JESUS MISSED HIS DAD

John chapter 20 says that outside the empty tomb on Resurrection Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene saw Jesus, but she didn’t recognize Him until he called her name.  When Mary realized that it was Jesus, risen and alive, she cried out, “Teacher!” and threw her arms around Him. 

Jesus basically replied, “O.K., Mary.   Mary, that’s enough.  You can stop hugging me now. Hey, Mary!  Let go!” 

 “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father.” (John 20: 17)

Why was Jesus so standoffish, and what did the pending ascension have to do with anything?

Well, it wasn’t because Jesus needed to avoid prolonged physical contact.  I mean, He had just overcome torture, crucifixion, death, Hell, and being bound in airtight burial cloths soaked in a couple hundred pounds of embalming ointments which were in turn sealed in a cave blocked by a giant rock.

So I don’t think that Jesus was in danger from  ----- a hug.

Remember what God the Father told Moses when Moses asked God to reveal His glory?

He said, “You cannot see My face; for no man shall see Me, and live.” (Exodus 33: 20)

Jesus had always existed.  He’d always been one with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  Jesus had always had perfect, unfiltered fellowship with the Spirit and the Father.  But when Jesus came to our Earth, incarnate as a baby, He inhabited a body which could not look directly into the face of His Heavenly Father. 

During the years of His earthly ministry, Jesus prayed to and spoke to His Father.  He did His Father’s will.  He demonstrated His Father’s love.  He reflected His Father’s image.

But Jesus had not actually SEEN His Father in 33 years.

Jesus didn’t want Mary or anyone else holding onto Him on Resurrection Sunday because more than anything else, Jesus wanted to go home and see His Father. 

And that why Jesus told Mary to stop hugging and “go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.” (John 20: 17)

To us, the ascension of Jesus in Luke 24 was a spectacular miracle, but for Jesus it was the chance to finally go home and see His Dad.

Listen to the complete sermon about the Ascensions at  http://hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com/2014/06/audio-of-sermon-my-fathers-house.html

---Anderson T. Graves II   is a writer, community organizer and consultant for education, ministry, and rural leadership development.

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church in Montgomery, Alabama, executive director of the Substance Abuse Youth Networking Organization (SAYNO) and director of rural leadership development for the National Institute for Human Development (NIHD).

Email atgravestwo2@aol.com

Friend me at www.facebook.com/rev.a.t.graves

To listen to sermons and learn more about the ministry at Hall Memorial CME Church, visit www.hallmemorialcme.blogspot.com .

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