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ISSUE 7, VOL. 3, 2012

 
key truths for living life
not as a religious Christian,
but as a friend of God 
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Neck-to-neck with Jesus, we learn holy intimacy - audacious yet utterly pure. Not rebellious nor defiant nor immoral, we keep company with him in a way that flies in the face of tradition, religion and culture - and highly honors God.

 

 

 

 

 

Snapshots of Rest:
Mary Called Magdalene
     

Deborah P. Brunt

Deborah Brunt

  

We, the Busy and Exhausted, desperately need rest, yet doggedly push it away. Convinced that resting will keep us from accomplishing, we relentlessly press on.

 

Meanwhile, the Spirit of Christ nudges us, insistently reminding us of Jesus' invitation in Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

 

Intrigued - we resist. We wonder: How, exactly, would we come to Jesus? To move toward a person we cannot see requires effort, and might not accomplish a thing, except to make us look strange.

 

And how and why would we take his yoke? A yoke signals even greater exertion. A yoke connects two draft animals at the neck so they can work together effectively to pull a plow, harrow, or wagon. Besides that, when the word "yoke" is used of people, it almost always denotes oppression, hard labor, bonds. Whew.

 

We, the Busy and Exhausted, stagger under the weight of our already-too-heavy loads. How can we take seriously anyone who claims, "Take my yoke . . . and you will find rest"?

No rest for the demon-possessed        

Luke 8 introduces a woman who did take Jesus' invitation seriously. Luke identifies her as "Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out." She, along with other women "who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases," traveled with Jesus as he proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom of God (vv. 1-2).

 

If Scripture is true, demons are real. If evil spirits "come out" of people, they also go in. Further, demons make horrific tenants. Once allowed in, they take over. They torment - torturing, battering, deceiving, exploiting. They enslave and destroy. A demon-possessed person cannot, in his or her own power, evict the abusers.

 

In Matthew 12:43, Jesus described demons as constantly seeking rest and never able to find it. A person ruled by demons cannot find rest either.

 

In Galatians, Paul wrote to Christians, whom Jesus had freed, yet who were again inviting demonic oppression. These people hadn't become drug addicts, nor had they toyed with the occult. Rather, they began to believe the lie that living the Christian life means keeping a certain set of religious rules. The Galatian Christians turned from hearing the voice of God and obeying him in the power of the Spirit to the seemingly easier (but actually utterly exhausting) method of adopting a certain group's biblically-based checklist and working hard to check all the boxes. In so doing, they quenched the Holy Spirit and opened themselves to evil spirits. Aghast, Paul asked:

 

"How can you be so foolish! You began by God's Spirit; do you now want to finish by your own power? . . . In the past you did not know God, and so you were slaves of beings who are not gods. But now that you know God - or, I should say, now that God knows you - how is it that you want to turn back to those weak and pitiful ruling spirits? Why do you want to become their slaves all over again?" (Gal 3:3; 4:8-9 GNT).

 

Mary called Magdalene didn't make the same foolish choices as the Galatian believers. Tormented and enslaved by seven demons, she could have expected nothing more than darkness, despair and death. But Mary came to Jesus. He sent all seven demons scurrying.

 

Trusting the One who had delivered her, Mary took the yoke Jesus held out to her - and never turned back. Matthew 11:28-30 in The Message renders Jesus' invitation this way: "Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Keep company with me        

At Jesus' invitation, Mary Magdalene went where he went. Just the fact that she and the other women kept company with him was scandalous. Even today, rumors continue to fly. Sometimes it's whispered, sometimes trumpeted, that Mary called Magdalene was the mistress and/or wife of Christ.

 

Undaunted by the gossip, Mary stayed in the yoke that kept her neck-to-neck with Jesus. The result was holy intimacy - audacious yet utterly pure. Not rebellious nor defiant nor immoral, Mary did what flew in the face of tradition, religion and culture - and highly honored God: She literally walked and worked with Jesus.

