Oh, good morning. What a pleasure it is to be with all of you and for us to be together this morning. Would you take out your bible, please, and turn to Luke chapter eight? Luke chapter eight. We're gonna start reading in verse one here in just a moment.

Luke chapter eight and verse one. If you'll turn there, you'll be ready to go for our lesson. Thank you to those who are visiting with us. Thank you to those who are joining us, through the live streaming. We're so grateful for the presence of all.

Grateful that you've made your way here. And I know that we've been well served in being led in worship so far this morning, but I hope that the things that I have to say will be helpful to you as you strive to be who God has called you to be. You know, some things are just so different from the world of the first century, the world in which Jesus and his apostles lived, and the world today. And yet there are other things that are very much the same. Aren't there?

According to the most recent census data from 2020, the most popular and common name in The United States today in our world, the most common name is the name Mary. And if you were to look at what we can figure out from history, this is one of these questions that is easy to figure out. According to what historians have determined, the most common name for Jewish girls in the first century was, far and away, Mary. And that idea, that name Mary comes from Miriam in Hebrew, after the sister of Moses. And so those things are very different.

Some things are the same. We see at least five Marys that are mentioned in the gospel, which is confusing, and so they have to be identified by other descriptions. We have Mary, the mother of Jesus. We have the other Mary. Nobody wants to be called the other Mary.

Right? But she is the mother of James and Joseph, likely the wife of Cleophas. We have Mary sister of Martha and Lazarus. We have Mary who's the mother of John Mark, the one who wrote the gospel that bears his name. And then we have a fifth Mary, a Mary that we know well by name, Mary Magdalene.

And it is this last Mary that I wanna consider for a few moments this morning. Mary Magdalene is identified by her name, Mary, but also the place where she's from, Magdala, a little town 20 miles west of Tiberias on the Sea Of Galilee. But she's also identified in a different way, not just Mary of Magdala, but also Mary, and this is the Mary whom Jesus did something to. So read with me in Luke chapter eight beginning in verse one. Now it came to pass afterwards that he, Jesus, went through every city and village preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God, and the 12 were with him.

But it wasn't just these 12 apostles whom he would send out and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities or sicknesses. And then he's gonna list three of these women, the first of whom is Mary called Magdalene. But here's how else we are identifying her, at least Luke identifies her, out of whom had come seven demons. Wow. I mean, what a way to be known, not just by where you're from, but that Jesus cast seven demons out of you.

And Mary's story is a story of Jesus working, but it's also a story of her response to that working. And that's how our lesson will be laid out this morning. We're gonna look at three things where Jesus is working for Mary on Mary's behalf. Three things that Jesus did for Mary, and then three things that she responds with. What she does in response to how Jesus is working in her life.

And we'll use this text here in Luke chapter eight, and then we'll use the text in John chapter 20 that we've already referred to and that Jimmy read to us this morning. So let's think about three things that Jesus did for Mary and then three ways that he respond that she responds to the things that he does for her. The first thing that we see, and we just read it in Luke chapter eight verses one and two, is that Jesus radically transforms her life. He radically transforms her. And the whole the whole course that her life is on, seven demons were cast out of her.

Now we're not told in the text how that happened. We're not told in the text what those demons did or were doing to her, but we do know from other passages in the New Testament what demons often did. We know, for examples, that demons often cause people to go blind or mute. Sometimes demons made you interact with the spiritual realm to see things that you didn't want to see. Other times, the demons called caused self harm in some way.

We remember the boy who had an unclean spirit that often threw him into the fire. And almost always, you did or said things that that weren't you, but were the demons speaking through you. Other times, multiple demons cause total exit from society, like that garrison man who lived naked in the tombs, tormenting those who passed him by. And so we don't know what these demons were doing to her, but it was something along these lines. We're not told how they impacted Mary, but we can imagine what these demons must have been doing.

And Jesus is the one who saves her from this fate. Can you relate to that? I think we ought to be able to. You know, we speak in these terms. Maybe we don't mean it in a literal sense, but people speak in these terms.

Right? We all have our demons. People even say sometimes, if they're coming to Jesus, well, I've had to overcome my demons or Jesus helped me overcome my demons. And while we don't mean that literally, we can imagine the transformation that took place in Mary's life, and her transformation should be a shadow of the transformation that should take place in our life. Can you imagine how totally different your life have been, you know, pre demons and post demons?

