The Borrowed Space – Looking for Jesus in all the wrong places
‘And when he was dead, he was buried with the disgraced in a borrowed space, among the rich’ (Isaiah 53:9)
Have you ever felt dead?
I mean, dead inside, like your living in a borrowed space?
You’ve heard about this Jesus dude
And so, you thought you’d give him a go
You do all the right things, in all the right places
Only to discover that with all your looking, you still haven’t found him
I’ll tell you a little secret…
You’re looking for Jesus in all the wrong places
THE BORROWED SPACE
You see, you’re looking in the borrowed space
Where only the strips of linen lay
Grave clothes that are no longer needed
An empty tomb, that’s served its purpose
A space that was borrowed by Jesus for three days
And now, the Angels are asking you the same question
As they did to the women in Luke 24:5
“Why are you seeking the living One in the place of the dead?”
LOOKING FOR JESUS IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES
Why do we look for Jesus in all the wrong places?
Why do we search in empty tombs, hoping to find a Saviour?
Because if we’re honest
We’re afraid that if we find him
I mean, actually find the REAL Jesus
He will probably turn our world upside down
Just like he did with the disciples
And
In the borrowed space
Jesus isn’t powerful
In the borrowed space
Jesus isn’t unpredictable
In the borrowed space
JESUS ISN’T HERE! (Luke 24:5)
Because maybe, deep down inside
We really want exciting, scandalous, Jesus
But we’d rather stick with safe, predictable Jesus, thank you very much
We want to be ‘all in’ with Jesus
But maybe, just maybe
Staying with the grave clothes and the borrowed space
In the comfort of the empty tomb
Helps you tread with caution
Because you know, we don’t want to get too ‘radical’ or anything crazy like that
Heavens no!
Religion had me looking for Jesus in all the wrong places
While trying to do all the right things
Believe me
It slowly creeps over you like a well-worn overcoat if you’re not careful
But here’s the thing
Jesus isn’t in the tomb of the ‘borrowed space’ anymore
He is risen!
But, I believe he goes into the tomb with you
Waits patiently in the borrowed space
While you fumble around searching for him
And, oh so gently, he asks you
“Whom are you looking for? (John 18:4)
So, you tell him, “I’m looking for Jesus”
In that moment
He helps you to let go
Of those grave clothes you thought Jesus was still wrapped up in
He will slowly open your eyes
And reveal to you that the tomb is indeed empty
And He is risen!
In that moment
When he fills your borrowed space with his love, compassion and grace
Then you will stop looking for Jesus
You will stop looking for Him in all the wrong places
Because, even when you do that, you wouldn’t have found Him
Oh no, my friend
He would have found you
Wendy xo