Scripture Text: Mark 16:1-8
The Introduction
For four hours he held the cylinder, waiting for rescue or an immediate death. After digging up what appeared to be an unexploded WWI bomb, David Page held on to it, afraid that letting go would detonate the device.
While holding the bomb, the terrified 40-year-old from Norfolk, England, called an emergency operator on his mobile phone. He even used the call to issue his last words for his family. "The woman police operator kept saying it would be okay," said Page, "but I kept saying to her, ’You’re not the one holding the bomb.’"
First responders rushed to the work-yard in eastern England, and army bomb disposal experts finally arrived. But the drama came to an abrupt end when the "bomb" was identified. It was part of the hydraulic suspension system from a Citroen, a popular European car.
There are times we find ourselves frozen with irrational fear. We know that the one who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world, but we forget the strength of our Protector while clutching our fear. Let go. It’s not a bomb, and you’re going to be okay!
Today we are talking about the greatest event in world History. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ! How can such a great thing drive us to fear. After today you will find we are not alone in our fear of proclaiming the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection. Hopefully after today though, this fear will be replaced by empowerment and will give us all strength to shine through our dark world boldly.
Mark has followed Peter everywhere and in this gospel he has recorded the single most important event of all time, the resurrection of Jesus Christ! He is proclaiming to us He is not in the grave, He is risen! How do we know he is risen? What makes us so sure?
Mark gives us three movements of the resurrection story that Peter preached to the early church and shows us how we know Christ is risen!
Witnesses declare the bond of the risen Lord with the crucified Jesus
Verse 1
Jesus really did die!
The original intent of this text is to share the good news of Christ resurrection. Real people saw this historical event. It isn’t just a made up story! God really did send his son down to this earth and Jesus chose to die so that we might live. He conquered the grave for us so that it would not be our eternal home.
This is an actual historical event playing out before us. Before this text, Jesus went before Pilate, he was mocked, he was crucified, he died, he went through the process of burial and then we have this! News that he is not dead any longer, He has risen!
Joseph and Nicodemus had begun the quick but lavish embalming of Jesus’ body on Friday evening. (John 19) The women come to the tomb, their witness assures the continuity of the risen Lord with the crucified Jesus. Jesus really did die and they were coming to anoint his dead body, seeking to perform one last service to him.
These women waited till the Sabbath was over at sundown on Saturday to buy the spices and made sure to get to the tomb as quick as possible to finish the process of the burial. They set out early that morning getting there at sunrise
Illustration
When I was about 16 years old my grandfather passed away. He and I had been the only ones in the family who had liked the steelers. I liked them only because he did. When he passed away I wanted to give him something extra special. I thought about just writing a letter, or something like that. I decide to give him a Jerome Bettis gold stamped rookie card. I put it in his coffin as I made my last stroll up to his coffin and set in inside his flannel shirt.
2) He is not among the dead, He is risen!
v. 3-6
He is not here
On their way there, there grows a great concern of who is going to roll the stone back for them. They had seen the heavy stone rolled by Joseph on Friday evening. To their amazement the stone had been rolled back! The descriptions and way it is said is meant for the readers to understand God had rolled the stone away. This entire event is God’s doing. John Tells us Mary Magdalene ran away to tell peter and John (20:2).
The women enter the tomb and find a “young man” dressed in a white robe. He is not Jesus, this is what is most astonishing. He was sitting on this stone that had been rolled back. This is an angel appearing in the form of a young man, the youth indicates the energy, strength, pleasant appearance and beauty of angels and all that is in heaven. Appearing in a white robe signifying the purity found in heaven. The women were amazed but probably a little frightened as well.
“He has risen, he is not here.” The message brings dramatic reversal to a tragic narrative, which had seemed to end in the abandonment and death of the Son of God. Looking among the dead for one crucified, the women are assured they are looking in the wrong place. “The place where they laid him” is empty. In this emptiness is expressed the futility of every effort to possess the Nazarene, the frustration of every quest of the historical Jesus. To see Jesus the women and the disciples must look ahead, as the second part of the message makes clear.
