RELIGION: What do you expect to find? | Siloam Springs Herald-Leader

Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away -- for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you." Mark 16:1-7 (Read Mark 16:1-16)

The women -- Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome -- came to the tomb very early Sunday morning expecting to find death. They came to anoint Jesus' dead body and were wondering who would roll away the great stone from the doorway of the tomb so they could deal with Jesus' death and decay with spices and ointments.

But what did they find? The large stone had already been rolled back from the entrance of the tomb. And, inside the tomb, they saw no dead body but an angel sitting on the right side.

The angel said to them: "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.

They came expecting death but, instead, they found life. They came to anoint the dead and decaying body of Jesus but, instead, they found that Jesus' body was not decaying in the tomb; He was raised and alive!

The ancient prophecy of Psalm 16:10 had come true: "For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption."

And Jesus' own words in Matthew 20:18-19 were fulfilled: "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again."

Jesus later appeared to them, to Peter, to two on the road to Emmaus and to the rest of His disciples.

Mark 16:9-14 tells us: "Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen" (cf. Matt. 28:9; John 20:1-18; Luke 24:1ff.; 1 Cor. 15:1ff.).

In the Gospel of Matthew (28:5-10), we read that "the angel answered and said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.' So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, 'Rejoice!' So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus said to them, 'Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.'"

And, so I ask you: "Why have you come? What do you expect to find?" Have you come to anoint the dead body of Jesus -- to memorialize Him in some way for His holy life and His innocent sufferings and death? You won't find Him in the tomb. Instead of finding death, you'll find life.

You won't have to roll a stone away; it's already rolled back. You won't have to anoint a dead body; He's not dead but alive, raised from the dead on the third day, as He promised. He's not moldering in some tomb outside of Jerusalem; He's risen, glorified and at God's right hand reigning over all things!

And what does that mean for you and for me? It means His death was full payment for the sins of all the world. "Jesus our Lord ... was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification" (Rom. 4:24,25). Through faith in Him and His death and resurrection, we have forgiveness for all our sins and the promise of life everlasting!

It also means the cemetery won't be the place to come looking for us believers on the Last Day. Our graves too will be empty because Christ Jesus, who died for our sins and rose again, will raise us up. He is the firstfruit of those who sleep (1 Cor. 15:20-23).

It is as Jesus said, "Because I live, you will live also" (John 14:19). He is preparing us an eternal dwelling place in His Father's house and will soon come and take us to be with Him forever! He will change our graves -- a place of death -- to a place of life and of joy and gladness.

Jesus told His disciples before His death: "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also" (John 14:1-3).

And, St. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians (1 Thess. 4:13-18): "But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words."

We thank You, dearest Lord Jesus, for going to the cross in our stead and rising up again that we too might be raised up on the Last Day to life everlasting. In Your name, we pray. Amen.

Religion on 04/15/2020