Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8)
As long as it is the will of God, you should go to God in prayer and petition for it. You should ask till you receive it; you should seek till you find it; you should knock until the door opens. Do not stop in the middle of your seeking, because if you do not give up you will surely receive it.
A Woman Who Persevered Seeking, Encounters Jesus (John 20:1-18)
The first time Mary Magdalene went to Jesus tomb on that blessed morning, she went back without finding the truth but only brought a false sad report, “they have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” V2. The truth is there, hidden in Christ, till we find Him, we are out of touch with reality.
Peter and John heard her sad report and they quickly run to the tomb. Even though John went looking, he did not go in and all He saw was the linen wrappings lying in the tomb. When you look, you must enter in and look very well in every direction. Take your time, look and do not rush. How many times have you seen even people in your own household looking for something that is in front of them but they keep passing it? How many times have you done it? This is because they are not looking well.
Peter entered however. Because he went a step further, he saw a little bit more. Not only did he see the linen wrappings but he saw it with more details, “the face-cloth which had been on His head, not lying with the linen wrappings, but rolled up in a place by itself.” (V7). At least with these details, it gave them information that Christ’s body was not stolen. John came in and he also saw those details and he believed.
There's Got to Be More
Both disciples went back home still without a touch of the truth. They went home prematurely, they went home sad. If only they had lingered a little bit more!
But Mary decided to linger. To look more. She decided to go an extra-mile... "there is got to be more..."
She prayed, she wept. Not only that but she decided to go an extra mile, so she stooped and looked into the tomb. There’s got to be something more than this sad report. My friend, there is always something more than that sad report. There’s got to be, we must learn to SEARCH DILIGENTLY, CAREFULLY like the woman in Luke 15:8 “Or what woman, if she has ten silver coins and loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it?”
When Mary looked for more, she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying. Before she looked further, she had a wrong report “they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.” V13. We do not know the real truth till we look diligently.
She lingered in the tomb, she talked to the angels and then she looked some more further. The bible tells us that when she turned, she saw more: a man whom she had not seen before, and whom she does not know at first that it was Jesus! By lingering, from talking to the angels, she now saw a man and began to talk to him also! Little didn’t she know it was Jesus! Talking to Jesus, her eyes were opened. How many Jesus do we meet in our lifetime and we do not know it is Jesus! How many times we meet Jesus but do not even talk to Him.
Discernment, Wisdom and understanding is needed to recognize Jesus even Jesus in another form whom we often time might encounter. By talking to Jesus, she learned the real truth. She learned many things she did not know, she was sent with true good news, ““I have seen the Lord!”
My beloved friend, let us persevere in our seeking. Persevere in your searching. Persevere in your knocking. Even if they are not there, even if they say ‘no’, as long as it is the will of God, you must go back and seek, search and knock again.