The Worst Thing Is Not the Last Thing

Devotional

Day 1: Tears in the Garden Before Dawn

Mary sits alone at the tomb, her grief raw and unguarded. The darkness feels permanent, the cold air heavy with loss. Angels ask a question that sounds like mockery: "Why are you crying?" But Jesus later repeats it differently – not to shame, but to create space for her truth. In this moment, God doesn’t offer platitudes or rush her healing. He meets her exactly where she’s drowning, letting her name the ache before revealing resurrection. [39:04]

“Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look 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.’”
(John 20:11-13, ESV)

Reflection: When have tears clouded your vision of God’s presence? What raw truth might Jesus be inviting you to name in His presence today?

Day 2: The God Who Bears Wounds

The risen Christ still carries nail marks. Resurrection doesn’t erase suffering but transfigures it. Mary expected a corpse; she found a living Savior who’d endured the worst violence. Jesus’ scars validate human pain while declaring its defeat. Our God doesn’t float above agony – He enters it, making even death a place where life can bloom. [51:31]

“Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.’”
(John 20:27, ESV)

Reflection: How does Christ’s scarred resurrection body reshape your understanding of God’s relationship to your deepest wounds?

Day 3: Called By Name in the Chaos

“Mary” – one word shatters her despair. The Good Shepherd knows His sheep intimately, calling them through confusion. When the world feels like a stolen body and empty tomb, Jesus speaks our name before we recognize Him. Resurrection isn’t a general promise but a personal encounter that reorients everything. [48:24]

“The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”
(John 10:3-4, ESV)

Reflection: When has God surprised you by speaking directly into your disorientation? How might He be calling your name in this season?

Day 4: Gardens of New Creation

John places resurrection in a garden – not a pristine Eden but a burial ground. Where Adam hid in shame, Mary receives a mission. The God who formed humans from soil now breathes new life into death’s dirt. Every ending becomes soil for beginnings when Christ walks among the tombs. [53:19]

“And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food.”
(Genesis 2:8-9, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been looking for life in places that feel like burial gardens? How might resurrection be rewriting your story?

Day 5: Light Where Worlds End

The blessing doesn’t deny darkness – it sits with us in the shards. When relationships fracture or diagnoses devastate, resurrection doesn’t rush to “fix” but turns our face toward dawn. Christ’s presence amid endings isn’t a denial of pain, but the quiet assurance that light always arrives where Love waits. [57:14]

“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 1:5, ESV)

Reflection: What ending are you facing that needs Christ’s patient presence more than quick solutions? How might He be gathering light around you even now?

Sermon Summary

John brings Easter morning into the dark. Mary Magdalene comes to the tomb before the light has broken, sees the stone removed, and assumes the worst. Mary runs to Peter and the other disciple with the only explanation she can imagine: “They’ve taken him away.” Peter and the other disciple look in and go home, but Mary stays. The tomb holds her grief. Tears run down her face as she peers into the cold, dank darkness, and the missing body feels like one more insult after Friday.

The angels ask the first question: “Why are you crying?” Jesus asks it again, but Jesus does not fill the moment with easy words. Jesus does not say, “Don’t cry now,” or “Everything happens for a reason,” or “God needed another angel,” or “God doesn’t give more than can be handled.” Those lines may sound familiar, but they do not sound like Jesus at the tomb. Jesus makes room for Mary to tell the truth. Jesus lets her name her grief. Jesus stands with her in the tears, because Jesus himself wept at Lazarus’s tomb.

Paul’s words in Romans 8 belong beside that garden. Nothing, not death, not life, not things present, not things to come, can separate God’s people from the love of God in Christ. Psalm 139 says the same thing in another key: even the darkness is not dark to God. Christ is present before Mary knows it. Christ is there where she does not expect him.

Jesus asks, “Who are you looking for?” Mary is looking for a dead Jesus. She is not yet looking for resurrection because she has not yet met the risen Christ. Then Jesus says her name: “Mary.” The good shepherd knows his own and calls them by name. At that moment resurrection is not an idea standing far away. Resurrection is standing in front of her, wounded and alive.

The resurrection does not erase Friday. The risen Lord still bears the wounds. Hope does not say it did not really hurt. Hope says it really hurt, and still suffering and pain and death did not win. Frederick Buechner’s line carries the weight: “The worst thing is not the last thing.”

John’s garden echoes Genesis. Adam and Eve leave the garden bearing the consequences of sin, but Mary leaves the garden bearing good news. Death entered the world in that first garden, but life conquers death in this one. Mary comes saying, “I don’t know where he is,” and leaves saying, “I have seen the Lord.” The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not overcome it.

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Key Takeaways

1. Jesus makes room for grief Jesus does not rush Mary past her tears. The risen Christ asks, “Why are you crying?” not because he lacks information, but because grief needs truth before it can bear hope. The garden shows that resurrection does not begin by denying sorrow, but by meeting it honestly in the presence of Christ. [43:37]
2. Easy answers are not resurrection Jesus does not hand Mary the tired lines people often use when pain makes them uncomfortable. “Everything happens for a reason” and “God doesn’t give more than can be handled” can place a cruel weight on wounded people. The gospel offers something deeper than explanation: Christ himself present in the place that feels abandoned. [40:41]
3. Christ calls his own by name Mary recognizes Jesus when he speaks her name. Resurrection becomes real not as a theory, but as a personal encounter with the good shepherd who knows his own. The risen Christ does not merely defeat death in general; he comes close enough to call a grieving disciple out of confusion and into new life. [48:24]
4. The wounds do not vanish The resurrection does not pretend Friday never happened. The risen Lord still bears the wounds, and Mary still carries the memory of the cross. Christian hope tells the truth: it really hurt, and still suffering, pain, and death did not win. [51:13]
5. The worst is never last Mary comes to the tomb expecting death and leaves carrying good news. John’s garden turns the old creation story toward new creation, where the place of loss becomes the place of life. The darkness is real, but the light shines in it, and the darkness does not overcome it.

