 "Why do you
look for the living among
the dead?” Those words
have an edge to them.
There is a rebuke in
them. Truly the women,
who came to the tomb of
Jesus, were looking for
someone who was dead,
not someone who was
alive. Think about them
on that first Easter morning.
Because they did not
have enough time to
properly prepare Jesus’
dead body for burial on
the first Good Friday,
these women had purchased
spices with which
to finish the task once the
Sabbath ended. So early
on Sunday morning, the
women got up and, carrying
the spices they had
purchased, set out for the
tomb. As they walked,
they began to talk about
the stone that had been
placed in front of the
tomb and sealed with
Pilate’s own seal. They
wondered who would
take it away.
When they
arrived, they found the
tomb open. With great
grief they looked into the
tomb. Then to their great
surprise, an angel greeted
them and asked them,
"Why do you look for
the living among the
dead?” In other words,
"Why do you act as
though the Savior were
still dead?” The words
contained a rebuke, a
rebuke for their lack of
faith, a rebuke for living
as though Jesus were still
dead.
We too deserve
this rebuke. Like those
women, we carry around
needless burdens. We
often carry around needless
burdens of guilt and
shame because of our
sins. We act as though
Jesus were still dead and,
therefore, we are still in
our sins.
Like the women,
we worry and fret about
things when we really
have nothing to worry
about. The women fretted
about the stone and
who would roll it away.
How often don’t we
worry about the ‘stones’
that stand in our way?
We live as though Jesus
were still dead.
The women came
to the cemetery with
great grief. They came
expecting to find a dead
body. We too often stand
in the cemetery and
think only of the deaths
of those we love and of
our own deaths that are
to come. We act as
though Jesus were still
dead.
Why do you look
for the living among the
dead? When he sees us
bearing needless burdens,
fretting and worrying
our way through life,
grieving over loved ones
who have fallen asleep in
Jesus, and when he sees
us letting sin get a
foothold in our lives, the
Lord asks us too through
his angel, "Why do you
live as though I were still
dead?” We have a risen
Lord! Jesus, who was
delivered over to death
for our sins and was
raised again for our justification.
We have a risen
Lord who has broken the
power of the grave so
that we can look forward
to rising from the dead
with our loved ones one
day. We have a risen
Lord who gives us the
power to say "no” to sin.
Let’s not live as though
Jesus were dead; we
have a risen Lord. |
