Resurrection Sunday: Looking for the Living Among the Dead

As Luke's account of Jesus' resurrection was read this morning, the words that caught me up were those spoken to the women at his tomb. They came with spices in hand, ready to prepare Jesus' dead body for burial. Then suddenly, two angels appeared to them and asked a peculiar question. "Why are you looking for the living among the dead?" (Luke 24:5)

Our pastor noted what an odd question this was for the angels to ask them. The answer was clear. These women weren't looking for the living among the dead. They were looking for the dead among the dead!

Those words stuck with me. They reminded me that the declaration of Easter is the fact that, because Jesus rose from the dead, we can look for the living among the dead; for life in the midst of death!

All I need to do is review my life and see the truth of this. Times when I experienced real death, like the death of my father from cancer, I see how I also found life. Or times when a relationship appeared to be dying, I found the gift of life in the tearing down and rebuilding of it. Or once when I took a personal blow that felt like it would end in death, I discovered instead the gift of life, buried deeply in the tomb of my soul.

Resurrection Sunday is a day to celebrate that we can, indeed, look for the living among the dead because Jesus rose from the dead, whole and full of life!