HE KNOWS MY NAME
John 20:16 Jesus said unto her, Mary. She turned herself and said unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
We are first given a glance as to what happened between Mary and Jesus after He was raised from the dead, starting in Verse 11 when she had an encounter with two angels. She was weeping, not seeming to care too much about them, but asking them, “Where did you take His body?” Then Jesus came and she turned around and began to talk to Him, not knowing who He was. She assumed He was the gardener.
So many people don’t recognize the Lord; they don’t know who He is or what He does. They need a personal revelation of who He is, but their spiritual eyes are blinded. This may not have been the case with Mary; the same situation happened with the two men on the Road to Emmaus. Then, suddenly, she knew it was the Lord.
One thing we can do with people who don’t know the Lord is pray for them. We can pray that the blinders be removed from their spiritual eyes (2 Corinthians 4:4). We can also pray for them that the eyes of their understanding would be enlightened (Ephesians 1:18). Then, because the goodness of God and the love of God are what draw people to repentance (Romans 2:4), we can pray that they would know the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:19). The problem with people who are not born again or who are living in a backslidden condition is they don’t know what they need; they just know they are miserable. They need us to pray and make a way so that when they hear the glorious gospel, they can respond.
The Lord is ready to talk to them, to draw them just like He did with Mary. She is not born again at this point, but she loves Jesus; He has changed her life. She is looking for Jesus like so many are. I think we might be surprised how many people are looking and searching for their answer, and He is their answer.
Then, why I love this portion of scripture so much is that Jesus says, “Mary.” Jesus, who is raised from the dead, the Word who is now forever in a human body, calls her by name. People need to know that God knows their name. Just like when God came down to visit Adam and Eve and was calling their name, “Adam, where are you?”, He is still calling today and knows every human’s name on planet Earth.
WOW!
I can’t remember my own daughter’s name sometimes, but He knows everyone’s name and is calling. When Jesus said, “Mary,” her eyes were opened, and she responded with, “Master!” She saw Him as Savior, Messiah, Shepherd, the great Rabboni, the teacher. Right there, in front of her eyes, was the resurrected Jesus, her Lord.
But it wasn’t until He called her by name that she recognized Him. He knows everyone’s name, and He is calling them. Let’s get people in a position to hear the Lord call their name. Yes, He knows your name too, and He knows everything you need.