Where Is Jesus?
Text: Mark 16:1-8
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed. Alleluia!
Here we are at the very center and heart of our religion and faith. Today we celebrate the victory of our Lord over death and the grave. We celebrate His grace conquering our sins and His mercy overcoming our fallen state. He has defeated evil and the all the forces of hell. Every enemy of God, which are our own enemies, lie broken at His nail-pierced feet. He is victorious. Alleluia! Christ is risen!
And yet, there is a peculiar detail in our account of the resurrection from St. Mark’s gospel. He does not record the Lord’s appearing to those who were running back and forth, to and from the tomb. There is no miraculous upper room appearance, as John records. In fact, if we look carefully at our account of Jesus’ resurrection in Mark’s gospel today, Jesus does not make an appearance at all. Go ahead and look closely. There are the women bringing spices to the tomb to anoint Jesus according to the funerary rites. There is the stone rolled away. There’s a young man, presumably an angel, dressed in white. But Jesus is not in the tomb. He’s not in the garden. He’s not on the road. He’s nowhere to be seen. The angel messenger says as much: “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the Crucified One. He has risen; He is not here.” He points to an empty space on the stone shelf, “See the place where they laid Him.” So where is Jesus? The women, overwhelmed, astonished, worn out from the events of the last couple days, now unable to process what this all meant, fled the tomb, trembling, marveling, and afraid.
Where is Jesus? We believe He really is risen, but where is He? We especially ask that in times of trouble, in tragedy and disaster. We wonder it as we exit through these beautiful church doors and go back out in the world of everyday troubles, of disease and diagnoses, of family struggles and financial hardship. We face the question as our lips form the word “Alleluia”, but our hearts have a hard time lifting up. We hold Jesus’ resurrection as tightly as we can, even as we look in the blackness of the grave, unable to see, unable to feel, knowing He is risen, but not perceiving Him. And our reaction is like the women that first morning. We fear. We tremble. We believe, but we sometimes have trouble fully holding those promises.
Our Lord knows that every day won’t be a joyous light-filled Easter, not this side of eternity. So He gives us these four different accounts of the resurrection—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—with different details, to comfort us in all our circumstances. He assures us that even when we don’t see Him, even when it feels like we’re just gathered around a tomb, even when we’re scared and sad, deflated and defeated, that even then He has still conquered. It may only look to our physical eyes like an empty spot, but He truly is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia.
So where is Jesus? The angel messenger gives us a clue. “Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” It’s in that little phrase at the end: “Just as he told you.” There’s the promise. That’s where you’ll see Him. It’s His Word, which He gave to His disciples. He’ll go ahead of them. They will see Him, even if it’s not now. They’re reminded by the messenger.
So it is for you too, believer. You who stand in the shadow of tragedy. You, who have received a bad diagnosis. You who are wondering how you’ll make ends meet. You who are stressed, at the end of your rope and don’t know how to hold on any longer. You who are heartbroken. You who are lonely. You who have watched too many people go into the tomb but seen no one come out. You who believe, but are battered by doubt, fear, the poisonous whispers of the evil one. You who wish you could be a bold fearless believer, but have given in to temptation, to fear, to pressure. To you I say, your Lord is going ahead of you. You will see Him, just as He told you. I have been sent to remind you. You have His Word. Your Lord is alive. He reigns. He has conquered everything for you. You will see Him, by faith, in the places He has promised: in His body and blood at the Communion rail, in the reminders of your resurrected life in Baptism, in the Word of Scripture, just as He told you. You will see Him when He returns to judge the living and the dead, to give eternal life to you and all believers. You will see Him, just as He told you.
The Crucified One is alive for your salvation. He is going ahead of you into life that cannot die. He goes before you now into every trial and every joy. He goes before you into eternity to prepare a place for you. He is still speaking His words of promise to you: “Behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. He who believes in me shall live, even though he dies. Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
So rejoice. Nothing can separate you from your Lord. He’s gone through everything—the slander, the abuse, the flogging; the pain, the betrayal, the heartbreak; He’s even gone through death to be with you. He’ll allow nothing to stand between you and Him. He will absolve your sins in the light of His grace. He will stand on death’s back to keep it from holding you down. Pain is defeated by Jesus, who is not in the tomb, but who is with you in His Word, in Baptism, in His holy feast of celebration. Fear is sent running by the Jesus who goes before you into every situation. And as you will see Him, you will see with Him those who have departed in faith. So we will always be with the Lord.
Where is Jesus? He’s been with you all along. Stop looking with your eyes. Listen with your ears. Touch Him with your faith. Receive Him in His promises. He goes before you, just as He said. He goes with you, just as He promised. Alleluia. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia! In the name of Jesus, the Crucified and Risen One. Amen.
