CHRIST HAS RISEN “Very early in the morning,” the scripture says, Mary, the mother of James, Joanna and Mary Magdalene packed up the spices and perfumes they had bought and headed for the cemetery. They had work to do. Go into a tomb that’s never been used and anoint Jesus’ body. Why all the secrecy? Because the followers of Christ did not believe what Jesus had preached and taught. On several occasions he told the disciples he would be killed and God would raise him from the grave on the third day. Why search for a body if you are a believer? Why get up before everyone else to tend the dead? Because you believe he is dead. If the close followers of Jesus did not believe this teaching on the resurrection, I wonder, what else didn’t they believe? But let’s not criticize them too much, after all they had never witnessed a resurrection, right? Of course, they had. They were present when Jesus commanded death to release Lazarus. He raised others as well. But these three women did not believe Christ’s prophecy of his own demise and glorious victory. They did not believe how their faith in him would save their bodies and souls for eternity. There’s something so about skeptical and suspicious about human nature that miracles can’t overcome. Mary, Joanna and Mary Magdalene had to be challenged by two angels, gleaming like lightning. They asked, “Why are you looking for someone who is alive among those who are dead? He’s not here!” It must be terrible for believers in Christ to hear that Jesus is not among them. We teach and preach to remind the body of Christ that the gospel is true. We have to be constantly reminded, or we’ll forget the most important fact of history: Christ has risen! His remains are not in the ground anywhere! The grave could not hold him. Don’t look for your Savior among the dead, he’s among the living! How about you? When we pray the familiar prayer, “Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.” Do you just recite them? If we don’t believe what we pray we’re no different than the early disciples who listened to Jesus but didn’t believe what he was saying. We study the Bible, come to worship, pray for the sick, but don’t really believe the gospel. |