THREE QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER CONCERNING THE RESURRECTION
Text: Mark 16:1 – 20
Have you heard the story about the eight-year old in Sunday School on Easter Sunday? Johnny’s family weren’t regular church attenders…as a matter of fact, they only went to church on Easter Sunday. Johnny and his family walked through the door of the church, and sang along as the choir leader led the congregation in “He Arose.” After a few announcements, the children were dismissed to Sunday School classes.
With a little bit of help, Johnny found his class, and soon found himself surrounded by a dozen other giggly eight-year olds. Miss Martha started the class by saying, “Hello boys and girls! Do you know what special day today is?” Five of the kids in the class screamed out “Easter!” just as loud as they could. “Fantastic!” replied Miss Martha. “Now, who knows why Easter is so special?”
“I know, I know!” cried out a little girl from the corner! “It’s because of Jesus!”
“That’s right Suzie! Jesus is what makes Easter special! What did Jesus do?”
“I know, I know!” Jeremy shot up his hand and hopped up and down. “Ok Jeremy, what did Jesus do?” “He died on the cross!” he replied. “Well that’s right, but that’s not all. What else happened?”
“I know, I know!” yelled Tammy. “They put him in a grave and he stayed there for three days!” Miss Martha said, “Excellent Tammy! That is exactly right! But that’s still not all….what else happened?”
The kids looked puzzled for a moment, but Johnny thought he remembered this part of the story from last year, so he shot up his hand and shouted, “I know, I know!”
“Johnny! It’s great to have you back with us for Easter! Can you tell us the rest of the story?”
“Sure!” Johnny replied confidently. “After three days, he came out of the grave and saw his shadow, so there were six more weeks of winter!”
There are lots of people that are confused about the resurrection, not just eight-year olds. There are even people that are regular church attenders that sometimes have mistaken notions about what happened on that first Easter morning. Today, I am going to ask three questions concerning the resurrection, and then explore the answers to those questions.
The first question is, “Why was the resurrection so important?” I mean, we know that Jesus came to die for our sins. In Mark 10:45, Jesus said, “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” We read how Jesus did exactly that in Mark 14 and 15. Mark records His betrayal at the hands of Judas, the desertion of all His disciples, His sham of a trial, the fierceness of His beating, the mockery by the religious leaders, and the difficulty that He had just in getting to Calvary. Mark records a cry of despair, and then a cry of victory as Jesus died in our place. But why doesn’t the story end there? Why wasn’t that enough? Why did He have to rise again?
I believe that there are two reasons. First of all, Jesus had to rise again because He said He would rise again. Three times in the book of Mark, Jesus tells His disciples that He was going to Jerusalem to die, and that He would rise again on the third day. The last of these times is in Mark 10:33, 34. Jesus said, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be delivered unto the chief priests,and unto the scribes; and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles: And they shall mock him, and shall scourge him, and shall spit upon him, and shall kill him: and the third day he shall rise again.”
In the Old Testament, the Israelites were constantly warned about listening to false prophets. Deuteronomy 18 says that the Israelites were to test the words of a prophet to see if they were from God. If what they said did not come to pass, their words were not from God, and they were not to be listened to. If Jesus had prophesized that He was going to go to Jerusalem and be put to death, and then rise on the third day, and it didn’t happen, Jesus would be a false prophet, a liar, and He would have had to die for His own sins, not ours. Paul declares this in 1 Corinthians 15:13 – 17. “But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.”
If Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, His promises are all lies. He said He was going to die for our sins so that we could have a relationship with God, but He had to die for His own sin. He promised that God would hear your prayers if you prayed in His name, and that He would provide for our needs if we ask, but if He didn’t rise from the dead, those are all empty promises. His prophecy about the endtimes in Mark 13 is just a story if he didn’t rise from the dead, and so is His promise to return someday and rapture the church. In short, Jesus had to rise from the dead so that we could know that all of His promises are true.
Secondly, Jesus had to rise from the dead to prove that He was the Messiah that He claimed to be. Some scribes and Pharisees came to Jesus one day, and demanded that He show them a sign to prove who He was. Here is how Jesus responded: “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” (Matthew 12:39, 40) When the religious leaders had Jesus on “trial,” the high priest asked Him specifically, “Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” (Mark 14:61) Jesus responded by replying, “I am.” The resurrection was the proof that He was the Messiah, but sadly, even though the religious leaders got the sign they were looking for, they still didn’t believe.
The resurrection is important because it confirms all the promises that Jesus made about our salvation, our relationship with God, and His return someday. It is also important because it is the proof that He really was the Son of God, the Messiah, the Lord of lords, and King of kings.
