Many of us believe when our spirit leaves our body, we will no longer be connected to the body. The body will be like a cocoon that can no longer hold the butterfly.
However, while we claim this hope for ourselves, we have difficulty letting go of the bodies of our loved ones.
Many of our connections with them had to do with their physical presence — the way they looked, smiled, moved, talked, laughed. We long for their touch, their hug, their kiss.
Even as we know they are free, we long for their physical presence as we knew them. We engage in all kinds of funeral and memorial practices designed to let us have one more look, one more touch, one place we can go and feel they are there.
Jesus tried to prepare His Followers for His coming transition. He told them what was going to happen. He assured them He would still be with them, but in a new form that was beyond their physical senses.
He did not want them to linger at the tomb. He wanted them to get on with The Mission on earth.
In spite of Jesus’ preparation of His Followers, they were focused on the tomb. It seemed their grief had clouded their memories of all Jesus told them.
So they were completely baffled to find no body in the tomb. The grave clothes were unused, not even ruffled. No one had cut them. No one had struggled to get out of them. Even the face cloth was neatly folded and laid aside.
Jesus was clearly not there.
But then He was there with Mary Magdalene. She did not understand how, but it was His Voice and His Physical Presence right in front of her.
She wanted to grab Him and cling to Him. She wanted never to let Him go again. But Jesus stopped her. He wanted her to know He was alive, but then He had things for her to do.
Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, to My God and your God.’”
John 20:17
Jesus next appeared to His Disciples. He used His Earthly Body to clearly identify Himself. He showed them His Hands and His Side. He even let Thomas put his hand into His Side.
But Jesus had a message that went with the physical proof.
“Because you have seen Me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:29
Jesus then gave them what He had promised them. He gave them the ability to believe in what they could not see, hear, touch or feel. He gave them The Holy Spirit. And then He gave them marching orders.
Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent Me, I am sending you.”
John 20:21
And thus began the next chapters of the books still being written. Jesus’ Body would disappear, but He would continue His Ministry on earth in His New Body.
Don’t linger at the tomb looking for Jesus. Don’t think you have to wait to see Him until He comes back one day. He will come back in a form where everyone will see Him, but you can see Him now.
The Good News of Easter is Jesus is alive at this moment in you! And He has things for you to do with Him.
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me.
Because I live, you also will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you!
John 14:18-20
We will next explore what life is like seeing Jesus from the inside of our body instead of the outside in!
