Mary felt more empty than the tomb in front of her. Yeshua was gone! Her last faint connection to him, his lifeless body, was gone! What had happened? Had He been moved? As she shook from her sobbing, tears sprinkled the ground. She turned and saw a man through tear-blurred eyes, whom she thought to be a gardener.

The man said “Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you seeking?”

She cried, “Sir if you have taken him, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away.”

Then, between heavy sobs, Mary heard him speak her name! “Rabboni!” she cried.

LISTEN

“You stand there like Mary looking into an empty tomb, sobbing, wondering at what has happened; thinking that I am no longer with you. I am near, but you think I am only a gardener. I ask about your sorrow, but you don’t know it’s me. Listen carefully. If you do, you will hear me call your name; you will turn and know who calls you.”

RUN

“Run to the empty tomb within you, run! Run like Peter and the other disciple, running to the empty tomb. Go inside. Find the wrappings. Look at them. Understand that I am not there. You won’t find me in the old creature, the old tomb within you where I was dead. Now come out of the tomb of the old you. Look for me outside of the old person where I lay dead. See the new being that you are within me. There is no empty grave in the new being. Let the dust return to dust. I am revealed in the new man”

From John 20:3-8

LISTEN

“Liston for my call from outside of the tomb – the unbelieving you. Let the new you believe in me. From there you can hear my voice and know my love as I speak your name.”

From the heavens and the earth, I speak your name.

From the broken, sick, imprisoned, hungry, lost, abused, persecuted, poor, naked, and lonely; I speak your name.

Sorrow no more at the empty place. Its hold on the dead man has been fulfilled. Hear me say your name. Turn to me and know that it is truly I. Know that I am not dead, but alive and with you.

Liston for me to say your name. You may think of me as a gardener. But when you hear me call your name, you’ll turn and see who calls. You’ll know that I am with you.”

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New Person To Whom Yeshua Calls

We can see the lack of faith and belief within our old self and mistake it for lack within the new creation that we are in Christ. Within our old self is a tomb where Yeshua (Jesus) lay dead and was resurrected. He is not there. No longer look for him there. As Jesus did for Mary Magdela, Jesus speaks to us outside of the tomb (the old being that we once were). Let the old being no longer plague you with its unbelief. Turn away from it. Turn away from your empty place where Jesus was dead to you.

Listen for Jesus calling your name. We may not recognize his voice at first. But as we turn away from the empty place (the old self) and see who it is that calls our name, we begin to see him better for who he is, alive and with the new person that we are in him.

Sobbing and apathy will be turned into joy and hope.