April 14 I Tuesday

1 Samuel 25-26

Luke 12:32-59

“He asked her, ‘Woman…Who is it you are looking for?’”  
—John 20:15

Many people spend their lives looking, searching and seeking. As Mary Magdalene stood outside the tomb weeping, she was asked by Jesus, “Who is it you are looking for?” Mary responds, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him” (John 20:15). The question Jesus asked is interesting because it is a subtle question. The fact is Mary was not looking for a “who” but a “what.” She was looking for a corpse but the subtlety of the question contains the answer within it.

Early in the morning, when Mary came to the tomb the first time, the Gospel of Luke tells us she was with other women and they met two angels who asked them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” Then the angels told them, “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 over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again”’ (Luke 24:5-7). She went back to tell the other disciples but they did not believe her.
It is in this context that Mary returns to the tomb for a second time and Jesus meets her with the question, “Who is it you are looking for?”

People are looking and searching and some of us may be seeking for a “what”. We could be looking for love, contentment, meaning, purpose and happiness. All of those things are valid things to be looking for, but it is a “who” we need to be looking for. The real question comes down to this: are we looking for Jesus?

A prerequisite to finding is seeking. Scripture tells us that in many instances. For example, God said to the prophet Jeremiah, “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). We do not casually somehow suddenly discover Jesus Christ accidently, we have to seek. Normally, there is a process in which we begin to discover a hunger and an appetite—a seeking and a searching. But it cannot happen just any time because Isaiah tells us, “Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near” (Isaiah 55:6). There is a time, says Isaiah, when He may be found and there is a time when He is near. It may be at this very moment that the Lord is speaking to us.

May we stop seeking and searching and realize
it is not what we are looking for but who––the Lord Jesus Christ.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, forgive me for chasing after the things of this world that I think will satisfy my life when all along it is You that my heart is seeking after. Thank You, Lord, that I can have a personal relationship with You. Praise You!