Mark 16:1-8 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
In these scriptures, we find the two Mary's and Salome, motivated by love, going to the place of Jesus' entombment to anoint his body. But to their surprise, Jesus was not there. For sure, Jesus was already in another place. He is not here, the angel said. How often in our lives do we look for Jesus in the wrong places. As Christians we know Jesus is always with us because of his abiding Spirit in us, but often this truth does not suffice us. We want something extra to prove that Jesus is in our lives, a special something that will gives us confidence that Jesus is guiding our lives. The commission and promise of Jesus is not enough for us: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20) We often want something that our senses can perceive. When we are struggling in our faith, we sometimes claim we would be much better Christians if only we would have walked with him during his time on Earth, seen all of his miracles, listened to his wise and profound teachings, touched him as the disciples touched him, and truly known him in person. With that knowledge and experience, we believe we would be full of faith, never fearing that He is not concerned about us, or doubting that He is constantly with us. We believe a life like the disciples had with Jesus would give us the faith we need to be steadfast and confident in our relationship with the Lord in all situations.
The stone blocking the tomb was rolled away when the women arrived. No longer would Jesus be hampered by the physical constraints of this world. His biological self received life; no corpse was left in the tomb. He would move in and out of physical matter at his will. In a nanosecond, He would be where He desired. Jesus the man had risen--life had conquered death. Life eternal surged through his body. The tomb could not hold God's plan for him. As He is risen so are we risen. The Spirit of God raised him from the dead, implanted in him the life He had from the beginning, for He is the beginning and the end, everlasting, without end. We who are IN HIM have this same life dwelling in us regardless of our feelings or thoughts about our daily struggles. The tomb is empty: so are our tombs empty. The flesh will not dictate our futures, for our earthly death sentence has been paid. Life eternal is our inheritance. As joint-heirs with Christ, our reality is the HOLY SPIRIT IN US. Why can we not catch hold of this miracle? Mostly because we remain bound to the laws of nature, unable to escape fully the sentence of death on our biological beings. Paul shares his struggles when his fears were not only about his possible demise but also about how bound his flesh was to sin and its consequences. We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:8-9) As we have mentioned before, Paul understood the war of the flesh and the spirit. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! (Romans 7:21-25) It is difficult to understand or to appreciate that WE ARE IN HIM and He IS IN US. We seek to find him in our feelings, wanting to sense something special, something our fleshly body can detect. We want a miracle, more of this blessing or more of that substance, such as wealth. We want these things, but the angel says the tomb is empty. You will not find him here in your fleshly realm.
We are risen with him if we believe wholeheartedly in his work at the cross and in his resurrection. He no longer has to prove anything: It is finished! The tomb is empty: He now dwells in us through his lovely Spirit. How often we want to see a reality that our senses can detect, that our rational minds can embrace, something we can measure and prove real. But the risen Jesus comes to us in a Spirit as One who can go through doors, who can abide in each of us as we reach out to interact with him in faith. We know faith unlocks the door to Jesus. Intractable faith brings salvation and brings us into a heavenly existence, another domain. God has not allowed us to approach him in our rational thinking. For example, to prove our importance to the God of existence, He could have made this earth the biggest heavenly body, allowing all other bodies to circle our wonderful earth. Instead, the earth is but a speck, hardly discernible when we look into the immenseness of space. The rational mind might conclude, we must not be that important. Similarly, if God values us, why hasn't he created an earth where all is good, where all the people love him. Why do so many people live in darkness, away from his authority, serving themselves? Why doesn't He use his omnipotent authority to create an existence of complete happiness, where all would know there is a good God who loves them? This is the kind of thinking we pursue to validate the existence of God and to prove He is the giver of good things. We believe if there were no wars, no disputes, no problems, no sickness, no disease, no devouring of living things, this would demonstrate God's existence and his concern and love for us. He must exist and we know how to prove it! Why then his silence? Why? Because faith is required to know God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews 11:6) Not the rational mind or the thinking processes, but unadulterated faith pleases God: faith in Jesus' work at the cross, faith in the open tomb, faith that He has come to rescue us from sin and death. This kind of faith makes the world mad. They neither understand nor desire to understand it. God has not allowed any other Gate into his presence or for us to enter into his heavenly family. Humans seek a validation of God's existence, scientific proof or at least a logical, satisfying deductive consensus of his existence, something to substantiate a belief in God. But we Christians know the tomb is empty: He is not there. HE IS IN US: ALIVE FOREVER IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE WHO LOVE AND SERVE HIM! We are NOW AND FOREVER a part of God's eternal family. Amen!
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