The Rest of the Story
1 Corinthians 15:3-10; Mark 15:21-16:8
He is Risen! He is Risen Indeed. It is such a blessing to be with you on this Easter Sunday Morning. Please take your Bibles and turn to Mark 15. But I also would like you to put a bookmark in 1 Corinthians 15, because we are going to be flipping back and forth between the two passages.
I want to take some time this morning to talk about how on the cross, the story moved from unfinished to It Is Finished. The story of the Bible is the story of God’s rescue mission of humanity. Adam and Eve were created to have perfect fellowship with God. But when Satan deceived them, they rebelled against God. Sin entered the world, the man and the woman had to leave the paradise God had made for them, and from that moment on, human beings who had been created to live forever knew that they would one day die.
But the story isn’t finished there. God told the man and the woman that one day one would be born who would be the seed of the woman, and he would crush the head of the serpent. And the rest of the Old Testament is the story of how God worked to bring that prophecy to fulfillment.
And that brings us to Easter. After centuries of Judges, kings, and prophets, God sent his son Jesus to finish the story.
As of First Importance (1 Cor. 15:3)
The Apostle Paul wrote these words in 1 Corinthians 15:
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
Let’s zero in on that phrase “as of first importance.” Is it really that important that we believe in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus?
About thirty years ago, I came to a real crisis point in my faith in Jesus. I was about midway through college, trying to fit in as an English major at a state university, surrounded by people who respected the Bible as literature but couldn’t believe anyone actually believed it was true. And I heard a religion professor say, “Even if you could prove to me that the resurrection didn’t really happen, it wouldn’t change my commitment to Jesus, because I’ve based my life on his teachings, and I live my life by his example.” At the time, I thought, “This is great. I can still be a Christian without having to believe in all the parts of the Bible that seem to contradict the laws of nature.”
Which is another way of saying “I can have all the respectability that comes with following the teaching of Jesus without feeling embarrassed around the academics and intellectuals.
Why is this of first importance? Does it really matter that Jesus really died, was really buried, and was really raised from the dead? Paul definitely thought so. Just a few verses later on in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul says,
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope[b] in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
“If there is no resurrection then our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” Friends, a real crucifixion and resurrection matters! So we are going to spend the rest of our time this morning talking about our basis for belief in the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Let’s turn back to Mark 15. We’ll look at Paul’s four points—Christ died, Christ was buried, Christ was raised, and Christ appeared—and see how they play out in Mark’s account.
1. Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures (1 Cor. 15:3; Mark 15:24; Mark 15:37-40)
24 And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. 25 And it was the third hour[d] when they crucified him.
Unlike the Passion of the Christ, the details of the suffering and death of Jesus are pretty sparse in the gospel. Maybe Mark is echoing Roman sensibilities here. Cicero, the Roman statesman who lived from 106-43 BC, said this about crucifixion:
“The very word ‘cross’ should be far removed not only from the person of a Roman citizen but from his thoughts, his eyes, and his ears… the mere mention of them, that is unworthy of a Roman citizen and a free man.”
So the absence of details about the agony of crucifixion ought to draw us to those details that Mark chooses to include:
Jesus was on the cross for six hours. It was 9am (the third hour) when they crucified him, and it was the ninth hour (3pm) when He breathed His last.
At the ninth hour, Jesus cried out, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” The Greek word used there for “cried out” was the word that was used for a cry of anguish or pain. And this is how we understand that Jesus died for our sins. For the first time in eternity, the son of God, who had enjoyed perfect, unbroken relationship with God the Father, experienced separation from God. The state all of us were born into, the eternal son of God was experiencing for the first time. And it was unbearable.
Nature itself reflected the darkness Jesus felt. Verse 33 says that at noon, (the sixth hour) darkness came over the land, and it lasted until the ninth hour (3 pm). Some people say this was an eclipse. But a total eclipse can only take place during a new moon, and Passover always takes place during the full moon. Plus, even the longest solar eclipse of the last 4000 years only lasted 7 and a half minutes. This one lasted three hours.
Verse 37 says that at the ninth hour, Jesus “Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last.” I’d like you to highlight the phrase “loud cry,” because there’s something you might miss if you rush through it. There’s a difference between “cried out” in verse 34. and “loud cry” in verse 37. When Jesus cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me,” it was with all the horror and pain and shame and isolation that sin brings.
