The Most Beautiful Word You Can Hear From Jesus

 

 

“She turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!”” (John 20:14 – 16).

 

O to hear Jesus speak our name! To hear Him speak my name to me, for you to hear Him speak your name to you. Mary’s eyes did not know that she was looking at Jesus, she thought Him to be a gardener. But her ears! Her ears! She knew His voice!

 

How her heart leapt. How her face beamed. How her pulse quickened. How a fountain of joy and delight welled up within her soul. It was as if she, herself, was coming out of a tomb, a tomb of despair, of grief, of confusion, of a broken heart. While an angel rolled away the stone of the tomb where the body of Jesus lay, Jesus rolled away the stone of grief and despair from Mary’s heart.

 

Does not Jesus say in John 10:3 – 4 that the Shepherd of the sheep “calls His own sheep by name…and the sheep follow Him because they know His voice”?

 

O dear, dear friends. The most beautiful word you or I will ever hear from the lips of Jesus Christ is when He calls us by our name. He calls us by our name because He knows us and loves us and draws us to Himself. He calls us by name because we are His sisters and brothers (ought we not to know the names of our siblings?). He calls us by name because for the “joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame.”

 

O beloved, you are the joy set before Him, I am the joy set before Him, we are His joy and delight. Just as we love to hear Him speak our name, so He loves to speak our name – for we love to utter the names of those we love and who can fathom the love of Jesus for you, for me, for us?

 

 Can you hear the joy in His voice as He says, “Mary”? Can you hear the laughter, the delight, the glory? If we love to surprise people with good things and good news, how much more did Jesus love to surprise Mary with the Resurrection! Now my friends…there is indeed a surprise…and what a waste it would be if Jesus did not enjoy it!

 

Listen…listen ever so quietly…can you hear Him? Can you hear Jesus speaking to you? Can you hear Jesus saying your name?

 

When you do, you will realize that it is the most beautiful word that you will ever hear from His lips.

 

Listen.