The Living Lord - The One Year Worship the King Devotional
The Living Lord
Read: Luke 24:1-8
Why do you look for the living among the dead?
Luke 24:5
IN WORD The women who had followed Jesus waited until the Sabbath was over, and then went to the tomb to care for Jesus’ body. What they saw startled them: two gleaming angels questioning their task. It would disorient any of us, and it certainly disoriented them.
The angels’ question is loaded with meaning. In one brief sentence, they have told the women that Jesus is alive, that death has not contained Him, that their Lord is still their Lord, and that life will never be the same. It couldn’t have all sunk in right away, but at least the women knew that something incredible had happened. They were looking in the wrong place for the Lord of life. He doesn’t dwell in cemeteries.
That’s old news for us, isn’t it? We celebrate it annually—and contemplate its meaning even more frequently. It’s not exactly a startling question to us. With twenty centuries of celebration, it has sunk in: Jesus is alive. We know that.
But imagine God asking you the same question: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Would it apply? Do we not do that often? We read the Bible as a historical document rather than as a living Word. We follow Jesus as our example rather than listening to Him as our living Lord. We take our cues from our denominational traditions rather than from the Spirit of life. In other words, we turn our faith toward dead things rather than toward the Living One.
IN DEED That doesn’t mean that the Bible isn’t good history, or that Jesus is not our perfect example, or even that our denominational traditions are off base. It simply means that those things aren’t the substance of our faith. Jesus is. Not Jesus the historical figure, but Jesus our constant companion. Not Jesus the martyr, but Jesus the still-living sacrifice and High Priest. Not Jesus our founder, but Jesus our leader. Knowing the life that He still lives—that powerful, present life—we must ask ourselves: Why do we look for the living among the dead?
[Jesus] is the greatest influence in the world today.
—W. H. GRIFFITH THOMAS
