Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Revelations of an Empty Tomb: The Advocate & the Gardener


i love the revelations of John. It has a Voice that has given me increased hope and perspective these past few weeks. As I have read chapters 19 & 20 over and over and over again.  

Jesus love for people is so evident. Above the miracles he did, his desire to be with people, to meet them where they were at and give them life, is what sticks with me the most. Even hanging on the Cross, i see him encouraging family and releasing freedom. Even there Love prevailed.

What a hope we have simply because we believe.

Chapter 20 is becoming one of my favorites, because all i see is God's grace. His tender-hearted patience in the midst of sorrow, fear and unbelief. What a gift he gave in allowing the men and women he loved, that loved him in return by following him while he was on the earth, to see him with their eyes once again. Mary didn't even recognize him at first,  thinking he was "the gardener" (which he is- for more heavy revelation of that one click here to hear Kat Hobin's  DTS teaching)  but that's okay because it takes us all the way back to Genesis and points to all Christ did to see-us- his family restored.

On that very same day, he walked through walls to surprise his closest disciples and friends. Then it zeros in on Thomas. i am convinced that Jesus didn't despise his situation.  That it was his joy to give Thomas what he needed to go on believing. Yes, the Scriptures say blessed are we who believe even while not seeing. But Jesus didn't love Thomas any less. And he wants us to see him, too! He wants us to want to touch him.

He came back a week later....for Thomas.

Verse 30-31 says, " The disciples saw Jesus do many miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written that you may continue  to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you may have life by the power of his name." 

Yesterday, I was watching a podcast from Elevation Church called 'Peter & the Packing Peanuts.' In it, Pastor Steven Furtick talks about Peter denying Jesus after he was arrested and how the Accuser (Satan) with a voice in our minds is bent on telling us lies about our character meant to destroy us in our moments of weakness. While it is Jesus, who sent us the Advocate (the Holy Spirit) who speaks with a Voice that means to work with us and remind us that those lies "are not who you are?"

The Enemy wants to shame us in our weaknesses, but the Advocate defends us, "No, you don't deserve it, but I call you worthy." We don't, by merit, deserve God's love. We can't believe enough to earn it or  'do right' enough to win it. It's an irrevocable gift that he has already given. i love that. We are Worthy anyway!
God honors us even when we're not honorable.( i see that in Jesus interactions with Pilate and the Pharisees even. The authority given to him by God, Christ humbled himself and submitted to it.)

Then there is Thomas. Downcast. Probably afraid. And hurt, too. Jesus left him. A feeling i can sympathize with. The understanding of knowing that in death Jesus mission on earth was complete. It doesn't quite fill the void of missing his presence. Thomas must have lacked the hope necessary to believe. His Light had been snuffed out (in his mind at least)- the world he knew turned upside down. The promise he'd held onto seemingly unfulfilled. He couldn't see Jesus anymore. And words could not tell him differently.

So, Christ came back. To encounter Thomas. To restore his sight and help him regain his belief. Because Jesus is that good, he is that faithful, he is kind. He doesn't despise us in our weaknesses, but beckons us to touch and take hold of the strength in his love.

"Put your finger here, and look at my hands. Put your hand into the wound in my side. Don't be faithless any longer. Believe!" -John 20:27

God sees the foolish things we do and reminds us that that is not who we are.. That Jesus came to fulfill his promise to free us and make us whole; make us look like him. No matter how hopeless our situations seem, he doesn't forget us. And he will have his way. Thomas shouts in verse 28, pain and doubt no longer suffocating his heart, "My Lord and my God!"

Jesus goes on to explain that seeing is not necessary to believe. That multitudes to come would believe despite having never seen him (at least not the way the disciples did) and for that they were to be called blessed- before the majority of them were even born. We are called blessed. Yes! But after Jesus spoke to Thomas, he took time to be with his bros and allowed them to see even more than they could have asked or imagined.

i love the empty tomb stories.i love that John knows he is loved-so secure in who Jesus says he is. i love Mary's dedication-passionate and enduring. i love that Peter, despite his denials, still ran into the tomb. And i love Thomas' honest vulnerability.

A lot of times i think we fail to see that Thomas (in a sense) was rewarded for that. He got to touch the wounds of Christ and physically identify with them, because it was what he needed. And Christ abounding in compassion granted him that. In love, He pursued Thomas in his deepest pain and darkest state back to belief.

Steven Furtick said something similar of Peter. Jesus knew he would fail him way before Peter actually did.

 Luke 22:31-32, " Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers." 

God knows us better than we could ever know ourselves this side of heaven. And he loves us anyway. He gives us so much grace and his mercies are new every morning. Even when we mess up, when we do things that suck, he always sees our screw-ups in the same way he witnesses our victories and he doesn't freak out. He has already forgiven us before we can even think to repent. He is the very reason we have a way back.

What is wild is God comes to us first. He pursues our restoration. From the Garden to being mistaken as the Gardener, he does it all. All we have to do is say, 'Yes.' Like Thomas, "My Lord and my God." Like Mary, "Rabboni!" 

Lord, thank you that you never leave us to ourselves. You always come back for us. And you do us one even better, you continue to give us what we don't deserve. Thank you for the Advocate, who reminds us who and whose we are...yours. 


"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth....But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative- that is, the Holy Spirit- he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you."-John 14:16-17a, 26