We live today in an age that is laden with so much impatience and speed. There is a deliberate attempt to do everything almost at the speed of light. This phenomenon is responsible for the invention of different electronic gadgets we now use to speed up almost all human processes in the different sectors of our human endeavor. For instance speed in service delivery was a major concern in the creation of the so-called new generation banks we now have in Nigeria. People could no longer put up with having to wait in long queues to be attended to as it obtained in the earlier banking operations. At the creation of the new generation banks therefore many customers migrated, and that had a great effect on those existing banks who themselves have had to speed up their processes in order to still enjoy some good measure of patronage. If they must compete they must accelerate and innovate. Now enough said of banking operations.
Even the many eateries we now have in most of our major cities is also a factor of our desire to have even our food delivered to us without any need to have to wait. Young people today hardly want to spend any time in courtship once they find someone they are tripped by; they just want to go to the altar immediately, if at all. Even in the home, parents hardly allow their children to complete elementary six before getting them to secondary school. These students who can hardly recognize their names face the world of adults quite early. These instances and many like them confront us in our daily lives as urban dwellers in time and space.
A popular Nigerian musician in the ‘80s captured this very well in a song he titled "Time na money"; and since most of us now almost live to just make money, there is therefore no time to "waste" anywhere or in anything. Unfortunately, this phenomenon is also having a bearing on way many Christians approach God and relate with Him. This reader will do well to know that there is still a great value in spending some quality time with our God, as we desire to make conscious effort to patiently dwell(or tarry) in His presence.
By the account in John 20:1-18,the Apostle John reports that early on the first day of the week (apparently the third day of Jesus’ death) it was Mary Magdalene who first ran to the tomb where Jesus had been buried and found that the tomb was open and that the body Jesus was not there. She then ran back and told Peter and John about the new development, and they all ran to the tomb together to see what may have happened. By this posture, it was clear that Mary had a depth of love for, and devotion to her Master and Lord Jesus. (This was the same woman who had earlier, while Jesus was still alive, worshipped him with a very expensive oil, which she poured on his feet as an expression of her love for him.)
John may have been afraid to go into the tomb, even though according to the account, he got there before Peter. But he was encouraged when Peter ran straight in on his arrival and so he also went in. Both of them experienced the empty tomb. It was no longer a mere tale to them. Both men were seeing firsthand the linen cloth and the handkerchief with which Jesus was buried but did not see him. It was both men that hurried back to their families ,the same speed at which they came to the tomb.Sure they left the tomb with a great testimony, that they entered the empty tomb where Jesus was buried; that they saw the grave clothes with which he was buried; and that He was not in the grave. That he had risen just like He said ,He would!
However, the third person, Mary Magdalene, chose not to follow them when they left. She was not satisfied with just the sight of an empty tomb, the grave clothes, or that Jesus was not in the grave. This was a great testimony to tell but she wanted something more. She would wait to see Jesus at all cost. Time was not an issue for her. She was not in a hurry to leave. She was willing to wait patiently. She had become desperate to see Jesus. Her heart was too broken so she wept.
Again with an expectant eye, she scanned the tomb, truly desiring and believing to see Him.It was at that point she saw two angels; they spoke to her; she also spoke back to them. Finally on turning around her, she saw Jesus at last.He spoke to her; she also spoke to him. (Though she did not recognize him at first sight) he opened her eyes and she recognized him, and worshipped him. Certainly her heart was filled with joy unspeakable full of glory; she had a much greater testimony than the Peter and John, and it was simply because she loved Jesus enough to wait on...
