Hold On to Forever
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”
John 20:17
Hold On to Forever – Women’s Devotion
I’ve been to four funerals in the last six months. I suppose the older we get the more “normal” that becomes. But death is not normal. Sorrow, heartache, and grief are proof of that. God created us to live—forever. To worship him—forever. To fellowship with him—forever. And to fellowship with one another—forever.
Death is an unwelcome intrusion in the timeline of forever. Without the living hope of Jesus, confusion, isolation, and hopeless despair make it impossible to navigate the sting of death and rightly see forever on the other side. Without the certainty of heaven, grief fosters a deep longing to go back to the way things were before.
This understanding of death’s impact helps explain the exchange between Mary and Jesus the first Easter morning. John records it this way:
Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”
“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”
Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God’” (John 20:11-17).
In a moment of extreme emotions, Mary holds on to Jesus as if life could just go back to the way it was before his death. But Jesus lovingly stops her to redirect her focus on what is to come. Forever.
Jesus wanted Mary (and us) to know he didn’t conquer death so things could go back to the way they were before. No! He defeated death to guarantee we would live—forever! He conquered the grave so we could worship and fellowship with our heavenly Father—forever! He declared victory over darkness so we could see our loved ones in Jesus again—forever!
By letting Mary know he had to ascend to his Father, he was reminding her that this life isn’t all there is. What we know and experience here on earth isn’t worth holding on to. This fallen world cannot bear the weight of eternity. There is something so much better waiting!
He was also letting her know he would be with her in a new way. As Jesus sent Mary with words of comfort and promise to the grieving disciples that day, he also comes to us by the Holy Spirit with comfort and promises through his Word and our baptism, and in his true body and blood at the Lord’s Supper. When grief and loss bring hopelessness, despair, isolation, and a longing for what was, the One Mary could not hold onto in the garden holds onto us through his means of grace.
I get Mary. I probably would have held on too. I’d give almost anything for one more conversation, hug, or visit with those who have gone before me. Separation is not normal. It’s not what God intended when he created us.
But we have something better to hold onto than the past. Holy Week is proof of that. We have the sure and living hope found in Jesus, our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord. May his victory shape your grief, steady your hope, and fill your Easter with joy in the One who holds on to you—forever.
Written by Dawn Schulz