## [54:42]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[37:31] - Every Sunday Is A Little Easter
[38:21] - Mary Finds The Empty Tomb
[39:04] - Mary Stays With Her Grief
[40:41] - What Jesus Does Not Say
[43:37] - Jesus Lets Mary Tell The Truth
[45:09] - Christ Is Present In Pain
[46:20] - Who Are You Looking For?
[48:24] - Jesus Calls Mary By Name
[50:07] - The Worst Is Not The Last
[51:53] - Mary Says, I Have Seen The Lord
[52:53] - The Garden And New Creation
[55:16] - Resurrection Means Beginning Again
[56:17] - Blessing When The World Is Ending

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

John 20:1-18
Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.” So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must rise from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes. But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look 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.” 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. [37:31]

Romans 8:38-39
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. [44:33]

Psalm 139:7-12
Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me. If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. [45:23]

John 10:3-4
To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. [49:06]

Observation questions

In John 20, what does Mary assume has happened when she first sees the stone removed, and what do Peter and the other disciple do after they look into the tomb? [38:21]
What two questions are asked of Mary at the tomb, and who asks them? [39:39]
What are some specific things Jesus does not say to Mary in her grief? [40:41]
According to John 20 and John 10, what changes for Mary when Jesus says her name? [48:24]

Interpretation questions

Mary is looking for a dead Jesus, not a risen Lord. What does that reveal about how grief can limit what a person is able to see or expect from God? [46:52]
Jesus asks, “Why are you crying?” even though he already knows. Why might it matter that Jesus gives Mary room to speak her grief instead of hurrying her past it? [43:37]
Romans 8 says nothing can separate God’s people from the love of God in Christ, and Psalm 139 says even darkness is not dark to God. How do those truths help make sense of Jesus being present with Mary before she recognizes him? [45:09]
The risen Lord still bears the wounds of Friday. What does that suggest about Christian hope and the way resurrection relates to real pain? [51:13]

Application questions

Mary stayed at the tomb with her grief. When grief, disappointment, or confusion has come into life, is the first instinct usually to stay present with God in it, or to run from it, explain it away, or shut down? What tends to happen? [39:04]
Easy answers are not resurrection. Have there been moments when phrases like “everything happens for a reason” or “be strong” made pain feel lonelier instead of lighter? What would it look like to respond to hurting people more like Jesus does here? [40:41]
Jesus makes room for grief before he reveals hope. What kind of sorrow needs to be named honestly before God right now instead of being covered up or rushed past? [43:37]
Christ is present even before he is recognized. In what dark or confusing place might it be hardest right now to believe that Christ is already there? [45:23]
Jesus calls his own by name. When has faith become personal rather than general—less about ideas and more about being known by Christ? [49:06]
The worst thing is not the last thing. What “worst thing” or unresolved wound still tries to tell the story of life, and what would it mean to believe that it does not get the final word? [50:07]
Mary moves from “I do not know where he is” to “I have seen the Lord.” Where might Christ be inviting someone to carry good news, encouragement, or simple hope to another person this week? [51:53]

Sermon Clips

73s

“Mary came to the tomb expecting death that morning and she found life. She came carrying personal grief, but she left carrying good news for all. At first, she said, I don't know where they have put him. I don't know where he is. And when she got to the other, she said, I have seen the Lord. This is a new creation that is resurrection. We won't forget those we've lost. And not every wound will close. Not every morning will suddenly become joyful. But the resurrection means that the worst thing is not the last thing. And because of that, we can begin again. Because Christ is with us. Because Christ has called us by name. Because he has. Because he has shared light and life with us, we can share it with others.”

54s

“God had cast Adam and Eve forth from the garden, but now God in Christ sends Mary forth from this garden with good news. That all those things that might keep us from God have been overcome in him. Adam and Eve left the garden, they bear the consequences of their sins. Mary leaves the garden bearing the good news of the resurrection. It's in Adam and Eve that we hear a story of death entering the world. But now in Christ through Mary, she participates in proclaiming that life has conquered death. It is a new creation because the worst thing is never the last thing.”

74s

“We won't forget our grief, our tears. We won't forget those things we've lost, those dreams, those hopes. We surely won't forget those people, our loved ones that we have lost. How could we? Sometimes the tears come through a thought or memory. Sometimes they just seem to come out of nowhere. After my dad died several years ago, from time to time for a couple of years, people would ask me about it, ask me how I was doing. And I would say, I have my moments. I have my moments. We all have our moments. Resurrection isn't about forgetting. Mary hasn't forgotten the crucifixion. The risen lord still bears the wounds. Our hope doesn't say it didn't really hurt. Our hope says it really hurt. And still suffering and pain and death did not win.”

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