Google can answer everything! Want to know how long a twinkie will last? Google it! Want to know whether it’s called Duct Tape or Duck Tape? Google it! But if you want to know anything about death and where someone goes when they die, you’ll get a 404 error- answer not found!
But Google is actually trying to do something about that… what can we do to extend life and maybe even eliminate death itself? A 2013 article in Time Magazine reports that Google is working on a project called Colico which seeks to “solve Death.”
Really??? Solve the Death Problem?!?
Pastor Larry addressed this issue in his Easter sermon (entitled “Google It!”). Matthew 28 tells us that God has already solved the death problem! As Christians we know that Jesus has overcome death. Our fears, our worries about “the other side” have vanished; literally rolled away like the stone that sealed the tomb.
The text for the sermon was Matthew 28:1-10…
After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. 5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” NIVRead Matthew
The angel stood before Mary, and he already knew her question. “What happened? Where is Jesus?”
Where is my husband who suddenly died of a heart attack? Where is my wife who died after a long painful bout with cancer? Where are the children who were shot to death in Sandy Hook?
The Death Question…
But the angel knew the questions and had the answer. “He is not here. He is Risen!” The angel had already rolled the stone away, knowing that the women would need to see the empty tomb. The solution to death is the empty tomb. Physical death does not end our relationship with God; our existence and value transcends the limitations of our frail human bodies. The angel was already prepared to meet the women’s fear and to show them God’s answer to their question.
The Life Question…
But where is Jesus? The angels helped the women to see that not only was the body missing, but that Jesus was not there. Instead, He had “gone ahead of them” into Galilee. In Matthew 28:20 Jesus tells His disciples that “surely I will be with you until the end of the age.” At Christmas we keep hearing the word “Emmanuel,” which means “God with us.” You don’t have to wait for Christmas for God to be “with us.” Jesus is always Emmanuel! Jesus is with us through the Holy Spirit at all times. When we run into trouble, we find that Jesus is already there. He goes ahead of us.
The question of death is solved: there’s an empty tomb. The question of life is engaged: Jesus goes ahead of us.
God calls us to go to our “Galilees” to show His love and to speak His truth. He sends us on a mission to “show and tell” others. To feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and visit the prisoners.
God calls us to lay down our regrets and to look to the future. Imagine… What can we do through God if we take on Kingdom Expectations instead of allowing ourselves to be wrapped up in our past? Imagine… What we can do by accepting His solution to the “Death Problem?”
These are questions that you just can’t Google!
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Where is Death? Christ IS Risen!!!
Below are some pictures taken at a location in Jerusalem known as Gordon’s Calvary. This is a possible location of the crucifixion and burial place. The upper left shows the possible location of Golgotha (the “hill of the skull”). On the top of this hill is the Garden Tomb. The photos show the open tomb along with two views from the inside of the tomb. Yes- it IS empty!!!
Gordon’s Calvary (The Garden Tomb) in Jerusalem
