What Are You Looking For?

Can you even imagine the horror of watching a loved one having nails driven through His hands and feet... then, suspended on that wooden cross, having to press into the pain of those nails in order to fill His lungs? Watching helplessly, I imagine so many dreams of what could have been died, one by one. This was the end of hope for the big "win" for Jesus and His followers so closure began when the spear in His side confirmed that it was truly finished. Jesus said it Himself.

No wonder His friends didn't recognize Jesus when He appeared to them after He arose from the grave. They were looking for a corpse, not a living, breathing, eating, talking Jesus! When the angel asked the women who went to the tomb to prepare Jesus body, "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" they must have been really perplexed. They weren't looking for a living Jesus because they saw Him die. Likewise, when Jesus walked with two of His followers on the road to Emmaus, they didn't recognize Him because they were overwrought with all they had seen and heard about the crucifixion of their good Teacher.

As I listen to the Easter message this year I wondered how often we miss seeing life because we have witnessed death, so that's what we are looking for. We have experienced a slow, painful death in our marriage or other relationships, so we cannot see the life that Jesus wants to infuse into our connections with others. If you believe that Jesus is alive and death has no victory, why settle for death in your relationships. Jesus came that we might have a full and meaningful life. Jesus came to show us how to love. Jesus taught us that loving God and others is the core of following Him, so why not live like we believe that?

Moving forward in the coming days and weeks, I encourage you to stop looking for death. That is kind of like tripping over something that is behind you, which is pretty ridiculous. Start looking to the future of HOPE that Jesus provided with His life, death and resurrection. If you have experienced death in your marriage or other relationships, stop looking for the corpse in the tomb and start looking for the life that He wants to bring you.  Jesus' very life was about loving and giving, regardless of merit. Perhaps you need to be reminded of that so you can find the new life, new hope and new love that reflects a living Redeemer, not a corpse in a tomb.