Address—Rick Shower
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The the card of schedule says that this is a 30 minute address, so it I'm going to have to speak fast and not keep you from dinner. He'll turn to me with me to Gospel of John.
Gospel of John, chapter 20.
I'm going to speak on one word.
One word that's used twice only.
In the New Testament, but I think it's a word that we can.
Glean a lot of a lot of things from so going to go to John chapter 20, Gospel of John chapter 20 and I'm going to be begin reading on verse 10, John 20 and verse 10.
Then the disciples went away again into their own home. But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping. And as she wept she stooped down and looked into the sepulchre. And seeth 2 angels in white, sitting one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
And they said unto her, Woman, Why we bestow? She said unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. And when she had thus said, she turned back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. Jesus said unto her, Woman, Why weepest thou?
Whom seeketh thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, said unto him, Sir, if thou hast have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him.
And I will take him away.
Jesus.
Saith unto her Mary. She turned herself, and said unto him, Rabonae, that is to say, Master.
I'm going to speak on that word, Raboni.
Occurs here and one other place that we'll look at.
But it's impossible really to speak about the word rabonae without Speaking of Mary Magdalene, with whom it's connected.
Now if you'll turn over to the book of Luke, hold, keep your finger in John because we'll come back to John. But the Gospel of Luke, I'm going to read a couple of verses.
In Luke chapter 8.
Beginning with first one of Luke chapter 8. And it came to pass afterwards that he went through every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God. And the 12 were with him. And certain women which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven devils.
And Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod, Stuart, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their sustenance.
Well, we know and these is a familiar portion that but Mary Magdalene had the seven devils cast out of her. But I want to suggest something else about Mary Magdalene. She must have been a wealthy woman.
She travelled with the blessed Lord all over Galilee, going to all these different villages with some other sisters, and she ministered to Him and the disciples of her substance.
So she, along with those others, must have been a wealthy woman.
And if we'll look at Mark Chapter 15, another, I can't go into all the details here, but another fact that we need to remember in connection with her Mark Chapter 15.
Mark chapter 15 and verse 40. Now we know the the context here. This is the Lord when he was on the cross.
Mark 15 and verse 40. There were also women looking on afar off, among whom was Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James. The lesson of Jose and of Salome or Salome.
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Who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and ministered unto him, and many other women, which came up with him unto Jerusalem.
Well, we have here the fact that on that Passover day.
Mary Magdalene watched as her blessed Lord Jesus was crucified. She stood there with those other women, and she heard the words that he said on the cross.
She realized a little bit.
That.
What had happened? She saw all that occurred there.
And we read that she and some of the other women went and got things, spices and so forth to anoint the body after it was taken down from the cross. I were to spring out these two details to give us a little background.
Of what was going on in her life.
Seven devils cast out.
The Lord Jesus enthroned in her heart.
Following him throughout all of his ministry there in Galilee. Then followed him up to Jerusalem and was there at the cross when he was crucified.
And watched the lover of her soul.
Crucified.
And then we come to the scene we're looking at now. It's after the cross. She goes to where the tomb was because she had those spices and she wanted to take care of the body.
And so we find her here. But I started reading in verse 10 of John 20 because it says that the disciples, and if we just back up a little bit of we know as John and Simon Peter had gone to the sepulchre and it says they went to their own home.
They looked in and saw an empty sepulchre and then turned around and went back to their homes.
And then there's that word but.
But Mary.
May I suggest that Mary didn't have a home to go to?
We have an expression in the world that says home is where your heart is.
Where was Mary's heart?
Her heart.
Wasn't in the tomb.
They could go back to their homes. They could go back to those things that they had established. I'm sure Mary had a house.
A building she could have gone back to, but that wasn't a home. Because home is where the heart is.
And the sepulchre was empty. That's where her heart was. What the blessed Lord?
But he was gone.
And so she looks in and she sees an empty sepulchre.
And he was gone.
That sepulchre was only exceeded in emptiness by her heart.
Her heart was just as empty.
As that sepulchre, in fact more empty, because that which had captured her heart, that which she had enthroned in her heart, was gone.
Everything about her that we reached her was a focus.
On the Lord. And So what do we read here She stood weeping, without the sepulchre. Now she looks in, and what does she see? It's empty.
And so she has to turn.
And she sees the two angels and the empty sepulchre, and they ask her, Why, woman, why weepest thou? And what does she say? Because they have taken away, not the Lord, Oh no.
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My Lord.
So she could think about.
This one that she administered to, this one that had cast out the devils, this one that she had grown to love was gone, and she wanted to know where.
Was she ignorant? Did she not know he was to rise from the dead?
I don't think she was thinking about resurrection.
She was thinking about her affections and where her affections were were in Christ.
And so.
She doesn't think about resurrection.
Her affections were greater.
You know, she says here to the gardener in verse 15.
