From start to finish, Jesus did not give in to the earthly temptation to be first. He consistently existed, then lived, died, and rose again into glory as one who kept his Father and His God on the throne. And this, from one who sits on his own throne in heaven…
11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’ ”
18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.
John 20:11-18 NIV
“I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Jesus gave this message to Mary to share with the disciples about his resurrection. What strikes me about the message is the way that he identifies with us: my Father and your Father.
This is the Son of God who, as we know from John 1, was with God in the beginning and was God in the beginning. This is God. And certainly on the day he rose from the dead back into glory, he would no longer need to speak in these terms. On earth God appeared as a man speaking to humans about God, and now was appearing as God again before humans. Still Jesus held his position as Son to the Father.
The relationship of Father and Son was not only for the purposes of the incarnation. Even in resurrection, Jesus maintained his acknowledgement and respect of the Father as his Father. In John 14:28, Jesus said, “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” Even though Jesus is fully God and he and the Father are ‘one,’ there is still a distinction of roles and even of relationship.
We have a difficult time as earthlings dealing with equality and distinction in theology. Doctrine of males and females, and husbands and wives illustrates our struggle. Our Saviour, the Son of God, showed us how to defer to our Father in heaven. He showed us how to relate to God as he approached the Father as his God even as the are both fully God.
In this way, Jesus illustrated and exemplified for us the model of discipleship, which is not solely about earth, but is also indicative of relationships heaven-side of this equation.
It can be easy to shift our discipleship toward ourselves, with our lives as central. Our purposes, perceived calling, along with career and romantic lives become the centre around which we continually invite God and also question God in terms of outcomes. From start to finish, Jesus did not give in to that earthly temptation. He consistently existed, then lived, died, and rose again into glory as one who kept his Father and His God on the throne. And this, from one who sits on his own throne in heaven.
Amen.
Marc Kinna
marckinna 