John 20:11-18. 11But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). 17Jesus 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.’” 18Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.
What Jesus says to Mary on Easter Sunday in the garden is remarkable – Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Jesus’ place was with God. He had to go back to the Father. I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.
Your Father. Your God.
Christian, because of our union with Christ, our place is now with God. With our Father. And all because of the resurrection. Our destiny is not to stay in the grave, but to rise and ascend to the Father. To perfect love and perfect holiness. Our place is with God is the truth that changes everything. It’s the final truth of that allows us to experience Holy Week in our hearts each and every day in reverse:
Silent Saturday:
Our place with God lets us find peace in our Silent Saturday. To not just endure the suffering and sorrow of this life but to endure with power and hope. To endure knowing that we are being conformed into the Crucified Christ. The resurrection turns our Saturday from hiding into going – going into all the world to preach the good news.
Good Friday:
Our place with God lets us embrace the sacrificial love of Good Friday. We can give up anything in this life because we know we will gain everything when we are united to the Father in glory. The resurrection makes us living sacrifices for all the world to see.
Maundy Thursday:
Our place with God allows us to love the command of Maundy Thursday. The command given by Christ at the communion table to love one another as he has loved us with a love that is more powerful than death. The resurrection makes loving others this way plausible. Without fear of rejection, with nothing to lose, and with everything to gain.
Spy Wednesday:
Our place with God empowers us to pour out our lives for Christ as Mary did on Spy Wednesday. To turn our greatest treasure over to Jesus, even our hearts. The resurrection makes this level of commitment our “reasonable service” (Rom. 12:2).
Holy Tuesday:
Our place with God sends us out into the world with the authority of God backing us up. The authority Christ claimed for himself on Holy Tuesday. The authority he commissioned us with when he sent us out. The resurrection is ultimate Truth now living in us. The Truth in you gives you the right to declare the good news regardless of how many or in what way people will respond.
Holy Monday:
Our place with God produces the same purity of the Temple that Jesus demanded on Holy Monday. The resurrection gives to us Christ’s imputed holiness. Now we are his holy temple, the dwelling of God on Earth. We are a city on a hill beckoning all to come and see what the Lord has done for us in Jesus.
Palm Sunday:
Our place with God lets our hearts long for the victorious return of our Savior-King as on Palm Sunday. Christ riding in victorious over all his enemies, not on a humble colt of a donkey, but on a stallion of white with a rod of iron in his hand. And us in a holy procession behind him, the captives of his glorious grace, following our forever reigning king into an eternity of love, joy, and peace. Amen.
You: In what way is the Lord asking you to stop clinging to this earthly home and start seeing your home with God?
You in Christ: How does the imputed righteousness and holiness of Jesus allow you to pursue practicing the presence of God, rather than avoiding God?
Christ in you: How can you live out the truths of Holy Week? Be specific. What is God calling you to do in response to all that Christ did for you?
Prayer: God, our place is with you. God return for your people. Come quickly Lord Jesus. Amen.
To Live is Christ 