“In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5)

He was eagerly expecting their first child and couldn’t wait to hug him. Two weeks before delivery, Ben went on a business trip. Shortly after he left, Ann, his wife, fell sick and was hospitalized. Ben kept in constant touch with her, comforting and assuring her of his return in no time.

Three days later, Ann did not answer his call. After his next call went unanswered, Ben called the nurses desk.

Anxious but calm, he said. “Where is my wife?”

            “She is gone …”

“I said, ‘where is my wife?’”, Ben interrupted sharply.

            “They’ve taken her to …” the nurse began to explain.

But Ben instinctively dropped the phone and jumped on the next train back home. Instead of the maternity ward, Ben went to the morgue. He frantically searched through the records with the orderly to see where they had kept the body of his ‘dead’ wife.

“Congratulations, Ben, for the birth of junior”, a friend said. “But what are you doing in the morgue when you should be popping the champagne?”

Ben grabbed his friend by the shoulders Ben said, “What did you say?” Without waiting for a response, Ben took off for the maternity ward. Breathless at the nurse’s desk, he was led into the room where his wife and son were soundly sleeping. He sank onto the floor and sobbed with tears of joy. His wife was not dead, but Ben was looking for her in the morgue. Like Ben, we sometimes search for the right things in the wrong places. We sometimes look for the living among the dead.

That was the situation of Mary Magdalene at the tomb of Jesus (Luke 24:1-8). But for the angel’s intervention, “Why do you look for the living among the dead” (v.5), she would have been lost in her sorrow and grief. Why?

First, Mary and the others did not listen well to what Jesus told them. “The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again. (Lk.24:7)” Just as Ben behaved, that’s how we behave sometimes. If only we would take time to listen to understand, we would be saved from a lot of heartache and anxiety in life.

Second, Mary was lost in what she had decided to do the day before, and nothing made sense to her. Jesus’ prediction of His resurrection was lost on her. Many times, we get so engrossed in our plans and expectations that the promises of God lose weight in our experiences.

Third, Mary was so afraid and flowing with tears that she did not see our resurrected Lord when He stood before her (Jn. 20:15). During such times, we can’t think right and we sink deeper into despair. We open ourselves to the enemy to play with our minds and that makes us vulnerable and weak. Mary begged for a dead body, but received our resurrected Savior and Lord. Is that not what we need – our resurrected exalted Savior, Jesus Christ?

We don’t have to be like Ben at the morgue or Mary at the tomb. If we listen well, we will hear well when God speaks. We will have faith to secure our life in Christ, and wisdom to guide us in all things. Our preconceived plans and the fear they invoke would flee, and we may see our way clear in every situation.

The grace of God be upon you!