 

Luke 8:3 says, "These women were helping to support them [Jesus and the twelve] out of their own means." In a day when women generally didn't own property (but rather were considered to be property), these women could have expected someone else to support them. Instead, blessed with "means" enough to help Jesus' whole entourage, and (even more amazing) having the authority to decide how their property and possessions were to be used - Mary Magdalene and friends invested in the one man the religious leaders most wanted dead.

 

One day, the religious leaders got their wish. Jesus was crucified. Mark 15:40-41 says, "There were also some women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene . . . . When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and minister to Him" (NASU).

 

The Greek verb translated "follow" means "to accompany (specially, as a disciple)." The Greek verb translated "minister to" is diakoneo. It means "to take care of, by rendering humble service to," "to be responsible for financial aspects of an enterprise," and "to serve God in some special way, such as a deacon."

 

Formerly demon-possessed, Mary became both disciple and "deacon." She is named first by the Gospel writers in every listing of the women connected with Jesus' ministry, except one list that includes Jesus' mother. Trusted with responsibility, treated with respect, Mary Magdalene served Christ from a place of continual inner rest.

Of first importance          

Even when it all seemed to come to an abrupt and brutal end, Mary and the other women disciples didn't scatter. We find them at the cross. We find them at the tomb when Jesus' body is placed there and the entrance sealed. We find them returning to the tomb on resurrection morning, in hopes of anointing the body.

 

How amazing, how wonderful, that Mary Magdalene kept coming to Jesus even when it seemed for all the world that his claims were false and his mission aborted. Why watch the torture of the cross? Why attend the hasty burial? Why go back to the grave with spices, when a large stone and armed guards blocked the entrance?

 

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wrote, "Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. . . . For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve" (vv. 1,3-5).

 

Here, Paul identified three key events of the gospel: Christ died for our sins, was buried and was raised. Subsequently, he appeared to witnesses. While hundreds of people saw the risen Christ (and everyone who believes in him encounters him), the Gospel writers make clear that very few people witnessed Jesus' death and burial and resurrection. None of the apostles did. (The scriptural record places John alone at the cross and not even he at the burial.)

 

Who, then, did God choose as eyewitnesses to all three events Scripture describes as "of first importance"? A handful of women who kept coming to Jesus when it seemed hopeless and pointless to do so - among them, Mary Magdalene.

 

Horrified, they watched Jesus die. Heart-broken, they saw him buried. Then, hallelujah!
The risen Lord appeared first to them! The women made two choices that positioned them to meet Jesus outside the empty tomb: (1) They never stopped coming to Christ, and (2) they rested when the Lord said to rest.

 

"The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment" (Luke 23:55-56).

 

Mary and the other women disciples didn't succumb to the lie that resting gets in the way of accomplishing. Even though their task seemed urgent, on Sabbath they rested as God had commanded. If they had not, if they had hurried to the tomb Saturday morning, they would have left the tomb still desolate. Instead, they arrived too late to anoint a dead body. Yet they left overjoyed! For God had an entirely different assignment for them from what they'd supposed. He ushered them onto the scene exactly on time to watch him unveil the most glorious, most important miracle in the history of the world.

Remember how he told you        

Inside the now-empty tomb, angels proclaimed to astonished women: "'Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: "The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again."' Then they remembered his words" (Luke 24:5-8).

 

"Remember how he told you . . ." The angels didn't say, "Remember how he told the men while you ladies were down at the river washing clothes." The Lord Jesus, who had himself entrusted these women with significant responsibility, had also himself taught them. He'd taught them, not trivial, peripheral things, but pivotal things, things "of first importance."

 

Before his death, Jesus proclaimed the Good News of the kingdom to the women who followed him as disciples. They remembered!

 

Then, wonder of wonders, he showed them the Good News. They who had seen him dead and buried saw him alive! They "came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him" (Matt. 28:9).

