Mary Magdalene- From Delusion To Faith- (John 20:11-18 Jeff Kliewer)

Good morning, Cornerstone Church.

Good morning. Hey, we have some really exciting announcements today. So everybody, please come on in, grab a seat. We have some big stuff happening. All right. We have a special installation service tonight at 6 o 'clock PM.

Now, you may be wondering, what is an installation service? It's when a pastor is installed, inducted into their role as a pastor of the church. Now, I'm the senior pastor. We have John Laskin as an associate pastor.

And tonight, we will be adding Tim Robinson as an associate pastor of the church. Is Tim in the room right now? Close the doors. Close the doors. I can tell you, he doesn't know who the guest speaker is.

No, Mary Elizabeth already knows. She already knows. We have a guest speaker tonight preaching the service. And I'm going to tell you who it is. Tim's not there.

OK.

It is.

It's a secret to him only. The president of Cairn University, Dr. Williams. So Tim is a graduate from Cairn University. And this guy, I read an article that was just amazing that he wrote taking a conservative stand against the nonsense in the culture.

So I wanted to reinforce that. Invited him to come, and he graciously agreed to preach the installation service. I will also give a charge to Tim and John Laskin each about five minutes. And then we will lay hands on him and install him.

All the elders will lay hands on Tim for his installation as a pastor. So very exciting time in the life of our church today. And we have two more really exciting announcements. But first, I'm going to hold you in suspense and call on John to come give us a couple of announcements about the men's ministry.

And about our maintenance ministry. The water to the building has been shut off temporarily. We had a little flooding problem. So you know what I mean. You're going to have to wait till you get home.

Maybe not. We're working on it.

So yeah, the men's ministry. We have two events coming up. One is in two weeks. One is in three months. I will be here after the service if you have any questions. But basically, the two-week event is a football game.

We do it every year. It's the NFC championship game. Harry, who's going to be in that game? We're rooting for Philadelphia, I know. So that will be at 6 PM, Sunday, January 28. We generally have maybe 30 to 40 guys there.

It's a real good time. Big screen, a big room, real good food. So please see if you can make that. It's $12 per man and $6 per boy under 12 years old. Sunday, the 28th, 6 PM. And you can sign up online on our church center app.

And you can see me after the service if you have any other questions. And then in three months, we have our annual men's retreat. And that is a three-day, two-night event in the Pocono Mountains. And we have good teaching, good fellowship.

The facility is just very welcoming. And they have a lot of great food. And it's just a lot of fun. So hopefully, please put that on your calendar. Think about that. That's April 12, 13, and 14. And it's roughly about $150 a man for the whole weekend, three days, two nights, April 12, 13, 14.

Thank you very much.

You can clap for John. About a year and a half, two years ago, a man walked through the back door and sat down in the church service. And we visited him after. We said, who are you? Where are you from?

His name was Hamilton Banda. And he was from Lilongwe, Malawi. Came a long way to go to church. Well, he was studying at Cairn University for one year to get his master's in leadership before returning to Malawi to help with orphans and outreach to orphans and giving housing, protecting orphans on the street.

He himself grew up as an orphan in Malawi. But the Lord saved him and raised him up to help others. Well, about six months ago, Hamilton, now back in Malawi, had a vision of opening an orphanage, the idea to build a safe house for girls.

And he put that out there. And we then, about two months ago, said, you know what? I think Cornerstone could be the major funding for this orphanage. It costs $45 ,000 to build an entire orphanage in Malawi.

And so in December, we undertook to raise that money for Hamilton to build the orphanage. Now, if this was the plan in New Jersey, it would take two years just to get a permit. And then maybe we could think about drawing up plans or whatever.

But when Hamilton received the first installment of support from Cornerstone, guys, show a picture of what he did. He went to the brickyard. This is Hamilton at the brickyard in Malawi. And he purchased the bricks needed to lay a foundation.

And then he got his guys from the church and hired a few contractors. And they broke ground in December. And then they dug some trenches and cleared some land. And they laid the foundation of the orphanage, which they just envisioned months ago with the funding from Cornerstone.

So right now, as you see, the foundation of the orphanage has been laid already. The plan is for it to be window high by the end of this month, by the end of January. And they're hoping to complete the building by May of 2024.

Isn't that amazing? God is good. He's working there in Malawi. And Hamilton gave us a very important email this last week that I think we'll all find very encouraging. He has decided to name the orphanage the Cornerstone Girl Safe House Orphanage.

