April 2024

Where is Jesus?

Where’s Waldo is one of my favorite book series. In fact, Waldo has been hiding in pages of books since 1987. It’s a fun challenge looking at fun and chaotic scenes and pictures for Waldo, the Wizard, and now a bunch of other characters as well, including his sister, his dog, and his evil twin. However, I also remember times when I became frustrated because I couldn’t find Waldo. There were times when I would look and look for him for what felt like forever for a young kid. Eventually, I would get so frustrated and upset that I would have to ask for help to find Waldo. And sometimes it would take two or three of us to finally find Waldo. Martin Handford, the illustrator, is a master at drawing and creating chaotic scenes in which to hide (and hopefully find) Waldo and his friends.

This reminds me of John’s version of the story of Jesus’ resurrection, where Jesus friends look for Jesus but can’t find him. Early in the morning, Mary Magdalene goes to Jesus’ tomb and finds the tomb empty. She tells the disciples that someone has taken Jesus body, and two disciples come running to the tomb to see it for themselves. Sure enough, the body is gone and all that is left are Jesus’ burial cloths. The disciples don’t know what this means, so they simply return home.

But Mary stays and keeps looking, hoping to find Jesus somehow. She is weeping, because she greatly loved Jesus, her Lord, and thinks Jesus’ body has been stolen or taken by someone as a cruel joke or perhaps further retribution by the Romans. First, she is addressed by two angels, sitting where Jesus body was lying, but she doesn’t seem to realize they are angels. They ask why she’s crying, and she says, “I can’t find Jesus.”

However, in this version of the story, the angels don’t tell her that Jesus has been risen. Instead, Jesus appears to her himself, only she does not recognize him and thinks that he is the gardener. Jesus asks her, “Why are you crying? For whom are you looking?” She assumes that this man has taken Jesus’ body, and pleads with him to return his body so she can take it and bury him properly.

And that is when the most beautiful thing happens. Jesus simply calls her by name, “Mary,” and she recognizes his voice and knows that it is Jesus. Her beloved Lord is alive! She is overjoyed and presumably hugs him, because he then tells her not to hold on to him, and instructs her to tell the other disciples the Good News that Jesus is alive. Jesus has risen! She has found Jesus!

In our world today, there is so much brokenness – sadness, hatred, death, anger, destruction, despair, hopelessness – it seems these things haven’t changed since the time of Jesus, only the ways in which they happen. And in the midst of all of this chaos, it can be difficult to find Jesus, to remember and have hope in the promise that Jesus is alive today, promises us eternal life, and will return again to restore all of creation.

That’s where the church comes in. The purpose, ministry, and mission of the church is to help people find Jesus in the midst of the chaos; to walk alongside one another in faith; to remind the world of the promises and teachings of Jesus, as well as simply be a community of support for one another, helping to point out the places in our lives where we do find Jesus.

Where’s Jesus? Jesus is everywhere, living in, with, and among God’s people in our everyday lives, boldly proclaiming life in the face of death, saying, “Death does not win.” Jesus lives.

Alleluia!

Pastor Doug