So much to ponder...sitting in the Secret Garden...it is breezy and warm...lovely Sunday afternoon...
"Be still and know that I Am God" (Psalm 46:10)...
the words of the verse stare at me from across the garden...
I sit in the stillness and wait on the Lord.
It wasn't so still for You, Lord,
as You rode into Jerusalem on a donkey that day...
The little children sang "Hosanna"
the people waved palm branches and rejoiced to see You.
They hailed You as their King and Savior...
and five days later they crucified You.
How can it be, Lord?
And yet, how can it not be?
"Amazing love! How can it be...
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me!"
And then three days later...
Mary and the other women went to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body with spices...
and when they arrived...
they discovered the stone had been rolled away!
When they entered the tomb, they saw a "young man" in a white robe sitting there...
and he said to them,
"Do not be alarmed.
You seek Jesus of Nazareth,
who was crucified.
He is risen!
He is not here!
See the place where they laid Him.
But go, tell His disciples...and Peter...
that He is going before you into Galilee,
there you will see Him, as He said to you."
(Mark 16: 1-7)
Mary was the first one to tell the others that Jesus was alive!
Mary went back to the tomb later...and she wept as she stooped down and looked into the tomb.
(see John 20)
In the stillness of the garden where the tomb was, Jesus appeared to Mary...
She thought He was the gardener...
But when Jesus called her by name, she recognized His voice!
She knew then it was the Lord!
She knew His voice...
because she knew Jesus...
He called her by name...
because He knew her, and He loved her...
"My sheep hear my voice..."
(See John 10:1-18)
"I Am the good Shepherd, and I know my sheep...
and am known by My own.
As the Father knows me,
even so I know the Father,
and I lay down My life for the sheep."
"No one takes it from Me,
but I lay it down of Myself.
I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again..."
"And can it be that I should gain
an interest in the Saviour's blood?
Died He for me,
who caused His pain,
for me, who Him to death pursued!
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
(hymn by Charles Wesley)
He knows my name...
I hear His voice, and I know that He loves me...
because He died for me,
so that I might live...
This dove sat above me in the Secret Garden,
quietly watching and listening as I sang the song above...
he never moved...just watched and waited in the "Sanctuary"
The dove is a symbol of peace...
and also a symbol of God's Holy Spirit...
And I felt His Presence there in the garden as I listened for His voice...and heard Him speaking to me.
As I sat there I was praying for one of our neighbors, who had to leave suddenly in the morning because they received the news that their adult son was in serious condition, his life hanging between life and death...I prayed for them, and for their son and his family. Prayed for God to be with them and to carry them home safely.
Prayed for their son, that God's will be done, knowing that he belonged to Jesus...
and I received word this morning when I woke up that their son had passed into heaven during the night.
He passed from this life into life eternal...carried by the angels to heaven...
Oh! What joy for him...but what sorrow for his family today.
Lord, I lift up this dear family to you today, and pray that they will be comforted in knowing that when You called their son's name, he knew Your voice, and he answered with joy...
"Here I am, Lord..."
And I know that You said to him,
"Welcome home, son."
But Lord, please wrap Your loving arms around this precious family and give them peace in knowing that their son is with You, and that he is safe in the arms of Jesus today.
I know what this feels like...to see a son leave this earth for heaven...
and there are no easy words to say...
but our comfort is in knowing that our child is with Jesus...
Finally Home...because of what Jesus did for us on that cross so many years ago...
"Because He lives...I can face tomorrow."
(Postscript: This post replaces the weekly Sermon Notes for this week, as it is based in part on Sunday's message, and how God applied it as the day progressed...)
