Jesus is not inside a locked tomb. He is not in Jerusalem. He is not in heaven. He is not where we want him to be. He is back in Galilee where his ministry began. And he is waiting for us there. And we are afraid. Why?
Because we know that this path will eventually lead to the cross. We know that following Jesus will lead to persecution, suffering and, yes, death. Unlike Matthew, Luke, and John where we find beautiful stories of the resurrection like Jesus appearing to Magdalene, to the disciples on the road to Emmaus, by the beach and eating breakfast with his followers, we find in Mark a young man who confirms a promise: Jesus is risen just as he told you.
We do not see Jesus. We are told he is risen. We are challenged to believe!
And it is only in going back to Galilee, in places we do not want to go, in ministering among the poorest and the most oppressed, among widows, orphans, and strangers, that we will eventually find him.
The last words of Jesus in Mark are dying words.
But the last spoken words in Mark come from a young man: “He is not here. He is risen!” The gospel does not end with Jesus’s triumphant words as a risen Lord but with a young man’s affirmation of Jesus’s earlier promise about God’s resurrection power.
To believe in the resurrection is to believe that hope is stronger than despair, that faith is greater than fear, that goodness triumphs over evil, that love is more powerful than indifference, and that life will always, always conquer death.
“He is not here. He is risen!” Do we believe the young man’s words?
Is our faith stronger than our fears?
TO BE CONTINUED.
*Photo: cool Christian wallpapers blogspot.
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