Here is a question. It wasn’t asked by the disciples. It wasn’t asked by the women. It was asked by the angels.
Luke 24: 1Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. 2And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. 3And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. 4And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: 5And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? 6He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee, 7Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. 8And they remembered his words,
The angels questioned the women who returned to the tomb that Sunday morning. They had a funeral planned. Jesus was buried quickly because the Sabbath was approaching. He was dead, but there was no time for a funeral. A funeral is an service in memory of a departed person. It’s one of the ways we finalize things. Little did they know on that Friday that Jesus didn’t need a funeral. They approached the area that morning questioning how they would get the stone removed from the tomb so they could go in and anoint the body of Jesus. They expected a quiet cemetery to hold the remains of the Lord. When they got there, the birds were singing. The stone was already gone. The tomb was open. The guards lay on the ground somewhere because they had passed out. Instead of a dark tomb, they found a glow within. You still need a body to have a funeral, and the body of Jesus was nowhere to be found. No body. No funeral. They saw the grave clothes. The face cloth was by itself. It was as if Jesus had just stepped right out of them and left them there.
Jesus was not in the tomb, but an angel was at the head and one was at the foot of the place Jesus’ body would have been. They looked at the women and said why seek ye the living among the dead? There is a good lesson for us here. Often Jesus is treated, even by Christians, as if he is still dead. Some think of Jesus as someone in the past. Some pray as if he’s not in touch with us as if 2,000 years ago is too long ago. Many in today’s society don’t believe in God anymore. Some religions teach that he’s not alive. In verse 7 the angels told the women a very important thing. They said remember what Jesus told you. The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again. They watched him die after suffering long hours on the cross. They had seen him buried. They knew that part because they watched it happened. He had told them it would, but they had forgotten one very important fact of his teaching. One the third day he would rise again. He didn’t need a funeral because he would rise again. They should have been expecting a risen Savior.
Our lives often reflect times that we treat Jesus as if he’s still dead. We don’t take the Bible to heart. The angel said he IS risen. He stayed alive.
You may think this has nothing to do with you because it was so long ago, but it has everything to do with you. You know you fail. Every good thing you do has a bad to offset it. You can’t be good enough. You know you’re guilty of being a sinner and need him. That’s why Jesus died. He rose on the third day. He didn’t die again a few years later. He is alive forevermore! He is our risen Savior! We’ve all seen many come and go in this life. We’ve been to many a funeral. Only one person that has died didn’t need a funeral. His name is Jesus. His blood still has the power to save.
Why live our lives in a graveyard? Why think that Easter is just something you do? It has a great bearing on your life. Jesus said he is standing at the door of your heart. He’s knocking. If you open the door and let him come into your life, he will abide with you. You will see the risen Savior.
Why seek the living among the dead? There is too much deadness around us. Call on him, and you’ll get an answer. He’s alive! Come to him in faith. Believe in what he did on the cross. Believe that he rose from the dead. He knows what you need. He’ll save you, and you’ll see just how real, how alive Jesus is.
The women remembered his words. Let’s do our best to remember them.
Adwolfe Freewill Baptist Church 