The living one in a cemetery?

Luke 24:5b-6a Why are you looking for the living one in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. The Message

I went to a funeral Thursday for someone I didn’t know well, though by the end of the service I felt I knew him a lot better. His presence was so alive in the room, in the hearts and minds of everyone present, it was hard even to take in that he was gone. I know that his family and close friends have a heavy road of sorrow ahead of them, but that he lives in them and will continue to live in them, until they, too, pass out of this life. He lives in relationship. Relationship is primary, all the rest is derivative, a friend of mine likes to say, and there is no time that is truer than in death.

Jesus disciples were facing that road, the end of all their hopes and dreams, and the tremendous love they felt for Jesus, but then they got the shock of their lives—Jesus alive, in human form, back with them again after the most grisly form of death. Who of us, when we’ve lost someone we love wouldn’t ask for the same thing? And who wouldn’t be terrified if it actually happened, no matter how much you might wish for it?

This is not, however, just a story about a man coming back to life, startling as that is. Lazarus came back to life and the world didn’t change. Jesus’ resurrection is on a whole different level. Jesus has broken through the barrier of human error that separates humankind from God; the cross forms a bridge, a reconnection to the God from whom we’ve become alienated through our idolatry and pride, thinking we’re in charge of everything and bowing in worship to our own mortal beings. Now there’s a direct route to the Infinite, through the spirit of Jesus Christ. New life for Jesus brings new life for all of us, and a new opportunity for relationship with God, the relational foundation for all other relationships.

Prayer: Dear God, Through the death and resurrection of your son Jesus you have restored us to right relationship with your Divinity. Today I rejoice and give thanks for your grace and power in my life. Amen.