The Final Word

Luke 24:1–12 NRSV

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for 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 handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.” Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.

Imagine a young explorer, Hiram Bingham, whose heart beat with the thrill of adventure. It was the early 20th century, and tales of lost cities filled his mind—especially the elusive Vilcabamba, believed to be the final refuge of the Incas, hidden deep in the Peruvian jungle. Bingham was captivated by dreams of uncovering untold treasures and the glory that would follow. Armed with maps, a camera, and an insatiable curiosity, he set out on a journey that would change his life.

As he traversed the dense, treacherous terrain of the Andes, Bingham faced relentless challenges. The jungle was thick with vegetation, and the air was heavy with humidity. He battled fierce mosquitoes and the lurking threat of disease. Supplies dwindled, and doubt began to creep in. But the stories of lost treasures drove him onward, urging him to press deeper into the unknown.

Yet, despite his relentless pursuit of gold and glory, Bingham often overlooked the beauty surrounding him. He was so focused on what he wanted to find that he missed what was right in front of him. Local farmers, sensing his desperation, pointed him toward a hidden gem. They led him up steep paths to a breathtaking sight: the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu, a citadel that spoke of a lost civilization’s ingenuity and spirit.

In that moment of discovery, Bingham’s vision transformed. He realized that the treasure he had sought was not gold, but the rich history and profound legacy of the Incan people. Yet, he nearly missed it, blinded by his ambition and preconceived notions of what treasure should look like.

This narrative parallels the story of the women who ventured to the tomb on that first Easter morning, as recorded in Luke 24:1-12. They, too, were driven by a desire to find something they had lost—Jesus, the one who had filled their lives with hope and purpose. As they approached the tomb, they were looking for a lifeless body, wrapped in burial cloths, surrounded by the silence of death.

When they arrived, they found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty. An angel appeared and asked them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Just as Bingham had been searching for riches in the jungle, these women were searching for life where it no longer existed. Their expectations were shattered, and in that moment, they were invited to experience the greatest treasure of all—the living Christ, risen from the dead.

Like Bingham, who discovered a profound truth hidden in the ruins of a forgotten city, the women were called to embrace the reality of resurrection. They were no longer to seek in darkness, but to walk in the light of the Savior’s victory over death.

Today we finish our series “Hope and Despair” and simultaneously complete our journey through the Gospel of Luke together. We’ve been talking about how we find hope again after everything that we have placed our hope in has failed us and led us to despair.

Whether it’s ourselves, our family, our society, or life itself that have left us feeling like we are living in despair, we have seen that we can find our ultimate hope in the person of Jesus Christ.

Today’s scripture reminds us that Jesus is alive, and that the resurrection means that we have an eternal hope that we can hold on to for all of our days. This is the good news of the empty tomb. This is our anchor in the faith. This is where we truly find our hope.

But I’d like to deviate a bit from our typical sermon on this particular passage, which is usually reserved for Easter Sunday. Today I want to focus our attention on one question. The question that the angels asked.

Why do you look for the living amongst the dead?

Now, this question, asked of the women who were at the tomb of Jesus on that first easter morning, is almost a bit shocking. Well, we are not here looking for the living. We are here looking for the body of our dead friend that we placed here a few days ago. If we were looking for the living, we probably wouldn’t be in a tomb.

But the point that the angels are trying to make to them is that the dead man that they seek is indeed not dead at all. Jesus, the source of their hope has overcome the tomb and overcome death. The source of their hope has overcome their despair. Upon receiving this shocking news, we find that the women run to inform Jesus’s other disciples.

Now we should really pause right here just to put ourselves in the shoes of Mary and the other women who were present at the scene of the empty tomb. Their lives had been radically changed by their encounter with Jesus during his earthly ministry. We know for a fact that Mary Magdalene had been cured of demonic possession and that her life was never the same after that.

She became a devoted follower of Jesus, just as all of the other disciples had done. They gave up careers, families, political causes, and other pursuits to follow Jesus because they believed that he could and would change the world forever. And they all wanted to be part of that. They wanted to have front row seats to the new Kingdom of God that Jesus talked about constantly.

Their hopes were likely a mixed bag. Some hoped that Jesus’s rise to power would bring them into a place of power. Some just hoped to stand and witness the downfall of the Roman Empire. Some had it a little more figured out and just wanted to cling as closely as they could to the one thing that made any sense to them in their entire lives.

