April 16, 2006 Mark 16:1-8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
The Easter Miracle Isn’t Found in the Tomb
I. Faithful followers still go to the tomb
Proverbs 31:15 describes a good Biblical woman is one who, “gets up while it is still dark” and “sets about her work vigorously.” Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome proved to be good Biblical hard-working women on Easter Sunday. Mark says, “Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb.” Why did they go there? They “bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.” The two Marys had seen the way that Joseph had prepared Jesus’ body - and how hurriedly he did it. They must have felt that it deserved a better wrapping and preparing than what He was given. So they planned ahead to leave as soon as the Law would allow - just after sunrise on the third day - a Sunday.
Think for a moment on what the women exactly were setting out to see and do. They were expecting to see Jesus’ dead body laying in a grave. They intended on unwrapping his dead body from the grave clothes, and packing the grave clothes with more spices - giving it a proper anointing. Although it hadn’t been too long since Jesus’ burial, still imagine digging up a body that had been in the grave for over a day - and having to handle that body and see it face to face. This “job” they were about to perform was a dirty job. Under the old law, it would have made them ceremonially unclean. It would have been an incredibly depressing thing - to hold and touch the very man that they confessed to be the Messiah - the Savior of the world.
How many of you would have felt compelled to go through such work in order to give him a “better” burial? Wouldn’t you have been tempted to say, “let this imposter rot?” These women showed an exemplary faith in what they were about to do. Even though they believed Jesus was dead, they were still going to show honor and respect to His dead body. They didn’t understand all that had happened, yet they still were willing to cling to Christ and touch Him, even when they thought He was going to be an unclean and dead corpse. This is what faith is all about. Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Faith means being willing to cling to something and hope in it - even when every part of your body and your reason tells you that it is dead or that it doesn’t exist.
So I ask you again, how many of you would be willing to go on such a journey? Where is such a faith? Isn’t it sad that our faith has become so sterile - so afraid to touch the dead Christ? It’s found in Christians who will only go to church if it’s at a convenient hour - if it isn’t too early. It’s found in followers who won’t take the time to go to a Good Friday service because it’s “too depressing.” They only go to church to celebrate and have fun - not to confess sins or talk about repentance. It’s found in those who think Bible class on a Sunday morning is just too early to get up. You can see it come to surface in married couples who don’t want to listen to God when He tells them to be faithful to their unloving spouse. It’s evident in those who only offer a prayer of thanks to God when He gives them good health and nice clothes. Yet these same followers refuse to praise God at the grave. They refuse to follow Jesus when He calls them to talk to spiritually dead people about Him. That’s what I call a sterile faith - a faith that doesn’t want to get dirty - that doesn’t want to work. It only wants to touch Christ when He heals - but refused to come near Him in a grave. It only follows Jesus when He ascends into heaven - not when He lays in the grave. These women showed a faith that reflected a great loyalty - to follow Christ even into the grave. It’s a greater faith than most of us - if not all of us have.
II. The miracle is in the message
If there’s one weakness these women did have - it was one of planning. For as much zeal as they had, they didn’t plan for what they were going to do once they got there. They asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” These ancient tombs were carved out of huge rocks. In front of the cave - a huge stone would be placed on a grooved ledge that would roll down into place. The only way to move the stone would be to roll it back up the ledge - which would take a bunch of men to move. The women didn’t think of this on their way to the tomb. But once they got there, they realized that their problem was no problem at all. When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. Matthew tells us exactly what happened.
Matthew 28:2-4 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.
Before the women had got there, the guards were scared out of their tunics by this appearance of an angel of the Lord. The women appear to have come on the aftermath of this - to an empty tomb without any guards to be found. The pathway into the tomb was wide open without anyone in.
Imagine the scene now. You go to a graveyard expecting to see a huge stone, and here the tomb is open, and there is no one around. Something wouldn’t seem quite right - and these women would probably be afraid to even enter into the tomb - fearing that someone was there doing something with Jesus’ body that they weren’t supposed to be doing. As the women sat outside the tomb - tentative as to what to do - it appears that Mary Magdalene was designated or just decided on her own to immediately run back to get the disciples to come to the tomb as soon as possible. Why the men didn’t come immediately; possibly they were still afraid for their lives. Now the coast was clear - and yet something was wrong. So Mary went to get them as soon as possible.
While Mary was gone, the other women decided to go ahead and venture into the cave. As they crept into the cold and somewhat scary crevice, there was an almost eery silence and darkness about the cave. Tentatively they would have looked about, and started to wonder where Jesus was. The whole tomb - every place that there could have been a body - was empty. That’s when something extraordinary happened! They saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. Luke tells us that these two men suddenly appeared by their sides - with clothes that gleamed like lightning. The women fell to the ground in absolute terror. Then one of the angels sat where Jesus was laying, and directed the women to where he was sitting. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.”
