Seek the Living and Live
Published in the Omaha World Herald’s “From the Pulpit”
April 17, 2022
Reverend Eric L. Jay
“Seek the living and live”
By definition, a miracle is only a miracle if it defies a complete and rational explanation. When the disciples were first told of the empty tomb, “the words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.” (Luke 24:11). If you and I were witness to the barbaric torture and crucifixion of Christ, had it been our hands that wrapped the mangled body of Christ and laid Him in the tomb, we would have been just as slow to believe. The Bible says that Christ was brutalized “beyond human semblance” (Isa. 52:14).
When the women came to the tomb on Easter morning, they fully expected to see the corpse of Jesus in the tomb. Instead, they were greeted by two angels who said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen! Just as He said.”
Have you ever thought about the fact that you cannot see your own face with your eyes alone? Does your face not exist? If you want to find something you must look not only in the right place, but with the right eyes. If you desire to see something microscopic, you need a microscope. If you desire to see something far away, you need a telescope or binoculars.
There are those today who still believe the resurrection to be an idle tale because they are looking for proof of the living among the dead. You won’t find the eternal, living, and risen Christ and God of the universe by looking only to or with the dead and dying things of this world. Science will never be able to prove or disprove God’s existence or Christ’s resurrection because science only deals with the elements of this dying universe. Christ is neither dead nor dying. HE IS RISEN! 2 Corinthians 4:16 says, “We do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the unseen things. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.”
I recently read an article written by a Christian missionary that told of how he and his friends witnessed a parade in India that was celebrating the supposed discovery a bone of Buddha. The missionary turned to his friend and said, “How different it is in Christianity. If any part of Jesus’ body turned up, it would be a sad day, because that would mean he was still dead.”
If you want to see the One holy and righteous God, you can’t expect to see Him with sinful eyes. If you want to see the Risen Lord and Savior of the world, Jesus Christ, you can’t look for Him in a dead and dying world, because He is alive! He is Risen!