Where's Jesus?
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· 4 viewsWhy Seek the living among the dead
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1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:
5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?
6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,
7 Saying, 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,
All throughout man’s history, it seems that we have been looking for something greater than ourselves...
The original sin was because Eve wanted to be greater than she was...
And Adam wanted a greater love than he thought he had.
A few generations later, mankind would be so intent on self worship that God would have to destroy them...
And so generation by generation men and woman would spend their lives in search for something greater than they were!
Abraham would set out looking for a city whose builder and maker was God (Heb 11:10)
Issac would spend a life trying to rebuild what his dad had never building anything for himself.
Jacob would lie and cheat to achieve something greater than his own birthright
Israel would desire a king
Israel would desire other gods
And even though the OT is full of prophecies concerning what to look for when he came, no one knew Jesus for what he was even when he stood among them in fulfillment!
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
The whole of the OT and the Gospels is like a spritual game of Where’s Waldo, except you don’t know what Waldo looks like!
I’ll try and find what I’m looking for in a king like all the other nations have...
I’ll try and find what I’m looking for in Baal or Asheroth, or Ashdod or the other god’s of the land…
I’ll try to get what I am looking for by lying and cheating...
I’ll try and recreate what someone else had and get what they had rather than what I need...
I will do the forbidden to gain what has been denied me...
Not even after Jesus had walked among them for three and a half years, doing miracles, signs and wonders.
Fulfilling prophecy.
Did they recognize WHO he was!
They didn’t realize that standing before them was the answer to
Eve’s longing
Abraham’s promise
Issac’s desire
Jacob’s birthright
Israel’s prophecies
Even with all he had told them
On that early morning
They went to his grave to cover him with spices and herbs to mask the stench of His death so not to embarrass the legacy of his memory...
He was such a good man, teacher and friend!
They had watched him do miracles having no idea how he did them.!
They had listened to him teach but had no idea he was the Words of Eternal Life!
They had watched him multiply loaves and fishes having no idea he was the Bread of Life!
They had watched him heal blind eyes having no idea that he was revelation!
They had heard him prophecy but had no idea that he was the fulfilment of prophecy!
They had watched him raise the dead but had no idea that HE was about to live again!
Their surprise that morning at the empty tomb told the story of their ignorance!
They had do idea that who they were looking for was the answer to everything mankind had sought since Eve took the bite from the apple so long ago!
The question the Angel asked them in verse 5 just might be the most insightful question ever asked about the condition of mankind...
Why do you seek the living among the dead?!
You are looking in the wrong place!
Generation after generation and still getting it wrong!
Generations later
2000 years later
Roughly 28 generations later...
Many are still getting it wrong!
Today people will find “Easter Eggs” all across the world
But they will not find what they need!
Today people will gather with family and friends to eat ham and sweat potatoes, push back from a table full but not filled because they still haven’t figured out that the are not looking in the right place!
Conclusion:
Today all over the world, people are looking for the living in a graveyard!
Looking for the answer for the emptiness in their life and can’t find it because they are looking in the wrong places!
The answer is NOT in a:
Bottle
Needle
Next clandestine affair
Councilors couch
Self-help book
The answer is Jesus!
If you want to live, you have to find a living God!
You won’t find him in the grave yard!
You won’t find him on a cross!
You WILL find him in the heart’s of men and women who found Him not in a graveyard but in an alter of repentance!
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
What is Easter?
E - MMANUEL
God with us
A - TONEMENT
Taken away my sins.
He HAD to die to do that...
S - ONRISE
Because of the S-O-N rise that morning
I can take my place in sonship!
T - RUTH
Truth and righteousness WILL prevail
E - TERNAL LIFE
Don’t look for me in a grave!
Not as I live or when I die!
R - ESURRECTION
Because he lives...
I live!
4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
Because he lives, I live!!
Don’t look for me in sin’s graveyard!