Thomas

You are listening to a message from Thrive Community Church, a church located in Southwest Florida. For more info visit us at thrive-fl.org. Welcome to Thrive. It's good to have you here today. It's been a long time through this whole pandemic and thank you for putting up with everything and just all the ways that we've had to adjust our ministry in order to be where we are even today and praying that God will have used all that we've gone through to bring us to even a better place for ministry and service, that we understand more the needs in our community, that we understand how God is still going to work through us, maybe not in the ways that we want to have all the light and, you know, shiny stuff going on in our lives, but more effectively in the lives of people who are pretty broken and pretty tired and weary. And we have a Savior who says, come to me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. We want this place to be that for many people in our community right now that are a little lost, a little confused, shell-shocked at everything that's gone on, wondering whom to believe and what to trust and where to turn. And that's kind of our question today that we're talking about, by the way. We are in the seventh week of our series in the Gospel of John called Identity. And it's really, the question we're asking today is this, to whom do you turn? To whom do you turn? You know, when your car breaks down, to whom do you turn? I usually turn to Shaheen. He's a mechanic. What? Yeah, you know, you go to a mechanic. When you spike a fever or when you're looking for a new job or when you're struggling with anxiety, to whom do you turn? You know, you've got mechanics, but then you've got counselors and friends. You can turn to television or parents or siblings or experts or entertainers. A textbook? Or do you, like me, often just turn to Google? To whom do you turn? When you face tragic news in your life, and that's kind of what we're dealing with today in our text from John chapter 20, when you face a need for clarity in the midst of chaos, to whom do you turn? You know, much of what happens in your life is not what happens in your life. Did you catch that? Probably. Much of what happens in your life is not what happens to you in your life. It's to whom you turn when something happens to you in life. That makes all the difference because everybody faces difficult times. Nobody has an easy, easy time at all. Suffering is universal. Disappointment happens. Sadness, confusion, stress. We all have questions. All that stuff. The question is not whether that will happen, but to whom will you turn when it happens. That makes all the difference, and to whom you turn is really a question of identity. Today we're exploring the story of Mary Magdalene in John chapter 20, who at the grave of Jesus faces the greatest tragedy, difficulty, grief in her life. She has no answers. To whom does she turn? We'll find out in our text, but by the way, we don't know that much about Mary Magdalene. Some people have speculated quite a bit, but it is like trying to put things together. What we do know are just a couple of references. One here in the Gospel of John is where she shows up at the cross of Jesus Christ with the other women and the beloved disciple, and Jesus speaks to them. She says not a word, but we know she's there with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and others. The only other time in the Gospels that we really have from the Gospels themselves a word about Mary Magdalene is in Luke chapter 8. It says this, and the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities. Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their means. What we learn is that Jesus didn't just have twelve men hanging around, but there were a lot of women and a contingent of people. Two things about Mary Magdalene. One, she had been possessed by at least seven demons, and Jesus cleared her of those. Secondly, she and the other women were the ones financing the operation. Does that sound familiar, women? The men spend the money, but the women... Well, in this, yeah, so applicable, right? Yes. So that's all we know about Mary Magdalene, actually. Now, you probably, oh, she was a prophet. We have no idea if she was. Just saying. All that other stuff is speculation of adding unnamed people and women in different parts of the New Testament into her story, but as far as her story, those are the facts that we know. And then, this is the only time we get words out of Mary Magdalene's mouth in John chapter 20. So we're going to look at John 20, and verses 11 to 18. This is the day of the resurrection. 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 a...