Rise Daily: March 31

Rise Daily: March 31

THIS WEEK’S THEME & PASSAGE

Encountering the Risen King (Easter) – John 20:1-18

This week’s sermon from the series “Where We are Going: The City and the Mission“

THIS WEEK’S MEMORY VERSE

Memorizing scripture is a way to keep God’s word close to our hearts. Each week we will select one verse of scripture to remember as a community.

Romans 8:11

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

THE WORD

Each day’s devotion will focus on one part of the week’s passage.

John 20:17

Jesus said to her, “Do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

MEDITATION ON THE WORD

In our busyness and distraction, it is easy to skim through our reading rather than taking it in. Yet we believe this is the inspired word of God. Take a moment to pause, thank God for the scriptures and ask him to speak to you through them today.

When the risen Jesus presents himself to Mary Magdalene, he encourages her to do what her heart doesn’t want to do–to let him go. Hadn’t she only just received him back? Hadn’t her intense grief just been allayed? Jesus tells her, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” What actual comfort is there in this?

We last read in the gospel narrative regarding the relationship of the Father and the Son that there was a mutually imposed alienation. Jesus cried out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Stop there. If there is any one thing that is permanent about the universe, in the Christian understanding, it is this: the existence of one God in three persons–Father, Son, and Holy Spirit–and that those persons have eternally existed in a relationship of mutual love. There had never been a break in the permanent state of that shared experience–until the cross. But the fact that Jesus had been resurrected and was now returning to the Father meant that the transcendent joy of the divine Father and Son relationship was being fully reclaimed. Father and Son had allowed that incomprehensible breach in the eternal cosmic order for the sake of a greater union. The shared experience of love between Father, Son, and Spirit was being extended to God’s children.

The Jesus that Mary needed was ascending to his heavenly throne to accomplish this. Just as he had promised his disciples, he would send the Holy Spirit to perform a miracle: a mutual indwelling between the Triune God and his children (see John 17:6-26). This is love of the most sublime and fulfilling nature possible. What Mary would be losing in releasing a Jesus external to her would be far more than compensated for in receiving his eternal presence within her.

“The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me” (John 17:22–23).

THIS WEEK’S RISE REFLECTION

When we look to the resurrection we find a beautiful freedom to serve others. Through Christ’s example we are free to serve in the radical, loving ways in which he has served us. We hope that this Rise season will serve as a catalyst for gospel renewal not only on an individual basis but also in multiplying expressions of philanthropy, justice, mercy, reconciliation, integrity, and hope all across New York in ways that advance the common good for everyone in this city.

TODAY’S PRAYER

For your Heart: Pray for the Holy Spirit to help you deeply grasp the essence of God’s love and eternal presence.

For your Church: Pray that the relationship of mutual love between Father, Son and Holy spirit would be a resource for unity and reconciliation in our relationships with one another.

For our City: Pray for Christians in our city to “become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you [Father] sent me [Jesus] and loved them.”