Knowing My Master's Voice

There are so many things about the story of Easter morning and the events following that are so completely awesome! Just the way that God chose to orchestrate the whole turn of events speaks to his awesome power. But there is one part of the story that no matter how many times I read it still makes me pause in awe and wonder. In John's account of the resurrection of Christ, he tells of how may was crying outside the empty tomb and Jesus appeared to her.
                       

                                 John 20:11-18 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she

                                 wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in 

                                 white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the 

                                 other at the foot. They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"

                                 "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know were

                                  they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus 

                                  standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. He asked

                                  her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"

                                  Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried 

                                  him away, tell me where you have put him and I will get him."

                                  Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in

                                  Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means "Teacher"). Jesus said, "Do not

                                  hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead

                                  to my brothers and tell them, `I am ascending to my Father and your

                                  Father, to my God and your God.'" Mary Magdalene went to the 

                                  disciples with the news:  "I have see the Lord!" And she told them

                                  that he had said these things to her.

The part of this that always grabs me is when Mary is so upset and distressed and all Jesus has to do is say her name and she immediately realizes its him. She knows her Master's voice, and she knows the sound of her name when spoken by him. And all of a sudden you see everything change. Instead of panic and worry, Mary is clearly relieved and rejoicing. Jesus had to tell her not to cling to him most likely because her first instinct was to jump up and hug him close to her. To celebrate that he came back to life just as he said he would. A moment of despair, grief and confusion changed in an instant when she heard Jesus say her name.

 This reminds me of earlier in the book of John when Jesus is speaking about the good shepherd and how the sheep know his voice and follow him. To hear my God speak my name audibly would rock my world. And it is my hope that the relationship I am building and growing in Him will cause me to know his voice when he speaks to me. Even in the times of deepest despair or trials I want to be like Mary and be stopped and shaken out of my panic by the simple sound of my Lord calling my name. I know that I may never hear Jesus speak to me audibly this side of Heaven, but I do want to recognize my Master's voice when he speaks to me in a still small voice within my heart. 

Continually Growing at The Grove!

Miss Megan