1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:13,360 Speaker 1: Life Audio. Hello, and thank you for listening to your 2 00:00:13,480 --> 00:00:16,800 Speaker 1: Daily Bible Verse, the podcast that examines one verse each 3 00:00:16,880 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: day to learn more about God and his will for us. 4 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:22,840 Speaker 1: Have you ever felt the sting of rejection weighing heavily 5 00:00:22,920 --> 00:00:26,000 Speaker 1: on your heart? If so, you'll find healing and hope 6 00:00:26,120 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: in reframing rejection. How looking through a different lens changes everything? 7 00:00:30,800 --> 00:00:34,480 Speaker 1: Which is a book that guides us through and to restoration. 8 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,640 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jessica Venrokele, and after this short word 9 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: from our sponsor, we'll continue our lunch series, God Meets 10 00:00:43,040 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 1: You in the Wilderness with today's Bible Verse, John chapter 11 00:00:46,880 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: twenty verse one. Today's Bible Verses, John chapter twenty verse one. 12 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:05,600 Speaker 1: Early on the first day of the week, while it 13 00:01:05,680 --> 00:01:08,920 Speaker 1: was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and 14 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,480 Speaker 1: saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance 15 00:01:14,080 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: not too long ago. The sunrise stretched across the sky 16 00:01:17,640 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: like taffy being pulled. Strands of palest peach expanded into 17 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: a soft coral wisps of baby pink mingled with the 18 00:01:26,040 --> 00:01:29,559 Speaker 1: palest of blues. It reminded me of Easter eggs dipped 19 00:01:29,640 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: lightly in colored water, which made me think of the 20 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:36,280 Speaker 1: hope of Easter morning, watching that sunrise, hope stirred in 21 00:01:36,319 --> 00:01:40,240 Speaker 1: my heart. You see, life can be heartbreaking and full 22 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: of wilderness seasons. Aging loved ones need caregiving. Our hearts 23 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:47,520 Speaker 1: may crack under the weight of it. And when every 24 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,880 Speaker 1: day the heart stays the same, hope can seem to fade. 25 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:56,080 Speaker 1: But God meets us in the wilderness. But even though 26 00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: some mornings the sun is rising, our war old still 27 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,520 Speaker 1: can seem dark. We begin to wonder if hope is lost. 28 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:10,200 Speaker 1: But the resurrection reveals hope can be found. When Jesus 29 00:02:10,200 --> 00:02:13,040 Speaker 1: said it is finished, he really meant hope has come, 30 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: which Mary Magdalene discovered in today's passage. Mary went to 31 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,240 Speaker 1: the tomb before the sun rose to finish the burial 32 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:25,520 Speaker 1: process of Jesus. In those days, bodies were wrapped in 33 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:30,320 Speaker 1: layers of spices and linen, and Jesus's body was hastily 34 00:02:30,360 --> 00:02:36,079 Speaker 1: prepared before the sun set without the full process being complete. 35 00:02:36,360 --> 00:02:42,079 Speaker 1: Mary wanted to finish it. Her sorrow wrapped her in darkness, 36 00:02:42,120 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 1: and it deepened when she discovered the stone had been 37 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:49,519 Speaker 1: taken away and the body gone. Rather than thinking Jesus 38 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:53,440 Speaker 1: rose from the dead, she assumed his body was stolen. 39 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:58,320 Speaker 1: Her sorrow turned to worry and desperation. She ran to 40 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 1: Peter and to John to tell them they have taken 41 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:03,079 Speaker 1: the Lord out of the tumen, and we do not 42 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,200 Speaker 1: know where they have laid him. These men ran to 43 00:03:06,280 --> 00:03:09,639 Speaker 1: the tomb to see for themselves, and again they did 44 00:03:09,680 --> 00:03:13,320 Speaker 1: not yet understand what Jesus meant when he said he 45 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,280 Speaker 1: would rise again. Peter and John went back to their homes, 46 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:22,240 Speaker 1: but Mary lingered beside the tomb. John records Mary weeping 47 00:03:22,520 --> 00:03:25,680 Speaker 1: outside the tube and then bending down to look inside, 48 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:31,400 Speaker 1: where she sees two angels. They asked her the reason 49 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 1: for her deep sorrow. Then she turned around and saw 50 00:03:35,160 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: a man who also asked her why she wept and 51 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: who she sought. She supposed this man was a gardener 52 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:44,560 Speaker 1: and asked him to tell her where he had taken 53 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: the body of her Lord. The man called her by name, 54 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:52,680 Speaker 1: and in that moment she recognized Jesus and said to 55 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:56,200 Speaker 1: him Rabbini, which is a title of honor and reverence. 56 00:03:57,480 --> 00:04:00,800 Speaker 1: Throughout Jesus's ministry on Earth, he had a reputation of 57 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 1: revealing his presence and love to those who were often 58 00:04:04,400 --> 00:04:10,240 Speaker 1: overlooked or considered less than important in society. He revealed 59 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: himself as living water to the Samaritan woman at the well. 60 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:17,680 Speaker 1: By a single word, he healed a Roman centurion son, 61 00:04:18,160 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: and because of the faith of a non Jewish woman, 62 00:04:20,400 --> 00:04:24,640 Speaker 1: he praised her as having greater faith than anyone in Israel. 63 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,000 Speaker 1: While Mary may have worried where Jesus was, he really 64 00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:32,680 Speaker 1: wasn't very far away. There seems to have been something 65 00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 1: different about Jesus for Mary to not have recognized him. 66 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:42,039 Speaker 1: Jesus asked questions to break through her unbelief and forgetfulness 67 00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:47,799 Speaker 1: of Jesus's promise of resurrection. But when he said her name, 68 00:04:48,520 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: she knew him as her Lord. She knew his voice. 69 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:57,960 Speaker 1: John chapter ten, verse three says the sheep hear his voice, 70 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: and he calls his sheep by name and leads them out. 71 00:05:03,200 --> 00:05:05,599 Speaker 1: She heard in the name and the tone of the 72 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:11,599 Speaker 1: voice her beloved Messiah. Hope down gently after a dark 73 00:05:11,720 --> 00:05:15,960 Speaker 1: night for Mary and the disciples. Hope can down for 74 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:20,840 Speaker 1: you too, Even while you're in your wilderness season, God 75 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:25,279 Speaker 1: meets you there. Just as Mary saw the Lord after 76 00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: her darkest night, we too can find hope in him today. 77 00:05:31,120 --> 00:05:35,000 Speaker 1: Hold on to the promise Jesus gave you and let 78 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:39,880 Speaker 1: his light guide you. Let's pray, Holy God, thank you 79 00:05:39,920 --> 00:05:43,240 Speaker 1: so much that that you call us by name. Lord, 80 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:45,800 Speaker 1: let us know you so much that even when we're 81 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:49,320 Speaker 1: shrouded in the darkness that comes from being in a 82 00:05:49,400 --> 00:05:54,320 Speaker 1: long wilderness season, Lord, we recognize you. Lord, Help us 83 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:58,760 Speaker 1: to abide in you even while we're in those hard, 84 00:05:58,800 --> 00:06:01,720 Speaker 1: hard seasons. God, I believe that you are with us, 85 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: and we praise your name in Jesus, saying we pray Amen. Mhm.