#66 Twenty-Four Little Hours (The Resurrection) Series

#66 Twenty-four Little Hours

Series: Mark

Chuck Sligh

April 16, 2022

NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives.

TEXT: Mark 16:1-8 – “And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.”

INTRODUCTION

There’s an old popular song (first released in 1959 and covered by many famous singers) titled What a Difference a Day Makes. The first 4 lines go, “What a difference a day makes / twenty-four little hours / Brought the sun and flowers / where there used to be rain.” The song goes on to describe the singer being blue and sad one day and happy and joyous now that his lover has entered his life.

My, what a difference a day makes! One day you were in your mother’s womb, and 24 little hours later you were out of the womb bringing joy and chaos to your parents’ world. One day you were tied up in knots awaiting your wedding, and 24 little hours later you and your spouse had tied the knot. For some of you, one day you were a long-haired, undisciplined, directionless youth, and 24 little hours later, your hair was shorn, and you entered the U.S. Army.

What a difference a day made for Jesus’ disciples. Saturday night was the bluest day in the lives of the disciples. They had no idea what the future would bring now that Jesus was gone. But in 24 little hours, all that changed.

We look today at the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Notice with me 3 points in today’s text:

I. WE NOTICE FIRST A MINISTRY OF LOVE BY 3 WOMEN IN VERSES 1-3 – “When the sabbath had past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices that they might come and anoint his body. 2 And very early in the morning of the first day of the week, they came to the tomb at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, ‘Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?’”

The 3 women mentioned in verse 1 had observed the long, dark Sabbath Day. As commanded in the scriptures, they rested in their homes all that day (Saturday). Only the day before they had witnessed the awful crucifixion of Jesus. They watched as He was placed in a tomb and a heavy stone was rolled in front. They could do nothing on the Sabbath except wait—in sadness and apprehension.

Then Sunday morning they brought aromatic spices to anoint Jesus’ body to counteract the odor of decay and as a symbolic act of devotion. Whereas the Egyptians embalmed their dead, the Jews did not. The sweet spices brought for a decomposing body meant that they expected to find a dead body in that cold tomb. Their hopes were dashed once and for all and now all they could do was express their love to Jesus by one final act of devotion.

Very early in the morning, before dawn, they gathered their spices and trudged solemnly to the place of burial, arriving at the crack of dawn. As they walked, the topic of discussion turned to the stone. How were they to roll it aside to enter the tomb? That stone has been estimated by some to weigh as much as a thousand pounds. They would not be able to move it by themselves under any circumstances.

In all of this, these women were filled with sorrow and grief and anxiety. They did not anticipate a living Lord but a cold corpse. Their problem was that they were still living in Saturday! Before His death, these women had placed all their hopes in Jesus. They had loved Him, sacrificed for Him, listened intently to His teachings, ministered to Him because they believed He was the Messiah. He was the One who would fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies. He was the One who would be their King of Israel and deliver them all from the chains of Roman rule. All their hopes had been bound up in what they had believed about Jesus.