So praise the Lord. So just like that, we find ourselves being, you know, those who have funded an orphanage. And it's named after our church all the way on the other side of the world in Central Africa.

So praise God for that announcement. And there's another great announcement. As if that wasn't big enough news, we about seven years ago tried to purchase that land on 507 Mount Laurel Road, right next to our current property.

But then it fell through. Somebody else bought it. That person put it up for sale a few years ago. And we tried to buy it, but we got outbid. And some builder bought it and started to build a house. And we thought strike one, strike two.

That's too bad. We've lost it. Well, by God's providence, this builder has decided to sell the house. And the board met last week to discuss whether it would meet some needs of our church. The reason that we're interested in buying the house next door is that we don't have enough space, if you haven't noticed.

The kids' classes are full. We only have one extra classroom and we could really use that for more kids as we're planning to do a trail life outreach and a number of things. So we don't have classroom space to do a financial peace university or a prayer meeting or a parenting class or some other plan that we have for adult classes on Sunday morning.

Baptism classes, starting point classes. So what this would do is it would give us immediate classroom space, the big open room and some rooms. We're also going to need an office for our new associate pastor, who's now full-time with us, Tim Robinson, who'll be installed tonight.

Therefore, the board is proposing that we purchase that house. And we are calling an emergency congregational meeting. This is a congregational church. Together as a body, we'll make the decision whether we want to do that.

It will be a week from, it'll be a week and a day from now, Monday, January 22nd at 7 p .m. Congregational meeting. Only members are able to vote on whether we should purchase it, but everybody is welcome to come and listen or even give some input because everybody who's attending is a part of the church, but members have that vote.

That's our polity. We will also be very financially conservative. We are, as a church, able to do it, but we are also saving money in order to build a new sanctuary in the field right next to us here.

So we want to be financially conservative. So I'll tell you, we are talking about maybe selling the land that we purchased if we need to financially before we break ground over here. So all of that will be discussed in just over a week at the congregational meeting.

But we'll do everything very conservative financially, kind of like we're conservative in all ways. We'll be that way with our money as well. But God is doing great things, opening the opportunity. The builder is willing to get rid of it because he's been putting a lot into it.

And without taking any profit, it's as if God has commissioned him to build for the sake of the church. And now it might be coming to us. So it looks like God is doing it. Question, John? Oh, if anybody needs to use the bathroom, the water's back on.

Okay. All right. So if you can't tell, God is at work doing amazing things in this church. Let's pray and give him the thanks and the glory and then ask him to come meet with us here in this worship service.

Father God, you have done great things for us and we are filled with joy. We thank you for calling Tim and Mary Elizabeth to come be a part of this church. And then tonight that we could install Tim as an associate pastor at Cornerstone.

We thank you for the possibility of getting this extra space that we could even use through the week and have so many purposes, Lord. And for the kitchen, all of these amazing gifts that we need. Lord, we thank you for it.

You provide exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we could ask, think, or imagine. And we thank you, Lord, that we could have a hand in caring for orphans and those in deep need in Malawi. Paul said that looking after the poor was the very thing he was eager to do when reminded to remember the poor.

And Lord, we thank you that we could show true and pure religion, which is to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep ourselves unstained by the world. Father, thank you because we recognize that the glory for all of this belongs with you.

It is you at work in this church and you're causing us to will and to do according to your good purpose. It's your work and so we give all the glory and all the praise to you. And now we ask Lord that you would come and fill this sanctuary with your presence.

We need the moving of your Holy Spirit among us to teach us how to worship and how to praise you from the heart that we would worship in spirit and in truth. Come and help us now, Lord. We give this time to you in Jesus' name, amen.

Can we stand together? I'm gonna read from Psalm 145. I will extol you, my God and my King, and I will bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made.

My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. Let's sing together.

I'll bless your name, O God, each day that I await. Dawn to setting sun, your greatness I'll proclaim. Your glory far exceeds all human thought I'll bless your name, O God, your name will be revered.

By children yet to come, as generations sing. The wonders you have done, your strong and mighty deeds Are always near, most high your name will be. Is the Lord to be praised, how is the Lord gracious.

Provides for mercy runs to find the helpless and lowly. You hear it's your gracious, is the Lord praised. Creation will rejoice, works of wit I know we destroy. Still says, is the Lord praised

He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, isn't he? He is the mighty one, he is Lord of everything. He's the great I am, he is the Prince of Peace. Let's continue to sing.

