Seeing through the Eyes of Faith - Mary Magdalene - EIC Rueil

By Pastor Christian Nartatez.-

Introduction:

Welcome. We are continuing our sermon series, Encountering the Risen Christ. Today, we are going to look at a message titled Seeing through the Eyes of Faith, based on the Gospel of John, chapter twenty, verses eleven through eighteen.

To start, the only background story we have of Mary Magdalene is the one the Bible shows us. She was a delivered disciple. Luke chapter eight, verse two, tells us that she was once tormented by seven demons, but she experienced the liberating authority of Christ. That is who she was when she came to the tomb that morning.

Blinded Hearts

Our first point today is about blinded hearts, and how tears and assumptions can obscure our true sight. John chapter twenty, verses eleven and fourteen tell us: But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus.

We need to talk about the validity of lament. It is important to clarify that the Bible in many passages, especially the Psalms, invites and even encourages us to cry out with tears. Tears represent a real and genuine manifestation of internal pain. Jeremiah, as a prophet, is a clear and vivid example of this. However, we must consider that tears and affliction can cloud our vision. This is not so much due to physiological issues, such as having an obstruction in our eyes, but rather due to how our internal state can alter our perception.

Although grief and sorrow are valid in life, we must understand that grief and sorrow will only persist if we cling to the past, to what has happened before, without considering the present and the future. A person generally enters a state of depression because their outlook on everything is tied to the past, to the bad and negative events they have experienced, and that pain does not allow them to let go.

In Mary's case, her grief, her pain, and her suffering caused her to cling to a dead Jesus, to a physical body, rather than to a living, resurrected Jesus. And this almost caused her to lose sight of the living Christ standing right in front of her.

Let us look at how Mary experiences a state of altered perception here in relation to other parallel passages. John twenty verse twelve says: And she saw two angels in white. One of the things we see here is that while in the parallel passages Peter and John do not see the angels, but only the burial clothes, Mary, on the other hand, can see them. Obviously, we know that this is God revealing them to her. Why? What was God's reason for this?

I think a clear answer is that they appear to her to give her a message. It is not only a spoken message but a visual, encouraging, and motivating message. You see, in the Bible, we see angels bringing messages from God to different biblical characters, but in critical places and events within the scripture, we also see angels appearing. For example, the angels appear singing and worshipping God when Jesus is born. This event calls the shepherds to move to the scene to worship the newly born child. Now, we also need to notice that when this happens, the reaction of the people is something very different; it is not as if they were meeting a normal human being. When the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah, he is completely shocked and amazed to the point of fear. The same happens with Mary, the mother of Jesus; Gabriel had to say to her: Do not be afraid. And with Gideon or Manoah, it is exactly the same. They were shocked, amazed, and afraid.

However, when we look at Mary Magdalene, standing right in front of two angels, she does not seem to have that same reaction. Beyond this, she completely ignores the magnitude of the moment and continues to persist in knowing the whereabouts of Jesus' body.

Pain, sorrow, and suffering are valid in life, but they can cloud our vision. They can absorb us so much that we lose sight of the risen Christ, who is alive and reigning over all things. Mary's vision, because of her inner pain, became like a kind of tunnel through which she could only see in one direction. Do not let anything alter your vision of God; do not let anything limit how you see Christ in your daily life and in everything you do.

Finally, God, in His love, confronts Mary through a question. This is very characteristic of God. We see it, for example, when He confronted Elijah in a cave with a question. Elijah was afraid and running away, but the Lord came to him. The angels first ask her, and then Jesus asks her: Why are you weeping? It is not an informative question; they already know why she cries. Nor is it merely a rhetorical question. It is a question that touches the heart. This is a question that invites her into a deeper reflection.

While Mary is only looking through her pain, this question brings this reflection into her heart: What if there is another reality? A reality in which Jesus is not dead, but alive, risen, and present? This is the type of question that opens the door to the Gospel itself: to see the invisible, to believe the impossible, and to experience the comfort of a truth greater than pain, greater than sorrow, and greater than anything else.

What question is God asking our souls as we read the Gospel and see His Word revealed? Perhaps it is not: Why are you weeping? Maybe it is: Why are you doubting? Whatever the question, the important thing is to know that even though we are weak, God goes beyond this. Even though Mary Magdalene is absorbed in her pain and her vision is clouded, God by His love and mercy calls her by her name.

Christ’s Call

This brings us to our second point: Christ’s call. The Shepherd’s voice clears the eyes. John chapter twenty verse sixteen says: Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means Teacher.

Yet, despite having been asked three times, not only by angels but by Jesus Himself, it is only through the voice of Christ that she finally comes out of that tunnel of sorrow and suffering. But why does this happen? What is the reason?

It is because Christ's call is a personal call. Jesus said to her, Mary. He did not say, Woman. John chapter ten, verse three says: To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.

