The Resurrection of the Christ
by Daniel Bonnell
USA

Luke 24:1-12 (NIV)

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ”  Then they remembered his words.

When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

What Are You Looking For?

Some Bible accounts have become so recognizable we may begin to look at them with a familiarity that lessens their impact on us.  Certainly, the resurrection story can be one of these.  We gather early on Easter morning while the sun is just rising to stand in some out-of-doors setting to give us a re-enactment sense of the women coming to the tomb before daybreak to attempt to anoint the dead body of Jesus.

All the gospels record the early-morning-empty-tomb story, but Luke is the only one that records the angel asking the women “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”.   This was the angel’s way of telling the women that Jesus had risen from the dead.  The traditional way of thinking of death has been overturned by the power of the risen Lord.  Life will never be looked at the same way again for Christ, who was tortured, beaten and impaled on a cross until the last ounce of life was taken from him is not in a cemetery, for he is alive!

Let’s take the question the angel posed personally.  If they were to ask you, “why do you look for the living among the dead?”, what comes to mind?  What in your life has lived its life and you need to stop looking at it, depending on it?  Resurrection Sunday is a reminder of new way of living.  Remember, Christ’s resurrected body was not quite the same as it was before.  If there a mindset, relationship, attitude, or habit that you are dragging around, and it is weighing you down.

Is the Holy Spirit prompting you to something new in your life?  Don’t look for it among that which is not life giving.

Reflection

What in your life is not bearing fruit for your soul and his kingdom anymore?  Ask the Lord what may need to be changed, eliminated, or updated.

Prayer

Lord, if there is anything that is causing my growth in you to be stifled, or my service to sluggish, make me aware so that I will be open to you doing a new thing in my life.  Amen.