Travesty To Majesty Part Seven - Darkness To Dawn: Divine Intervention! Series

MARK SERMON XII –TRAVESTY TO MAJESTY – MARK 14:53---16:

Series Within A Series

PART SEVEN – DARKNESS TO DAWN – DIVINE INTERVENTION

MARK 16:1-8 . . .

There comes a time in life when intervention is essential. Just recently, for example, my wife’s heart problem necessitated medical intervention by a cardiac specialist to correct a life-threatening condition. Her doctor said, in effect, “The time for medical intervention has come.”

At Noon on the day Jesus was crucified, it was as if the Lord God declared, “The time for divine intervention has come.”

After Jesus had hung three hours on the Cross – nailed to two trees that had been crisscrossed and cross-tied, then dropped with a thud into a post hole – God invaded the scene of the crucifixion with darkness and thereby set in motion the final events of the Passion of Jesus.

Let us recall that, from the time of the Last Supper on Thursday evening, until Noon Friday, enemies of Jesus had been in charge.

His enemies had arrested him on trumped-up charges . . . forced him to go before the high priest for unfair questioning . . . bound him and hauled him off to Pilate, who “passed the buck” to the governor, who sent him back to Pilate, who allowed his enemies to falsely accuse him . . . demanded that he be crucified . . . scourged him, spat upon him, cursed him, kicked him, mocked him, thrust a crown of thorns onto his head, nailed spikes through his hands and feet. Then the Lord God took charge!

Beginning at Noon on Friday, darkness covered the face of the earth for three hours, making it obvious to friend and foe alike that the God of the universe had taken charge of the situation, initiating the outcome. As all but a few of the onlookers fled from the place called Golgotha, frightened by the sudden totality of darkness, Jesus agonizingly suffered to the very end when, at three o’clock in the afternoon, He died as he uttered his last words - “Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit.”

Was it the end? Was it over? Had his ministry been nothing more than the pipe dream of a disillusioned young Jewish rabbi from Nazareth? Well, apparently many of his followers thought so. Their feeling of discontent at the arrest of Jesus had turned to dismay when he was crucified, and now had turned to defeat when he died. Many of them went into hiding. Yet, his mother and a few others stayed through it all.

How precious are the memories of those who refuse to give up . . . stay . . . fight the good fight . . . finish the course . . . keep the faith!

How precious in the sight of God are his saints who, come what may, remain true to their Lord all the way! Such faith shall be rewarded!

The perseverance of the faithful who stayed with Jesus was indeed rewarded – at dawn on Sunday morning --- Mark 16:1-8 . . .

Let’s back up a little bit to Friday afternoon and point out that, after Jesus had died, one of the few who had stayed close to Mary the mother of Jesus was a man whose presence might have been surprising to some who were there; he was a prominent member of the Jewish Council, and his name was Joseph of Arimathea – no doubt a believer in Christ; he asked for and was granted permission to claim the body of Jesus for burial.

The women who saw where Jesus was buried on Friday returned to the tomb a little after sunrise on Sunday, only to find the stone already rolled away; and, inside the tomb, they were greeted by a young man – angelic in appearance, dressed in a white robe.

They listened in utter disbelief to those immortal words that have reverberated through the ages: “He is not here. He has risen!”

How fitting that one of the women who were the first to be told of the resurrection of Jesus was one of our Lord’s most gossiped-about converts – Mary Magdalene! Prostitute! Sinner saved by grace! Such were they all! Such are we! Sinners saved by grace!

To me, this Mary represents the essence of conversion to Christianity – sinners who felt unworthy, but found in Jesus someone who really cared - someone who would forgive them - no matter how sinful they had been! Jesus once said to Mary the prostitute, “Go, and sin no more.” To all penitent sinners he says, “Thy sins are forgiven thee; go, and sin no more!” “No longer allow sin to have dominion over you.”

How fitting that the resurrected, glorified Jesus – his appearance epitomizing the loveliness of youth and the purity of an innocent lamb – would personally greet those who came to the place where his body had been laid to pay their respects and to anoint his body.