Day 201: Right In Front of You!

John 20:11-16

Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. 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. “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.” She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him. “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.” “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!” (which is Hebrew for “Teacher”).

You ever looked for something and it’s right in front of your face but you didn’t see it the first time you looked? I used to get in trouble for this all the time when I was younger, in my defense my eyes are screwed. I have a lazy eye and astigmatism in one eye, and strain in the other. So when I say I can’t see something, i really cannot see it. However, that’s not the point, when I was younger my mom would send me to look for something, and after looking for about five seconds I would run back and be like, “Mom I don’t see it”. Then she would say, ‘If I go back here and find you’re in trouble.” So I’d frantically run and try to find it, When she came and looked, somehow someway it magically appeared. Sometimes I would go back and somehow my eyes would be opened and I would find it right in front of my face. I was looking but I wasn’t really seeing.

I tell this story because I feel like that’s what Mary is exhibiting in this passage. She comes looking for Jesus but she cannot find Him. He’s not there. She starts doing what all of us do when we can’t find something, we start accusing people of stealing. She starts saying they took Him. Here’s the kick, Jesus even comes to her, and she’s looking at Jesus not realizing she’s looking in the face of the risen Messiah, it’s amazing. The person she’s looking for is right in front of her face. He’s right there. She mistakes Him for a gardener and she’s like, “Where is He? Tell me where He is, and I’ll go get Him.”

There’s two things I want to point out here. Jesus calls her name, and immediately she realizes that Jesus is standing before her. There’s something about the call of Jesus. When God opens our eyes we start to see things that we have been overlooking for a long time. When Jesus opens our eyes we start to see things differently, we start to see the world differently. When Jesus opens our eyes we start to see what he sees. When Jesus opens our eyes we start to see Him, and we see Hs hand on our lives. Which brings me to my next point.

Are we overlooking Jesus? Are we searching for Him without realizing that He is right in front of us. He is standing right there and we are so overcome with our own personal troubles, and concerns that we don’t see that He is right there. He’s right there. I want to make sure that wherever I am in my life Jesus is there with me. I want to make sure that I am not overlooking Jesus. Realize that God is always there, He never leaves us. He’s always standing right there. Right in front of us.

Reflection

1. Are you overlooking God?

Prayer Time

Allow your answer to the above question guide your prayer. Talk to God about opening your eyes so that you see what He wants you to see. Ask God to give you vision, and to open you ears to hear His voice.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 202!