Were You There?

A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Mark 16:1-11

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, we will look at the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

According to hymnary.org, the hymn, “Were You There”, is an African American spiritual that probably predates the Civil War, and was first published in William Barton's Old Plantation Hymns in 1899.

 The verses are fairly repetitive starting with:

Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Oh were you there when they crucified my Lord?
Ohh, sometimes it causes me to tremble, Tremble, tremble
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?

 From here the verses progress through the tragic and amazing series of events:

Were you there when they nailed Him to the tree?

Were you there when they laid Him in the tomb?

Were you there when He rose up from the dead?

 

The only person that I know of that could answer yes to all four of these questions is Mary Magdalene. Scripture tells us that she had been possessed by seven demons until Jesus drove them out. Apparently, because of this, the rest of her life was devoted to following Jesus, and supporting his ministry.

 

After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, ² and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; ³ Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means.           Luke 8 NIV

 

In fact, she followed Jesus to the very end. As the story unfolds, we read time and again that Mary Magdalene was watching as Jesus was crucified, died and laid in a tomb. She was the first to discover that the tomb was empty. Not only that, but she was the first to greet him after he had been raised from the dead.

 

⁹ When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. ¹¹ When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.                              Mark 16 NIV

 

Mary Magdalene was as close as she could be to Jesus during his most intensive suffering; she was also there to rejoice and celebrate when he had risen. Mary Magdalene was not only a loyal and faithful follower of Jesus, but also a friend.

 

She was there for him. Her devotion to him is inspiring. Let us follow her example.

 

Copyright 2021 Joseph B Williams

 

 

 

The Vows of a Young Woman

A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Ruth 1:1-22

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, I will try to show the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

  

This picture of the yellowed poster board displays a sketch of a young couple who were married almost 47 years ago. It also has the vows that they made to each other at the time. 

As I read them today, his seem rather formal and stiff. But hers seem to come from the heart. They are taken from the book of Ruth.

 

The book of Ruth is a story about love. As a young woman she married a foreigner who, after a brief marriage, died. Soon afterwards, her mother-in-law, Naomi, decided to return to her homeland, so she told Ruth to return to her family. In a highly emotionally scene, here is Ruth’s loving response.

 

¹⁶ “Don’t make me leave you, for I want to go wherever you go and to live wherever you live; your people shall be my people, and your God shall be my God; ¹⁷ I want to die where you die and be buried there. May the Lord do terrible things to me if I allow anything but death to separate us.”                     Ruth 1 NLT

 

The book of Ruth is also a story about redemption. Ruth made the above vow to Naomi and kept her promise. They returned to Bethlehem together as a family. Ruth began to provide for both of them by gleaning in the fields of Boaz. He was related to Naomi, and held the special position known as a “family redeemer”.

 

²⁰ “May the Lord bless him!” Naomi told her daughter-in-law. “He is showing his kindness to us as well as to your dead husband. That man is one of our closest relatives, one of our family redeemers.”  Ruth 2 NLT

 

A “family redeemer” was a provision in the Law of Moses for a poor person who was forced to sell part of their property or themselves. The nearest of kin could "buy back" what the relative was forced to sell. With time, Boaz married Ruth, thus fulfilling his role as family redeemer of Naomi through Ruth.

 

Finally, the book of Ruth is a story about faithfulness. The faithfulness of Ruth to Naomi is highlighted in this passage.

 

¹⁴ Then the women of the town said to Naomi, “Praise the Lord, who has now provided a redeemer for your family! May this child be famous in Israel. ¹⁵ May he restore your youth and care for you in your old age. For he is the son of your daughter-in-law who loves you and has been better to you than seven sons!”     Ruth 4 NLT

       

 

The book of Ruth is a story about the love, redemption and faithfulness that we see lived out through Ruth. But it’s also a story about the character of God, who is loving, redemptive and faithful; just like the young girl who made her vows 47 years ago.

 

Copyright 2021 J.B. Williams

 

 

Surprise! Your Life will Change Forever!

 A Series on Women in the Bible
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
Luke 1:26-38

[God worked in and through the lives of countless women in the Bible. These women played significant, if not critical roles in the Lord’s plan of Redemption. In this series, I will do my best to represent the faithfulness of some of these God fearing women.]

