Title: Resurrection Faith /Mark 16:1-11
Anything can be seen differently depending on the point of view, and the way of life depends on how you understand it. Generally, people with passive and introverted personalities make decisions after much thought and contemplation, whereas active people tend to think easily about everything. This is especially true of faith. Some people's faith is always dark. It's always sad. As a result, everything is negative. Even if you believe in Jesus, you are not happy to believe. There is a dark corner somewhere. It is always a struggle, as if believing in a God who does not answer even when called. We call this person's faith. But the Christian faith is not the religion of the grave. In other words, it is a religion of joy, hope, and hope.
Today, on Easter Sunday, we are having a worship service to participate in the joy and joy. This fact means that our faith should no longer be a faith in the grave, but a hopeful, hopeful resurrection faith. Why? This is because we are the ones who were crucified with Jesus and resurrected with Christ to new life.
In today's text, several women appear. They would normally be busy serving Jesus and his disciples, but now there is no activity. There is no longer anyone to serve and no teacher to listen to. There are no more miracles of healing, no counselors. They only ran towards the grave from dawn, and they only sit towards the grave. Matthew 27:61 explains their situation, saying, “There Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting facing the tomb.” They had come a long way with great anticipation and fervent enthusiasm, but all that awaited them was an empty tomb. Still, they kept going to the grave. I went in the evening and I went in the morning. I went and went again. Guys, am I running to for now? Are you running away hoping for him to be there? Are you running in anticipation of it?
But there is something important in this despair. It is the fact that Jesus, whom Mary was so looking for, was standing with Mary in a resurrected form in front of the empty tomb of despair. Mary went to the tomb to see Jesus' body, but Jesus was looking at her from behind. Mary is looking at , and Jesus is looking at . Mary's gaze was fixed on , not on the reality, but Jesus' gaze was focused on . Everyone, yes. How absurd would it be if I was only looking for the dead Jesus in the empty tomb that is always in front of me without being aware of the living Lord who is looking at me right behind my back? The problems we face in our religious life become more difficult because we are so engrossed in the problems in front of us that we do not feel the presence of God behind us. If our attention stays in the wrong place, our spiritual vision becomes astigmatism. So I can only get more confused and frustrated. It is the same as Mary Magdalene, who was lost in the empty tomb, looked back and did not recognize Jesus.
The same is true of our problems today. The problem is that there is no resurrection faith. The problem is that I do not know the risen Lord who is behind my back. For me, I have a thorough life of faith and confession of faith, but because I do not have faith to acknowledge the risen Lord in my life, I have no choice but to live according to my own beliefs with always dark, always pessimistic, and always negative words and actions. there is no
Mary Magdalene, who stood in front of the empty tomb without faith in the resurrection, heard the voice of the Lord, “Woman, why are you weeping and seeking whom?”, she regarded her as a garden keeper. It was the Lord who longed to see him with such sorrow and sorrow, but Mary did not recognize him at all. This is the absurd contradiction of those who sit toward the empty tomb.
Now, then, how can we recognize the risen Lord and enjoy His new life? How can we change our faith in the empty tomb to the faith in the resurrection of new life? Lord! Lord, can I just call on your name? Mary Magdalene must have called out the name of the dead Lord countless times before the tomb. Even so, she could not meet and find the Lord of the Resurrection on her own. In other words, her faith toward the empty tomb could not be saved by her own love alone. That salvation came only when Jesus called on her name. That scene is John 20:16. “Jesus said, ‘Mary,’ and Mary turned and said in Hebrew, ‘Raboni,’ which is Teacher.” It means “my teacher” or “my Lord.” The Lord called out to him, “Mary,” and then he saw the risen Lord. That Lord is confessed as “my Lord”. Resurrection life flows in the Lord's call, “Mary,” and in the answer, “Raboni,” Mary’s faith in resurrection is blossoming.
The Lord is calling us. “Anyone!” he calls out personally. That voice is not the voice of the dead body in the tomb, but the voice of the risen Lord. In that call is the Lord's desire that we no longer live toward an empty tomb, that we no longer grow weary, that we fail, that we turn from negative faith.
Iran is like this.
Dear saints!
The risen Lord is not in the grave now, but is with us. And he is calling our names. Break free from the faith that dwells in the empty tomb any longer and live as a person who has received new life. Let's not fight, let's love. Don't be jealous, let's comfort. Don't criticize, but praise. It's not dark, it's bright. Don't be negative, be positive. Don't be lazy and be diligent.
If our faith so far has been the faith that has stayed in the empty tomb, I hope that it will be changed by meeting the risen Lord.