Kia Ora family of families.

Another week of looking up while locked down. This week is basking in the glory of the Easter weekend and the Season of Lent. Following on Betsy’s welcome to the week, I wanted to share today’s meditation from Lectio365 – a daily reflection that I am following. Great thoughts and questions. Enjoy:

Pause

As I enter prayer now, I pause to be still; to breathe slowly; to re-centre my scattered senses upon the presence of God.

Pause and pray

Prayer of Approach
Jesus, open my eyes to see You alive, present and powerful today. Spirit, infuse all I say and do with the hope of resurrection life.

Rejoice and Reflect

I rejoice in God’s goodness today, joining with the ancient praise of all God’s people in the words of Psalm 146…

Praise the LORD!
Let all that I am praise the LORD.
I will praise the LORD as long as I live.
I will sing praises to my God with my dying breath.
Psalm 146:1–2

Pause and pray

Today I reflect again on John 20 and join Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus. She’s there to tend to the body of her friend Jesus, a teacher, the man she had put her faith in. Instead, she’s shocked and upset to find His body gone. In its place are two angels…

“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 round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise 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 towards 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.”’
John 20:13–17

When I lost a dear friend, I felt the ‘him-shaped’ hole in my life. Sadness visited at unexpected moments. Those memories bring new depth to this passage. It would be easy to rush to the ‘Ta-da!’ moment of Jesus revealed as I have done in the past, but instead, today I notice that it begins with grief, confusion and compassion.

The angels, present like they were at Jesus’ birth, don’t sing songs or make magnificent proclamations. Instead they ask a sobbing woman why she’s crying. Jesus, in his first recorded appearance after He’s risen from the dead, isn’t rushing off to look for the disciples, or the nearest crowd. Instead he’s pausing to comfort a friend.

Ask

Mary failed to recognise Jesus at first. C.S. Lewis wrote,

‘You can’t see anything properly while your eyes are blurred with tears.’

Is anything blurring my vision of Jesus today? Am I grieving? Do I feel sad? Am I stressed or distracted? Am I uncertain and afraid? It’s easy to feel all this and more in the midst of this pandemic. Jesus, I need to meet with you now.

Pause and pray

Who do I know who is grieving or feeling the weight of sadness today? I imagine them standing with me, by this tomb, before Jesus.
I ask Him to call their name and show them compassion and comfort.

Pause and pray

Yield

As I return to the passage, I open my ears to hear Your Word, and my heart to yield to Your will once again.

“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 round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realise 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 towards 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.”’
John 20:13–17

Mary was looking for a dead man. Instead, in the living Jesus, she found so much more than she ever expected.

“Who is it you are looking for?”

I imagine Jesus asking me this question. Am I looking for Him today? What do I expect when I find Him?

Pause and pray

Prayer of Yielding
Jesus, my vision is often blurred and I fail to recognise Your presence. I want to see You in every situation and with every person I connect with today. Open my eyes, Lord, to see Your life-bringing possibilities.

Closing Prayer
Father, help me to live this day to the full,
being true to You, in every way.
Jesus, help me to give myself away to others,
being kind to everyone I meet.
Spirit, help me to love the lost,
proclaiming Christ in all I do and say.
Amen.

If you enjoyed this meditation, click to download the app and follow.