Finding Jesus

3Then they went in and did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4And it happened, as they were greatly perplexed about this, that behold, two men stood by them in shining garments. 5Then, as they were afraid and bowed their faces to the earth, they said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6“He is not here, but is risen! Remember how He spoke to you when He was still in Galilee, 7“saying, ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.’ ”8And they remembered His words.
Luke 24: 3 - 8 NKJV

I was watching a show on some documentry channel the other night when I ran across something titled "The real Jesus of Nazareth."  In it, some globe trotter was traveling the holy land searching for some archeological or another to "Help" explain the existance of Christ.  Now, I'm a believer in Christ and trust in His truth which has been revealed in me, but this guy seemed to earnestly be looking for his evidence.  Honestly, my very first thought upon seeing this program was that perhaps he was looking in the wrong place.  For he wasn't leaving any stone unturned in his quest to find just where this man Jesus had gone to.  There were interviews with local historians, archeological digs and the occasional reference to scripture in the half hearted attempt to trace the tracks of the risen Son.  Now, we're talking television here, so there needed to be some semblence of drama to keep the audience roped into the show.  I get it.  However, after this self proclaimed detective claimed to truly want to discover what really happened to the man Jesus, I was done with this dog and pony show.  Only a Seattle Seahawks game could be so boring.  So we are left with the question which this man had attempted to answer.  What became of jesus and where can we find Him?  Well, my first question would be, are we looking in the right place?  Two of Jesus' closest friends thought they were.  As those two women stood at the entrance of that empty tomb so long ago, the angels reminded them of the folly of their search.  "Why do you seek the living among the dead?"  Indeed, if our efforts to find Jesus are centered on that empty grave, we'll miss seeing Him each and every time.  As those visitors to His tomb discovered that morning, "He is not here, but is risen!"

31Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32“For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. 33“They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”
Luke 18: 31 - 33 NKJV

If you ask me, there is indeed ample evidence of where Christ was, is and has now gone.  However, as it was for myself, this veil has not been lifted for some people.  For in His chosen time, God also revealed Christ Jesus in the apostle Paul {Galations 1: 15-16}.  Paul wasn't actively seeking to know the man Jesus.  On the contrary, the man Saul was still breathing threats against those early followers of Jesus when Christ brought him to his knees on that road to Damascus {Acts 9:5}.  See, we're not told if Saul was looking for the man Jesus, but he more than likely already knew of His crucifiction.  Had he been looking for Him, like so many others, he was looking in the wrong place.  So, where should we look for Christ?  We must begin by looking within ourselves.  For to truly understand just where Jesus is today we need to understand that truth of who He truly is.  That tomb was empty that resurection morning because He was no longer there.  As the apostle Paul tells us, Jesus today is closer to us than we might think.  If we go in search for Christ, we need only look within ourselves {Galations 2:20}.  The truth of Jesus today is that we live each and every day AS CHRIST.  We don't need to look very far to see Him.  For Jesus today is shopping, working and anything else we choose to do in our everyday lives.  We ourselves...are Jesus.

~Scott~