Monday, March 28, 2005
Reflection on Easter
Luke 24:1-8
NOW on the very 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.
But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
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?
He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,
saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"
And they remembered His words.
This passage is fully loaded. I'll just go over several points.
1). Religious Preservation turned into Perplexion - Often we like to preserve and dwell on the memories of what God has done before, and we go into a routine of ritual of remembrance. But when God changes things we become perplexed and confused, and question God, because He is doing something NOW, and we fall into stress and anxiety. This ought not to be.
2). "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" - We need to be positioned exactly where God wants us, spiritually and geographically, or we might just fall into one of those "dead spots." And we all need to "seek the living" where life is, on a daily basis, to go to the source of life to receive greater impartations of life from the life-giver. People who don't know God are always trying to seek life, whether consciously or unconsciously, in places that does not give them life, but death, such as drugs, alcohol, video games, movies, and even sex (suppose to be life-producing when practiced in God's order and design) in fornication, adultery (sins that leads to death), leading to the spreading of HIV/STDs, and abortion in the killing of life.
3). He is not here, but is risen! - Jesus is not in the tomb. He has risen. Meditate on this.
4). And they remembered His words - This is an exhortation for us to constantly go over the gospels and to have His words stuck permanently in our minds and hearts.
May God bless you abundantly in this season of hope and rejoicing!
_______
NOW on the very 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.
But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.
Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.
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?
He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee,
saying, 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.'"
And they remembered His words.
This passage is fully loaded. I'll just go over several points.
1). Religious Preservation turned into Perplexion - Often we like to preserve and dwell on the memories of what God has done before, and we go into a routine of ritual of remembrance. But when God changes things we become perplexed and confused, and question God, because He is doing something NOW, and we fall into stress and anxiety. This ought not to be.
2). "Why do you seek the living among the dead?" - We need to be positioned exactly where God wants us, spiritually and geographically, or we might just fall into one of those "dead spots." And we all need to "seek the living" where life is, on a daily basis, to go to the source of life to receive greater impartations of life from the life-giver. People who don't know God are always trying to seek life, whether consciously or unconsciously, in places that does not give them life, but death, such as drugs, alcohol, video games, movies, and even sex (suppose to be life-producing when practiced in God's order and design) in fornication, adultery (sins that leads to death), leading to the spreading of HIV/STDs, and abortion in the killing of life.
3). He is not here, but is risen! - Jesus is not in the tomb. He has risen. Meditate on this.
4). And they remembered His words - This is an exhortation for us to constantly go over the gospels and to have His words stuck permanently in our minds and hearts.
May God bless you abundantly in this season of hope and rejoicing!
_______
