It’s Resurrection Sunday Morning! The most important day we celebrate in the Christian Church. It’s a day we come together as families to spend time together. My family is here today with us. So I thought I would start out with telling two separate incidents with our little granddaughter, Tatum. When she was about two, able to walk and run and quite strong for her age. Cathy brought her over for Sunday School. She had been playing in the hallway, running back and forth to the Main Fellowship Hall room. Suddenly, my wife noticed that she was quiet and nowhere to be found. She panicked. Several church members jumped up and started searching the building. Cathy thought is it possible Tatum went out the door of the building? It didn’t seem possible that a little 2 year old could open a big heavy door and get out, but Cathy looked everywhere. She even looked in both parking lots quickly. Still no Tatum. Then she thought maybe she is in the Sanctuary and guess what she hears Tatum in the Sanctuary! Mind boggling as it was, Tatum had accomplished at the age of two what seemed physically impossible. She opened two doors and got to where she wanted to go. She wanted to go to Grandma’s Sound booth and sing on the stage. That was a frightening event to have a missing 2 year old. Then just 3 Sundays ago the Church was celebrating the 60th Anniversary of the Church. Once again Tatum and her family was here. When it was time for the meal, suddenly, Carolyn our daughter comes up behind her mom, and asks, “Have you seen Tatum?” Cathy remembers back to a year and a half ago, when Tatum had gone missing before. Now she is 3 ½ and even stronger and faster. Where could she have gone? Cathy and Carolyn, of course, were concerned and Cathy asked others if they have seen Tatum and they said “No”. Then Cathy stands on her toes and looks over the crowd in line heading in to the Fellowship Hall and sees a little head quickly walking through the main room heading towards Daddy on the other side. A missing person can be quite alarming.

In America we file a Missing Person report with local authorities, go on the news on TV to make pleas, go on searches. Today we are going to look at two people in the Bible who were missing. Let’s start with with the Biblical account of our first missing person, Jesus. Turn to John 20: 1 – 10.

Thankfully, in this case, unlike our granddaughter Tatum, Jesus gave His disciples a heads up on his coming disappearance. He told them that He would die and raise again. Just seeing the empty tomb caused John to really believe what Jesus had been teaching them. Even the Resurrected Jesus on the Road to Emmaus would clarify the written prophecies of His death and resurrections with the two disciples he traveled along with. These Disciples had no need to file a missing person report on Jesus. He revealed Himself to them at various times after His resurrection.

If you were here last week, you will remember how we showed through the birth of Isaac and the account of Abraham offering Isaac as a sacrifice in Genesis 22 that Isaac’s life was a foreshadowing of Jesus birth, death and resurrection. Well this morning, I want to go back to Genesis 22:19 and Genesis 24 to show you another foreshadowing or foretelling that ties right in to our Missing Person, Jesus and His Return. So let’s go back to where we left off last week in Genesis 22: 15 - 19.

In verses 15 through 18, Abraham’s obedience earned blessings from God, but did you catch what happened in verse 19? Let’s read just verse 19 again. Abraham returned to his young men and then they went home to Beersheba. Who is missing? Who didn’t come off Mount Moriah after the sacrifice? Isaac. Isaac is a missing person. This is a foreshadowing of Jesus being gone from the tomb or even gone from Earth after His assenscion. And did you notice that Abraham doesn’t seem panicked? The Holy Spirit inspired the writing of the Scriptures. You might say that Isaac was left out of the story at this point to deliberately create this foretelling of Jesus.

Interestingly, in Genesis 23 we read the story of Abraham’s wife Sarah dying, which leads to the story in Genesis 24 where Abraham sends his servant, Eliezer, to find a wife for Isaac. Eliezer in Hebrew אֱלִיעֶזֶר means "my God is help". Abraham’s servant, Eliezer, is a typology for the Holy Spirit. Essentially we see Eliezer or the Holy Spirit going out to look for a Bride. Rebekah, the one who Eliezer finds to be Isaac’s bride is a typology of the Church or us. So, with that knowledge, lets pick up in Genesis 24, verse 61.

Like last week, Isaac was willing to be sacrificed to obey God, we see Rebekah giving herself willingly to Isaac. We as Christians, the Bride of Christ, must give ourselves willingly to God. He doesn’t force us to be His Bride. Just as Eliezer did not force Rebekah to give herself to God. It was her choice. The Holy Spirit brings us the offer of the perfect groom in Jesus, it is up to us to accept and go. But let’s focus in on Isaac or our representative of Jesus. In Genesis 24:62, we now see Isaac again. He has returned to our storyline.

God has brought Isaac back in to the story to make a point. He wants to continue the foreshadowing using Isaac and Rebekah. Notice where Isaac meets his new Bride: Beer Lahai Roi, which means “The Well of Living Water”. Jesus is our source of living water. When we become His bride he gives us of His living water.

In verse 65, Rebekah foreshadows what the Bride is to do when preparing to meet her groom. She prepared herself. This is demonstrated in Rebekah taking a veil and covering herself. As Christians, we should be spending our time on Earth preparing to meet our groom Jesus, when He returns. In Matthew 25 we read Jesus’ parable about the 10 virgins. 5 were prepared to meet their groom at any time he should return. 5 were not. Then also in Revelation 19:7 we are given a glimpse of the Bride’s future and a comment about what she had done before meeting her groom.

Isaac arrives back in to our story in time to take home his ready bride, Rebekah. And note…Isaac took Rebekah home and loved her. Jesus, loves His Bride, us, the Church.

Now, let’s go back to our reason for being at church today on this Resurrection Morning, we were looking for our “Missing Person”, Jesus. Turn to Luke 24: 46 – 53.

The Disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God and they awaited the promise of Jesus, the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus’ death and resurrection should bring us great joy and cause us to praise God. We are given the amazing opportunity to have a new life in Christ. We are given His Holy Spirit to help us and provide a guarantee of our future with our groom, Jesus, as we read in Ephesians 1:13.

Just as Isaac met Rebekah at the Well of Living Water, will you respond to Jesus’ call as we read earlier in John 4: 13 – 14.

Will you come to the Living Water, Jesus? If you haven’t, then He is the

“Missing Person” in your life!

If you have already come and drank of the living water, are you making yourself ready as the Bride of Christ?