Luke 24:1-7 April 12, Resurrection Sunday Vantage Point series (week 5 of church, not-in-person, due to COVID-19) Why ARE you looking for the Living One among the dead? Of all the places to be looking for the Living One, among the tombs is not even in the ballpark. This is such a great title for Jesus - the Living One.
This title is reminiscent of I AM. Although not very appreciated by the Jewish leaders, Jesus claimed this for Himself on a few occasions. I AM and the Living One embody who Jesus always is. As such, He is the source of all life. This to me speaks not only to the quantity of life but to the quality of life. In other words, He always is, and always is full and overflowing as the source of what makes us alive. Jesus came to this planet that we might have life and have it abundantly. This means our lives are to be full of His life and purpose which gives them meaning beyond our current understanding.
How might this influence our goals as we navigate this outbreak and shutdown? What if we compare living in the midst of the coronavirus with living in the midst of a sinful world? And what does salvation look like in each? It could be a worthwhile comparison.
John Stonestreet posed a similar question in asking: what are we saved for? Are we saved just to be saved from hell? Similarly, is our goal just to make it through to the end of the shutdowns and remain healthy? Are we just trying to “stay busy”? Or in the midst of and in spite of possible perils of the virus and or sin in the world, can we find ways to impact others with life giving efforts of love? While all the while working on our life-giving relationship with Christ!
What motivated Jesus to come and give us that life was the love He has for us. What motivated the Living One to take upon Himself our sin, and then overcome the penalties of that sin (death) by rising from the dead is His life-giving love. So while we have what seems like “extra time”, I think developing and fine tuning our relationship with the Living One could pay some big dividends long before our promised life in the next age begins. And those dividends could end up greatly helping others.
