The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 24:5-6,
"Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here..."
This is what the two angels told the women who went to tend to Jesus'
body after it had been placed in a tomb on the previous Friday
following his crucifixion. In John 20:1 we read that Mary Magdalene
went to the tomb early that Sunday morning, while it was still dark,
saw the stone was moved from the entrance, that Jesus' body was
missing and ran back to report it to Peter and John. Jesus was not
there, his body was missing.
As the account continues in John, we read that Jesus then appeared to
Mary after she had returned to the tomb. No longer dead, but now in
his resurrected body, he spoke to her of his returning to the Father,
"I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."
John 20:17. Later we read of the ascension of Jesus into heaven, "He
was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their
sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going,
when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 'Men of
Galilee,' they said, 'why do you stand here looking into the sky? This
same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in
the same way you have seen him go into heaven.'" Acts 1:9-11. He was
no longer to be seen but had been taken into heaven.
I wonder if the two angels that appeared to the disciples and said,
"why do you stand here looking into the sky" were the same as the two
that told the women, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?
He is not here..." On both occasions folks were looking for Jesus
where he wasn't going to be found. Given the circumstances of each
occasion, none could be faulted for doing so.
However, there are many today who will be faulted for looking in all
the wrong places to find Jesus Christ or to find God the Father. The
list of religions that seek to find God is endless. The theologies and
religious practices that have been developed to find the Lord seems
limitless. As Jesus taught, "So if anyone tells you, 'There he is, out
in the desert,' do not go out; or, 'Here he is, in the inner rooms,'
do not believe it." Matthew 24:26. Looking in all the wrong places
won't be helpful to find the Lord. While many may claim to have found
him, there is only one way. "'The word is near you; it is in your
mouth and in your heart,' that is, the word of faith we are
proclaiming: That if you confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and
believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be
saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the
Scripture says, 'Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to
shame.'" Romans 8:8-11.
Jesus is found only through faith and Paul tells us that faith comes
through hearing the gospel message, "Consequently, faith comes from
hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of
Christ." Romans 8:17. That faith will never be arrived at by
intellectual superiority or special spiritual insight designed only
for the "gifted ones" that are revered as such by the world. Jesus
taught us, "I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the
kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." Luke 18:17.
Jesus is not missing. He is at the right hand of our Father in heaven.
He can be found, not by looking in the wrong places but by listening
to him as he tells us how to find him: through the faith generated
when his gospel is preached. All who embrace Jesus Christ in faith
have found him and a place at his table!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
your thoughts of worship from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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