(They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)  John 20:9 (NIV)

They are struggling to believe that the body of Jesus is no longer in the grave where He had been placed.  They are committed enough followers to have come running to check on the news.  They go forward to experience for themselves.  These Disciples show that they truly care about Jesus.  Their faith and love is demonstrated by their concern and their urgency.  They do discover that the tomb is empty.  They are now convinced that Jesus´s body is no longer sealed behind a stone.  But yet they have not understood completely the significance of the Scriptures.  It has not dawned upon them that the Bible is not merely a book about the past.  They love their Master.  They are the dear friends of Jesus.  But they have yet to experience that He has to rise!  There is more to learn in their walk with the Lord!  There is vital ground to be gained!  There is a RISEN Lord they still need to know!  They still need to see that Jesus has to rise from the dead for everyone!  Are we talking about Peter and John?  Or are we describing ourselves?

What is our motivation?  We go to the Bible, but what are we looking for?  With what spirit do we study?  Are we interested merely in things that happened long ago?  Do we think the Bible is calling us towards the past?  Or is it more like a map?  Does it bring us to see our Way?  Do we realize that it is to guide us through today?  The Bible is not a book that is intended to take us back in time only to see the scenery of our yester-years.  To look at it as such is to be like the Disciples who did not yet understand that from the scriptures Jesus had to rise.  Jesus has risen!  He is alive!  He is to be engaged!  He is to be loved, sought out, spoken to as a friend and heard from by each of us!  He Is not just a figure from the past!  He Is not even a Person that we must hold off for some distant future.  He has to rise from the dead!  He has to rise to life in each one of us!  The Bible tells us so!  But are we reading it like that?

Perhaps it is time that we begin to pray that our eyes are opened.  Perhaps it is long overdue.  But should we come before the Lord now and ask Him to live again?  Should we ask Him to rise up in our lives?  Some may refuse to see.  Some might prefer not to know.  But surely there are a few who do want to see Jesus living.  They will run to the scriptures too, but not to dig in the dust of the grave.  They will study the Bible to bring the Son of God to life!  We can see Jesus again real soon.  But we cannot leave Him behind the stone!  We can walk and talk again with our Saviour and our Lord.  But we cannot let our fine ideology or our trends in Christianity take away our chances of experiencing Him today!  We can´t even afford to let our own tendency to put Christ off to some later date stand in our way!  Shall we pray that we understand the urgency now that Jesus has to rise from the dead in us?

Dear Jesus,

Live again!  Rise from wherever we may have buried You!  Do not let us lose You to the past!  Do not let us forget You in the present!  Do not let us push You off into the future!  Help us understand that You can come to life inside of us!  You can move again!  You can move us!  You can rise inside of us as You did from the grave!  You can leave the grave and walk, talk and commune with us today!  Let it be so!  Rise to life in our hearts, in our souls, and in our conscious awareness now we pray!

Amen