  

Surprise! Everybody likes a surprise, right?! As least a good surprise. Several years ago, I got the surprise of my life at Christmas. For weeks, my wife had been asking me what I wanted for Christmas. I kept joking, “Either a Mazda Miata or a pickup truck”. I got the pickup truck. It was totally unexpected; a complete surprise.

 

Mary got the surprise of her life too; only nine months before Christmas. Being a young, poor Jewish girl, her life was laid out before her. She was engaged to be married. They would raise a good Jewish family. She would play the same role as all the other young Jewish girls that she knew until… surprise!

 

This was a surprise to pass all surprises; a reveal party to pass all reveal parties. Not only did the angel reveal that Mary would be pregnant, but also that she would have a boy; and, that she was to name him Jesus; and, that he would be given the eternal throne of David; and, that he would be the Son of God.

 

How did she respond to all of this? At first she was greatly troubled. Then she wondered out loud just how this was to happen since she was still a virgin. Finally, unlike her relative Zechariah, she believed.

 

³⁸ Mary said, “I am the Lord’s servant, and I am willing to do whatever he wants. May everything you said come true.” TLB

 

Generally, people don’t respond well to change. I’m an insurance agent and spend eight hours a day in front of a monitor quoting policies from multiple companies. Every one of them changes their web site from time to time; normally just when I’m getting used to it. Change… I don’t like it.

 

Mary was facing a monumental change in her life. And yet, she responded with grace, poise and faith. Pretty good for a fourteen year old. Definitely better than I would have done; probably better than most of us would have.

 

How do you respond to a surprise; to change; to the unexpected happenings of life? Are you looking to see how the Lord is at work? Are you listening for him to speak? Are you asking what would he have you do?

 

Most likely, the changes in your life are not announced by an angel. But the Lord speaks to us in so many ways that we need to be constantly listening for him. If we do, he will reveal himself to us; he will reveal his will to us. And best of all, he promises to be with us through it all; just like he was with Mary.

 

 

 

 

 

The Sky is Falling

 A Series on Lent
 (Use the link below to read the verses.)
John 20:1-18

[As we approach Easter, consider the example that Jesus set by spending forty days alone in the wilderness to prepare for his ministry and his ultimate sacrifice on the cross. Lent is a forty day period with a focus on spending time with Jesus, to meditate on who he is and what he did for us. This Lenten series is about people who spent time with Jesus; and as a result, their lives were changed forever.]

  

In the children’s story of “Henny Penny”, Chicken Little cries, “The sky is falling”! I would guess that a lot of people over the past twelve months have felt exactly like that. It most certainly has been an unprecedented time, if not just plain crazy!

 

It begs the question, how has God been at work during these unprecedented, crazy times? How has He been at work through a worldwide pandemic; through the death of George Floyd and the ensuing protests and riots; through the divisiveness of the presidential race?

 

How has God been at work through children staying at home, away from school for a year; through the stress of couples spending 24/7 together while working from home; through people losing everything when their business was closed down; through the rise of spouse abuse and alcohol and drug abuse?

 

Just how has God been at work?

 

During the week of Passover when Jesus was arrested, tried, mocked, beaten, and crucified, the disciples may have asked themselves this very same question. Their world had fallen apart. Like Chicken Little, they may have felt like the sky was falling. Certainly, Mary Magdalene did.

 

¹¹ Mary was standing outside the tomb crying, and as she wept, she stooped and looked in. ¹² She saw two white-robed angels… ¹³ “Dear woman, why are you crying?” the angels asked her. “Because they have taken away my Lord,” she replied, “and I don’t know where they have put him.”            NLT

 

Mary was distraught with grief! Jesus had healed her; had given her hope and a purpose. Her life had totally changed. But in the past week, her world had turned upside down. As a result, Mary was looking for the body of Jesus, not the living, breathing person. Because of this, she didn’t even recognize him.

 

¹⁴ She turned to leave and saw someone standing there. It was Jesus, but she didn’t recognize him… She thought he was the gardener. “Sir,” she said, “if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and get him.” ¹⁶ “Mary!” Jesus said. She turned to him and cried out, “Rabboni!”    NLT

 

The story in John 20 is about a personal encounter between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. An encounter that she almost missed. How often do we miss an encounter with Jesus? Like Chicken Little, we can get caught up in the circumstances and emotions of life, and easily not recognize how Jesus is at work in our life; how he is reaching out to us.

 

Regardless of whether the sky is falling or not, keep your eyes and ears open to the ways of the Lord because he is always with you.