I’ve never attended a birthday party at a morgue or a baby shower at a mausoleum. I’ve been to some picturesque cemeteries, but never for a wedding or an anniversary celebration. I doubt that the local funeral home receives many requests for the use of their space for family gatherings that don’t include the deceased.
There are, you see, certain places where certain things don’t coexist. Blame it on cultural taboos or traditions, but the resting place of the dead and the place where life happens are rarely synonymous.
And yet somehow that’s exactly where we find some of Jesus’ most faithful followers on the third day following His death: In the graveyard where they left Him, or better yet, where they left their hope… dead, buried, lifeless.
Here’s the scene according to Scripture following his death:
Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they, and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared. 2 But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. 3 Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5 Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7 saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'” Luke 24:18
The question the angels asked these dedicated, yet misdirected souls still begs to be asked of you and me?
Why do (we) seek the living among the dead?
Like the well-manicured lawn of memorial gardens adorned with colorful arrangements of silk flowers, many places appear to have life until we take a closer look. Then the façade gives way to reveal a hollow land filled with caskets, vaults, and stones engraved with reminders that “life” has left us with only the remains.
For some, the place of the dead is a past experience they try to re-live… a memory of how things were that haunts and eludes them with every passing day.
For others, it is where the illusion of success or possessions lies, like a mirage always hanging on the horizon that they chase but never reach.
Still others search for life among the masses, forgetting that “where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather,” mistaking activity for vitality.
Why, then, do so many look for life where there is none? Maybe it is because we, like the women at the tomb, haven’t really comprehended the difference between that which is living and that which is dead.
Trying to better define living, I did a quick Google search on the word “alive” and the first definition was “not dead.” Truly, it is easier to define alive by what it is not, rather than what it is. That’s because death is absolute; it is a very sure and definitive state. Having sat by the bedside of those who have taken their final breath and stood by the casket of their now vacant bodies, the characteristics of being lifeless are universal and unmistakable. Unable to move, speak, communicate or reciprocate, the dead all bear a strong resemblance with one another.
Then there is the deadness of things in this world which is not so obvious, but contains similar characteristics. Addictions that immobilize, relationships that take but do not give, stuff that decays and organizations or people who have to constantly be propped up in order to exist. Meanwhile, we bring the costly oil and precious spices of our energy, resources, and time with hope for little more than slowing the process of corruption. Here are just a few:
Religion: dead.
Politics: dead.
Fortune: dead.
Fame: dead.
Look to any of these as the source of life and you’ll end up depleted, drained, and worst of all, dead!
But then there’s one who defies all that. And although He will make an appearance in the dead places, He doesn’t stay there!
And neither should we.
He beckons us to look beyond that which is familiar, common, and corrupt, remembering His words because His are the “words of life.”
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. John 5:24-26
So today, stop searching for life in all the dead places. Turn to the one who not only declared Himself to be the true source of life but proved it by overcoming death: Jesus Christ!
You won’t find God in the graveyard.
Such as I have I give,
In Jesus’ name
