I was reading a book the other day by Pete Wilson called Empty Promises and he talked about the gift of life and how many days God had given him so far in his life. There are some days I would like to live over and over again and there are some days I would like to forget. We have all had good days and bad days haven’t we.
The next person we are going to look at on our Clue board is Mary the mother of Jesus and she is going to have a very bad day.
Let’s look through her eyes and see what she saw and feel what she felt.
It’s early in the morning when Mary is awakened. Maybe someone was knocking on her door. Maybe she heard the chaos in the streets. Probably through a friend or family member she hears that her son has been arrested. She probably threw on some clothes and hurried out the door to try and see what was going on but nothing could prepare her for what she was about to see.
A crowd had formed in the streets and they were angry. Just seven days earlier there was a crowd in the streets as well but that crowd was celebrating her son Jesus riding into Jerusalem.
Everyone believed that Jesus was the Messiah, the Savior that would help the Jewish people overthrow the Roman government. They waved their palm branches at Jesus and shouted “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.”
But now seven days later that same crowd of people wants Jesus to die.
The agony she witnesses her son go through is unbelievable. Can you imagine watching someone you care about be beaten before your eyes? Can you imagine watching them rip out the beard of the person you love the most on the face of the earth? Can you imagine how you would feel as the person you care so much for is stripped naked in full view of everyone and tied to a pole and is then beaten over and over again with a whip.
Mary saw Jesus endure all of that. She watched as they put a crown of thorns on his head and wrapped him in a robe and mocked him as the king of the Jews. She watched as they took a staff and beat him over the head again and again and again. And she heard the Roman Governor Pilate sentence her son to death by crucifixion.
How sick to your stomach would you be if you had to watch someone you care about endure all of that? How devastated would you be to hear the person you love so much be sentenced to death?
It is interesting but the Roman soldiers made the criminals being crucified carry their cross. They would always make them take the longest route through the most crowded streets. They wanted to add to the humiliation and the pain. They were sending a warning to every potential criminal this isn’t going to be over quickly. Every bystander was being graphically taught a powerful lesson crime in Rome doesn’t pay.
I can’t imagine what it must have been like for Mary when she followed him up that road.
I wonder how many times Mary had to stop to collect herself before she could actually have the energy to make the brutal journey to the cross?
There was a Jewish historian who recorded that when Mary finally arrived at the crucifixion scene and she looked at the three men on the crosses and she asked someone, “Which one is my son?” She didn’t see him up there because Jesus had been beaten beyond recognition.
But it wasn’t just what she saw, it was also what she heard.
Judas had betrayed her son and that even Simon Peter had denied that he knew Jesus. There her ears got to hear her son’s voice one more time. She heard statements consistent with what she had heard his entire life.
“Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” Or “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:34, 43)
This week I got to wondering if when she heard him say from the cross, “I thirst.” (John 19:28) I wonder if she kicked into some mom mode. I wonder if she wanted to come alongside and quench his thirst one last time and assure him that everything would be okay because she was right there.
She was there when he breathed his last breath because she stayed by his side to the very end.
And then she went home broken-hearted. In her mind, it was over.
The story is told of two who were in an art museum and came upon a painting of a chess game. One character looked like a man; the other character looked a lot like the Devil. The man was down to his last piece on the chessboard. The title of the painting is called “Checkmate.”
One of the two men looking at this painting was an international chess champion. He began to study the painting and he became so engrossed that the man with him grew impatient and asked him what he was doing. He said, “There’s something about this painting that bothers me, and I want to study it for a little while. You go ahead and wander around.”
He studied it. His head started nodding, and his hands started moving. When his friend came back, he said, “We have to locate the man who painted this picture and tell him that either he has to change the picture, or he has to change the title. I have determined that there is something wrong with this painting, and I am an international chess champion.” His friend asked, “What’s wrong with the painting?”
The man said, “Well, it’s titled Checkmate, but the title is wrong. The painter’s either got to change the painting or change the title, because the King still has one more move.”
I don’t know what challenges you are facing. Maybe like Mary you have recently had the worst day of your life. Maybe your parents are splitting up, maybe you're failing a class… or two. Maybe your girlfriend or boyfriend just broke up with you, maybe you are facing habits and addiction that you just can’t seem to break free from. I don’t know what you are going through. Maybe it’s stress, or anxiety and your mind is constantly filled with worries.
Maybe you have done the wrong thing, or said the wrong thing, or made a mistake that feels so big that there is no way you could fix what you have done.
The good news I have for you is that even though it looks like checkmate, it looks like the game is over, the king, the King of kings, still has one more move.
The Bible says, “Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!” So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Then the disciples went back to their homes, 11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 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 where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 “Woman,” he said, “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.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her. (John 20:1-18)
It looked like it was all over but Jesus had another move. A move that proved Jesus has ultimate authority on this Earth. He has power over death and sin and shame and no one can take that away. This means that in the worst moments of your life in the deepest darkest times of despair, Jesus still has a move. He is not wringing his hands stressing about how he is going to handle it. He is already in control. He is at peace.
The question is are you? Are you at peace with your relationship with God? Are you at peace with the life you are living? In the middle of the really hard moments of your life, are you at peace? Have you placed your faith in Jesus Christ or are you still dealing with life on your own?
Today can be the day that sin and shame stop winning in your life. Today can be the day that you move towards freedom and victory with Jesus. Today can be the day you begin to have peace. But in order to have it you have to put your faith in Jesus. So will you decide today to admit that you need Jesus and put your faith in Him? Or will you continue to wait around for something to change?
If you haven’t made that choice to put your faith in Jesus, take this opportunity right now. Text 41437 to REMIX and a student pastor will be ready to have a conversation with you about giving up your old life and finding peace and hope in Jesus Christ.
If you need to have that conversation, don’t hesitate. Text this number and we will talk with you about what it looks like to live life with Jesus and have victory over your sin and shame. If you have questions about it or if the holy spirit is nudging you to make that move, don’t hesitate. Jesus has made His move towards you, what in this world is worth stopping you from making a move towards him? It’s Easter, the time we celebrate Jesus giving His life, and coming back to life for us, choosing today to make a move towards Him.
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