The Wrong Place to Look
Scripture reference: Luke 24:1-12; 24:5,6
The day of Sabbath rest was over in Jerusalem. It was the start of a new week. The rosy sun was just beginning to push the darkness out of the night sky; the birds were fluffing their feathers and chirping their songs.
Mary Magdalene and the other women were up early, too, but they weren’t singing.
There was something they wanted to do for Jesus. On that terrible day at Golgotha they had watched Jesus die on the cross and they had cried and cried. The women had followed when Rabbi Joseph had taken Jesus’ body gently down from the cross and brought it to his own empty cave in the small garden. Rabbi Joseph had wrapped Jesus’ body in a soft white cloth and put him on a bed of sweet-smelling spices. So the women knew where to find the Master they loved so much. Mary Magdalene and her friends wanted to do something for Jesus, so they prepared more spices and sweet-smelling perfumes. They would bring them to the cave and cry together.
Everything was so sad, and so mixed up!
But what about the promises?
How could Jesus be dead? He’d promised them a kingdom; how could he be king of a kingdom, lying in a cave all wrapped up and covered with spices, with a guard of Roman soldiers standing in front of the big stone?
He’d promised them treasures in heaven; how could he give them anything when those greedy soldiers at the cross had taken away all his clothes?
He’d promised them that he would destroy God’s temple and raise it back up in three days; how could he fix the temple when the curtain had ripped into two pieces and he wasn’t even there to fix it?
He’d promised to set the prisoners free, but how could he? Nobody was even listening to him anymore!
He’d said he was king, but why did the soldiers spit on him and make fun of him, and give him a pretending crown? And why would he let that crook on the cross beside him say those awful things?
And what about that great parade into Jerusalem when the people threw their coats on the ground and made a beautiful carpet for Jesus to ride on, and waved palm branches and shouted: “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”?
What happened to all the promises? Jesus was dead. All the promises were lost.
…..
But wait …. The most important promise of all – what was it? “In three days I shall be raised again…” Had they forgotten?
Mary Magdalene and the women didn’t understand. All they could do was cry and go to the garden with the spices they had ready. “How are we going to roll away that big stone?” they worried. “Maybe we’re not strong enough to push it out of the slot….”
There was the cave: the soldiers were gone, and the big stone had been rolled away!!!
The women had forgotten! Into the cool, quiet rock space they tiptoed, carrying their spices, looking for the body of Jesus. There was the soft white cloth; there were the sweet-smelling spices; but where was Jesus?
Then suddenly, two shining angels! “Have you forgotten?” said one angel. “Have you forgotten Jesus’ promise? You’re looking for him in the wrong place: he is not here; he is not dead – he is alive, just as he said he would be! Come, and look!”
And the women came, and they looked.
And then they remembered Jesus’ promise – bigger than their small hearts and their small imaginations: big enough for YOU and for ME!
Jesus is not dead: HE IS RISEN! Hallelujah.
♥