NOW WHERE DID HE GO?

Ever looked for Waldo?  Or helped children find objects in an I Spy book?  Or lost a grandchild?

Many years ago (She is now 22.) our granddaughter, Kailyn, disappeared.  Her parents looked for her.  They looked in all the rooms.  They looked under the bed.  They looked in cabinets.  (She was very flexible and we used to kid her she would make a great magician’s assistant.)  They looked outside on the porch and in the yard.  The neighborhood kids started looking.  They rode bikes up and down alleys.  The police were called.  Still no one could find her.  And then ……

The Easter story is full of “where is he” times. 

Where is he?  Where is the one who will betray Jesus?  Then Judas, the one who would betray him, said, “Surely not I, Rabbi?”  Jesus answered, “Yes, it is you.”  (Matthew 26:25)  That one was easy. 

Where is he?  Where is the one who will deny Jesus?  “I tell you the truth, Jesus answered, “This very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.”  (Matthew 26:34)  But he denied it before them all.  He denied it again.  Then he began to call down curses on himself and he swore to them, “I don’t know the man!”  (Parts of Matthew 26:70, 71 and 74)  Where is the one who will deny Jesus?  Peter was hiding in the courtyard and then went out to the gateway.  He heard the rooster crow.

Where is he?  Where is Jesus?  Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”  (Matthew 26:36)  Those who had arrested Jesus took him to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the law and the elders had assembled.  (Matthew 26:57)  They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.  (Matthew 27:2)  After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him.  Then they led him away to crucify him.  They came to a place called Golgotha.  (Matthew 27:31, 33)  Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and placed it in his own new tomb, that he had cut out of the rock.  He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.  (Matthew 27:59)  He is not here:  (Matthew 28:6)  He is not here?  Then where is Jesus? 

It was easy to find the one who would betray Jesus.  Jesus named the one who would deny him.  But the words “He is not here” brought shock and fear and disbelief.  If he is not here, where is he?

Still no one could find her.  And then ……  And then she came out of the house.  “Where were you?” everyone asked.  “I was playing hide and seek.  I crawled way back under the desk but I went to sleep waiting for you to find me.”  (I am so glad I only knew about this after it was all over.)  One more important part of this story is that little Miss Kailyn had forgotten to tell her parents she was playing hide and seek.

HE IS NOT HERE

THEN WHERE IS HE?

He is not here: he has risen, just as he said.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.

He has risen!  He is not here.

“Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen!

Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:

‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men,

be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’

(Mary Magdalene to disciples)

They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put him!”

(Jesus speaking to Mary Magdalene)

“Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father.

Go instead to my brothers and tell them,

‘I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.”

Matthew, Mark, Luke and John might not agree on exactly who went to the tomb that morning, but they all agree on one thing:  HE IS NOT HERE.  HE IS RISEN!

Kailyn had not told her parents she was playing hide and seek.  They did not know what was going on.  But Jesus – Jesus had told his disciples exactly what was going to happen.

Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:

‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men,

be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’

After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them,

he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.

Oh, my friends, we do not have to ask the question:  Where is he?  We know where he is!!!

Now doesn’t that just make you want to jump with joy?  To lift your hands in praise?  To bow your head in gratitude?

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son,

that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Amen and Amen