Justified
“Stained and dirty in the eyes of a king. Tattered and tarnished, will I ever be clean? But He is spotless and holy and I can never compare in the sinful garments I wear. But Jesus stepped between the Father and me, now the way that He sees His son – I’m justified.” – According To John, Justified
Hello Dear Friend,
Stepping out of the local tavern, Mary’s eyes squint from the bright sun. She stands still for a few moments to let them adjust to the change of light before glancing over to her left to see some women gathering together. Funny how these women, who once congregated with her, now treat her as an outcast. Their judgmental stares are cast her way and as they speak in loud whispers it’s not hard to guess that she is the topic of their discussion. Shame has found her once again, as Mary lowers her eyes to the ground and turns toward the darkening alley that will lead her home.
Mary, once a young lady of high rank, full of potential and greatly respected among society, now finds herself tortured and tormented by the plague of demons. It’s no wonder she’s been abandoned! She has become a stranger to all who know her. Her family is gone and her friends have all left her alone. The girl they once knew is lost and is now suffocated by the darkness. All that’s left is a dirty, feeble creature who day by day loses a little more of her humanity as she sulks further and further into the shadows. Her hair is a mess, her clothing looks more like rags – filled with holes and marked with stains, and there is a cloud of fowl odor that veils her.
Years have passed and still the demons lurk. She has lost time and her ability to care about anything or anyone as bit by bit she is losing her sanity. The absence of light has taken her smile, her joy, and her will to live. She’s tired of trying to survive and has lost her will to fight. She can’t drown out the voices in her head anymore. The whispers of lies are too loud for her to ignore. She doesn’t sleep, she barely eats and she doesn’t go out any more than she can help it for fear of what they might make her say or make her do. She feels as if her body is no more than a host for the dark spirits that haunt her day after day as she’s constantly being pulled by their strings. Her words are no longer her own, she’s lost her voice. Her actions are our out of her control and every waking moment all she experiences is torment.
“This is when it ends.” Mary thinks as she drinks her ale in the corner seat at the counter. She stares into her mug and decides tonight will be the night she will take her own life. “One way or another, my suffering will end.” She breathes a sigh of determination and almost feels relieved by her decision as she stands to take her leave.
There’s a man in the threshold blocking her way out of the musky tavern. “Excuse me.” She mutters with her head down and hair in her face as she tries to pass.
“Mary.” The handsome stranger calls her name and continues to block her path.
“Excuse me!” She said, louder this time, “I don’t know you. Get out of my way!” She goes on to say as she pushes him aside.
He quickly lifts his arm and places his hand on the opposite side of the doorframe to stop her. “Mary of Magdala!” His chest brushes her shoulder and as he whispers those words his lips are so close to her ear that she can feel his breath touch her skin. Mary stops cold. The feeling of His warm breath on her skin sends shivers down her spine and the demons immediately hush at the sound of His voice.
For the first time in years, silence fills her head. For the first time in years she is filled will hope as she lifts her head and turns to meet His eyes. “Who are you?” she asks, even though she knows the only thing she really needs to know has already been revealed, He is her Savior.
A Devine Encounter
Mary Magdalene, not much is said about her in the Bible except that demons possessed her for years until Jesus came and granted her freedom from the bondage of a grand total of seven demons. Seven demons – can you imagine your body and mind being the host of seven demons whose sole purpose is to torture and torment you every moment of every day?
“I volunteer as tribute!" – Katniss Everdeen, The Hunger Games
Seven – the number is symbolic for many reasons but I happen to find it interesting that seven is the very number of (listed) places that Jesus bled from when He stepped in to replace humanity for their sins. We often forget that the torture that Jesus endured only fell upon His shoulders when He volunteered to take our death penalty.
When He spoke authority over the demons that possessed Mary, I wonder if He could see the video reel of what was to come. As He cradled Mary’s head in His hands and spoke power over the first demon I wonder, do you think He could feel the crown of thorns being shoved down on His head? When He grabbed hold of her shoulders to cast out demon No.2 , do you think He could hear the cracking of the whip that would reduced His body to hamburger meat? Do you think He felt the sting of the 39 lashes His back would later receive?
