He’s Not Here (Lent 18, 2025)

In addition, some of our women amazed us.
They went to the tomb early this morning but didn’t find His body. 
(Luke 24: 22-23)

These two men on the Road to Emmaus are careful witnesses.  They aren’t going beyond what they know or heard.  The tomb was empty.  He’s not here.

They were amazed but suggested no answers or explanations.

Principle: Factual recounting is an important function of witness testimony.

Questions for further thought:

Why is it important that the early witnesses did not embellish the truth?

Way back in the TV show/police drama there was a notable catchphrase that endured as associated with Dragnet, and specifically Sgt. Joe Friday (Jack Webb).  But according to IMDB.com, “just the facts, ma’am” was never the phrase spoken by Sgt. Friday. The original statement was, “all we want are the facts, ma’am.”  A comedian is credited with the shorter version in a parody of Dragnet.  This quote easily demonstrates how error gets passed along.  How can speculation and conjecture lead to the wrong conclusion?

Can you think of other examples of words or actions attributed to someone that in reality weren’t, or were taken out of context?

Prayer:  Thank You, Lord, for Luke’s recounting and recording accurately this encounter as a way of reminding us to be truthful and accurate in all we say and do.  Help us to let our yes be yes and to cling tightly to Your truth.  Amen.
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Lent began Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025, and will continue until Resurrection Sunday, Easter (April 20, 2025). I hope you’ll join me and be prepared to have your eyes opened. I know mine have been in writing this series, “The Way it Had to Be.”

The author gratefully acknowledges Grok XI for assisting with this year’s pictures.
Technology can be amazing.

If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2025 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

“Seeing His Love with New Eyes” was the topic for 2024 and it explored looking at God’s love beyond the superficial and trite notions of love. They are archived beginning February 14, 2024.

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.

A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God  which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014. 

Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations.  We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17. 

ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.

Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ.  It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.

Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.

Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.

Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.

The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.

Revelation in 40 devotionals for 2022 offered 40 vignettes, scenes, concepts, and thoughts to inspire us to read the Book of Revelation as it is written and to go deeper. They are archived beginning March 2, 2022.

“Created to Display His Image” explored what it truly means to be made in God’s Image and the profound significance of that fact. They are archived beginning February 22, 2023.