WHY SEEK THE LIVING AMONG THE DEAD?

“Now on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they [some of the women who had come with Jesus from Galilee], and certain other women with them, came to the tomb bringing the spices which they had prepared.  But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.  Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments.  Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!” (Luke 24:1-6a NKJV).

After Jesus’ crucifixion, His disciples were at a loss to know what to do next.  Prior to His betrayal He had tried to tell them about the necessity of His death at the hands of the Jews and Romans, but they could not comprehend it.  The angels at the tomb even reminded the women about Jesus’ words saying, “…remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.” (Luke 24:6b, 7).  Scripture says, “And they remembered His words, and returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven [apostles], and to all the rest.  It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, and other women that were with them, which told these things unto the apostles.  And their words seemed to them [to the apostles] as idle tales, and they believed them not.  Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed, wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.” (Luke 24:6-12). 

The disciples had a hard time with this.  They were, at that moment in time, serving a Savior Who they thought was dead, not One Who was alive.  Where was the power; where was the Kingdom; where was the glory; where was the hope; where was the salvation?  They may have been tempted to consider the words of Jesus’ mockers who had said of Him, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him.” (Matthew 27:42).  No one truly understood that Jesus, as the Lamb of God, was sent to take away the sin of the world through the shedding of His blood.  Just as He was foreordained to die, however, so also was He predestined to rise from the dead, bringing power and redemption to all who would put their trust in Him.  “But unto you that fear My name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings…” (Malachi 4:2).  The truth of it was written all through scripture if they had eyes to see it.

The Gospel must have been difficult to defend during those three dark days before the Lord was risen and revealed Himself to His followers.  Jesus’ words to the apostles before He was taken might have been a comfort to them had they comprehended and believed them, but they did not.  It was now as though the light had gone out of their lives, and they just didn’t know how to proceed.  Mary Magdalene is seen weeping at the tomb of Jesus, two of the Lord’s disciples left Jerusalem and headed toward Emmaus, and some of the apostles returned to their former occupation of fishing even after seeing Jesus arisen.  It was like they were set adrift, and without direction or purpose.  That was soon to change. 

Jesus was with the disciples for 40 days between the time that He arose and the time that He ascended into heaven.  During that time He taught them the scriptures concerning Himself and worked wonders among them.  It was the event that was to shortly take place after His ascension, however, that He wanted His followers to focus on now.  He told them that they were to remain waiting in Jerusalem for ten more days after He ascended to heaven, and they would be endowed with the gift of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost.  At that time they would be baptized in the Spirit of God and receive power to be Christ’s witnesses to the world.  This was what Jesus was trying to make His disciples understand when He told them before His crucifixion, “If ye love Me, keep My commandments.  And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of truth; Whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither knoweth Him: but ye know Him; for He dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” (John 14:15-17).  As long as the Lord was with His disciples, He couldn’t be in them.  He said, “…I tell you the truth; It is expedient [helpful, better, profitable] for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you.” (John 16:7). 

On that first Pentecost after Jesus ascended to the Father, 120 of His disciples were assembled in an upper room waiting expectantly for they knew not what. Suddenly, the Holy Spirit manifested Himself in the form of a mighty wind that rushed all around them, and cloven tongues of fire alighted on each of them.  Right then and there the Spirit of God so filled, anointed, and baptized them with His presence that their own words failed them, and they all spoke in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.  Peter, under the power of the Spirit stood up “with the eleven” and delivered a soul-moving message that brought godly conviction on the souls of  3000 people. When asked by the crowd what they should do, Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:37, 38).  Those 3000 gave their hearts to Christ that day and were born again.  Jerusalem became ground zero of a mighty wave of the Spirit that rushed from the upper room where it began to, ultimately, blow across the world. 

In Christ is Life, and that Life is the Light of mankind.  When we are born again and filled with the Spirit of God, we enter into a brand new world that we never knew existed before.  Our spiritual senses are awakened, and we can catch glimpses of the unseen world where God Himself dwells.  It is a resurrection of sorts in that we were dead spiritually because of our sins and carnal tendencies, but now are made alive by the Spirit of Christ.  Paul wrote to the Romans and said, “…if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.” (Romans 8:10, 11).   

