Luke 24:1-8

Luke 24:1-8 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. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with 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; 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.

Matthew 8:21-22 Another disciple said to him, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”

Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen is the crux of Christianity. We are no longer bound to sin and death; we are alive evermore in the hands of God. This is our hope in Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16) We who have placed our trust in Jesus Christ are alive IN HIM. He bore our sins on the cross, and we IN HIM are resurrected into new life. Our hope, our trust is in his works, not our own. This is the "good news" that believers have spread throughout the world. If we rely on any other way to eternal life with God, we take a false step, accepting an imitation, a distortion of the truth. No one's works, efforts, knowledge, or wisdom will lead him to peace and fellowship with God. Jesus alone paid the price for salvation. We do not pay the price, and no one except Jesus can pay the price for us.

False religions offer gurus who apparently pay a price to get closer to God by living ascetic lives, somewhat like John the Baptist. People think such lifestyles imbue power or insight to lead men to God or maybe nirvana. These so-called holy men claim to be intermediaries between God and man; however, the Bible clearly indicates Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. Paul told the church, For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. (1 Corinthians 3:11-13a) Men can forsake the world or mutilate their bodies to please God, but only The Lamb's sacrifice satisfies God's wrath towards sin. Christ's blood alone covers the multitude of sins carried by all. He alone cleanses us white as snow. When we were without hope, God himself literally paid for our sins. When people lift up a man, calling him holy or good, I know if we followed this person for just a few days, we would quickly see sins of the flesh, those of omission or commission. The Bible says because of sin, all like sheep have gone astray, turning to their own ways. Jesus said, “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good — except God alone." (Luke 18:19) Therefore, it does not matter how good you think you are or how you classify your life in spiritual terms, only God is good: to be good for eternity means you must trust in him.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life IN CHRIST Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23) No other man, no other idea, no other religion possesses the gift of eternal life, only Jesus. In Christ, nothing can separate us from the love of God, for the Bible says we are hidden with Christ in God. Neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is IN CHRIST Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39) Although once marred with the cancer of self and sin and cast from God's presence, through Jesus' blood, we now enter into God's very presence. We stand boldly in his image before God's throne of grace, "born again" children, purchased by the Lamb of God. Therefore, if anyone is IN CHRIST, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) We will let the dead bury their own dead, for we are no longer dead but alive. We are heaven bound, new creatures. This world and all it offers will not hold us down. We are alive in Christ, headed home. With the angels, we proclaim, Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! WE ARE RISEN IN HIM, RISEN INDEED.