You are holy, you are mighty, you are worthy of praise

Come before you, your chosen people of everything that you've done. We sing about your greatness and your sovereignty because you sacrificed yourself for us. We sing and make a joyful noise because of the freedom we enjoy in you.

You alone are worthy, you alone are worthy.

My Savior bled for my Jesus sent me Grace flowing through sacrifice

He's died to the Son

My sins are forgiven, my future is heaven I praise God, even death is dead

We praise you for what you've done. You sent your one and only son. To die the death that we deserve and to rise triumphant from the grave, Jesus is risen. We thank you for what you've done. It is marvelous in our eyes.

And now Lord, we pray that you would do a new work right here in this sermon. God, that you by your spirit would help me to say the words that you want me to say. And those of us who have come in this morning distracted or even with thoughts that don't come from you, we pray in Jesus' name that those thoughts would be removed.

Lord, set your people free. Remove the delusions of our minds, the wrong ideas that we have believed. We pray that you would cleanse us from those things through the preaching and hearing of your word in Jesus' name, amen.

Magdala was a fishing village about five miles south of Capernaum. So picture the Galilean countryside, the Sea of Galilee to the north of Jerusalem and somewhat off to the east. On the northwest corner of the Sea of Galilee was this capital kind of city called Capernaum.

And just five miles south was a very small fishing village called Magdala. Now this is within the bounds of Israel. And there are Israelites living there. These are the children of Abraham who know God, who have the Torah, who have the teaching.

And they are obedient, observant Jews. Born in the city of Magdala is a precious little baby whom her parents call Mary. And Mary grows up as an Israelite, a true child of Abraham. But as she grows, things begin to go awry.

And we do not know what unfolded to bring about her sad estate. There are many who say that Luke chapter seven, the story of the prostitute who comes to Jesus and wipes his feet with her hair is Mary Magdalene.

But that is unlikely because Mary Magdalene is introduced in the next chapter, chapter eight. And there would have been reference to her name if she would be named the very next chapter. So it's unlikely that she was a prostitute.

We don't know how, but Luke chapter eight, verse two tells us that Mary Magdalene was possessed by seven demons. As a young lady, she was somehow infiltrated and infested by demons that were absolutely controlling her life.

We don't know the particulars of how this came about, but we have general guidelines from scripture. Under the Mosaic covenant, blessing was promised for those who obey. There was a blessing associated.

You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out. Deuteronomy chapter 28, verse six. And conversely, curses were prescribed for disobedience. Deuteronomy 28, verses 13 and 14, say you would be the head and not the tail if you go after other gods.

In other words, you'll be in control if you're obeying, but Deuteronomy 28, 20, the Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do for disobedience. So when Israel is disobedient, they will be overtaken by this darkness, curses, confused thinking, deluded minds, and a frustration that encompasses everything that they undertake to do.

This was actually owed to worshiping false gods. In Deuteronomy 32, 16 and 17, Israel was warned. They stirred him to jealousy with strange gods with abominations that provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were no gods to gods they had never known.

So in Deuteronomy 32, verses 16 and 17, there is a parallelism. The first line that says they stirred him to jealousy with strange gods runs parallel to this idea that they sacrificed to demons. When they worshiped the idols of the nations, the surrounding Canaanite people, those who lived near Israel, when they took their idols and prayed to those idols, they were actually praying to demons.

They had opened a door. Leviticus 17, seven says, they shall no longer offer their sacrifices to demons after whom they have played the harlot. To pray to an idol is to open a door to a demon. It is a spiritual kind of adultery, playing the harlot by running after strange gods when Israel was betrothed to Yahweh, the true God.

In the New Testament, we see a parallel to this teaching in the first chapter of Romans. Romans talks about general revelation from chapter one, verses 18 to 23. God's eternal power and his divine nature are clearly seen in the things that are made.

But when people do not honor God and do not give thanks, a lack of thanksgiving and glory given to God, a person begins to open themselves up to this darkness. In Romans 1, 23, they exchange the glory of the immortal God for images of people, of men, of birds and of animals.

So not giving glory to God, not giving thanks, they instead exchange that glory for idolatry. Picture Aaron with the children of Israel. Moses goes up on the mountain and he comes back down to find what they're carrying on, they're dancing and playing around a golden calf, an idol made in the form of an animal.