And then, at calvary, all of those hopes were dashed. The plans that they had, the expectations that they believed they could bet on all fell short. Jesus died. Their hope was snuffed out on a Roman cross. And so in their grief and despair, when all that they could see was the death that they had just witnessed, the women went to the tomb to finish their burial work.

And in an instant their hope was reignited. Why do you look for the living among the dead? Jesus is alive. And the scriptures say they remembered Jesus’s words. Jesus promised he would be handed over, crucified, and that he would rise again. Of course… why are we looking for the living among the dead!

But I wonder how many of us have this encounter over and over again in our lives. Why are you looking for the living among the dead?

Why are you looking for life in places that only lead to death?

I’m sure we all have a story or two, maybe entire chapters of our life stories that were dedicated to looking for life in places that lead only to spiritual, emotional, or physical death.

The story of Hiram Bingham reminds me of Indiana Jones and all of his stories of treasure hunting and the near death encounters that he had. But maybe for us it’s less about the actual physical danger that we can find when looking for a thrill. Maybe its about whatever we believe will bring the vision of the life that we hope we can have to fruition.

We all have our thing right? The pursuit of wealth that leads us to high stress careers that overwork us and cause us to miss out on the things that matter most in life.

The pursuit of pleasure that leads us into lifestyles that are dangerous. It can be as simple as the pleasure of sweets and savory foods that cause diabetes and heart disease to as complex as an unhealthy relationship with alcohol or other drugs that bring us closer to death with every small ounce of perceived pleasure.

It can be a vain pursuit of happiness found in superficial things like looks, fashion, status, or other material possessions that cause us to mortgage out our ability to live at ease because we are financially overextended.

Whatever it is, these are all ways that Jesus finds us and asks:

Why are you looking for the living among the dead? Why are you looking for life over there in the valley of the shadow of death my friends?

You see, the story often goes like this. I was one way and then I met Jesus, and that’s when things began to change for me.

I think that when we first encounter the love that Jesus has for us and come to recognize that Jesus Christ is Lord, we develop this sense that we’ve been looking for life in all of the wrong places.

And sometimes we make a dramatic turn around. We often call this a moment of repentance. Which simply means to turn around and go in a different direction.

And what we have done is we’ve really made this repentance idea something that is a one time deal.

I was a sinner. I met Jesus. I asked for forgiveness — I repented of my sin. Now I’m just hanging around until I join the great party in the life to come.

But the reality is that this only tells part of the story. Because meeting Jesus doesn’t mean that we are cured of our human propensity to look for the living among the dead.

So while we like to think the Christian life is about making a U-turn and continuing on towards paradise, the reality is that the Christian life is like trying to navigate on a road trip in 1980 using a map from 1940 with a man who refuses to stop and ask for directions. You might be going in the right direction for most of the time, but sometimes you are looking for Florida while you are traveling North on some back road through South Carolina.

We are consistently in need of asking ourselves the question: Why am I looking for the living amongst the dead?

Why are you looking for the living among the dead?

Where are you looking for life in places that only lead to death?

We do this because we forget. Like the women looking for Jesus at the tomb on that first Easter, we forget the promises that Jesus has made. We forget that Jesus’s promise to us is life and life everlasting. We forget that Jesus’s offer is an offer of eternal hope — not a life of cheap pleasure, but rather an life of deep purpose amidst the difficulties associated with being human.

But when we hear that call… why are you looking for living among the dead… we are reminded of the simple but powerful truth that the resurrected Christ brings to us. Whatever it was or is that we’ve been seeking to place our hope in pales in comparison to the life that we find when we look up and recognize the life that’s been offered to us in Christ Jesus.

When Hiram Bingham discovered Machu Picchu, he found more than he was looking for. He hunted treasure that would bring him pleasure. What he found was the priceless gift of understanding an unquenchable human desire to meet with God. You see, Machu Picchu was the place where the ancient Incan Civilization believed they could commune with their spirituality.

This is the gift that each and every one of us is given. We don’t have to go searching through the Peruvian jungle to find it. It’s a gift right there waiting for us whenever we decide that we’re tired of looking for life — true life — in all the dead places of the world. Jesus, the lover of our souls, the author of our faith, the God of hope is waiting to welcome us to a life of looking for the living with the giver of life himself. All we need to do is hear the call and respond in faith. It is here, in this place that we can find our way out of despair and into hope now and forevermore.