I mean, we talk about changes in the world, and we talk about, well, was that before COVID or after COVID? Because it seemed like everything changed. If you had seven demons and those demons were cast out of you, can you imagine how you would relate everything in your life? Predemons or precasting out of demons and postcasting out of demons. But I ask you, is that the way you relate your life in terms of when you came to Christ?

The time before I was a Christian and the time since I've been a Christian. That transformation has to be total and complete. We think of how Paul puts it in second Corinthians. In second Corinthians chapter five and verse seven, he says, therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. That's how different, how totally different this transformation is supposed to make us.

I'm a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things. All things in my life have become new. And Mary experienced that, that Jesus cast these demons out of her.

Do we see the magnitude of what Jesus has done, that he has healed us from our worst sickness, our worst infirmity, and that is that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. And how is it that Mary responds to this radical transformation to her? Well, she responds with devoted discipleship back to Jesus. Let's read the third verse here in Luke chapter eight. Certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, including our Mary, but also, verse three, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward.

So this is a woman of some means. Her husband is a high ranking official. She's been healed by Jesus. And Susanna and many others who, listen, provided for him from their substance, from the things that they had, their possessions, from their means. And so these women were providing for Jesus.

And what we see with these women is that they were right there with the 12 and following Jesus in the places where he was going. And this must be our response too. If Jesus radically transforms us, we have to continue to serve him in our saved state. And this idea of seven demons is not unique just to Mary's story. If you look in Luke chapter 11, just a few passages over, Jesus uses a vivid image of seven demons again.

In Luke chapter 11, right at the end of this chapter, Luke chapter 11, read with me there in verse 24. Luke chapter 11 and verse 24. When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, we're not told how, he's cast out or whatever the case might be, but he goes out of a man, he goes through dry places seeking rest. And finding none, he says to himself, I will return to my house from which I came. And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order.

Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, And they enter and dwell there, and the last state of this man is worse than the first. Now that is so far outside of our experience in the modern world. But what is the point that Jesus is making here? Jesus is saying it is not enough for us to just get rid of our spiritual sickness, just get rid of our sins. We have to replace that sinful behavior with righteous behavior.

If we're totally radically transformed, we must become devoted followers of Jesus where our life reflects the new way that we're living. Jesus wants us to follow him. We can't simply be saved and then and then change nothing about our lives. Even eliminating the bad things that we used to do isn't enough. We must fill our lives with active service to Christ and to others.

If we want that transformation to stick to last where the demons don't come back, we must fill our lives with the things that we should be doing for him, becoming devoted disciples. And that's what Mary does. To put it in the words of Jesus, Mary follows him wherever he goes. And that's the admonition that we find in the very next chapter after Mary is named. In chapter eight, we find Mary.

In chapter nine, this is the admonition. Luke chapter nine beginning in verse 57. Luke chapter nine and verse 57. Now it happened as they journeyed on the road that someone said to him, you can almost imagine somebody crying out, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. And we imagine what our reaction might be to that.

If I were Jesus and I were going, I would might say, everybody needs to listen to this guy. This guy got has the right attitude. I need people who are willing to follow me wherever I go. But that's not what Jesus says to this man. And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head.

Jesus says, are you sure about that? You'll follow me wherever I go Even if where I go is uncomfortable, even if where I go is well, it's a little bit everywhere. You're not gonna be stable and firm and secure. There's gonna be difficulties and trials. There's gonna be storms like we studied about this morning with those disciples following him on those little boats across the sea.

Jesus wants action, not just words from us. And I suggest that that's exactly what Mary does in the gospels. She follows him as a disciple. She supports him financially from her possessions. She gives our lord a place to lay his head in a literal sense.

And what do we see? We see that she goes to the cross to see his death when the apostles, all of them, save John, have fled. She is there at the cross in Matthew 27 and verse 56. And their flight, their running away didn't impact her following of Jesus wherever he went. And she goes to the tomb and observes where they lay him, including the stone being rolled in front of the mouth of that tomb in Matthew chapter 27 and verse 61.

We see that, apparently, she is the first to go on that resurrection Sunday with spices to anoint his body. And when the tomb is empty, she tells the disciples, but then goes back and lingers there weeping as we read in John chapter 20 as we'll look at here in just a second. Mary is one who is totally devoted to following Jesus wherever he goes. And my question is, do we follow Jesus like that? You ever seen this bumper sticker?

Raise your hand if you've ever seen this bumper sticker. Do you follow Jesus this closely? I always find it, ironic when they have this bumper sticker and then, like, the bumper is, like, pushed in some way. Because to me, in my heart may I make confession this morning? In my heart, whenever I see that sticker, I just wanna rear end that person.

