Is There Hope For My Story?
This article is a short reflection on John 20:11-18. Its the account of one person’s interaction with Jesus, after He rose from the dead. I've found the passage to be hugely helpful when considering how the Gospel speaks to my own life story:
Its Sunday morning, and the dawn has yet to overcome the night, as she travels to tomb. After a horrendously painful day of Sabbath rest (if you can call it rest), she can finally walk with trusted friends, to anoint his body with spices, to mourn, to remember. She thinks back now over her unlikely story: her history of mental, physical, emotional oppression; the social stigma and exclusion that came with that; but most of all she thinks back to the man who had made it all better...the moment he said her name, and everything changed.
As the women near the tomb they realize something is wrong – the stone is rolled away. “Robbers have taken him” the women think, as they run to fetch Peter and John, his most trusted friends. But once the men arrive, and investigate the tomb, it makes no sense. The grave robbers have left the linen – the most valuable bit of the body. Peter theorizes, but he can’t work it out. Everyone leaves. Well, nearly everyone leave – she sits outside the tomb crying. Now she can’t even grieve properly.
Maybe out of despair, maybe out of desperation, she gazes inside the tomb…to find two men, dressed in white. They ask her, “Why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she weeps, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”
In utter confusion she turns around from the tomb to see a man behind her: “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
She manages to sob her way through a response, but her pain and lack of understanding is too great for it to make much sense – or for her to realize who she is speaking to. Her story lies in ruins: Him, His followers, they were all she had. It’s all too much. Her world is imploding.
But then something utterly beautiful happens. As the sun starts to pierce the darkness; through sobs of despair, confusion, utter disillusionment; he speaks her name.
“Mary.”
Everything changes.
Just like that, the most unlikely of people, becomes the first to realize the greatest news the world has ever known.
Jesus
is
alive.
I don’t pretend to know what has been part of your story.
I don’t know what failures mark your past, what pain punctuates your present, what disillusionment threatens your future.
But I do know this: if Jesus is alive, then there is always good news.
Today, he calls your name.
You are invited to journey through your most brilliant dawns, and your darkest nights with living hope – a hope this world doesn’t claim to offer, but Jesus does.
And however you respond to His invitation today, please remember, if this is true then you should never underestimate Jesus Christ.
You should never write him out of your story.
It is never too late for a come-back with Him.
That’s the good news.
That’s the hope.
That’s Christianity.
Matt Brydon
Matt is an Aerospace Engineer based in Bristol. He's passionate about building a church which is authentic and seeker friendly. He's also a fan of distance running and hiking.