 

Mary wanted to stay and cling to him. Jesus had other plans. What he had told the women beforehand, what they now saw to be true, he sent them to tell others. Yes, Jesus himself sent Mary Magdalene to proclaim the truth to devastated men who needed to hear it.

 

Mary didn't ask, "Lord, is it really appropriate for me to take your message to a group of men?" Nor did she decide, "Okay, you must not really be Jesus because God wouldn't call a woman to do such a thing." Yoked to the Lord Jesus, "Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: 'I have seen the Lord!' And she told them that he had said these things to her" (John 20:18).

Stick your neck out         

Today, this same Jesus says to you, "Come to me . . . take my yoke . . . and you will find rest."

 

Perhaps:  

  • Your bondage and torment are so great it seems impossible for anyone to deliver you.  
  • Pursuing holy intimacy with the Lord has led to your being misunderstood and maligned.
  • You've come to Jesus repeatedly. You've walked and worked with him for a long time. Yet, today, it looks for all the world as if his claims are false and his mission aborted. Continuing to stick your neck out seems pointless and hopeless.
  • The "yoke" Jesus has invited you to take includes an assignment that people have said (and you may have believed) could not come from God.

 

Remember Mary called Magdalene! She shows us . . .

 

Rest is the relief, ease, refreshment, recreation and blessed quiet you experience when Jesus sends scurrying demons you could not evict. Rest is living by the Spirit and so experiencing in ever greater measure the freedom from torment, enslavement, darkness and despair that Jesus has purchased for you.

 

Rest is walking and working alongside the One whose yoke is "wholesome (useful, good - not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant)" and whose gentle strength enables you to complete every assignment (see Matt. 11:29-30 AMP).

 

Rest is taking time off when God says, "Stop, take a break, keep Sabbath!" It's choosing to wait when the Spirit of Christ says, "Wait," even when the tasks before you clamor to be done now. Rest positions you to watch as the Jesus you thought needed your help accomplishes infinitely more than you would have dared to ask or imagine.

 

Rest is emerging from your darkest hour to see your Lord alive. It's worshiping him with great joy. It's hearing your next assignment from his own lips.

 

Rest is humbly serving the One who always treats you with high respect, entrusts you with significant responsibility and involves you in things of first importance.

Busy and Exhausted one         

Jesus is calling you:

 

"Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

 

Want the rest? Take the risk: Never stop coming to Jesus. Stay in the yoke that keeps you neck-to-neck with him.



Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, Today's New International Version™ TNIV �, Copyright � 2001, 2005 by International Bible Society (4). All rights reserved worldwide. Also quoted: New American Standard Bible (NASU), Good News Translation (GNT), and the Amplified Bible (AMP).

Yoke: NT:2218, Greek-English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domain. Copyright � 1988 United Bible Societies, New York. Used by permission.

 

Follow: NT:190, Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright � 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.

 

Minister to: NT:1247, Greek-English Lexicon

 

 
Read the first two articles in the Return to Your Rest series: 

 

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When God looks at the culture of the Mississippi Delta, the South Carolina Lowcountry, the Deep South, or the conservative church in the US, he applauds and affirms what is good. He discloses what is morally neutral and gives freedom in regard to it. Ah, but here's the painful part: For his glory and our good, he reveals what needs to be rooted out.

 

As we cooperate with him, he exposes what has deadened us to him, what has misrepresented him, what holds us perpetually in bondage, what denies our true value and identity, what wars against righteousness and justice, mercy and love. He uproots what promises to enrich us, but only impoverishes us; what repeatedly slams us, yet keeps us clinging obsessively to what we are not.

 

God does all this in order to return us to the exponentially deeper roots of who we are in Christ. "You received Christ Jesus the Lord, so continue to live as Christ's people. Sink your roots in him and build on him" (Col. 2:6-7 God's Word).

Now, O Lord, we let go of anything we've thought we had to cling to, anything we've bound ourselves to serve. We embrace our true identity in you as we humble ourselves before you and trust in your unfailing love.

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