|
 On the first day of the week, very early in the
morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the
tomb (Luke 24:1).
What do you do when hope lets you down? You go through the motions.
You get up, you take a shower, you go to work, you just…exist. I am
sure the women didn’t even think about what they were going to do
once they got there. I could envision them preparing the spices and
someone telling them that the tomb was sealed and guarded. How were
they going to get in to anoint the body? “We don’t know!” They
didn’t know, because they were just going through the motions.
Have you been there? Have you believed in a promise that never got
kept? Trusted in someone who let you down? Woke up to an unpleasant
reality that you could not get away from? I remember the question
from Dr. Sackett like it was yesterday: Have you ever stood in the
dark and wondered where God went?
They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they
entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus (Luke 24:2-3).
What do you do when hope lets you down? You expect it to stay down.
It genuinely never occurred to the women to think anything else.
They watched him die. They were the last ones to see him alive and
now came to the tomb to be among the first ones to see him dead.
Maybe they were not paying attention. Maybe they didn’t see the
Jesus who amazed the leaders as a 12-year-old boy in the temple. The
Jesus who withstood the temptations of Satan. The Jesus who drove
out demons and healed people who were hurting. The Jesus who called
His disciples to follow Him. The Jesus who calmed the storms and fed
the five thousand. The Jesus who taught about and lived the example
of prayer. The Jesus who laughed with sinners and ate with tax
collectors.
But I guess none of that matters, because dead things stay dead.
It’s over now. They didn’t come to the grave looking for Jesus. They
came looking for a body.
You go through the motions when there really is nothing else to do.
You know who Jesus is and what He did. But you also know that your
job stinks – you just have to put up with it, I suppose. You know
that the marriage is over – you just have to move on. You know that
person is a jerk and will always be a jerk – they will never change.
Dead things stay dead.
While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes
that gleamed like lightning stood beside them (Luke 24:4).
This isn’t the first time that an angel stood by people. And there
were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over
their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to (STOOD
BESIDE) them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they
were terrified (Luke 2:8-9). The result of both visits was the same
– fear. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the
ground (Luke 24:5). When hope lets you down, fear stands ready to
take its place.
Luke chose his words well. When the angel came to the shepherds,
they were terrified. When the angels came to the women at the
tomb…fright. We live in a world filled with fear. We are afraid for
our finances, our families, our friends, and our future. Satan loves
fear, because fear stops us from taking chances for the kingdom.
Fear stops us from sharing our faith with others. Fear stops us from
ending conflict and restoring relationships. But most importantly,
fear steals our hope.
[to top of second column] |
The men said to them, “Why do you look for the living
among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told
you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be
delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the
third day be raised again.’ ” Then they remembered his words (Luke
24:5-8)
The women forgot. All the good things that Jesus did, all the stuff
He said was left on the hill where He died. We forget, and so we go
through the motions. We live, but we don’t really live. We place
fear where hope had once stood.
What is the best cure for forgetfulness? You remember. I love what
the angels said – “What are you DOING? Don’t you remember what Jesus
SAID?” And the women were like, “Oh yeah, He said that, didn’t He?
You have to wonder if their thoughts went back to Luke 4, Jesus in
the synagogue, where this whole train started rolling: The Spirit of
the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to
the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to
proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19).
How did Jesus put it? “Today the Scripture is fulfilled in your
hearing.”
Do you know what beats fear? Good news. Freedom, sight, release, the
Lord’s favor! Every other story of every other major world religion
ends with a death, a burial, and then silence.
But Jesus’ story didn’t end with a cross or even a tomb. It ends
with a risen Savior! Remember that!
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the
eleven and to all the others (Luke 24:9).
But what if remembering isn’t enough? I do remember what Jesus
Christ has done. But I also remember the disappointments I have
felt, the challenges still not overcome, the battles still not won.
Hope is still dead within me. Just remembering what Jesus did and
said is not enough.
Do you know something? I agree with you. Remembering isn’t enough.
There is something else you must do in order to bring hope back to
life. What do you do when hope lets you down?
You must tell others what you remembered.
Think about it this way. You were created to worship God and to
multiply the kingdom. You have a purpose – to possess and share that
hope.
If you are not taking the good news and spreading it around, you are
going against your very DNA. I love how Paul puts it in Titus 2: For
the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It
teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to
live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age,
while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our
great God and Savior, Jesus Christ (Titus 2:11-13).
This Easter morning, are you worshipping a risen Savior, or are you
preparing spices for the tomb? Are you going through the motions?
Because let’s face it – dead things are supposed to stay dead.
The tomb is empty – do you remember that?
Good news! Freedom is here! A dead Savior didn’t stay dead, and
because of that our fear is replaced by hope, the blessed hope of
the glorious appearing of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Happy Easter!
[Tracy Thomas
Director of Alumni Relations
Lincoln Christian University] |