In that moment, Jesus was quite literally going through hell for us.
But the one used in verse 37 is a different word. The phrase “loud cry” is phone megas. Change the order of those words and you get “megaphone.” That’s what a cheerleader uses. It’s what you use when you want to raise a shout of triumph, or make an important announcement.
By the way, this particular phrase is only used one other place in the New Testament. You’re gonna love this! The only other time someone gives a “loud cry” in the New Testament is in Luke chapter 1, when Mary, pregnant with the Messiah, goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist. God’s word says that Elizabeth
42 and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! ,,. 44 For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.
This was a cry of triumph. It was a cry of victory. Mark doesn’t give us the words, but the Gospel of John does. John, who was standing at the foot of the cross at the time, heard Jesus cry,
IT IS FINISHED (John 19:30)
You see, Jesus, the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, had seen this story from the very beginning. He knew the Garden of Eden was not the end of the story. He knew the Exodus was not the end of the story. He knew the Law and all the sacrifices were not the end of the story. The story wasn’t finished with Noah, or Abraham, or Moses, or David. Jesus knew that the story of God’s rescue mission was finished right here.
Ironically, the devil thought that, too. At that very moment, Satan was giving his own cry of victory.
That Friday, Satan looked at Jesus and said, “Finally, we agree on something! After all these centuries of fighting, you and I finally see eye to eye. You said, “It is finished.” And I say, “Yep. It is finished.”
But Jesus knew something Satan didn’t know. When Jesus said “It is finished,” He meant that the work was done. Not the story. The law was fulfilled. But the story wasn’t over. Our efforts to earn salvation by keeping the law was finished. But the gospel story was only just beginning.
Jesus knew that weeping would last for the night, but that joy came with the morning. (Psalm 30:5)
Jesus knew that Sunday was coming.
SUNDAY’S COMIN’
That He was raised on the third day (1 Cor. 15:4; Mark 16:1-8)
16 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
If you are looking at your physical copy of God’s Word, you might see something weird after verse 8.
• ESV: [SOME OF THE EARLIEST MANUSCRIPTS DO NOT INCLUDE 16:9-20]
• NIV: A line, and then, [The most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20]
• CSB: puts 9-20 in brackets, and in a footnote explains that other manuscripts omit the bracketed text.
Most scholars agree that this is where Mark intended his story to end. The transition from verse 8-9 is awkward. The style of the Greek in verses 9-20 is different.
It’s an abrupt ending, and you can understand why later figures in the church felt like there needed to be more to the story. If it ends here, it ends with trembling women saying nothing to nobody, for they were afraid.
But let me remind you of how Mark started his gospel. Do you remember several weeks ago, before the Coronavirus, before social distancing and self-isolation and livestream church services, when we began our study of the book of Mark? We began with chapter 1, verse 1:
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (Mark 1:1)
You see, Mark told us from the very beginning that his story was only the beginning.
We are the rest of the story.
When we are confronted with the truth of the resurrection, we have a decision to make.
After this livestream is over, we can turn off the TV, close our laptops, and get on with lunch plans.
Or, we can recognize that the gospel changes us.
Danny Akin is the President of Southeastern seminary, and the author of several commentaries on New Testament books. In his commentary on Mark, he tells about a conversation he had with an atheist friend. He asked the atheist, “What is the bottom line when it comes to Christianity?”
The atheist responded, “That’s easy. It is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.” He went on to say, “If the resurrection is true, then everything else is true as well:”
1. There is a God.
2. Jesus IS that God.
3. The Bible is true.
4. Heaven and Hell are real places.
5. Jesus makes the difference whether you go to heaven or hell.
I want us to close with these words from 1 Corinthians 15. As our Gospel Project lesson put it this morning, Paul laid out the Cliff Notes of the gospel story:
• Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures.
• He was buried. He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures.
Then Paul says,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.
1 Corinthians 15:5-10
What did Paul mean about the grace of God being in vain? This: that the gospel was never meant to stop with him. The gospel came to Paul on its way to other people. To the Romans. The Corinthians. The Galatians. The Ephesians. The Philippians. The Colossians. The Thessalonians.
And it didn’t stop there. The gospel came to the early church fathers—to Augustine, Tertullian, Clement of Rome.
It came to Luther. To Calvin. To Spurgeon. All on the way to someone else.
To you, and to me.
We are the rest of the story. How will we respond?