Another question that I would like to address is, “How are we expected to respond to the resurrection?” In the book of Acts, the apostle Paul is preaching on Mars Hill in Athens, and he closes his sermon on the Unknown God by saying, “He hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31) Paul was saying that God expected mankind to repent and that judgment would follow for those who refused. The proof that God would do what he said was the resurrection of Christ. The scripture goes on to say, “And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed.” (Acts 17:32, 34)
God expects us to believe as a result of the resurrection. Did you notice in the scripture I read in Mark that the disciples had a lot of trouble believing? Mary Magdalene went to the grave and found it empty. She went and told the disciples, but they didn’t believe. Jesus appeared to two men walking on the road to Emmaus, and once they realized who he was, they ran back to Jerusalem to tell the disciples, but they still didn’t believe. Mark 16:14 says, “Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.”
Christianity isn’t the largest religion in the world. It isn’t the only religion with a book of holy scriptures. It isn’t the oldest religion. But there is one thing that separates Christianity from all other religions…its founder died in our place and rose again on the third day, just like he said he would. The empty tomb should be enough proof for anyone to believe, but sadly, just like in Paul’s day, there are still many that mock, and still others that want to put it off until some later time. Because of the resurrection, God expects you to repent and to believe.
While I am on the subject, let me say something about the word “believe.” In the Bible, the word “believe” means more than just agreeing mentally that something is true. Biblical belief is a belief that causes one’s actions to change. I can say that I believe that this pew will hold me if I sit in it, but until I actually sit in it my belief is just an empty agreement that I have made in my mind. There are many people across our country today sitting in churches listening to an Easter message that have just made a mental agreement that the resurrection has happened. They accept it as fact, but it has not changed their lives. They do not have a relationship with God. They never read his Word, or go to his house, or talk to him, or anything else that a person would do if they truly had a relationship with someone. Church on Easter Sunday is enough for these kinds of people, but they are only deceiving themselves. They don’t have a relationship with God. Jesus once said, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” (Matthew 7:21 – 23)
I pray that you are not one of those people. I pray that you don’t stand before God in judgment one day and say, “Lord, I went to church on Easter Sunday. I put a Jesus fish on my car. I put a dollar in the offering plate. I even told people that I was a Christian.” And Jesus will look at you with a tear in his eye, and say, “I’m sorry…I never knew you. We never had a relationship.”
The resurrection is the proof that God wants you to repent and believe. Do it now before it is too late.
Finally, I want to ask the question, “What should the church do in light of the resurrection?” In the last few verses of the book of Mark, Jesus tells the disciples what He wants them to do. “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” (Mark 16:15, 16) Let me read you Matthew’s version of Jesus’ statement. “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28:19, 20)
Jesus tells the disciples to do two things, and then gives them a promise. First they were to go and share the Gospel with everyone they met. The book of Acts records how that the Gospel message was presented in Jerusalem, and throughout Israel, and unto much of the known world at the time. Jews and Gentiles were saved, and churches were established all over the Roman empire. Later, Christians would carry the Gospel message even farther through Europe, Asia, and Africa, and eventually to North and South America. We are here today because those disciples and the early Christians were obedient to the Lord’s commission.
Secondly, Jesus told them to baptize and disciple the converts. One mistake that the church makes today is that we only seek conversions and forget about making disciples. That is why you see so many people make a profession of faith, and you never see them again. When a person gets saved, that is not the end, it is only the beginning. The Holy Spirit works through the church to help new believers grow in their relationship with God. The New Testament makes it clear that we are to encourage and support one another as we grow together. If you have made a profession of faith but are not committed to discipleship, there is something wrong. Maybe you are one of those people that I was talking about earlier that just mentally agree that the resurrection is a fact but whose lives have not been changed by it. Examine yourself and ask God if you truly have a relationship with Him, or if you have deceived yourself. It is an important question that you MUST know the answer to.
Finally Jesus promises the disciples that whatever they do for God, He will be there with them. And, once again, all throughout Acts and the rest of the New Testament we can see that Jesus kept His promise. You may never be a missionary, or a pastor, or an evangelist, but Jesus may lead you to walk across the street and talk to someone about their soul. When He does, don’t be afraid. He has promised to go with you. As a matter of fact, let Him do the talking. He knows what needs to be said.
Easter is a special day, not only for Christians, but for the entire world. Because of the resurrection, we know that every promise that Jesus ever made will be honored. It proves that He was who He said He was. God expects us to actively believe as a result of the empty tomb. We are to work together as God’s people to share the Gospel message with the world around us, and to help those that believe to develop in their relationship with God.
Do you believe? Has it made a difference in your life?