Well, it's the Lord, but she thinks it's the gardener. And she says to the gardener, Sir, if thou's born him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away three times. We have the word him there.
She didn't say the Lord.
She didn't say Jesus, she just said Him. Why? Because she thought everybody would be would know who she's talking about.
There was a would be understood that anybody that would be there would know who she was talking about if I go to some friend's home.
And.
He, he or she is sick and I go to the door and they answer and I say, well, well, how is she? How is he?
Do I have to say the name of the person? No, it's understood. We're all thinking the same thoughts. We're thinking about the person. That's not well.
Mary Magdalene was thinking the same. She was thinking that anybody that would be there would know who she was talking about.
Because anybody that would be there would have the same affection and want to know about.
That one.
But then what do we have, verse 16? Jesus saith unto her, Mary.
One word.
He calleth his sheep by name, as we're told. Well, he called the sheep, and it only took one word.
And she knew by that voice who it was. Mary.
And she turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabona.
Now rabona is a special word. It has an appellative on the end of it. It really means not just master, it means the master of my affections.
Not even just the heart, it's the master of my affections.
And we see that here with Mary, everything that she does, everything that she says.
Is out of the affections of her heart.
And so she doesn't say Lord.
She says Ramona.
The master of my affections.
The one who had captured, the one that she had enthroned in her heart, that had taken away those seven devils, that one that she had traveled with and gotten to know was all summed up in Rabona. A master of my heart and my affections.
We know from John or from Mark 15 that the Lord appeared to.
Mary Magdalene first.
Kind of all the ones that he could have appeared to. It was Mary Magdalene and it wasn't Peter. Peter denied him. Peter was broken by what he had done, but that's not who the Lord went to 1St.
Went to Mary Magdalene. Why?
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Why was it that he was going to entrust her?
With the most magnificent message that we get in verse 17 to go to the brethren.
You better read it.
Crime not ascended to my father, but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend to my father, and your father, and to my God and your God. Why was it?
That.
He went to her.
Well, first of all, it was clearly devotedness. She had travelled with him.
And it was also her heart's affection.
It wasn't knowledge that characterized Mary Magdalene. If I can pick out a sister in Scripture there who had knowledge, I would have said Mary of Bethany, because she didn't even go to the cross. She knew she had laid hold of the fact that he was going to be crucified, but that he was going to raise too.
But Mary Magdalene.
No, it was total affection.
Maybe some ignorance, but she wasn't willing to take care of that.
I think he appeared to her because she enthroned him in their heart.
Because she had such affection for him that nothing she did was apart from those affections.
Isn't that a challenge to us today?
How much in my life and the things that I do come solely from my affection for the blessed Lord Jesus?
Or is it natural affection?
Or is it my thoughts about what my life should be like?
That is what generates what I do and what I say.
With Mary, it was simply.
To Lord Jesus.
All nothing more and everything was Jennifer generated from it and so she says Rabona I master of my hearts affections. Okay, we've got to get to the other one Mark.
Part chapter.
10.
Mark, Chapter 10.
This is another familiar portion to us. Mark chapter 10 verse 46. I'll read quickly. And they came to Jericho. And as he went out Jericho with his disciples and a great number of people blind Bartimaeus the son of Timaeus sat by the way highway side begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me.
And many charged him that he should hold his peace.
But he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they called the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, Rise, he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him.
Not Lord. The word is Roboni.
Same word as we have in John 20.
Now some of you may have a marginal reading that says Rabona.
Term of Reverend love, master of my affections. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way, thy faith hath made the whole. And immediately he received his sight, and followed Jesus in the way.
Verse 46 We learned that Bartimaeus had a need.
It was an external need.
He needed eyesight. He needed to be able to see.
Then in verse 47 we find that the Spirit had been working with him in details that were not given. We don't have the details like we do with Mary Magdalene. And the reason why I say that the Spirit of God had been working already with him is it says in verse 47. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth.
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A term of reproach.
Almost a slur.
Is that what he calls him? No, no, no, no. Look what it says. And he began to cry out and say, Jesus, thou son of David.
He recognizes he was a lot more than just Jesus of Nazareth passing through the town.
And So what do we find when he calls out verse 49? Jesus stood still.
I always find that remarkable. Others have commented on it. Jesus stood still.
You realize that He was the creator of all things. We had that before us today. He was the creator of all things. And he who created Bartimaeus, created all those ones who were there, created the world, the beings, everything stood still.
Stopped.
You know that was even greater than the day in Joshua's day.
Joshua had the sun stop.
Blind Bartimaeus stopped the creator of that sun. That's even greater.
And then in verse 50, we find something too. We don't have all the details like we do maybe for with Mary, but the Lord was working with him. And what's the first thing that He does? He casts off his garment. Now what is the garment? The garment is our character.
Did you ever think about that?
Our garments, what we wear is representative of our character.
And in scripture it's used as a symbol reflecting the character of the person.
