Reflections with Andy - Luke 24: 1-12 – Always Growing

In this Friday reflection on Luke 24:1–12, three threads from the resurrection account are woven together into a single pastoral encouragement. The angel’s question — “Why do you look for the living among the dead?” — becomes a call to move beyond a faith that is merely routine or historical and into one that is truly alive and built around Jesus. The moment when the women “remembered his words” becomes a word of grace for anyone who feels behind in their faith journey: growth takes time, the Spirit moves at its own pace, and not understanding something the first time isn’t failure — it’s the normal shape of discipleship. And finally, the fact that it was the women, not the apostles, who first believed and testified is a reminder to stop looking only to those up front and start paying attention to the whole body of Christ — because God has a way of speaking most clearly through the people we least expect.

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Good morning! Great to be with you on this Friday. If you’re watching on YouTube or following along on the video Substack, you’ll notice a slightly different background and a different “uniform” today — I’m recording from the house. I intended to get this done earlier this morning, but the day got away from me. You may also hear Rocket, our dog, making a cameo. Just part of the Friday experience.

Today we’re continuing our look at the post-resurrection accounts across the Gospels, and today we’re in Luke 24, verses 1 through 12:

“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in, they did not find the body. While they were perplexed about this, suddenly two men in dazzling clothes stood beside them. The women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, ‘Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be handed over to sinners, and be crucified, and on the third day rise again.’ Then they remembered his words, and returning from the tomb, they told all this to the eleven and to all the rest. Now it was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the other women with them who told this to the apostles. But these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them. But Peter got up and ran to the tomb; stooping and looking in, he saw the linen cloths by themselves; then he went home, amazed at what had happened.”

There’s a lot happening in this passage. But let’s start with the line that always stops me — verse 5: “Why do you look for the living among the dead?”

That’s always a good word. I’ve heard revival sermons built around that question, and honestly, it deserves them. So often we can look alive and yet be dead on the inside. So often our faith can become something of rote history or empty routine rather than something deeply alive and active. We talked yesterday about what it means to be a disciple — that being a disciple isn’t just carrying knowledge about Jesus, but building your life around him. His life, his teachings, his way of being in the world — that forms the very foundation. So today the angel asks the question and, in a way, asks it of us too: why are you looking for the living among the dead? May we have a faith that is truly, fully alive.

Then verse 8: they remembered his words.

Here’s something worth sitting with. The first time we hear something, we may not get it. We may not understand it. And that’s okay. Go back and read through the Gospels — look at how many times Jesus pointed to his own death and the disciples just didn’t understand it. It didn’t click. That’s not a failure on their part; that’s the nature of growth.

I think a lot of us are tempted to feel inadequate in our faith. We look at others — their service, their commitment, their apparent depth — and we feel like we’re behind, like we’re never going to get it right. We beat ourselves up for not being the fully formed disciples we think we should be. But verse 8 is a word of grace: then they remembered. They’d heard it before. It just hadn’t clicked yet. And when the time was right, it did.

We all grow at our own pace. We all grow as the Spirit leads. Just because you haven’t figured it all out yet — and none of us have, mine included — doesn’t mean he’s not working on you. Pay attention to what he’s doing in your life. Pay attention to what Scripture is speaking to you. Pay attention to where you feel the pull of the Spirit. Your faith is still growing, and that’s exactly where it’s supposed to be. Don’t give up on yourself, because he has not given up on you. He believes in who you are and who you’re becoming. So believe in that too.

Now, there’s one more thing in this passage I don’t want to glide past. It was the women — Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others — who went and told the apostles what they had witnessed. And the apostles? They thought it sounded like an idle tale. They didn’t believe them. Peter ran to the tomb and came home amazed, but still — the ones we think of as the leaders, the ones who would soon be standing up in Acts and leading the early church, they didn’t get it first. The women did.

I say this as a preacher: it’s so easy for us to always turn our eyes to whoever is up front, to assume that’s where the real action is, where the real faith is. But we miss so much when we do that. Sometimes the most powerful witness in the room — the most vivid expression of grace, the clearest picture of the gospel — is coming from the people we least expected. So look around. Don’t just look up front. Look at the whole body of Christ. Look especially at the people you might be tempted to overlook. I guarantee you’ll see God moving there.

So here’s what Luke’s account leaves us with this Friday: don’t look for the living among the dead. Don’t give up on your faith just because you haven’t figured it all out yet. And keep your eyes moving — because God has a habit of speaking through the people and places we least expect.

If you’re in the area, we’d love to have you at Saint Matthew’s on Sunday — it’s going to be a great day. Have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you back here Monday!