Resurrection Questions - Pt 2

But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” (John 20:11-15 ESV). The first question posed to Mary is “Why are you weeping?” It seems a silly question to ask in the face of her experience. She was facing the stark reality of her grief at the loss of someone she loved and followed. He was her deliverer and hope; now it seemed all hope was lost. She wept because of her sorrow. We all weep because of sorrow; however, we need to process these sorrows in light of Jesus’ resurrection. The point of this repeated question was to get Mary to process her sorrow in light of the fact that Jesus was now risen. Yes, watching the crucifixion had been indescribably traumatic. You have to work through the emotional shock of such an event. But, Mary was now weeping from sorrow because the tomb was empty, whereas that fact should have caused her to weep for joy! Mary’s experience reveals three reasons why we often go through sorrow, which we need to process in light of Jesus’ resurrection. Disappointments cause sorrow. Mary was deeply disappointed, first by the shock of the crucifixion, but now by the fact that she wanted to finish embalming Jesus’ body. So often, we’re just like Mary. We’re disappointed because God isn’t working as we think He needs to work. But from God’s perspective, we’re asking the wrong questions and trying to accomplish the wrong tasks! We need to process our disappointments in light of the risen Savior’s love and care for us. We often don’t understand His sovereign perspective. That can cause disappointment and sorrow. Filter these experiences through the resurrection. The evil works and purposes of men cause sorrow. These too must be processed in light of Jesus’ resurrection. Mary thought that evil men had triumphed over God’s sovereign purposes. They had killed Jesus and now they had stolen His body. Twice she laments “they have taken away my Lord….” It’s an ironic complaint. If He is the Lord, no one could take Him anywhere without His consent! If God gives His angels charge concerning Messiah to guard Him in all His ways, then surely God would not permit the crucifixion and then allow the body to be stolen against His sovereign will. We often suffer needless sorrow because we forget that God is sovereign and that evil men can’t do anything to thwart His eternal purpose. The death of a loved one causes sorrow. This also must be processed in light of Jesus’ resurrection. Of course we grieve when we lose a loved one. In many cases, we will feel the loss every day for the rest of our lives. It’s not wrong to weep over such losses. However, our hope that Jesus is risen and that He is coming again to take us to be with Him and with our loved ones who have died in Him, sustains us through our tears. Because He is risen, His promises are true! Those promises give us hope in our sorrow.