Finding Life
April 11, 2009 • By Ed Wrather
04.11.09
Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’” And they remembered His words. Then they returned from the tomb and told all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them, who told these things to the apostles. And their words seemed to them like idle tales, and they did not believe them. But Peter arose and ran to the tomb; and stooping down, he saw the linen cloths lying by themselves; and he departed, marveling to himself at what had happened. - Luke 24:1-12 NKJV.
If you had been one of the women who went to the tomb of Jesus on that Sunday morning of the resurrection, what would you have thought? How would you have responded? You have to remember that a huge stone had been placed in front of the entrance to the tomb and a seal had been placed on it. In addition, guards had been placed at the entrance to make sure that nothing happened to the body of Jesus. When the women arrived at the tomb the stone has been rolled away and the guards are gone (Matthew 27:66). The body of Jesus is not there! They expected to find the body of a dead rabbi, and they fully expected that he would remain dead.
When the women told the disciples about what they had seen, their words “seemed to them like idle tales.” In other words, the disciples thought the women were crazy to be saying something like that.
Peter ran to the tomb to see for himself. He found that the tomb was empty, except for the burial clothes or cloths. How did Peter react to this scene? The NIV translates it in this way “…wondering to himself what had happened.” Even though Jesus had plainly told his disciples that He would be put to death. In Luke 18:31-33 we are told: “Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.’”
Too often we have problems similar to those of the women and of the disciples when we are trying to find help spiritually. We try to find solutions to life’s problems, but we look for those solutions in the cemetery. The spiritual solutions that we need will not be found in the dead ways of the world. Taking another drink, popping another pill, having another affair, buying a new car, and on and on; will not give us happiness, peace, and fulfillment. Jesus, the Prince of Life, is the One, who can give you life, and life more abundantly. Jesus is the only One who has the power to lay down His life and to take it up again.
Too often we read about God’s power, and we think it is crazy to believe that God can change anything in our own lives. The disciples thought the women were just crazy for saying that Jesus was not in the tomb. The truth is that the resurrection power is available today through Jesus Christ, and that power can change your life. That’s what Easter is all about!!
May you have a glorious Resurrection Sunday!! May the Lord touch your life in a fresh and new way!!
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