Jesus said, “It is the spirit that quickeneth [gives life; makes alive]; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.” (John 6:63).  The Apostle Paul also writes, “[God] hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” (2 Corinthians 3:6).  You see, Jesus’ followers were trying to carry on as if He were dead when, in fact, He was already risen; they just didn’t know it yet!  This is why the angels said to the women, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Many believers today are also carrying on as though their Savior is dead when He is very much alive! 

2610 years ago, the Prophet Ezekiel saw a vision of a valley full of bones that were exposed and bleaching in the open sun.  The bones were not even lying together as complete skeletons, but were scattered randomly across the valley floor (see Ezekiel 37).  The prophet makes a point of telling us that the bones were “very dry.”  Like those bones, many assemblies today have become very dry, and there is no spiritual life in them.  They have a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.  When the LORD asked Ezekiel if he thought the bones could live again, the prophet answered that only He, the LORD, could know such a thing. 

Ezekiel was next commanded by the LORD to prophecy to the bones and say, “O ye dry bones, hear the Word of the LORD.” (Ezekiel 37:4).  Nothing can ever change in the Church without the Word of God.  When facing the devil in the valley of temptation, Jesus quoted a verse in Deuteronomy 8 that says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4).  It isn’t things that we need to produce life in our midst.  It isn’t programs, better organization, more upbeat music, a bigger crowd, or a more comfortable sanctuary that we need: it is the unfiltered, unaltered Word of God that has not been watered down in an effort to make it go down easier.  Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.  Without the Word as our bulwark, there is nothing for us to trust in but the word of man. 

As Ezekiel obeyed the LORD and began to prophecy as he was told, the bones began to move and to join together to form whole skeletons.  On those frames, there appeared muscle, and sinew, and flesh.  As of yet, however, there was no breath in them.  This speaks to me of how futile our religion is if it lacks the breath of life that only the Holy Spirit can give.  No matter how we arrange or conduct our meetings, if they lack the leadership of the Holy Spirit, they are only tombs and white-washed sepulchers.

When Jesus breathed on the disciples after His resurrection and said, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” it was reminiscent of when God breathed on Adam in the beginning, and Adam became a living soul.  We have the very breath of God filling our lungs and giving us life.  Every time we inhale it is a gift of God, born of His great love.  Just as our bodies are dead without the breath of God giving us life, so also are we dead spiritually without His Holy Spirit abiding in us. 

Seeing all of the lifeless bodies lying in the valley, the Prophet was next told to, “Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.  So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.  Then He said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.  Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O My people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.  And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up out of your graves, and shall put My spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.” (Ezekiel 37:9-14).

God told Ezekiel that these bones that he saw were “the whole house of Israel.”  It is important that we understand who God is referring to when He speaks of Israel in the Bible.  Many assume that He is only speaking of the nation of Israel, the Jewish people.  This would be a wrong assumption.  There are many promises, warnings, prophesies and blessings in the Bible that we will completely miss if we ascribe them only to Israel after the flesh.  These scriptures are for the true Israel of God: those, both Jews and Gentiles, whose hearts are after God.  It is these who God recognizes as “a holy nation” and a “peculiar people.” Consider the following Bible verses: “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: but he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” (Romans 2:28, 29).  “For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.  That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.” (Romans 9:6-8).  “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.” (Galatians 3:7).  “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.  For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.  And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26-29).  We are the children of God by faith.  We are the seed of Abraham.  We are the Israel of God.  This opens up scripture in a tremendous way when we realize that the prophecies that appear to be only addressed to the Jewish nation are also addressed to the Church of the Living God and to us who are the members of the Body of Christ.

In the light of all that, we must see ourselves in the place of the dry bones that Ezekiel saw.  The “whole house of Israel” is referring to you and me and to the times we are living in.  God wants us to come together in true love and unity; to come alive with the breath of God filling us and empowering us.  Jesus told the religious leaders of His time that they were like white-washed sepulchers that looked good on the outside, but were full of dead men’s bones on the inside.  How many churches does that describe today?  Instead, we need to open our hearts to God and allow Him to make us temples of His Holy Spirit and ambassadors of the Kingdom of God.  We need to manifest the Life of Jesus in our mortal bodies by laying down our lives for Jesus’ sake.  The angels could be speaking to us today, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?  He is not here, but is risen!”

“And when they say to you, "Seek those who are mediums and wizards, who whisper and mutter," should not a people seek their God?  Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?” (Isaiah 8:19). 

“Wherefore He saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” (Ephesians 5:14).