And Aaron has a real good excuse, doesn't he? We threw the gold in the fire and out popped this calf. Real believable story there, Aaron. What they had done is they had made an idol in the image of God, but see, this opened them up to demons.

They were not just praying to this animal. In fact, that Leviticus 17, seven passage in the ESV is translated goat demons. Goat demons. That doesn't sound too encouraging. You don't wanna run across a goat demon.

It's not just a demon, it's a demon made in the form of a goat. This idolatry opens people up to demonic infiltration. The next verse in Romans 1, 24 and following says, therefore God gave them over. And this is what happens when a person is taken over by a demon.

They open a door and then God gives them over to worse and worse infestation. In Romans 1, 24 and following, it is sexual immorality. Lust, the lusts of the flesh when indulged then allow demons to take strongholds in the life.

And then following in verse 27 and following it says, therefore God gave them over to unnatural passions, unnatural desires to do what ought not be done for even their women exchanged natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another and likewise their men and received in their bodies the due penalty for their perversion.

The idea is this homosexual practice, this diluted kind of unnatural thinking is being given over to worse and worse sexual sin. The demon is taking more and more control. And then finally it says again, they were given over.

So you see the theme in Romans 1, exchanging the glory of God, being given over to more and more control by demons. The person then is malicious, even murderous in the heart, evil. And then there's a list of all forms, all manifestations of this demonic stronghold.

So in Romans, we learn how a person becomes demonized. It begins with not being thankful, not giving honor to God. And it progresses as demons take more and more control of a person's mind. So we don't know the specifics of Mary's case, but we know Deuteronomy 28 to 32, Leviticus 17, seven, Romans one, we know how this happens.

Demons take a foothold and that becomes a stronghold to the point where it is possible for someone to be controlled. That's what we mean by possessed, completely taken over by demons. Such was Mary Magdalene.

Living in Israel in an apostate time, as people were chasing other gods, given over to sexual sin, perhaps prostitution, as the early church fathers thought was the case with her, but not necessarily.

In any case, very much controlled by seven demons. But Isaiah prophesied in chapter nine, verse one, that a light would shine in Galilee, in that very region of Magdala, Capernaum, along the Galilean sea, a light would come to Galilee.

And it says even in that verse, Isaiah nine, one, there shall be no gloom for those who lived in anguish. Mary Magdalene, like others, had lived in anguish, perhaps cutting herself, perhaps controlled by horrifying thoughts in her brain that she couldn't shake, controlled by demons, like so many in apostate Israel.

A light will shine in Galilee and there will be no gloom for those who lived in anguish. I think Isaiah might've had a picture of Mary Magdalene in his mind when he wrote Isaiah nine, one. A light shining in Galilee, and this of course is none other than Jesus Christ.

He moves into Galilee and casts out demons and heals the sick. He has all power and all truth. A demon cannot stand in his presence because he is the all-powerful creator of the universe. The lies of the demon have no power in his presence because he is truth.

Now in the New Testament, we never have a case of a demonized person pursuing Jesus. Those who are demonized are brought to him or Jesus goes to the Gadarene, who is out in the wilderness and among the tombs, acting like an animal.

It's Jesus who goes to them. In the same way, Jesus goes to Galilee and he finds Mary Magdalene. And in the presence of this dear woman, controlled and afflicted, oppressed by demons, he speaks powerful words, his word to the demons inside of her.

And in that second, without delay, those demons have to go. Mary Magdalene was set free from seven demons. Luke chapter eight, verse two. John MacArthur gives us a hint of what it would have looked like in her life.

Demonic afflictions undoubtedly included depression, anxiety, unhappiness, loneliness, self-loathing, shame, fear, and a host of other similar miseries. In all probability, she suffered even worse torments too, such as blindness, deafness, insanity, or any of the other disorders commonly associated with victims of demonic possession described in the New Testament.

Now we have to be careful here. Not all physical problems are demonic. Whether blindness or deafness or paralysis or even mental conditions, sometimes these are chemical and physical and not demonic. But the marker of demonic activity is always delusional thoughts that contradict God's word.

That's always the mark. Jesus said in John 8, 44 about the Pharisees that they are children of the devil because the devil does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character.

Or another translation puts it this way. When Satan tells a lie, he speaks his own native language, his native language. For he is a liar and the father of lies. So demonization is marked not always by the extreme, like the Gadarene in the tombs.