Henri J. Nouwen writes in the March 1994 New Oxford Review: "A few years ago Bob, the husband of a friend of mine, died suddenly of a heart attack. My friend decided to keep her two young children away from the funeral. She thought it would be too hard for them to see their father put in the ground. For years after Bob’s death the cemetery remained a fearful and a dangerous place for them.
"Then, one day, my friend asked me to visit the grave with her, and invited the children to come along. The elder one was too afraid to go, but the younger one decided to come with us. When we came to the place where Bob was buried, the three of us sat down on the grass around the stone engraved with the words, ’A kind and gentle man.’ As we sat, we reminisced about Bob.
"I said: ’Maybe one day we should have a picnic here. This is not only a place to think about death, but also a place to rejoice in our life. I think Bob will be most honored when we find new strength, here, to live.’ At first it seemed a strange idea: having a meal on top of a tombstone.!
"A few days later my friend took her elder child to the grave, the younger one having convinced his sister that there was nothing to fear. Now they often go to the cemetery and tell each other stories about Bob."
Aren’t you glad we today do not have to go to a cemetery to picnic with our Lord Jesus Christ? He is alive. There is no cemetery in the world that can hold a live person! Christ has conquered the grave. He did it so we wouldn’t have to be held to death for eternity. He died so that we could live. Do you believe that?
3) Fear mutes the truth Jesus has brought to us
v.7-8
If the angel had not named Peter, he would not have dared to come amongst the disciples. He is specifically named so as not to be in misery for denying Jesus. In this command of the angel to the women lies the promise of forgiveness and restitution, of a renewed call and fresh start for disciples refined by their failure and empowered by the resurrection.
The women were scared and told no one anything they had seen, remember though Mary Magdalene has already left thank goodness someone did!. Maybe these women didn’t speak because they were afraid of the Jews, who would have probably had them killed for allegedly stealing the body of Jesus, which was no longer in the tomb.
Peter ‘s fear would have kept him silent. This angel’s words prodded him but still Jesus came to him, not the other way around. Fear of the backlash from the Jews kept the women quiet. What keeps us quiet?
Fear and dread filled the hearts of this little band of women as they made their way through the still and dark streets of Jerusalem early that Sunday morning. They were going to the tomb of the man they had all believed to be the Messiah, the man for whom they had left all other things behind. They were going to the tomb of a man who had promised life to all who came unto Him, but who was now, Himself, dead. Certainly, they were confused and confounded as they came near the tomb. They were also concerned about the huge stone that covered the door into the tomb. How would they ever gain access to the body? How could these three women ever hope to move a stone that weighed several hundred pounds? Yet they proceeded, carried along by their tender mission, that of finishing the preparations for burial of the body of Christ. As they came within sight of the tomb, they were astounded to see the stone rolled away and the Roman guards lying like dead men all around the mouth of the tomb. Seeing this, they ran to the tomb and looked in, only to find that the body of Jesus was gone. What fear must have gripped their hearts! Perhaps they feared that the Jewish rulers or the Romans had taken the body to prevent His Disciples from faking His resurrection. Maybe they suspected that grave robbers had taken the body and would use it in some extortion plot. Whatever the doubts and concerns that may have filled their hearts, they were short lived. Because, suddenly, the women noticed a "young man" sitting upon the stone, Matt. 28:2-3. This angel sees their fear and begins to speak to them. In doing so, he delivers a message of hope that still has the power to change lives this morning.
Christ is alive! Do you believe it? Does the consequence of bringing him into your life scare you? Could he stand along side you everyday. At work, school, in your home, behind closed doors. This Easter lets not be afraid, Christ comes to us not to bully us not to bring conflict, he comes to set us free from our bondage free from our sin.
Were going to sing “Because He Lives” Do we know what it is like to live. Does our family know, how about our friends, people in this community, I know I keep saying it. Who is going to tell those without life where it is? This world doesn’t care about those who live without hope. Our fear if we allow it to control us mutes Easter! If all Easter is is a time to color eggs we are muting the passion of Christ! Pictures and sound! Take the words to heart this Easter, this resurrection Sunday be able to say as Christ does in John 14:19 I live because he lives! Our lives have value Christ died for us to allow us to truly live! Let this ring true for you today and let it prod us to shine through our community, shine at work, shine at school, yes even shine when behind closed doors proclaiming victory over sin through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!
