‘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