Scripture
5The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 8So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Matthew 28:5-10
Observation
Mary had come early Sunday morning to finish preparing the body of Jesus for burial after Shabbat was completed, but Jesus wasn’t there! This place of death had now become a place of rest as the angel who met the women sat on the stone rolled away and made a bold proclamation. The stone hadn’t been moved for thebenefit of Jesus. In His resurrected body there was no barrier that could keep him out but the unbelief of a human heart. They heard the words that changed everything, but needed to see for themselves! The angel gives them permission to do what every one of us longs to, “Come and see the place where he lay.” Surgeon said it this way, “One eye-witness is better than twenty ear-witnesses, men will believe what you have seen if they not believe what you have heard.” The women look in and lo and behold Jesus isn’t there! Jesus isn’t ever where you expect Him to be! Not only did their hearts leap at the reality that Jesus was resurrected, but that they would see Him face to face in Galilee. This was something they never thought they’d get to do again. So, they obeyed the angels command and ran to tell the other disciples hiding out in Galilee. Yet, Jesus wasn’t there! No, “suddenly Jesus met them” while they were running to tell others about Him. The Greek here represent the normal Greek greeting as an old friend saying Hello! Here is the resurrected Lord who has just conquered sin, death and hell, and He says, “Hello” leading to a warm embrace with this friends who just one hour before had come to say goodbye forever. There was no fan fare, no appearance to the religious leaders of Israel or to the heads of state in places of power in Rome. Jesus wasn’t there! He wasn’t even with the 11 disciples yet. No, here He was on the dusty road to Galilee with women whom the rest of that culture would deem lowly and hardly worth mentioning. Jesus isn’t ever where you would expect Him to be!
Application
I’ve just returned from my second trip to The Holy Land of Israel and I noticed Jesus wasn’t there…at least not in the way I expected to find Him. He wasn’t in the tomb now shrouded with religious regalia at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. No, but I did see him in the face of my son Ben as he walked into The Garden Tomb for the first time and his young heart jumped with joy at the tangible proof of his Risen Lord! We saw many tombs during our time in Israel. On our walk down the Mount of Olives to the Garden of Gethsemane we saw miles of graves on the hillside and outside the eastern wall of the Temple Mount. Jesus wasn’t there! We saw the tombs of Rebecca, David, and Absalom, but Jesus wasn’t there either. He did meet us in the Garden that day as we stopped to pray under the very trees where He said “Not my will but Your’s be done” and then called us to do the same! We walked all throughout the Holy City, but Jesus wasn’t there. Yet, I saw Him so clearly in the faces of the small gatherings of Messianic Jews seeking to serve those the rest of the world might simply overlook or downright despise. These followers of Jesus are still running like the women on Resurrection Sunday to tell as many as possible that Jesus is alive. I saw Jesus in the face of the newlyweds Illya and Daneen as they shared stories of how Jesus saved his life on the frontlines of battle as a reservist soldier with the Israeli Defense Force. Illya doubted Jesus was even real until he met Him that night when God preserved his life (hear his story this Sunday at TFH). I saw the face of Jesus in a precious six year old special needs girl named Jewel. As we clapped and sang at the ADI Negev Rehabilitation village near Gaza she would run around the room connecting the hands of one person with the other. She wouldn’t leave until she saw us clapping and dancing with another. Then, and only then, would we see the big grin of the Savior on her face as Jewel would move to the next group of pastors awkwardly standing around. A room filled with insurmountable need was now filled with joy as we connected with each other! Just as on Resurrection Sunday, Jesus shows Himself through the most unlikely of people in the most unlikely of places and I’ve come back changed because I’ve seen the face of God!
Prayer
Jesus I saw Your face in a whole new light this past week. In the faces of the precious people of Israel fighting for their existence, the faces of pastors and leaders on the tour praying to show You in a new way this Christmas to their cities, and in the face of my son Ben who heard You speak to him in such a profound way! Jesus, I see You in the faces of my family and my faith family at The Father’s House and I couldn’t be more grateful on this Thanksgiving week for how You continue to reveal Yourself to me! My desperate prayer is that You would reveal Yourself through me this Holiday season as so many around me haven’t seen You yet! Jesus, my Emmanuel, my Risen Savior, You are here!
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