The reason Jesus dies on the cross for us is precisely because He knows us, because He knows who we are. Not by virtue of our merit, but by virtue of His love. He dies out of love for each of us individually; He chooses to redeem us, despite our sin, despite our rejection of Him. You see, I can say that I love in a general way, without really loving anyone specifically. Love is not an abstract thing or concept; it has measures. That is why Paul in Ephesians chapter three, talking about the love of God, says: what is the breadth and length and height and depth. He describes measures and physical properties regarding the love of God for us, because real love goes beyond mere words.

When I say I love individually and specifically, then I must love unconditionally. If I say I love someone, as the Bible says I must, then it is no longer a matter of someone deserving my love; it is a matter of loving unconditionally. When God says He loves us, it is not a conditional love; it is an unconditional and personal love for each of us.

The point here is that once we have believed, once we have decided to follow the Master, who we are is defined by our relationship with Christ. It is no longer the past that defines us. It is not our sin, nor our weaknesses, nor our struggles or afflictions. What defines us is who we are in Christ Jesus. Who He has said we are. That is what defines us.

Jesus said: You are the light of the world. You are the salt of the earth. I am the vine, you are the branches. Each declaration begins with, You are. These are not exhortations. It is not a conditional statement that we will be something if we behave, or that we need to do something in order to be accepted. These are deeds pronounced by Christ as a present reality.

Can there be room for grace and hope amidst life's pain and suffering? The story of Mary Magdalene's encounter with the Risen Christ teaches us that there is. God calls us directly by name. His powerful voice has the power to dissipate the fog of sorrow and pain and open our eyes to the divine reality, which cannot be contemplated with earthly eyes but only through the eyes of faith.

The Family We Belong To

This leads to our third point: The family we belong to. God gives us new eyes to see a new community and a new mission.

John chapter twenty, verses seventeen and eighteen read: Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her.

First, let us look at the new family. In John twenty verse seventeen, this is the first time after the cross that Jesus calls His disciples His brothers directly and explicitly. This talks about a new family status. A new family united by an eternal covenant. Up until then, Jesus had often referred to them as disciples, or friends, like in John fifteen verse fifteen, or even as sons or little ones in a general sense. But He had never before called them brothers in the open and clear way He does right here.

Second, there is a new mission. Jesus said to Mary, Do not cling to me. She could have stayed longer with Jesus; however, Jesus' call was not just about her being with her teacher, but her announcing the teacher who lives. Mary must release the old, present, and very tangible fellowship with Christ for a Spirit Empowered and Universal Communion, which is looking ahead to Pentecost.

When Jesus says, stop clinging to me, He is not excluding or rejecting her. He is redirecting her devotion into a new resurrection reality: she must exchange physical grasping for apostolic mission. From devotion to commission. Mary becomes the apostle to the apostles, the first evangelist of Easter.

Being known by God by name not only speaks to His unconditional love for us and His true knowledge of our lives, but also to the adoption we receive as part of God's new family in Jesus. God calls us by name because we can hear Him and recognize His call, just as a child hears the call of his Father. The parable of the prodigal son is a beautiful reminder of the Father's love for His children, especially for the one who abandoned Him.

This is due to the theological weight of what is happening here. The resurrection of Jesus and the appearance of the angels are marking a before and after in the history of humanity. We see a heavenly declaration of redemption to humanity. After the fall of man in Genesis, God stationed cherubim east of Eden with a flaming sword to block the way back to the tree of life. But now, in the Gospel of John, the angels no longer block the entrance. Instead, they invite Mary Magdalene to enter the presence of the one who said: I am the way, the truth, and the life. Where angels once blocked the way to life, now angels invite us in.

Mary rose before dawn to mourn a corpse, but she walked away at sunrise having met a King. Her tears were not denied; they were redeemed. Christ changed her weeping into witness, her searching into sending, and her darkness into daybreak.

And if we too were to come with a broken heart and lost hope, even if we are only looking through our pain and sorrow, the living God is so merciful that He will speak into our lives and will call us by name. And we will have life, eternal and abundant life, because He resurrected. Because He lives.

Because He lives, our yesterdays are forgiven, our todays are guided, and our tomorrows are secure in the hands of the Lord.

I would like us to take some time to meditate on what it means that Christ is risen. What it means for each of us that God is calling us by name but also speaking to our hearts. It is our desire that you may hear His personal call by name to you today. If there is any way in which God is calling your heart through His Word and the Gospel, and you would like to continue sharing about this, we will be here to help you. Either Pastor Jeff, Pastor John Hugh, myself, or someone you trust and would like to talk to; please let us know.

Let us pray.

Preached by Pastor Christian Nartatez at EIC Rueil-Malmaison. To provide a better reading experience, Artificial Intelligence tools were used to transcribe and lightly edit the spoken text.