Unlikely Messenger

She awoke not feeling like herself. She felt like she was losing control. Acting and reacting in ways not normal. She felt hopeless. Worse, she had multiple voices screaming negative destructive thoughts in her head. She had no peace and could not get herself together. With each passing day these things intensified. She felt miserable. Confused. Scared. Imprisoned in her own body.

All that changed in what looked like a chance encounter. Truth be known the encounter had been arranged. History records very little about the encounter itself. This lady named, Mary Magdalene, met Jesus and He delivered from seven demons who had possessed her. You can read about it in Luke 8:1-3.

As a result, she followed Him along with several others. She ministered to His needs and helped support Him out of her private funds. She stayed loyal all the way to the cross. She witnessed the whole thing.

After Jesus was crucified, she came early in the morning to perform one last ministry to Jesus by anointing His lifeless body with spices. That is when she discovered Jesus was not there. When Jesus approached her she did not recognize Him. She supposed He was the gardener. Distressed she asked where Jesus' body had been taken.

Jesus was her champion, a knight in shining armor, her Deliverer, Rescuer, Savior, and her Hero. He changed Mary's life and she followed in gratitude all the way to the end. She loved Jesus. She served Him. She also mourned His death.

Out of all the people alive at that moment, Jesus resurrected chose to reveal Himself to Mary first. Not John. Not Peter or Luke. Not any of the other disciples. Mary is an unlikely messenger. Jesus commissioned her to go and tell the other disciples. She was an unlikely messenger indeed.

Jesus called Mary by name near that empty tomb. In that moment, she recognized Him and addressed Him as Rabboni, which means Teacher. I find that interesting. She did not call Him by name. She did not call Him Master or Lord. She called Him Teacher. Is it because she devoted herself to learning from Him. How many times did she sit on the edge of her seat listening to Him teach. How many times did she study the way He treated people and tried to learn from His example in serving others.

Mary had a past. A horrid nightmare of seven demons possessing her at the same time. In one moment with Jesus, He changed everything for her. He gave her new life and freedom. In return, she devoted her life to following Him. All the way to the cross and beyond to the tomb. It was this Mary Jesus trusted with the greatest news of all time. He arose from the grave. Jesus picked her to share that good news with others.

He still does that. He still picks unlikely messengers. He often chooses the people religious experts by pass. He frequently chooses the least likely. He chose David to be King. Read about that in I Samuel 16. He chose fishermen as His disciples and not learned scholars. You can read about that in Mark 16-20. He chose an enemy of the cross and Christ to write most of the New Testament. See Acts 9.  He chose shepherds to announce His birth. That story is found in Luke 2:8-21. He chose Mary to announce His resurrection. What will Jesus choose you to do for Him. If you have a past but love Him loyally for setting you free, you are a prime candidate.