Stop Carrying Spices On Sunday Morning -
Stop Carrying Spices On Sunday Morning
“And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?” — Luke 24:5
I will share the story of two women with you. They witnessed the horrors of Friday, endured the long wait of Saturday, and, very early Sunday morning, came bearing spices and perfumes to anoint a body. But they met a resurrected King.
The Sabbath kept them away on Saturday, but grief brought them running back early Sunday morning. They did not come to see the resurrected King. They came to see the one who was violently murdered on Friday. They came with spices and perfumes to contain what they expected would already be a smelly situation. They came looking for the living among the dead.
The wait on Saturday taught them to accept the horror of Friday. They found a strange calm after a violent storm. The men had gone back to fishing. They had accepted the last three years of their lives as a waste.
Did they at least yearn for a miracle? Did they have any clue about the coming grandeur of Sunday? Did they even believe Christ when He said, “I will rise on the third day”?
On Sunday morning, when they entered the tomb, it was empty. They came face to face with the fulfillment of Scripture, but they could not see it. They encountered the supernatural, but they did not know it. They still could not move past the agony of Friday.
So they pleaded, “Give us His body so we can put spices on it.” That was all they longed for on Sunday morning: a body, something to anoint, mourn or bury! But what hope does that bring to a mourning mother? What comfort does that bring to a grieving friend?
“It is Sunday morning,” the angel said. “Why are you seeking the living among the dead?”
At the angel’s words, they ran back to the city bearing the news of His resurrection. The men left their fishing nets, remembering that Christ had called them to be fishers of men. Yet even with the empty tomb, some of them still could not move past the agony of Friday. Thomas swore he would only believe if he felt the wounds in His hands.
It may seem hard to witness the crucifixion on Friday and still embrace the resurrection on Sunday. Are you still looking for Christ on the cross? Are you still seeking the living among the dead? Are you celebrating an empty tomb yet carrying spices?
Then I must tell you: the stone has been rolled away. Christ has risen. Hope is alive.
We must all move past the agony of Friday to fully experience the victory Christ achieved through His death and resurrection. To put your hope in anything other than the completed work of Christ is to seek the living among the dead. To trust in money, power, self-righteousness, or anything else that cannot satisfy is to seek the living among the dead.
Christ Jesus came so that you might have an abundant life. Do not settle for anything less than the completed work of Christ. Do not settle for the horror of Friday. Do not lose yourself in Saturday’s silence.
Sunday is here.
Hope walked out of the grave.
The resurrection power is not a metaphor. It is alive. And it is rising in you. — Romans 8:11
