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Do you ever wish things could just go back to the way they were? Sometimes when we arrive at places that are not where we want to be, we want to rewind life.
Lot’s wife looked back even after being told not to. She froze in that spot and was never able to move on. She knew there were problems in the place she just left, but she did not know what the future held.
Uncertainty about the future can keep us looking back.
The children of Israel were backed up against the Red Sea with the Egyptian soldiers advancing on them. They wanted to go back to Egypt, even though God had miraculously rescued them from their slavery there.
Fear can keep us looking back.
Even if the “good old days” were not that good, they seem better than where we are now.
Jesus’ Followers wanted a rewind on life too. Judas tried to take back what he had done by giving the money back. Peter definitely wanted a reset.
Regret and guilt can cause us to keep looking back.
If only I had done … or if only I had not done.
Jesus’ Followers just wanted Him back, in the flesh. They had experienced the high points of their life with Jesus. It was true, toward the end of His Life, He seemed to retreat from them more.
There was that time He sent them out on the boat alone. And, of course, He went off by Himself and prayed a lot.
But He always came back. This time it seemed like He was really gone. They had seen Him die. His Body was sealed up in a tomb. He had tried to prepare them.
But they weren’t ready.
Grief can keep us looking back.
And there was something else.
Fear.
They remembered hearing Jesus’ prayer in the garden.
While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that Name You gave Me.
John 17:12
That was true. They had been safe when He was with them. But now He was not with them. They no longer felt safe.
Not only was He gone, but they had seen all too up close and personal what evil looked like. They locked themselves in and not only looked back, they looked in every direction, completely immersed in confusion and fear.
So when Mary recognized Jesus in the garden, she was overcome with joy. He was back! In that moment, she believed she could go back to the way things were. She reached out to touch Him.
He stopped her. Why?
I think the real reason is because He wanted her to know they were not going back. They were in a brand new chapter of life. And that life would involve a knowing and being known that would be beyond any human touch.
Jesus wanted her to experience the intimacy of being Spirit to spirit, not just skin to skin.
And He had things for Mary to do. He told her to go and tell the others He was alive and they too would see Him soon.
He did see them. They did see Him. They even got to touch Him, talk with Him, walk with Him and eat with Him. But His physical Presence was not His Greatest Gift.
Before retiring His earthly body, He gave them an imparting promise.
Note.
This was not a parting Promise. It was an imparting Promise, not only to His Disciples then, but to us now.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in The Name of The Father and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And be sure of this —
I am with you always!.”
Matthew 28:20-21
You are in Me, and I am in you.
John 14:20
Do not get stuck in looking back.
Look at what you have left to do with Jesus.
He is alive in you and He’s moving forward, not backwards!
