The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – John 20:19-23 (day four)

The breath of God is more powerful than we could ever imagine. In Genesis, man gets his very life from God’s breath. Psalm 33 proclaims that the breath of God created the heavenly host. Job tells us that the breath of the Almighty gives understanding. Here, Jesus simply breathes, and the disciples receive the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God himself, the third member of the Trinity, imparted through breath.

It’s by this Holy Spirit that we can participate in life with God. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to live in a new way. Right after he breathes the Spirit onto them, Jesus starts talking about forgiveness. Of all the ways that the Spirit changes our lives – Jesus chooses to talk about how the Spirit empowers us to forgive. Overcoming unforgiveness is one of the most powerful ways the Spirit acts in our lives. Are you having trouble forgiving someone who has wronged you? Take it to the Lord. When you walk with God, he has given you his Spirit through a simple breath. Through that Spirit, forgiveness is possible.

Re:Verse passage – John 20:19-23 (day three)

“Peace be with you.”

You might from time to time encounter a self-proclaimed “straight shooter” who will “tell it like it is.” That kind of bluster will ride roughshod over a person’s soul. Jesus, by contrast, used words not to establish a reputation, but to move in close to a person’s heart. Sometimes the person rejected that move. Other times, the person welcomed it. In either case, Jesus always spoke words that perfectly fit the circumstance. His words served people. This instance is no exception. A “straight shooter” would have shamed the disciples for their terror and scolded them for their confusion about resurrection. Jesus, deeply moved by their fear and pain, knew they needed peace, not a pep talk. Their courage to love the whole world arose from their experience of the one who spoke words of compassion into their weakness.

Re:Verse passage – John 20:19-23 (day two) And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord. vs. 20

Jesus’ first words to the disciples were ones of peace, and then he immediately showed them his wounds. It was after he had done this that they rejoiced. He was aware of the visceral need to see, touch, experience the resurrection. It is one of the things I love best about the savior, he understands the human condition fully. He ate, was tired and took naps, he laughed, and he suffered. All of these are what being fully human represent. When scripture speaks of ‘hungering and thirsting for righteousness’ it taps into a very real understanding by those who walk this mortal journey. It seems an odd statement that they would rejoice over the wounds, but it made the power of resurrection real, and Jesus understood that need to see and feel. Our trust is in the power of scripture and the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to know the truth of Jesus’ resurrection power. Thanks be to God.

Re:Verse passage – John 20:1-18 (day seven)  

Jesus said to her, “Mary!” vs 16a

Mary didn’t initially recognize that it was Jesus who was talking to her. Perhaps she was still in shock, stricken by grief. How could it have been Jesus? She was there at the cross. She watched Him die. But when He said her name, it was unmistakable. She knew His voice. She knew this was real.

To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. John 10:3-4

Do you know His voice? Have you heard it? When you hear the voice of the Lord calling out your name, it is unmistakable. He calls each of us by name to trust Him as our Savior. Yet, it doesn’t stop at salvation. You will often hear it when you are running too fast in the wrong direction. You will hear it when you need encouragement. You will hear it when He is calling you to a special task. Maybe even now you will hear him calling out your name. When you hear it, you will know His Voice. When you hear it, you will know this is real. You will know, because you are His.

Re:Verse passage – John 20:1-18 (day six)

“Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” John 20:17

We are not sure what to make of this. Is Jesus alluding to some mystery about his glorified body? I believe it is far simpler than that. It might have sounded something like this,

“Mary, you need to let me go; I still have work to do, and so do you. Now go tell my disciples…”

Could it be that is what Jesus intends for us to understand? That we can’t stay in the garden holding onto him. That we have a story to tell.

“Now, go and tell…”

Re:Verse passage – John 20:1-18 (day five)  One of beautiful things about the scriptures is that they portray people as ”normal” people. Even the heroes. They say and do things just like us. They fail. They argue. They miss the point. They succeed. They are afraid. They have courage. They sin. They celebrate. They worship. Just like us. And what we read in our Re:Verse passage this week, is that the disciples and women followers of Jesus are extremely grief stricken. (Just like we would be) It’s further evidence that Jesus really died and was buried. Some saw it and talked about it. The others sensed it from the way people were speaking and acting. And they were filled with grief, shock, and fear.
We all process and discover events and truth differently. Peter sees the empty tomb and grave clothes and is still in a state of grief. John see the same thing and “believes”. Mary sees the same thing and is overcome with grief and confusion.
Yet, all of these people mentioned will come to the point of believing. The Lord will immediately begin to work and speak in ways to convince, convict, and encourage His followers.
How might He do that with us (His followers today)?  Oh Lord, please help us to believe with greater confidence and to follow You with greater clarity and courage!!  Show us!!  Speak to us!! Come near to us!!  Help your people!!

Re:Verse passage – John 20:1-18 (day four)

When we look at Jesus’ life, we find that every moment was filled with intention. Nothing was haphazard. Always look for who is around at the turning points in Jesus’ life. When Jesus is born, the angels first bring the news to poor shepherds working in the pasture over night. These men were often looked down upon in society, yet the good news of Jesus’ birth was brought to them first. Give this some thought – why them?

Now, at the resurrection, at the most significant moment in human history – look who’s there. The resurrected Jesus first reveals himself to women. The first person to witness about the resurrected Savior was a woman. Women, too, were treated poorly in society. They weren’t allowed to participate in the synagogues, they didn’t have any social or economic power of their own. And yet, it is to them that Jesus reveals this good news. Why them?

Jesus keeps interesting company. The people around him aren’t who you’d expect. And now, we’re included in that wonderfully weird company that he keeps as well. Why us? Why does he draw near to us? In response, we can follow the example of the shepherd and the women – we can go and tell.

Re:Verse passage – John 20:1-18 (day three)

“Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping.”

The disciples of Jesus were going to believe in this miracle at the speed of their lifelong experience, which is to say, belief was slow in coming. All their lives, these men and women had seen only a limited number of possible outcomes for any given circumstance. It’s just the way things were. When you can see no possibility for resolution to suffering but a darker future, despair makes sense. In fact, to hope is foolhardy. And when evidence points to something other than that bleak future, you’ll dismiss the evidence. The resurrection reveals, though, that despair is only a habit of thought. God has opened up new possibilities for the human race. If the dead are raised, no other seemingly impossible thing is off the table, no matter what it is.

Re:Verse passage – John 20:1-18 (day tw0)  So the disciples went away again to their own homes. But Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping vs. 10-11a

It’s impossible to know what kind of inner turmoil and confusion these three must have been experiencing, but their reactions produced vastly different results. The disciples went home. They gathered together and waited for some direction as to how to move next.

Mary, however, stayed where she knew Jesus had been. She came to care for Jesus, and she wanted to carry out that last act of kindness. She wanted answers. She was rewarded, first by seeing the angels, and then by seeing and speaking to Jesus himself. It was her determination to find Jesus that allowed her to be the one to declare to the disciples:

Mary Magdalene came, announcing to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” vs. 18a

We don’t know the motivation of John and Peter in their return home, but we can see how Mary was blessed by her perseverance. Go to where you know Jesus to be. Wait for him, call on him. He will be found.