's almost as though she kept slipping back and and she kept struggling there was a period of battling before she experienced complete victory another reason I say that is notice in proverbs 24:16 a righteous man may fall seven times that's not all at once is it means along the way and rise again have you read that story it's in Matthew where it talks about the parable Jesus says in Matthew chapter 12 verse 43 when an unclean spirit goes out of a man he goes through Dry places seeking rest and he finds none then he says I'll return to my house from which I came and he comes he finds it empty clean and swept and put in order he goes and he takes with him seven others spirits so you got it again seven other spirits those aren't good spirits more wicked than himself and they enter and dwell there and the last state of that man is worse than the first social would be with this wicked generation so you know what those seven spirits represent that are cast out of Mary that's sin that's just the perfect description of sin have you read where Solomon describes sin he kind of encompasses it proverbs 6 verse 16 six things the Lord hates yay seven are an abomination to him if you've heard of the seven deadly sins it's not in the Bible that kind of comes from Catholic theology but it's I think based on this work he says a proud look a lying tongue hands that shed innocent blood a heart that devises wicked plans feet that are Swift to running to evil a false witness who speaks lies and one who sews discord among brethren so when it says Mary Magdalene out of whom Jesus cast Seven Devils Mary is like a type of the church he finds us condemned he finds us lost and ashamed but at the feet of Jesus we find mercy and he casts out Seven Devils it's sort of as a symbol for all the sin then anybody could commit seven times Mary had slipped into his old patterns and then you find that it says she stands outside the tomb weeping go back to the Gospel of John we're gonna jump down a little further in that passage John chapter 20 so she comes the other women come the angels speak and the Apostles come and leave but Mary won't leave and it says Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping and as she wept she stooped down as she looked into the tomb and she saw two angels in white sitting one at the head and the other at the feet notice it mentions the feet of where the body of Jesus had lain and they said to her woman why are you weeping she said because they have taken away my Lord and I don't know where they've laid him so they believe that maybe Jesus had been evicted they'd already done so many things maybe the Jews were afraid they'd make a monument he realized that some of these scandalous people in Bible history like Jezebel and others they were there's no grave for them the Bible says they'd be condemned there'd be no grave so no one could memorialize them and they were afraid that they were gonna maybe evict Jesus body from the grave so there'd be no memorial of him they wouldn't make a martyr out of him they've taken away my Lord and I don't know where they've lain him and they said woman I'm sorry and then now she said this not when she had said this verse 14 she turned around she saw Jesus standing there and she didn't know that it was Jesus isn't that amazing I'm times that Jesus is right with people they don't know who he is says he came unto his own and his own received him not on the road to Emmaus they didn't know who he was and here Jesus is there no I think Mary's problem is she's cried all weekend her eyes are red and things are blurry and maybe Jesus you know you might have a cloak on and this people coming and going it's Sunday morning and she's wondering what's going on and he says woman why are you weeping she said because they've taken away my Lord and when she said that she turned around saw Jesus didn't know it was Jesus and she supposing him to be the gardener said sir if you actually he wants the gardener and it says he was buried in a garden Adam and he fell in a garden the Lord planted a garden eastward in Eden he was the gardener this world as his supposing him to be the gardener she said sir if you have carried him away tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away you know that just that dedication always touches me that here she is she's saying Jesus I believe was a full grown man and I always aggravated when I see some of these pictures of Jesus on the cross and he looks like he's sort of anorexic Jesus was a carpenter and that was they didn't have power tools back then and you know police tradition tells us he was about six feet tall and he seemed to disappear in a crowd of average people and he hung out with fishermen and then you picture Mary who is probably an attractive younger woman and she says tell me where he is and I will take care of his body and just I in my mind I just pictured Mary trying to carry the body of Jesus but she's basically saying I don't know how I'll do it but I'll take care of it you just tell me where his body is she's weeping and then he says one word to her Mary you know the name Mary comes from a name like Mara and it means sorrow like Miriam you remember the pot of the waters of Marah that were bitter in the Exodus story and her her sadness she had been so sad because of her sin and her struggles he says Mary she turned as she recognized the voice and she said rabboni which is to say teacher and she throws herself down at his feet and he says do not cling to me now some of you may read where it says do not touch me in the King James is actually not accurate that make it sound like Jesus Saint don't touch me I mean he you know earlier Simon said how was he letting her touch him because she's a sinner so it doesn't say that the