Hope

It's so fitting that today, as I prepare for my Mom's funeral the Lord led me to the 20th chapter in John.  The 1st verse that stood out to me was verse 21:  Again, Jesus said, "Peace be with you!  As the Father has sent me I am sending you."  As I read the surrounding verses they spoke of Mary Magdalene (funny it should be her, as the one of the origins of the name Madeline is Magdalene) learning her Lord was no longer in the grave but had been resurrected.  The job He gave her at that point was to tell of His resurrection to His apostles.  After Jesus appeared to the disciples He gave them the same instruction and commission.  Tell the Good News!  The message of hope was to be shared.

That has been such a continuing theme for me this week.  Knowing my Mom had that hope.  Knowing that by her words and her life, she shared that hope with others.  It was so important to her that people knew they could have eternal life, they could live in hope and expectation.  For her, this hope has been realized.

And I feel that even as her work here is done, she has passed on this hope to me and many members of our family.  And now it is our time to pass it on to others.
For her, she has become a new creation in Christ, "The old has passed away;behold the new has come."  2 Corinthians 5:17  She wears her robe of righteousness and dances with her Savior.

John 20:11-22

11 Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 12 She saw two white-robed angels, one sitting at the head and the other at the foot of the place where the body of Jesus had been lying. 13 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her.

“Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”

14 She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him.15 “Dear woman, why are you crying?” Jesus asked her. “Who are you looking for?”

She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.”

16 “Mary!” Jesus said.

She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

18 Mary Magdalene found the disciples and told them, “I have seen the Lord!” Then she gave them his message.

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

19 That Sunday evening[a] the disciples were meeting behind locked doors because they were afraid of the Jewish leaders. Suddenly, Jesus was standing there among them! “Peace be with you,” he said.20 As he spoke, he showed them the wounds in his hands and his side. They were filled with joy when they saw the Lord! 21 Again he said, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I am sending you.” 22 Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.