Dharius Daniels - People Who Cannot Get Over Your Past are NOT Necessary for Your Future

People who cannot get over your past are not necessary for your future. When God brings restoration of your reputation, He only restores your reputation in the minds of people that matter. The text in John 20 is a powerful picture of what I’m trying to preach about. This text gives us an account of an aspect of the Resurrection narrative through the eyes of a gentleman named John. John opens in chapter 20 by exposing us to the involvement of two women named Mary: one is Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the second is Mary Magdalene. Mary Magdalene had a questionable reputation, not because she earned it but because people are petty. There is nothing in the Bible that specifically speaks to what Mary Magdalene’s vice actually was. We know she’s from Magdala, which is a city in the southwestern portion of Galilee, notoriously known for prostitution. Because she came from there, some people thought she was involved in that. She was probably walking around like, «You don’t know me; you can’t talk like you know me.» She is a woman we know some of the religious elite called «the sinner,» because when she gave Jesus an extravagant expression of appreciation in the form of breaking the alabaster box, those who were observing her activity said, «If this man—meaning Jesus—were a prophet, then he would know that this woman is a sinner.» Jesus, sensing what they were talking about, tells a parable. He says, «Can I ask y’all a question?» They say, «Sure.» He said, «So if somebody—I’m paraphrasing—owes a debt of seven dollars, and then somebody else owes a debt of seven million dollars, and both of their debts get forgiven, who’s going to be more grateful?» They said, «The one who has seven million dollars forgiven.» He says, «Exactly! He who has been forgiven little loves little; he who has been forgiven much loves much.» So what does that do to your ideology that’s not based on a healthy theology of hypocrisy? Yeah, because people who don’t understand hypocrisy will say Mary Magdalene was a hypocrite—how can you be a person that’s so imperfect yet so passionate in your praise? But Jesus debunks that myth; He eradicates that ideology. Jesus, in essence, says, «I don’t know if y’all are ready for this. This is not church; this is Kingdom.» Jesus says, «She’s not a hypocrite because she’s praising me. She’d be a hypocrite if she didn’t.» She’s not praising me because she’s been good to me; she’s praising me because I’ve been good to her. Is there anybody here willing to say, «I don’t praise God because I’ve been good to Him, but I’ve heard somebody give Him a 'You look beyond my faults and saw my needs' praise»? For every Sunday knowing what we were just doing, that’s why I’m in church; that’s why I’m in front of this screen, because if it had not been for the Lord on my side… I love that she had this, watch this: she had this rumor mill, this cloud of a past that seemed to follow her, but it did not alter the way Jesus treated her. He was not swayed or impacted by the opinion of people. He said, «I’m gonna deal with you based on my experience with you, not based on what people have said about you.» The way Jesus engages this woman teaches us something I think is really significant: people who cannot get over your past are not necessary for your future. Somebody put some fire in this chat! I said, «People who cannot get over your past are not necessary for your future.» When God brings restoration of your reputation, He only restores your reputation in the minds of people that matter. The people who are still tripping about what you did and who you used to be are people that God’s not going to use to bless you in your future. But the people that have the power to bless you, the people that have the power to open a door for you, are the ones that God will start working on in their hearts, and He’ll restore your reputation in the minds of people. Stop trying to convince people to like you who don’t need to like you for God to do what He’s trying to do in your life. I pray that deliverance sweeps through—a liberation and emancipation sweep through this house, and God gives you freedom from what you couldn’t get from reading books or with a coach or therapy. I pray that God gives you deliverance from the opinion of people. I’ve got three minutes now, please. The text says all the other disciples, who supposedly had themselves together, deserted Jesus when it was not popular to be associated with Him. Peter denied Him, Judas betrayed Him, Thomas doubted Him, but Mary—y’all didn’t hear what I just said—Mary stayed right there. Jesus was crucified on a Friday. Sunday morning, Mary texts Jesus’ mother: «Girl, what you doing? You up?» She said, «Yeah, I’m up.» She says, «Have you heard from Peter?» She said, «No.» Hmm. «Have you heard from James and John? Did they call you?» Hmm. So Jesus’ mama says, «What you hunting for?» «Nothing, I’m just saying, can I ask you something? Don’t you find it odd that they were all up in Jesus’ face, running behind Him, on boats with Him, and eating those fish sandwiches with Him, and now all of a sudden they can’t even call you? They’re scared to go down to…