word there is actually cleaned because she got all to him and she didn't want to let go she falls at his feet to worship Him he says don't detain me is what he's saying for I have not yet ascended to my father and thief couldn't be with Jesus in paradise Friday afternoon as Jesus hadn't gone to paradise yet but I'm going to my father and say to them I am ascending to my father and your father to my god and your God I'm gonna go see him I am the mediator between God and man and then Mary goes and she tells the disciples you know I just think this is such a beautiful story that Mary's are just guarding the spot how many of you remember how what was it uncle Arthur's bedtime story they had the story about Greyfriars Bobby about this little dog in the 1870s there and bring Edinburgh England there was an old Shepherd that he had this Terrier dog a little Terrier dog and and he'd come in for lunch every day as a local bakery and he'd eat his lunch and the dog would chew on the bone and he'd go out and you have the dog for several years and no one knows exactly how old the dog was you know four or five years old and then one day the Shepherd his name was old Jacques just had a heart attack and died and he was buried in the church graveyard there in gray friars and then the baker noticed one day that right around one o'clock when the shepherd used to always show up for his lunch the dog came in I said oh there's old Jaques dog Bobby he gave him a bone he gave him a bun he thought he needed more next day one o'clock he showed up again four days has happened and he started he became curious it though where's that dog going did someone adopt him and when the dog left he followed the dog up the street around the church and he saw the dog then went and laid down on the grave of his master and he showed this to the people in town and everybody noticed this well the dog was there faithfully day after day for weeks and got it rained on is out in the Sun and the local Deacon built him a little doghouse right by the grave he's staying on his master's grave day after day for 14 years and you just think about that story loyalty that's like marry the last place she saw Jesus was there at the tomb she wasn't gonna leave until he came back and he did come back now it's incredible to me that of all the people Christ could have revealed himself to he chosen to reveal himself to Mary you know you need to be glad I wasn't in charge of the resurrection because I would have worked her straight to things differently if I were Jesus I would have come back and going to Pilate and said I told you so see that or go to Herod and say now let's see if your soldiers want to make fun of me I dare them to put a bag over my head and hit me or I would have gone to Anna's to high priests and said I told you now what do you think and just watch them quiver I mean I would maybe even go to Caesar in Rome I didn't I would have made some kind of dramatic appearance in and one of those gotcha moments but Jesus he quietly chose to first reveal himself his mother was at the tomb she had been there and left with the other women Peter you think if he's the first pope shouldn't he have got first glimpse right I don't believe you was you know what I'm saying or John the Beloved Disciple why did he let them come and go and he's no no not Peter not John not my mother Mary that's the one do you remember our opening verse not many wise not many noble but God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise and he's chosen the base things the Lord uses simple instruments of all the people he could have revealed himself to he reveals himself to Mary and he says go tell them on the line she becomes this first evangelist it goes and announces to the apostles about the resurrection and I always thought that was such a wonderful story I mean here it's a thief on the cross who says that he is the Lord and the King and then it's Mary the woman that people said don't let her touch you and he reveals himself to her and Jesus chooses fishermen he doesn't go to the priests I think the Lord bends over backwards in the Bible to tell us that nobody can say I'm too big a sinner or God can't use me and that he could do this through Mary then he can do it through us quick review before we sing our closing song look at the places that you see Mary at the feet of Jesus you see first she's at his feet in shame looking for forgiveness then she's at his feet learning she's in study she's at his feet praying in supplication she's at his feet in sacrifice giving at the dinner she's at his feet in surrender beholding him on the cross she's at his feet in service at the tomb and finally we find her at his feet worshiping and in song proclaiming him as the risen Savior so really you get the story of her going from sorrow to song and this is a picture of the church what Mary goes through is what every one of us needs to go through all of us need to have time at Jesus feet in sorrow and surrender for our sins and track it all the way to the time in service and study at the cross and ultimately Jesus you come to Jesus Mary story starts she comes to Jesus there in the temple and she goes for Jesus after the cross after the resurrection and I think this is a good time of year for us to remember that amen have you do you want to be a devoted disciple like Mary then if we've followed this experience as we find it in the word we can have that kind of love and we can be sharing the good news let's stand together as we sing our closing song I believe it's beneath the cross of Jesus and that's number 303 in your hem books

Channel: 11:11 Ministries

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Id: w9mMbMaEaTc

Length: 56min 57sec (3417 seconds)

Published: Thu Apr 05 2018