And I wanna get out of my car and say, that's how closely I'm following Jesus. Thank you very much. And now I need to repent. Right? But I see that, and I think to myself, well, how closely am I following Jesus?

How how close to him do I really want to be? I'm gonna ask you some questions. And what I want you to do is just answer in your own mind and in your own heart, yes or no. Will you follow Jesus this closely? Will you follow Jesus to these places?

Can you do that for me? Alright. Just answer in your own mind and heart. Yes or no. Will you follow him to the assembly?

Sure. That's where we are. Will you follow him in your workplace? Will you follow him in your home? Will you follow him at the ball field with your kids?

Will you follow him with your finances and with your calendar? Will you follow him in real life but also on social media? Are you willing to follow him when it's unpopular? Will you follow him when it requires you to stand out and to stand up to be different from others who are supposed to be following him too? Will you follow him Not just when the crowds are shouting, hosanna, but when they're shouting, crucify.

Will you follow him to the cross? Will you follow him to the tomb? Will you follow him through the valley of the shadow of death? And maybe you hear all of that and you say, there's the preacher being dramatic again. But may I suggest in your mind and in your heart, in my mind and in my heart, the answer to any of those questions should always just be yes.

And you didn't even have to hear me read the list because your answer to that question from the very beginning is I will follow him wherever he goes. And I don't care where it is, and I don't care what it requires of me. My devotion to Jesus is total and absolute because I see what he has done in transforming me, and I will be transformed in the way that I live. And that's what we see Jesus doing for Mary, and that's what we see in her response. Secondly, we see that Jesus acts to personally know Mary in a way that no one else knows her.

I want you to turn to John chapter 20. John chapter 20, we remember on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene in John's gospel. We know there are other women going to the tomb as well, but Mary is under consideration for John in this chapter. And she she goes and she sees that the stone's been taken away, and she runs and tells Peter and John. Peter and John run to the tomb.

John flexes a little bit and says, I got there first. He throws that detail in, and they don't see him there until they return back. And yet Mary lingers. She lingers there at the tomb weeping. Read with me beginning in verse 11.

So John chapter 20 and verse 11. But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept, she stooped down and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, one at the head and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus had lain. And when they said to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.

And when she said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there but did not know that it was Jesus. And Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking? A few days earlier, Jesus had asked that same question to the crowd who came to arrest him. They said Jesus of Nazareth, identifying him by place where he grew up, and his response was, I am he or I am, and they fell back on the ground when he said it.

Here, Jesus says these words in a far softer sense, I imagine. Whom are you seeking? And she, supposing him to be the gardener, said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away. I'll take the body. If you've moved the body somewhere else, if this isn't where he's supposed to be, if those rich benefactors have changed their mind about him being in this tomb, just let me know where he is, and I'll take him away.

And you can you can hear the sorrow in her voice. She doesn't even recognize Jesus on this occasion. And it's interesting that she has turned and looked at him, but the text is gonna tell us that she has to turn and look at him again. And through the tears, through the things that she is feeling, this is what gets to her in verse 16. And Jesus said to her, Mary.

Just her name. And she turned and said to him, Rabboni, which is to say, teacher. Mary. That one word, just her name, spoken by a familiar voice changed everything. And, again, this reminds me of a nearby passage in John chapter 10.

What is it that Jesus says about his voice, the names of his sheep, and what they hear? In John chapter 10 in verse one, Jesus says, most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs up some other way, the same as a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him, the doorkeeper opens, listen, and the sheep hear his voice, And he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. And when he brings them out, his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him for they know his voice.

Jesus talks in this passage about being recognized by name and by voice. You know, it's a little frustrating when people don't know your name or don't don't say your name correctly. You know, Reagan McClenny, that has been said and spelled a lot of different ways in my life. I remember many years ago, I held a meeting in McKinney, Texas. That was very confusing for people.

Like, the whole week, they were calling me brother McKinney. Brother McKinney. I'm like, really? Really? So what I started doing, I think on the second to last night and then the last night, they introduced me as brother McKinney, and I get up there and I say, it is so wonderful to be in McClenny, Texas this week.

Maybe, hopefully, they'll figure it out. You know, my sister has it even worse. Her name is Mashea Vanaye McClenny. That has been butchered in so many ways throughout her life, but she appreciates it so much when somebody says her name right, spells her name right. It shows that they know her and that they care.

