Warriors Arise: April 28th, 2020
Returning to John chapter 20, piecing together the chronological order of the events following the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Mark 16, we see Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went to the tomb with spices to anoint Jesus' body. They were discussing along the way who would open the tomb. While they were going, the Roman guards were headed into the city to the chief priests. The women encounter a "man" at the tomb who tells them "Do not be alarmed...But go, tell His disciples-and Peter- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you." The women fled from the tomb. They found the disciples and delivered the message. In John 20, we see Peter and John ran to the tomb and then in verse 10, "Then the disciples went away again to their own homes." It would appear that Peter and John didn't realize they had someone following them.
John 20:11 "But Mary stood outside by the tomb weeping, and as she wept she stooped down and looked into the tomb." Mary had already been there (Mark 16). She had seen the man sitting in the tomb, telling them, "Do not be alarmed." She had taken the message to Jesus' disciples and Peter as she was instructed. She sees Peter leave and John followed, John 20:3. Mary Magdalene had followed them.
Peter didn't know John had followed him until John catches up to him, they run together until John can't stand it any longer. He must go. I don't think he was trying to outrun Peter, he just couldn't hold back. Time might be of the essence, who knows how the long the messanger would stay. John passes Peter, beating him to the tomb. We don't know if they were running to the tomb to see if Jesus' body was gone, just as the women had told them, or if they were going to the tomb to talk to the man, the messenger. Maybe both.
In Scripture, we see many times where Peter responds first [Mount of Transfiguration, Matthew 17:4, Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here...] and acts first [getting out of the boat, the only disciple to walk on water]. Now in John 20:3 Peter is the first of the disciples to go out to the tomb.
The messenger had specifically mentioned Peter by name. Peter wanted answers. Maybe this man, whom the women saw and had spoken to them, and would be able to give Peter some answers.
John had followed Peter. John didn't want to be left out of this. It didn't matter where Peter went, John was going with him. If Peter was going to find the answers, John wanted to be there with him. John caught up with Peter, found out he was going to the tomb and then runs on ahead. John looks in the tomb but does not go in. There is no man and Jesus' body is not there, the linen clothes were empty. He remains outside the tomb until Peter gets there.
John followed Peter. Who is following you?
Warriors we are going to pray for those who follow our lead. You may think no one is following you, you maybe don't want anyone to follow you. Peter didn't ask for John to follow. Peter needed to go and for whatever reason John followed.
Father, as Your warrior, to advance Your kingdom, to bring heaven on earth, I want to lead others to know Your amazing grace and magnificent love. You are amazing. You desire for Your people to come together, to unify in prayer and to release Your will here on earth. You do not want us to suffer under the hand of the enemy and the disease of the coronavirus. You have a cure and the vaccine to heal and protect Your people. I ask for You to speak to the researchers and give them the formula needed. I ask for You to give wisdom to the authorities in power on how to distribute the cure and the vaccine without the people of the world becoming ruthlessly crazy; while they wait for it to get to where they are. I petition You for a shield of protection for those who are interacting with people throughout the day in hospitals, food distributions, grocery stores, gas stations...etc.
Father, I ask for those who are joining us as Warriors, to arise in prayer, to call out to You, to be faithful to Your desire for Your people. It is an honor to have people follow me but let it be that I lead them to You. I pray for influence to lead people to where You are, who You are and what You are doing. As I lead, let me lead people to You. Some may outrun me but at least because of my lead they are headed to find You. Thank you for letting me to have influence with others and to lead them to You. Jesus, You are who I follow in Jesus' name amen.
A Warrior in the Lord’s Army, Veridee Joy
My hope is for Believers in Jesus Christ to join together each day to pray, to push back the enemy as we release God’s power here on earth against the coronavirus. The prayers will be listed each day as Warriors Arise. I will put a date with it so we can keep them straight. If you have any questions please feel free to make a comment or private message me. If you would like this to come to your email directly please go to verideehand.com and subscribe.
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