God's Gospel Truths
Luke 24:1-12
Jesus Has Risen
Why do you look for the living among the dead
~ Two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning, Luke 24:5
1 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. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 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? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
Pondering Point
Not only will you NOT find Jesus in the grave, neither should you be looking for yourself in the grave. You have died to sin, first in baptism (Romans 6:2) and now in daily bearing your cross (Luke 9:23). In both cases, your death gives way to new life in Christ. This is your identity. You are alive in Christ. When you try to figure out who you are, don't look to your old self; look to your Father and the new self He has made you into (2 Corinthians 5:17) – and the new self He is making you into (Colossians 3:9-10). Join me in looking to God’s word for our identity because we live in Christ.
Prayer for the Day
Lord Jesus, thank You for making me a new creation in You. Continue to renew me, as the Apostle Paul says, in knowledge of God and in the image of my Creator, full of righteousness and holiness. In You I pray. Amen.