There was a preacher that told my parents after she was born, she'll figure out how to say it by the time she's 10, and she'll spell it by the time she's 30. But whatever your name is, it's nice when people actually know it and say it. When someone gets your name just right, it shows they care. When your name is said by a loved one, it fills you with comfort. When your name is known by someone important, that guy knows my name?

That's humbling. May I tell you this morning that Jesus knows your name? Jesus knows you personally. And he and he doesn't just know your name. He knows the very hairs that are on your head.

He doesn't just know the hairs that are on your head and how many are there. He knows the thoughts that are inside of that head. Jesus knows you better than anybody else. And he knows your strengths, and he knows your weaknesses. He knows your successes, and he knows your failures.

He knows the times when you have done what is right, and he knows the times when you have sinned. He knows everything about you, and he loves you anyway. Mary hears her name, and that's what breaks her from this grief that she finds herself in, and that grief is instantly replaced with joy. That this one, this Jesus personally knows me. And what is it that she immediately does?

In verse 16, she calls out to him, Rabboni. Open confession of him is her response. If he knows me in this way, I will respond. He knows who she is, but she knows who he is too. And she calls him four things in this text.

In John chapter 20, she calls him four things in this order. She refers to Jesus as the lord. She refers to Jesus as my lord. She refers to Jesus as rabboni, which means teacher in Aramaic, and she refers to him again as the lord. Now there's something really interesting in that.

Now in the gospel accounts, the writers of the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, they have referred to Jesus as the lord in the narration and the things that they're talking about. But if you go through the gospel accounts, the first person to call Jesus the lord, not just lord, but the lord is Mary Magdalene. At his resurrection, she calls him the lord because he is not a lord, a master among many. He is the lord above all. And she sees him as this teacher, this teacher who is the son of God.

She recognizes that, and she confesses it audibly. There is a closeness here and a reverence at the same time. Now can you imagine this encounter? Can you imagine put yourself in the shoes of Mary and coming to this tomb and hearing his voice. David did a good job leading us in our songs, and I used to I used to hate that song.

That last song that we sang in the garden, I used to hate that song. In my twenties, especially, I just I couldn't stand it. It's like, what is this song talking about? You know? It's like like, I'm in a garden for some reason.

Like, Jesus is there, and we're walking and talking. Like, I guess that'd be nice, but, like like, what are we talking about here? And maybe hate's too strong a word, but, no, I hated that song. And then I read that that song is written from the perspective of Mary Magdalene. And all of a sudden, my perspective totally changed.

And that's not just something you know, sometimes I do that with songs. I say, well, they probably meant this when they probably didn't really mean that. Just kinda make me feel better about what I'm singing. But the author of the song confirmed this. He wrote, speaking of the line, he speaks and the sound of his voice is so sweet, the birds hush their singing.

The author writes, Jesus said to her, Mary. Just one word from his lips and forgotten are the heartaches, the long dreary hours, all the past blotted out in the presence of the living present and the eternal future. And now I can sing those songs, and they're powerful. I come to the garden alone while the dew is still on the roses. You ever have gotten up early before the dawn and as the dew is on the roses or the grass or whatever else and heard the world come alive like it did on that resurrection morning?

And the voice I hear falling on my ear, the son of God discloses, it's Jesus. And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known. Can you imagine seeing Jesus raised from the dead, my teacher, my lord, my god? And no one had known such joy before, but we can share in the same joy of seeing Jesus for who he really is.

Like Mary, we have to come to Jesus where he is, where he reveals himself to us. We have to see him through his word and take the inspired direction from the messengers of God that we are desperately and diligently seeking him. Listen to the words of the teacher himself and submit to the will of our Lord to confess that he is not just the Lord, though he is he is my Lord, and I will follow him wherever he goes. That's it. That's what we all must do.

And may we be the ones spoken of by Jesus to Thomas later in that twentieth chapter of the gospel of John. As Thomas, you remember, said, I will not believe unless I put my hands in his hands, and I feel these nail scars, and I place my hand in his side. And Jesus appears to him, and he says, okay. You wanted to do that. Go ahead and put your hands where they go.

Do not be unbelieving, but believing. And Thomas answered. I don't think he actually did it. He just answers right away, and he says to him in verse 28, my lord and my god. And Jesus said to him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed.

Blessed are those who have not seen, have not seen him in the flesh, have not heard his voice audibly, have not seen and yet have believed. You know who that's talking about? That's you. That you believe in Jesus though you have not seen him with your own eyes. And how can we know him and how can we believe in him in that way?

