General Wellington commanded the victorious forces at the Battle of Waterloo to defeat Napoleon. When the battle was over, Wellington sent the good news of his victory to England. A series of stations, one within the sight of the next, had been established to send coded messages between England and the continent. The message was sent: “Wellington defeated Napoleon at Waterloo.” Meanwhile a fog set in and interrupted the message sending. As a result, people only saw news of “Wellington defeated…” Later, the fog cleared and the full message continued which, of course, reported a much different outcome than what the people had originally thought had happened.

We come to a similar situation on Resurrection Sunday. We read in the gospel of Luke that on the first day of the week, very early in the morning, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary, mother of James along with some other women made their way to the tomb of Jesus. We don’t know if there were any early morning fog issues, but it appears that these women were in an emotional and spiritual fog. They had expected to find Christ defeated. They did not realize that Christ had defeated death and sin and Satan. When they arrived at the tomb with their spices prepared to anoint the body of Jesus, they found the stone rolled away from the tomb. When they entered, they did not find the body of Jesus. And then they probably went into an even greater fog. The text tells us that they were “perplexed.” In fact, they were “greatly perplexed.” They were entirely at a loss. They could not understand why the tomb was empty. Then they saw two men standing beside them in shining garments - angels. The women were afraid - as we would be. The angels spoke to them. “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Excellent question - the answer is obvious. They did not have a clue about a number of things Jesus had taught them. What a great question to ask them. “Why do you seek the living among the dead?” But the question is not exclusively reserved for them or the disciples. This question is just as pertinent to us twenty centuries later.

The author of Hebrews encourages us to be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:2) He was determined to accomplish His mission because He saw beyond the cross. He saw you and me and the joy that He would experience because His death would bring us eternal life. And when we believe, we too have that joy. Peter writes that “believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith; the salvation of your souls.” (I Pet. 8-9) When time met eternity on that cross, the meaning for all of us who have put our trust in Him is realized with an inexpressible joy. We no longer have to linger at the gravesite. We hear the same words that those women heard who made their way to the tomb twenty centuries ago. "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen!”