Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” She, supposing Him to be the gardener, said to Him, “Sir, if You have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” (John 20:15)
In our lives, there will be times for tears. Psalm 30:5 says, “… Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.” Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 speaks of “a time to weep.”
After Jesus had been crucified there were many tears shed. Mary Magdalene was in tears, not only because of the death of her Lord, but because she thought someone had stolen His body. The risen Jesus came to ask, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She didn’t know what we know now- she didn’t need to cry because she had a risen Lord. So do we!
We know Jesus is risen from the dead. The following words of Paul the Apostle ring out to us:
For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep (I Corinthians 15:3-6).
Now that He is risen forgiveness of sin is available to all. We need God’s mercy- He has definitely offered it to us. We can see this truth clearly in the following verses:
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the Lord pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust (Psalm 103:10-14).
Not only are we forgiven, but as Christians, we have full access to all that the Kingdom of God has to offer. In the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Colossians, he pointed to this truth:
Giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:12-14).
Think about this. We have been delivered from the power of darkness. We have been forgiven and redeemed by His blood that was shed for us on Golgotha. We have absolute freedom in Him. We are free and we are victorious! These are the powerful words of the Apostle Paul:
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8: 37-39).
“Woman, why are you weeping?” If Mary Magdalene had only known the magnitude of what had happened her tears would have been tears of joy rather than tears of sadness. We know- through the Word of God and our own salvation experience- the tremendous work that Jesus did. We know the joy of His salvation. We know the joy of simply knowing Jesus.
Dave Snyder is an Ordained Bishop with the Church of God – Cleveland, Tennessee. Before entering the ministry on a full-time basis, he was a school teacher. He also coached middle school basketball for eight years.
Dave and his wife, Sara, have two children — Craig and Karen. They also have one ten year old granddaughter — Breanna.
Dave and Sara pastored in West Virginia for thirty-six years. Sara is now retired from the banking industry, and Dave is retired from pastoring. However, Dave currently serves as prison Chaplain for the West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Writing essays, articles, and devotionals is a real passion for Dave. He also enjoys playing musical instruments and singing.
by leaps and bounds 
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