So a king wore something different than a beggar. But what is the point is what does blind Bartimaeus do? He took that garment, that which had characterized him, and it was gone.
That's like a soul saved and everything is gone. That was of the old way, the old life, the old path, everything was gone.
Why? Because there had been a work going on there. And so he casts off his garment. And so we find in verse 51.
The blind man said unto him, Rabona, master of my heart.
Same thing that Mary said. How was it that he could say rabona? Why he had just met him, He had just stopped him.
On the pathway, how could he say rabona?
Because there had been a work going on. The Spirit of God had been working in blind Bartimaeus's heart. And I don't think I'm stretching scriptures here to say this.
He could say Riboni, master of my heart's affection, because it was first love.
What was the accusation to to Ephesus? Thou hast left thigh.
You can fill in the blank, ask lest thy first love. That's what the Lord had against that assembly. What about individuals? Have we left our first love? You remember the moment the Lord came into your heart.
Lifted you out of the throes of of sin that was burdening you, the need that you had, and that need was completely gone.
Have you left that?
Or is your heart like it was with blind Bartimaeus here?
It was.
Masters of my heart's affections and what is blind Bartimaeus do?
Verse 52 He followed Jesus in the way.
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Two people both using the same word, Raboni. So there's some similarities here. One was rich.
The other was poor.
Mary Magdalene Rich, Bartimaeus Poor. That covers everybody.
Covers the whole world. Every single soul in it is somewhere between poor and rich.
Or one of those.
And that affection that is found in that single word rabona is available to every soul.
Every soul in this room, every soul in this world.
Circumstances are not important. It doesn't matter if you're rich, doesn't matter if you're poor.
You can have that same affection.
For the blessed Lord Jesus.
One was male, one was female. It's not limited to the sexes.
It's not just for the women, who seem to have more of an affectionate nature, it's just as much for the men.
Blind Bartimaeus knew first love at the beginning of the pathway. It says right here that he followed the Lord in the way it was right from the beginning. He had that lifting in his heart, in his affections for this one who had met his need.
At the beginning, what about Mary? Mary had been on the pathway a long time, and yet what does she say? She says Robo and I too, because time had not destroyed her affection. Circumstances had not destroyed that affection. It was just as great.
In her heart, down the pathway as it was for Bartimaeus at the beginning of the past.
Both of them accompanied the Lord.
And both of them learned more.
And the Spirit of God was able to develop those affections even more.
As time went on.
Both of them I'm sure.
I know Mary, I think we know we're not reading in the Scripture that both of them remembered the moment that their need was met.
Her need?
Mary's was an internal need. She had seven demons inside of her. That's an internal need. Blind Bart Emmaus had an external need outside. He needed eyesight. Lord meant both, and he meets both today.
Your external needs. Your internal needs.
Both knew him on this earth.
But Mary got to know Him in resurrection.
And so you and I, we don't know him on this earth, but we do know him in resurrection, and we've had much of that in our readings, especially our last one on it.
And the other thing we learned from both of these two pictures in John 20 and here is that the Lord Jesus is not far from any heart that has an affection for Him. Intelligence has nothing to do with it. We could say that Mary basically wasn't real intelligent.
Mary Magdalene.
But she had such an affection.
What does the Lord want? What does He want from you and me? Does He want intelligence? Does he want us to know all the doctrines? Do we want to know the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic glories? The difference with a moral glory? Is that what He wants? Well, I'm sure he doesn't mind if we understand that, but He wants our affections.
Out of the abundance of the heart.
The mouth speaks.
And if in my heart he is.
The master.
The controller of all my heart's affections.
All of them.
Is #1.
Then it will not be a problem.
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I think, brethren.
We need to cultivate more the simple affection for the blessed Lord Jesus.
Because as time goes on.
You and I are going to know more about this because it's about him and if he's captured our hearts, we can't get enough of him.
If you were, I were going to a far country.
To visit for the first time, we're going to want to know about that place and we're going to do some research. We're going to learn about it. Well, we're going to the glory. We can learn about that, but the glory is nothing. Heaven is nothing without the Lord.
All those streets of gold and everything, they're nothing.
Because he's there, that's why it's heaven. And so we have the opportunity to learn here for him. Now, just in closing, I'm going to read the brother gave out the last him.
When we close the meeting.
Was #174.
And I really appreciated it. And I was thinking of verse two. 174 verse 2 Jesus, thou art enough the mind and heart to fill.
By patient life, to calm the soul, by love, it's fear dispel.
That's Mary. The heart was filled.
Verse 3.
Oh, fix our earnest gaze so holy Lord, on thee, that with thy beauty occupied, we elsewhere none may see. That's why in Bartimaeus he got the sight, He got to see him on the earth. You and I all get to see him in the glory, whom not having seen we, you can finish the verse.
So may we, and I'm sorry I'm over, may we?
Have a heart.
That we can say to the blessed Lord Rabona.