Looking for Life in the Empty Tomb

Today I had the privilege to sit under a dynamic Easter message. It was so practical and insightful. How often I look for life in an empty tomb...whether it is the tomb of material possessions, acclaim, or achievements. As the angel said to those women years ago, "He is not here." Jesus, the Life, is not in the stuff of this world. I absurdly look for significant living in a tomb, a graveyard of everything that is temporal and reeking of death.

The angel went on to say that Jesus had gone ahead to Galilee and "there you will see him."

I was particularly struck by what the pastor said about Galilee. At the Sea of Galilee there was a huge storm that tested the disciples' faith regarding God's care for them and his ability to sustain them in their tiny boat thrown about by enormous waves. Pure and simple: It was a DANGEROUS PLACE. But that dangerous place is where they saw God. That is where they experienced him firsthand and where their faith was stretched and strengthened. In order for the disciples to see the risen Lord they had to go back to Galilee, the place where Jesus was resurrected over their problems.


Where is the Galilee in my life? Where is the place which makes me quiver in fear because the waters are sloshing over the sides of my boat? Where am I wholly dependant on God?

Those Galilee experiences will change me. I'll see his victory and it will still my quivering heart. I will see his nail-scarred hands, and I will know He is capable and willing to take on my present troubles. I won't wake up to go to the tombs, a life of disappointment and drudgery. Instead, I will go confidently to the next dangerous place, because there I will see Jesus.

He is risen! He is risen, Indeed!