Sometimes there is what is called ordinary demonic. Ordinary demonic. The demon that's present is not manifesting in some bizarre outward behavior, but the person demonized, like the Pharisees who looked religious, looked like they had themselves together yet had murder in their hearts all along, desiring to kill Jesus.

They looked ordinary, yet they believed lies. Christians are susceptible to this kind of demonization. We cannot be possessed by demons because the seal of the Holy Spirit, Ephesians 1, 13 is on us. We are owned by the Holy Spirit of the living God.

And yet in our minds, we can at times be susceptible to demonic oppression. Ideas that come from demons, we often think that these are our own ideas, but they get ingrained in our habits of thinking. And we need to be set free by the word of God.

When Jesus came to Mary Magdalene, he set her free. And from that moment, she was devoted to him. She was willing to leave Galilee. It was likely her family was wealthy because in Luke 8, 2, we learn that it was this group of women, including Mary Magdalene, that was the financial backing to Jesus and his ministry.

She was a woman of means, and she could have enjoyed the pleasures of living in that Galilean fishing village, kind of as the top dog, enjoying the ocean views, and spent her days that way. Instead, the Bible tells us she went with Jesus.

She also followed him. She's right there in Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion, which means she's following. She's forsaking everything to go with him. She is devoted to the one who set her free.

And at the cross of Calvary, when the apostles fled, except for John, there at the foot of the cross stood Mary Magdalene, devoted to her Lord. In the anguish of seeing the suffering of Messiah, she stood in there.

When the men ran, she stood in there. She had that kind of love. And I think it's because she remembered what it was like before him. She remembered her BC when she was tormented before Christ by seven demons.

She was willing to die with him because to identify with him at the foot of the cross could have resulted in the same fate for her. She could have been killed. She was identifying with this claimant to the throne.

She was willing to die. Shows what kind of devotion she had. And when they took his body off the cross, the New Testament also tells us it was Mary Magdalene that followed Joseph of Arimathea, the rich man, and Nicodemus, who had come at night, now believing, when they anointed his body and put him in the tomb.

How did the disciples know where the body was? Mary Magdalene and some of the other women were watching right there. She stuck with him in burial. So picture this woman of pure heart now, of deep devotion.

And we turn to John chapter 20 to see that even a deeply devoted Christian can be deceived. Mary Magdalene in John 20, 11 to 19 will begin to believe lies again. A darkness will settle over her mind, even as a Christian, as a believer.

And she will preach lies. In John 20, verse two, she tells Peter and the apostles that his body was stolen. She does not say he rose from the dead. She will repeat that twice more in this passage. She has become deluded.

Now, before we read it, I wanna ask you a question. I think many of us miss this point. Were the disciples responsible to believe that Jesus would rise from the dead? They were. It was not meant to be a complete surprise, but rather in faith, they were to have taken him at his word.

They were supposed to be expecting his resurrection from the dead, just like we here are expecting him to come back from heaven. Can I prove that?

Of course.

Matthew chapter 12, Jesus told them, as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the son of man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth, then rise from the dead.

He explicitly said in Matthew chapter 20 that he would be handed over to the Gentiles, mocked, scourged, crucified, and on the third day, rise from the dead. He said the same in the book of Mark. Luke 24, he reminds them of this after he rises from the dead.

In John chapter two, destroy this temple and in three days, I will raise it back up again, by which he was referring not to the physical building, but to his body. He clearly prophesied his resurrection.

So Mary, Magdalene, should have been walking in faith, not by sight, though she saw him crucified, believing that he would rise from the dead on the third day. So understanding that, let's read how she reports what's happening.

John 20, 11 to 19, through 18, I'm sorry. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. And as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.

They said to her, woman, why are you weeping? She said to them, they have taken away my Lord and I do not know where they have laid him. You hear the torment in her voice. Having said this, she turned around.

I'm sorry, I skipped ahead. Oh no, verse 14. Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?

Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him and I will take him away. Jesus said to her, Mary. She turned and said to him in Aramaic, Rabboni, which means teacher.

Jesus said to her, do not cling to me, for I have not yet ascended to the father, but go to my brothers and say to them, I am ascending to my father and your father, to my God and your God. Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, I have seen the Lord.

And that he had said these things to her. I think in the reading of this story, we miss the severity of what's happening. In chapter 20, verse two, Mary is preaching a lie. Did they take his body away and bury it someplace else?