Picture now, as His hands traveled from Mary’s shoulders and down her arms until their hands are intertwined together and then He commands that demon No.3 and No.4 leave. In doing so, do you think He could feel His arms being stretched out against that cross as the nails spiked into His hands? He plants His feet right up beside Mary’s to where they touch ever so slightly and the hem of His garment brushes across the top of her feet and sandals as He calls out demons No. 5 and No.6. As He spoke, do you think He felt the nail pounding through His feet fully pinning Him to that cross?
He then wraps His arms around her and holds her in a big, strong, protective hug. He speaks the words to that last demon, demon No.7, that causes it to flee out of Mary. In that moment, do you think He felt the piercing of the spear going into His side?
When He called the last demon out of her, I imagine the mighty exhale that must have escaped Mary’s lips as Jesus fully embraced her. Imagine the freedom! Imagine the liberation and relief she must have instantly felt from the wave of His grace, His mercy, His warmth, and His love as the last demon left her. As all this freedom and release was happening for Mary, do you think that Jesus could feel the weight shift off of her and onto Himself?
Let That S*** Go...
“Why do you wanna be all listenin’ to me? Why do you spread your arms and tell me I’m free? Why do you wanna be in my life? I’ve been dirtier than you want to know. I’ve left earlier than you’ll ever know. Jesus. Jesus. There’s something about your name. Master. Savior. Jesus." – Aaron Gillespie, The Almost, Dirty and Left Out
The head, it causes us to entertain thoughts that lead us to temptation and sin. We see and hear things that sway our thinking towards stuff that we should not be entertaining but do because of what we chose to observe and absorb. When the crown of thorns was pushing against His temples and pressing into His skull, Jesus had all the sinful thoughts that will ever enter into the human brain rush through His mind.
Our back, it turns on people. We talk about them and stab them from behind when they aren’t looking. We turn our back on God. We walk away. Well, they all turned their backs on Jesus and they let Him get whipped and beaten so brutally that you could no longer tell that He was a man.
Our hands, they cause us to touch things and do things that they shouldn’t. Our feet have gone to places they never should have ventured. We’ve held onto things that we never should have gripped and our feet have been led astray. But as they thrust the nails into each hand and both feet of Jesus and pinned Him to that cross He put Himself in our shoes. He placed Himself in every situation we could fall prey.
The gut, it causes us to feel things we shouldn’t feel. Feelings filled with anger, bitterness, jealousy, lust, and worthlessness. Jesus felt everything we feel when they took that spear, shoved it into His side and pierced through Him – His blood overflowed to wash away every sin that we would ever commit.
Live In The Overflow
Like you, I will never know the full weight of my sins. I will never have to feel the pain that Jesus endured for me and I will never fully understand just what all He felt and experienced when He volunteered His life for mine.
Dirty, broken, abused, confused and unworthy. We are dark without Christ within us. But God’s grace intervened. Through the shedding of Jesus' blood God’s love pours out and overflows for us. His blood flowed from seven places on the day He was crucified, symbolizing completion and perfection. On that day, we were justified. His blood cleanses us in a way that nothing else can. Through His blood we are free, we are forgiven, we are healed because we’ve been justified and viewed as holy in the eyes of our Master, Savior and King.
There’s something about His name. Mary knew it. Pontius Pilate knew it. Even the demons knew it and trembled. The very sound of His name carries more weight and power than anything on this earth. In Jesus’ name you’ve been justified. In Jesus’ name you’ve been forgiven. Through the blood of Jesus, the sacrificial lamb, you’ve been washed clean. You’ve been made spotless in the eyes of the King of kings. Stop carrying all those things that Jesus took to the cross with Him. Stop attempting to claim ownership over the weights that held Jesus on that cross. Stop binding yourself to the chains that Jesus removed from you so that He could anchor them to His cross. Stop making up excuses and listening to the lies of the enemy and allow yourself to be liberated. Open up your heart to receive Him. Live in the freedom that God has given to you. Live in that wave of overflowing love, forgiveness and grace that He has for you.
With love,
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