Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear people.

They call this BLACK FRIDAY. If we fail to understand that the name represents an accounting term, where stores and businesses wish to end the year “in the black,” the name could sound kind of sinister. Well, I suppose that if you wished to participate in all the competition surrounding the many BLACK FRIDAY SALES, you might just encounter some sinister selfishness.

I kind of like being alone when I read these Scripture passages in the morning. That way I can read out loud, not bother anyone else, and add my own dramatization with voice changes and inflections to help define the emotions involved. I must have been doing fairly well at it this morning—because when I came to that point where Jesus said, “Mary,” I cried. Is this a sign of abnormality? And even though I raise that question, I think I don’t really care.

It’s hard to believe that it’s already this late. It’s about time for my old man nap. May the Lord’s blessing rest on your remaining day. I need to get on with some sign work

Love, Dad/Ray.

Consistent with the style of a playwright, it’s quite clear to me that the Sovereign Author has some fun of His own by adding mystery, suspense, surprise, and subtle meaning. This act in the drama is full of all of those things. It’s definitely a script that none of the players had ever performed before.

As I ponder this metaphor I’ve just used—that this story in particular and this life in general are like play-acting that follows a script—I’m reminded of the difficult theological question that seeks to find a clear line of separation between the Sovereignty of God and the will of man. I cannot bide the idea that we are all, without knowing it, like puppets or robots who think, talk, and behave in precise conformity to a pre-determined script. Somewhere and somehow in the unfolding drama, there has to be space for human autonomy—which itself is part of the mystery and suspense—without which I cannot imagine the performance offering much fun to the Author.

Even the first sentence of the FOCUS VERSE is a little mysterious. What did Jesus mean when He said to Mary, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father”? I’ll offer my best shot at answering that by restating it with my paraphrase: “Don’t be all frazzled, Mary—feeling that you can’t let me go now that you’ve found Me—I haven’t gone anywhere yet. You’ll still have a chance to see Me again before I leave.”

Then Jesus gave Mary an assignment. His description of that assignment offers some inspiration to me—confirming the words of John in chapter one and verse twelve—affirming the transformational relationship available to all—“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Hang on those words—CHILDREN OF GOD. With our membership in the very Family of God established, it’s easy to recognize the accuracy of Jesus’ next words to Mary: “Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” If we are allowed to be CHILDREN OF GOD, then we become familial BROTHERS to Jesus, Whose FATHER becomes OUR FATHER and OUR GOD. So it’s personal! It’s not just ideological, theoretical, superficial, and impersonal—it’s relational, individual, and personal.

There is something noteworthy here. Before His resurrection, Jesus referred to His followers as DISCIPLES. But now, after His resurrection, He refers to them as BROTHERS. I’ll take that as significant.