August 21: Expecting the wrong thing

On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb. They went in but did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men stood by them in dazzling clothes. So the women were terrified and bowed down to the ground. “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” asked the men. “He is not here, but He has been resurrected! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, saying, ‘The Son of Man must be betrayed into the hands of sinful men, be crucified, and rise on the third day’?” And they remembered His words.    (Luke 24:1-8 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Jesus had been crucified on Friday and His body placed in a tomb a short while before sundown. Since the Jewish Sabbath began at sundown His disciples had not been able to properly prepare His body for burial — no one could do any work from what we call Friday evening until Saturday evening. But when some women went to the tomb early Sunday morning to wrap Jesus’ dead body in spices, they were shocked to find the tomb open and empty. Then two angels appeared and asked, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?”… and told them to remember what Jesus had told them about His death and resurrection. Only then did they remember His words.

The Lord Jesus had told them what would happen — He would be betrayed, crucified, and would rise on the third day — but as events played out they forgot His words, were overwhelmed with fear, ran away, hid, and gave up hope. When the women ran back from the tomb that Sunday and told the eleven (Judas had ended his own life), even then their words seemed like nonsense to them and they refused to believe. Peter and John only believed after they had run to the tomb to see for themselves.

But what the angels said to the women could just as easily be said to us — “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” Much of the time we expect the worst because we forget God’s promises. He said nothing is impossible for him who believes, but we give in to the feeling that nothing about our situation can ever change. Instead of expecting the miracle we’ve asked for, we expect to hear bad news… we’re looking for the living among the dead!

Our old, human nature has to die. As long as it stays alive we’re going to have the same problem as those eleven men and three or four women. It makes no sense to keep forgetting what God has promised when problems are staring us in the face. — Let’s stop panicking and giving in to confusion. Let’s have the unique clarity that only faith in God’s Word provides.