Luke 24:1-5: a reflection

On the first morning of the week, the women come to the tomb to tend a dead body, but find the stone rolled away and the tomb empty, and are asked a question that changes everything: why do you seek the living among the dead? They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, the account says, and entered in, and didn't find the Lord Jesus' body. And two men in dazzling clothing said, why do you seek the living among the dead? The women had come expecting to find a dead body, to anoint it with spices, their hopes buried with Jesus in the tomb. But the tomb was empty; the body was gone; and they were told the reason: they were seeking the living among the dead, for Jesus was not dead, but risen. Christ was alive, and not to be sought in the tomb. This shows that Christ is risen, not to be sought among the dead. Christ is risen; do not seek the living among the dead. The tomb is empty; Christ is alive, not to be found among the dead. Do not bury your hope with a Christ who is risen. Seek the living Christ, who has conquered death.

Notice the reversal at the empty tomb. The women came in sorrow and defeat, to do the last sad service for a dead body: to anoint Jesus with spices. Their hopes had died with him; they came seeking the dead. But when they arrived, everything was changed: the stone was rolled away, the tomb was empty, the body gone. And into their perplexity came the question: why do you seek the living among the dead? The reason the tomb was empty was that Jesus was not dead, but risen; he was alive, and not to be sought among the dead. This is the heart of the good news and the ground of Christian hope. Christ, who was crucified and buried, is risen; he has conquered death; the tomb could not hold him. And so we do not seek a dead Christ, or bury our hopes in a grave; we seek a living Christ, who is alive forever, who has conquered death. This reshapes everything. Our hope is not buried with a dead teacher, but rests on a living, risen Lord. When we are tempted, like the women, to seek the living among the dead, to sorrow as though Christ were still in the tomb and our hopes with him, we are reminded: he is risen; do not seek the living among the dead. We do well to seek the living, risen Christ, who has conquered death, rather than sorrowing as though he were still dead. Seek the living, risen Christ, who has conquered death; do not seek him among the dead. The tomb is empty; Christ is alive, and your hope rests on a living Lord. Do not bury your hope as though Christ were still in the grave. Rejoice that Christ is risen, and seek the living one.

That is worth taking to heart, for Christ is risen and not to be sought among the dead, and our hope rests on a living Lord, as the women were told at the empty tomb. We can sorrow as though Christ were still dead and our hopes buried; but the tomb was empty, and the women were asked why they sought the living among the dead. Christ is alive. Do not seek the living Christ among the dead or bury your hope in a grave; seek the risen Lord, who has conquered death, and let your hope rest on him. Seek the living, risen Christ, who has conquered death, rather than sorrowing as though he were still in the tomb, as on the first morning of the week the women came to tend a dead body but found the stone rolled away and the tomb empty and were asked why they sought the living among the dead, since they found the stone rolled away and did not find the Lord Jesus' body, and were told why they sought the living among the dead; for the women had come expecting to find a dead body and anoint it, their hopes buried with Jesus in the tomb, but the tomb was empty and the body gone and they were told the reason, that they were seeking the living among the dead, for Jesus was not dead but risen and alive and not to be sought in the tomb, which is the heart of the good news and the ground of Christian hope, that Christ who was crucified and buried is risen and has conquered death and the tomb could not hold him, so that we do not seek a dead Christ or bury our hopes in a grave but seek a living Christ who is alive forever, which reshapes everything, since our hope is not buried with a dead teacher but rests on a living, risen Lord, so that when we are tempted like the women to seek the living among the dead and sorrow as though Christ were still in the tomb we are reminded he is risen, and we do well to seek the living, risen Christ.