Why do you seek the living One among the dead?

Luke 23:44-24:12 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, ⁴⁵ because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. ⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” ⁴⁸ And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ And all His acquaintances and the women who accompanied Him from Galilee were standing at a distance, seeing these things.

⁵⁰ And a man named Joseph, who was a member of the Council, a good and righteous man ⁵¹ (he had not consented to their plan and action), a man from Arimathea, a city of the Jews, who was waiting for the kingdom of God; ⁵² this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. ⁵³ And he took it down and wrapped it in a linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb cut into the rock, where no one had ever lain. ⁵⁴ It was the preparation day, and the Sabbath was about to begin. ⁵⁵ Now the women who had come with Him out of Galilee followed, and saw the tomb and how His body was laid. ⁵⁶ Then they returned and prepared spices and perfumes.

And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

24 But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. ² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; ⁵ and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, ⁷ saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” ⁸ And they remembered His words, ⁹ and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. ¹⁰ Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. ¹¹ But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. ¹² But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.

In today’s text it says:  It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour, because the sun was obscured; and the veil of the temple was torn in two. And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.” Having said this, He breathed His last. Now when the centurion saw what had happened, he began praising God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent.” And all the crowds who came together for this spectacle, when they observed what had happened, began to return, beating their breasts.    There was a recognition of Jesus innocence. There was a sense of deep remorse and grief felt by those who observed what had happened. There are two ways we can react or respond when we recognize our own  failure or participation in sin, even if it is that we have just stood by and watched  as we have seen it. It is more than to acknowledge, like the centurion, that injustice was done. It is more than to show remorse beating our breasts at what we have observed. The true question is what do we do with the acknowledgement and the remorse. Do we feel guilt and condemnation, and so try either to justify ourselves or worse yet do we allow our guilt and condemnation to drive us farther from the truth, believing there is no way to be freed from our guilt? Guilt and condemnation are not from God. God seeks to redeem and restore. The Holy Spirit brings about conviction, not condemnation. Conviction comes through the awareness of what is good and what is right. Conviction brings us to a place where we must choose either what is good or what is evil. Guilt and condemnation bring us to a place of despair, thinking we have no choice or no hope.

In John 10:10 Jesus says:  “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”   That is the choice we must make when we come to the knowledge of sin in our lives. We must choose whether we will listen to the thief and the words of death and destruction or will we listen to the Holy Spirit who testifies of the goodness and innocence of Christ, with words of life.  In today’s text it says:   On the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. And 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 perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing;  and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.   We too, need to understand that we will never find life if we look among what is dead. Jesus bore our sins on the cross. Every sin; all the guilt and condemnation for sin was buried with Him. As it says: Jesus has risen. He is no longer in the grave. Only sin, guilt and condemnation are there. In Isaiah 43:25 God says:  "I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins.”    Through Jesus Christ and the cross, God has wiped away our sins. He doesn’t even remember them because they are buried in the tomb where Jesus was. But Jesus is risen. Romans 8:1-2 says:  There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

In today’s text it says:  And they remembered His words, and returned from the tomb and reported all these things to the eleven and to all the rest. Now they were Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James; also the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. But these words appeared to them as nonsense, and they would not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings only; and he went away to his home, marveling at what had happened.    Many today, like some of them, hear of the resurrection and believe it is nonsense. They go looking to find Jesus in the place of death. He is not there He is risen. All that is found by looking where He was are the things which were buried with Him, the things of death, the lies of guilt and condemnation. Peter also went to the grave, but He didn’t go seeking Jesus, He went seeking evidence of the resurrection. Peter marveled at what happened because he believed Jesus was risen. If we want to find Jesus, we should not look among the dead. We should not look where are sins have been buried. Jesus is risen. Scripture tells us where we will find Jesus now. Mark 16:19 says:  So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. Psalm 110:1 says:  The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet."  Luke 22:69 says:  “From now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God."   Romans 8:34 says:  Who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.   We should not look for life where there is death. We will only find the one who condemns, the thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy, where Jesus was. We should seek Jesus and the abundant life where He is. Hebrews 4:14-16 says:  Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.     There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. There is only help and hope; grace for every need found where Jesus is.

The question today, for each one is:  “Why do you seek the living One among the dead? He is not here, but He has risen.”  Only the things of death and destruction will be found looking among the dead. Abundant life is found in Christ through grace and the resurrection.

Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit for blotting out my sin; for giving grace for every need and for the abundant life You give through the resurrection with Christ.  Amen.