First thought:  What just happened? 

When death comes to someone we love dearly, I have noticed that a certain way about us takes over all our senses in those first moments as this life leaves earth. I believe God has built into a believers’ being a kind of “shock absorber” of strength, calm assurance, with a resolve to do what is necessary to take care of the circumstance at hand as the grief mounts in our broken hearts. 

God provided this for me when first my mom and then later my dad passed from this life to Jesus’ arms.  I held their hands until their lives left here and was restored for eternity there.  But then comes all the arrangements and paperwork detail that follow a death in the family.  This begins within the hour of a person’s death and most times in our country is not fully resolved for up to a year later.  The after-death care is almost as hard as the initial passing.  But God’s strength and wisdom mounts as the believer is assured and guided.  He provides more than we can imagine.

After a few months, with most end-of-life tasks completed, flashbacks flood memories.  We watch “movies” of their lives in our thoughts of all they used to say to us, all they did for us, with episodes of life with them that made us laugh and cry. We remember.  It is good to remember.  Memories honor the one missed.  But then the grief can grow to dishearten us as it begins to take up residence in our thoughts.  Grief comes in like waves hitting the shore.  We know it will come; but we are still surprised with it smacks us from behind, seemingly without notice.  When the waves try to overwhelm us as they do; believers must remember Jesus’ words, “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.”  (Matthew 5:4)

God is there, softens the blow, and assures us once more, that He is with us always and will be our strength.  Those crashing waves are replaced by sacred moments of comfort from our God who so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son so that all who believed in Him would not perish but be saved for eternity.

We see this “shock absorber” built into the women who diligently sat or stood at the foot of the cross, unrattled from the earthquake and darkness, undeterred from the mocking of the passersby.  They remained until Jesus’ earthly body breathed His last breath.  Of course, they were mournful, fearful of the unknown, wondering what to do next.  Then they saw that God provided a merciful man of importance who was able to finally take the humbled, bloodied Body of Jesus down from the cross of shame.  With dignity this Joseph wrapped the Body in linen cloths.  The women did not walk away but followed close behind to see where the men would lay his Body.  Once they knew, they went home to not only prepare for Sabbath as commanded but to prepare the spices for His burial as an act of love. 

Soon, very soon, these women will experience a very sacred moment with their Savior and Lord.  They will begin to remember the words, among many, that Jesus taught that day on the mountain top and at other times and will resonant in their memories; “Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.”

Luke 24, The Message

Looking for the Living One in a Cemetery

24 ^1-3 At the crack of dawn on Sunday, the women came to the tomb carrying the burial spices they had prepared. They found the entrance stone rolled back from the tomb, so they walked in. But once inside, they couldn’t find the body of the Master Jesus.

^4-8 They were puzzled, wondering what to make of this. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship. The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.

^9-11 They left the tomb and broke the news of all this to the Eleven and the rest. Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them kept telling these things to the apostles, but the apostles didn’t believe a word of it, thought they were making it all up.

¹² But Peter jumped to his feet and ran to the tomb. He stooped to look in and saw a few grave clothes, that’s all. He walked away puzzled, shaking his head.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

God knows exactly what we need when we need it most.  Jesus’ sermon on the mount as theologians like to call it is packed with wisdom, encouragement, and comfort, along with life lessons that guide us in the ways of God that bring us peace and joy.  Jesus’ followers have these precious words in their memory banks. When will they remember?

Jesus suffered, died, and rose again, exactly what He said.  Jesus told his closest followers more than once; “The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things,” he said. “He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead.” Luke 9:22  And now it has happened.  But the mourning over his death and the fear of what a Roman soldier can do has taken over most of his followers’ thinking.  They have forgotten about the “third day,” the best part of the message!

On that third day, the women come to place where they knew they had laid Him.  They wonder how they will roll the heavy stone away from the entrance but they soon discover that it has been done for them.  God provides another gift to these faithful women who loved Jesus well.  They experienced a holy, sacred moment with the angels of God who reminded them of what Jesus had said; “and on the third day, I will rise up from the dead.”  Their mourning turned to joy for He has risen—just as He said! 

The “shock absorber” of comfort that attended their grief was now replaced by Jesus’ victory over death with an urgency to tell others this Good News!

God gives us sacred moments with Him when we need it most.  Jesus’ words on the mountain top show and tell us how He provides.  We must listen and watch expectantly for God who is always at work for us.  God provides sacred moments in our lives that turn to sacred delights as He teaches us when walk and talk with Him.  This wonderful relationship with God is fully provided for us by His Son, Jesus, who reconciled (reconnected) us back to the God who loved us first.

Concerning the words Jesus said on the Mountain, Max Lucado writes—

“Sacred delight is good news coming through the back door of your heart. It’s what you’d always dreamed but never expected. It’s the too-good-to-be-true coming true. It’s having God as your pinch-hitter, your lawyer, your dad, your biggest fan, and your best friend. God on your side, in your heart, out in front, and protecting your back. It’s hope where you least expected it: a flower in life’s sidewalk.

It is sacred because only God can grant it. It is a delight because it thrills. Since it is sacred, it can’t be stolen. And since it is delightful, it can’t be predicted.

It was this gladness that danced through the Red Sea. It was this joy that blew the trumpet at Jericho. It was this secret that made Mary sing. It was this surprise that put the springtime into Easter morning.

It is this sacred delight that Jesus promises in the Sermon on the Mount.

Nine times he promises it. And he promises it to an unlikely crowd:

“The poor in spirit . . . those who mourn . . . the meek . . . those who hunger and thirst . . . the merciful . . . the pure in heart . . . the peacemakers . . . those who are persecuted . . .” (Matthew 5:3–10).

It is to this band of pilgrims that God promises a special blessing. A heavenly joy. A sacred delight.” –Lucado, Encouraging Word Bible

Jesus, the Living One, lives forever as our advocate to God as Savior and Lord.  God gives us sacred moments of special delights as we trust in Him.  The women are the first to experience the sacred in the empty tomb.

Don’t forget the message God’s angels gave of great importance to all the women who came to serve; “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words.”  Imagine the scene; Upon hearing the news, the women left immediately with bowls of spices left upturned and rolling aimlessly on the ground, to “go and tell”—Jesus is ALIVE!

Mark tells us Jesus appeared first to one the devoted, grateful women who had served Him with all her heart— “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.”  Mark 16:9 What a sacred moment for Mary who was healed and made whole by Jesus with whom she had placed her life.

So, our memories are given to us to remind us how God has brought us through it all on this journey on earth.  Memories are not a place to set up camp.  They are precious sacred moments of thoughts that comfort and challenge us to move forward to what God has next for us.  “He is our ever-present help,” the Psalmist reminds us. (Psalm 46:1)

I praise God for the memories of my grandparents, parents and others that affected my life in so many ways.  But I praise God most of all for the sacred moments with Him that only He can provide in the good times and the challenging times.  “And lo, I am with you always—until the end of the age.”—Jesus (Matthew 28:20)

Lord,

Thank you for your comfort, mercy, grace, and help that comes from a love that is limitless and unconditional.  You are God.  There is no one like you.  Thank you for helping us to remember your Word when we are faced with mourning over loss.  Thank you for your voice that whispers wisdom to our hearts as others clamor for our attention.  I trust you, dear Jesus.  You are Life everlasting!

In Jesus Name, Amen