"WHY DO YOU SEEK THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD?"

Luke 24:1-12                         (ESV)
"1 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb,
3 but when they went in they did not find the body of the LORD JESUS.
4 While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.
5 And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "WHY DO YOU SEEK THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD"?
6 HE IS NOT HERE, but has risen. Remember how HE told you, while HE was still in Galilee,
7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise."
8 And they remembered his words,
9 and returning from the tomb they told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest.
10 Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles,
11 but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.
12 But Peter rose and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; and he went home marveling at what had happened."



On the FIRST DAY OF THE WEEK, at early dawn, Mary Magdalene and Mary (mother of James) went to the tomb where JESUS had been lain to anoint HIS body with spices used for burial preparation.  Shockingly, when they arrived at the tomb, they found it empty!  They found the strong rolled away from the tomb, not so JESUS could get out, rather as a testimony that the grave could not hold HIM!  They went inside the tomb, but could not find the body of JESUS and were perplexed!  Two angels were there to remind them of what JESUS spoke to them in Galilee concerning HIS resurrection.

The fact that the body of JESUS wasn't able to be conquered by death is a miracle of great significance.  But JESUS had raised Lazarus from the dead after four days and various others so, in hindsight, it should stand to reason that death was no obstacle HE was limited by.  The thing that makes the resurrection of JESUS something so REMARKABLE is HE was raised from the dead by the SPIRIT OF GOD (Romans 8:11) and That same SPIRIT now lives inside of me!

In John 10:30 JESUS is recorded saying "I and the FATHER are ONE"!  In John 4:24 HE tells us "GOD is SPIRIT"!  JESUS could no more be mortally "killed" than we can capture anybody's SPIRIT today!  HE demonstrated that our focus should not be on our temporal homes (our physical bodies) but rather our permanent dwelling places, our Spirits (John 3:5-8)!  When we are "Born-Again" our Spirits are awakened to become "one new man" (Ephesians 2:15).

There are many today who still want to seek HIM among the dead.  They want to profess to be a believer in word, but not in deed (1 John 3:18).  When we are Born-Again we will not continue in our old lifestyle of self-gratification and worldly pleasures.  When we go to cemeteries. we don't go to see who is waking up today.  "WHY DO YOU SEEK THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD" should be a question that causes us to evaluate whether we have ever been Born-Again?  I am amongst the living.  My prayer is that you are too!