No, she has jumped to that conclusion. That thought entered her mind and lodged itself as a stronghold of the mind. And that's why we see it repeated three times. Verse two, again in verse 13, and then in verse 15.

She is saying this lie again and again, because she is deluded. She's believing a dark teaching of demons, which is also what the Jewish leaders paid the soldiers to say. The lie that Jesus did not rise from the dead, but in fact, the body was only stolen and taken away.

There is delusion in the gap between an empty tomb and weeping. The evidence that Jesus rose from the dead is in an empty tomb. A stone rolled away. The clothing that had wrapped him around his head and around his body, the linen strips, folded neatly on the bench.

Angels proclaiming that he has risen. As you read Matthew 28, the resurrection account, it actually looks like Mary Magdalene heard the angels' announcement from the very beginning. Then she ran back ahead of the others, and by the time she got there, she reported what they had seen.

And John does not give us everything she said. She may have very well said he might have risen. The angels said he has risen, but John records carefully for us the delusional thought from which she needed to be set free.

What she actually reports to the disciples when she ran ahead to Peter and John was that they stole his body. John 20, verse two. They have taken the Lord out of the tomb.

Not so.

This is her delusion. Now, the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus was right before her eyes. We're told that when John and Peter got there, John outran Peter, but he was kind of shy and afraid to go in.

When Peter got there, he went in the tomb and he saw the evidence, the cloths folded. Then John went in and believed. The evidence was enough. The evidence was there. The tomb is empty. He's alive. John knew it the second he saw it.

Evidently, Mary missed the look on his face when he came out of the tomb. John believed the second he saw it, so when he came out of the tomb, his face was beaming. He has risen. He has risen, but here's Mary with opposite countenance, crying her eyes out, unable to see what is so plainly before her eyes.

Verses 12 and 13, it gets worse. Now she looks in and she saw two angels in white. That should have been a sign that Jesus is alive. These angels are here and they've proclaimed, but she's talking to them like they're just ordinary because she's so deluded in her mind.

Sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet, they said to her, and notice, there's a hint of rebuke in these words. Do you see it? Woman, why are you weeping? It's not crushing, but there is a hint of rebuke.

Woman, why are you weeping? That's not the appropriate reaction for an empty tomb with the stone rolled away and angels proclaiming. John had the appropriate reaction, but she doesn't at this point. Woman, why are you weeping?

I think there's also a veiled joy behind their question because they know what's about to happen. She's going to see him herself, but at this point, she's deluded. She can't get the wrong thoughts out of her mind, and she answers.

Now, imagine this. She preaches a lie to an angel. Not good. She said to them, they have taken away my Lord. You see, the thing that she said earlier has now fixated in her brain to the point where this is the theory that she's actually believing.

She's preaching to an angel that the body was taken, not that he rose. They, this is the bad guy. The delusional thought is often a victim narrative. The person who believes that God is holding back from them the good things that they deserve.

This could be with regard to gender. God has erred in making me a man. The deluded thought would say that I'm a woman trapped in a man's body. Sexuality, God made me with these desires that I can't control and that I never wanted, but I'm just made this way.

The deluded mind reasons like this. Money, I don't have what other people have. God's holding back on me. This victim mentality. And here, Mary has a theory. The bad guys, the Romans, they took the body just like they crucified him, and now they've buried it somewhere else.

They're probably desecrating him more. I have to defend him. I have to come to the rescue. In her deluded mind, she's missing the joy of the Lord for the sake of a delusion. It is a demonic doctrine that has entered into her thinking.

Verse 14, having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. The problem might have been physical in that because she's weeping so much, her eyes, her tears are blocking the clear vision.

She can't even see straight to see Jesus. It could be that his glorified body is somehow different to where she's not recognizing him. There are other cases where people didn't recognize him at first, like the disciples on the road to Emmaus.

He's glorified and therefore looks different, but she doesn't know. She's seeing him, and there is a kind of seeing that falls short of recognizing Jesus. Then it says, in verse 15, Jesus said to her, again, woman, why are you weeping?

That repetition is meant to clue you into something here. She's getting it wrong, she's deluded. Whom are you seeking? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.

This is a kind of praying. She's talking to God, but she's not humbly, calmly seeking his will. James says, you ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly to spend it on your passions. Her prayer here is deluded.

She's not seeing, and the only hope for Mary is the same hope that delivered her from demons in the first place. You see, this demon is trying to come back. This demon that was once cast away wants to bring many more like it so that the condition of her would be worse than it was at first.