Written by oikoumene.org
The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen.” (Luke 24:5)
As we look around the world today, we see so much of pain, suffering, and death. It seems that we are surrounded by death as we think about the thousands of people dying in the wars, millions dying of starvation and hunger, hundreds of refugees drowning in seas, and many more dying on a daily basis in the experience of ethnic, racial, and gender-based violence. We are becoming accustomed to violence and death as if these are normal experiences in life.
In this time of Lent we are reminded of the brutal and sacrificial suffering death of Jesus Christ. Some of the disciples and many of his followers, including family and friends, thought it would all end there – with a dead Jesus. When they went to the tomb on that resurrection day that`s precisely what they were expecting. They forgot about the promise of Jesus that, on the third day, he will rise again. So you can imagine the profoundly deep question of the angels, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead?” The question is not intended to say that Jesus is not among the dead; it is an affirmation that Christ is risen and death is conquered.