Lesson Five • Resurrection Clothes
Devotion #4: Why do You Seek the Living Among the Dead?
Pastor John Carter
“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. 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? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.’ And they remembered his words.” Luke 24:1-8
The “Oxford Dictionary” defines a miracle as “a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency.”
Death has a sense of finality. It is not an unusual thing to consider someone who has experienced death and been laid to rest to be visited by loved ones. Friends and families will often be in the process of grieving and visiting where a beloved has been laid to rest.
In the account of Luke, we are posed with a rather surprising yet unexpected question that confronted the women who followed Jesus, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Let this question simmer in your mind for a second.
There are many historical accounts that by all natural and scientific law and explanation prove and determine that Jesus died. The roman crucifixion was not meant to ever allow someone to come down that had not experienced the pain and suffering of a complete death. Historian Flavius Josephus records the account as does the very detailed accounts of the Gospels. Jesus died and the disciples saw it as did the women to whom this question was posed. They are doing what any normal, rational human would do when a dear loved one has experienced the finality of death. They are visiting Him where dead people are laid to rest, at the grave site, the tomb.
Back to the question, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Is Jesus dead? I am not asking if He died, we have plenty of accounts that verify that He died. However, is He dead? This is one of the most peculiar parts of this season that we have to really rationalize in our minds. Are we celebrating a dead guy? Is this just a memorial of a really influential person that did great things and taught great moral truths?
“Why do you seek the living among the dead?” If this is just a memorial, something we are commemorating because there “once was a guy,” then we are the recipients of this question today. It just sits there with all the other things we do with people who died before us. We recognize Presidents Day, Martin Luther King Jr., and Memorial Day. We honor those who have gone before us and have, to some degree, died for us to have the world we have, but the harsh truth is in every one of these memorials we commemorate dead people. They are still dead!
“Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Let me encourage you today to not look for a dead person to show honor to. These are good things we do as traditions. In contrast, if you are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, know you are praising and worshiping a living Savior. He is One who is not dead! That defies all scientific logic or law, so by definition, it is the work of a divine agency. It is a miracle! Think about this the next time you are asked if you have ever seen a miracle. When you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, and have a daily relationship with Him, you can confidently say, “Yes!” I have seen a miracle. I know His name and He knows me. His name is Jesus and He lives! Maybe you need to answer that question for yourself, “Are you seeking a dead guy?”