The Empty Tomb

Published: Oct. 7, 2021, midnight

b'She was tormented by demons.\\nMary, a woman of Magdalene\\u2026or so she had once been called. Now she knew herself by a different name: possessed, enslaved, hopeless. She tried to fight the darkness. Countless times she ran from its grip, but the demons were always faster.\\n\\u201cWeak,\\u201d they cackled at her efforts. You\\u2019re ours now.\\nShe was an outcast. Cursed and broken beyond repair.\\nUntil He came.\\n\\u201cMary.\\u201d He called for her, His voice echoing in the cavernous prison that entrapped her soul. Mary shrank from His voice. She had gone too far to be saved now.\\n\\u201cMary.\\u201d He spoke and the demons trembled. It was the carpenter, the teacher from Nazareth.\\n\\u201cJesus.\\u201d Mary groped in the darkness, trying to answer Him, her heart screaming for mercy and desperate for grace.\\n\\u201cShe is ours!\\u201d The demons shrieked. \\u201cShe\\u2019s gone too far to be loved!\\u201d\\nHis voice answered. \\u201cNo!\\u201d\\nThe chains binding her soul shattered, dropping her breathless and crumpled at His feet. Her body shivered, her heart pounded, and her eyes dared to rise from the dust to His face. He heard her. He found her. He loved her.\\nJesus met her gaze and grasped her by the hand, pulling her to her feet. \\xe2\\u20ac\\u0153No.\\xe2\\u20ac\\x9d His word vanquished every shadow. \\xe2\\u20ac\\u0153This one is Mine.\\xe2\\u20ac\\x9d \\u2022 Anita Seavey\\n\\u2022 Today\\u2019s story is how one author imagines the day Jesus rescued Mary Magdalene from seven demons. As we can read in the Gospels, Mary followed Jesus after He healed her. How has Jesus revealed God\\u2019s love for broken people? \\n\\u2022 We are all broken and sinful, and we all need Jesus just as desperately as Mary did. Have you ever felt like you\\u2019re too far gone to be loved? To be free? To be whole? What does Jesus say? \\nBut\\u2014When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. Titus 3:4-5 (NLT)\\n\\xa0\\nRead Verses:\\nJohn.20.1-John.20.18'