Weeping may endure for the night, but joy comes in the morning
Psalm 30:5
I have been pondering the difference that the resurrection of Jesus makes to people’s lives. Think of the the difference the resurrection meant for Mary Magdalene. Her story is a fascinating one.
Mary was obviously a woman of substance, and one of those who financially supported the itinerant ministry of Jesus and ministered to him on his journeys.
It is often thought that she was an immoral woman, but the Scriptures simply say that Jesus cast seven devils out of her. To give us some idea of what this meant we need to think of the man of the Gadarenes called Legion.
Somehow, tragically, Mary had become devil-possessed. That story of Legion gives us some idea of what must have been the lonely torment of her soul. What agonies she must have passed through when evil forces within her that she couldn’t control had pulled her life to pieces.
And Jesus had healed her and brought her into rest and peace. Just as He had stilled the storm on Galilee, He had stilled her storm, and from then on she had followed with Him in adoring devotion. That nearness to Him was her only safeguard for the future and from a recurrence of the past.
So now she was a lonely, tragic figure that could be seen wending her way to the garden tomb on the first day of the week, filled with distressing grief and and terrible fears. The calm of our Lord’s presence was now gone. What if the old life with the old devils were to return?
‘Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning’
And that joy came for Mary on the morning of that third day.
The risen Jesus came to her and with one word, He brought her into rest and peace. He simply said ‘Mary’ – that was all. It was sufficient.
The Lord was risen from the dead!
Sincerely in that same Jesus,
Bill Hughes