Well, verses thirty and thirty one. And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. He is my Lord and my God, and I will confess him as such with my mouth and with my actions. And then finally, as we think about Mary Magdalene, Jesus asked to intentionally send her. I want you to go back there to chapter 20, and let's finish our reading verses seventeen and eighteen.

And Jesus said to her, do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my father, but go to my brethren and say to them, I am ascending to my god to my father and your father and to my god and to your god. And Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples what she that she had seen the lord and that he had spoken these things to her. Now we get a little hung up. Maybe you have as I have in times past where he says, do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended back to my father. And some have tried to make the case that the idea here is somehow his body is weird and it's untouchable for now, but it will be touchable later.

But I don't think that's really what he's saying. I think instead what he's saying is, I think she did cling to him. I think she did touch him and hold him and was holding on to him. And he says, you don't have to cling to me. I'm telling you to go and do something else.

I've not ascended to my father yet. I'll be here for a little while. Have you ever gone on a on a trip, a business trip, or a bank vacation, and you left the kids at the house and when especially when they're little. And you come back, boy, you'd kill for this to happen again. Right?

You come back, and what do they do? They run and they hold you and they don't wanna let go. And you say, it's okay. I'm not I'm not going anywhere. And I think that's what Jesus is saying.

I've not ascended back to my father yet. And so I'm giving you something to do. You need to go and tell your brethren and say to them that I am ascending to my father and your father and to my god and to your god, that I have raised from the dead, but I also will go and be exalted on my father's throne. And so she obeys. Mary, when intentionally sent, immediately obeys him and goes.

Oh, yeah. I mean, why wouldn't she? Right? After being transformed like this, after being known like this, by the one who is the lord risen from the dead, how could there be any other ultimate conclusion? And, again, we are reminded of nearby passages.

In John chapter 14, as Jesus is speaking to his apostles, he says, if you love me and I think the ESV really captures the sense of how he's saying this. If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And this isn't even really a command, is it? It's just a statement. A state fact.

If you love me, if you really see me as who I am, you will keep my commandments. That is the only response that is possible for someone who truly loves and sees Jesus as he is. Spoken to Jesus' closest disciples, the apostles, the ones who are, that's what apostle means. Right? Sent out.

This is the fact of the matter, a natural reality of our love for Jesus. And Mary obeyed, but we remember she wasn't immediately received well by the other disciples. Luke's account tells us that her words and the words of the other women, they seemed like nonsense to those other disciples who were gathered. Do you think that impacted the way she obeyed or whether she obeyed at all? That their words seem like nonsense?

Do you think she cared about that? Who cares? Jesus told me what to do. And if we love Jesus, if we've been transformed by him and we see he knows and loves us, Where he sends, we will go. What he says we will do.

Where he leads, we will follow. And this is an ongoing pattern with those whom Jesus healed. We remember John chapter five verses eight through 11, that man who's healed there on the Sabbath day, and he picks up his bed, and the religious leader like, woah. Woah. Why are you carrying your bed on the Sabbath?

And he said, the guy who healed me told me to take up my bed. That's what I'm gonna do. And if we have that kind of transformation, we'll do whatever he says. We think about the man who was blind and Jesus heals his blindness in John chapter nine. And they say, well, we know this man is a sinner.

And he says, well, whether he's a sinner or not, I do not know. One thing I know, I was blind and now I see. You can say whatever else you want of him. I know how I've been transformed. And when Jesus appears to that man and Jesus tells him to follow after the Messiah, he says, who is he so that I might follow him?

That's our response. We see the transformation. If we see what Jesus has done for us and how he loves us, he healed me, I'll do whatever he says. For Mary? She could've said.

He cast seven demons out of me. He knows me personally by name and loves me. And I know he is my teacher, my lord, and my god, of course. I will do whatever he says. But what about you this morning?

Jesus is calling you by name. He wants to transform you, to save you from your sins, and send you into the world as citizens of his kingdom. He is the Lord. Are you willing to do whatever he says to receive that healing? Are you willing to be, as he said, you must do to enter his kingdom?

Are you willing to be born again, born of water and the spirit? Physical water, but a spiritual rebirth through baptism. Are you willing to do whatever he says after you receive that healing, to follow him wherever he goes, to do whatever he commands? I hope that you are. I hope that's within our mind and in our heart, and know that you're not alone in seeking to do that.

So if we, as your brothers and sisters in Christ, if we, as those who know Jesus, can help you this morning, won't you come now while together we stand and while we sing?