What a change of events! Here they were, going to experience darkness, death and depression, and they were faced with light and hope! The tomb which was empty - was not empty because someone stole Jesus’ body, but because Jesus rose from the dead. How would they know this was true? It was an angel talking to them - in all of its holiness. But that wasn’t what completely convinced them. These women were not disciples of angels, but they were disciples of Jesus. The words of angels - the view of angels - and the empty grave - would not be enough to convince them. Luke 24 adds, “Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’” Then they remembered his words.” The angels reminded the women of the prediction Jesus had clearly made. When they remembered what He predicted - it was as if all the curtains were dropped - and they then realized that this whole day had been planned by Jesus. He really had been raised. They knew it because Jesus said it would happen. The Word matched with the miraculous sights - and they knew Jesus was the One. In one moment they were brought from near despair to an almost delirious delight.
Martin Luther used to refer to that moment of near despair as “delicious”. It’s not until you’ve reached that moment that Easter will really shine for you. What do I mean? These women and the disciples were at the point of despair. They were going to anoint their dead King - to give one last burial right. Life seemed to be over. Hope seemed to be gone. Yet they kept on hoping - and in the midst of that despair - they were shown the light when they simply remembered the Word. The true light of the resurrection is for those of you who have gone to bury Jesus - for those of you who were almost sure God was dead and staying in the grave. You see, as we live in this sinful world, we all face some very grave and sad disappointments in life. You don’t get the job you prayed and hoped for. The sickness that you were just sure you would recover from just resurfaced. The children that you hoped and prayed would recover from their addiction or sin or unbelief didn’t come back to the church. The joy in marriage you expected just isn’t there. It’s at that point - after all your prayers and all your hopes - that you wonder, “is God alive?” It seems from all evidence that either God is dead or He just isn’t listening. It’s at those times that God calls on you to go to the grave anyway - and see if He’s still dead. When you get there, don’t ever forget what the angels are telling you - what Jesus said. “HE IS NOT HERE! HE IS RISEN!” You’re looking for God in the wrong place. He’s no longer in the tomb. He’s alive and well. How do you know? Forget about what your body is telling you. Forget about the physical evidence. Forget about what your reason is saying to you. Forget about what the grave is saying - even forget about the angels - and listen to the Word. Remember what it says!
This is a matter of faith. Even though we are living in the middle of a graveyard, the Word says Jesus is alive. The message of the angels is for us to stop expecting to take care of a helpless Christ - to stop burying a dead Jesus - and start living with the concept that Jesus is alive. As much as this world is going to hell, don’t let that fool you - Jesus still lives. He is ruling over this world. He is with us. His Spirit is in us. You have been raised with Him through your baptism. No matter how bad this world gets, He predicted these things would happen - that things would go from bad to worse. It may seem like God is dead. We may not be able to see Him - yet we still have the Word - and that is all we need. It gives us hope - so we don’t stay in the tomb crying. It gives us a reason to leave the tomb. It gives us courage to face the world. Jesus is alive and with us. The message for us today is, “He is here. He is risen. Come and listen to what He says.”
III. The tomb is meant to stay empty
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. After such a change of events, it seems that the women were almost in a state of shock. They just couldn’t believe what they had heard. It was too good to be true. Underneath the fear they were overjoyed. This was a moment they would never forget - one that would change the rest of their lives. They now had a new mission to go on. Instead of burying a dead Savior, they were supposed to high tail it out of the tomb and don’t look back. They could now go spreading a living Christ. The angels said, “go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Notice the special concern the angels had especially for Peter - who had so adamantly denied He knew Christ. He especially needed to know that Jesus was alive - and He would see Him again. The women had a mission - to spread the good news - not only was Jesus alive - but He was also going to appear to them in Galilee.
Imagine what a cruel thing it would have been if the women had decided not to tell anyone about Jesus. Do you remember the story of Jacob and Joseph? Joseph’s brothers told their father that Joseph had died - and for years he lived in sorrow over the death of his son. They left him to go on in sorrow for years on end - thinking that was his son was dead. But look at what happened once they told him the truth.
Genesis 45:26-28 They told him, “Joseph is still alive! In fact, he is ruler of all Egypt.” Jacob was stunned; he did not believe them. But when they told him everything Joseph had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back, the spirit of their father Jacob revived. And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.”
It was as if they breathed new life into Jacob. This old man was revived and willing to travel down to Egypt - to see his son one last time prior to death. Even though the remainder of his life would involve him moving to a foreign country - Jacob was willing to do whatever it took to see his son. The women knew what an important message this was for the disciples to hear - so they hurried to tell them as soon as possible.
Easter gives us a renewed sense of hope and life. It says to us, “you can’t stay in the grave!” After witnessing Jesus die - we are reinvigorated with the hope of knowing that Jesus did not stay dead. Jesus raised from the dead. That means that God is not dead. He is alive and well. It means that God accepted Jesus’ sacrifice. It means that we were declared not guilty. This is the message that God gives us to tell those who are still living and acting as if God were dead. It’s for those fellow Christians who are living in despair. It’s for those unbelievers who don’t believe there is a God. It’s for those who see no hope in this world. It’s for those who only expect the worst from God. When the disciples didn’t believe the women, Jesus personally came and appeared to them. He wouldn’t allow them to stay in despair - He cared for them too much to leave them in the grave. The message is clear. Even if you have doubted, God wants to over come it. Even if you’ve despaired and thought God was dead, He is alive. He loves you. He has forgiven you. He wants you and all people to know the truth! He is risen! He is risen indeed! This is our message. It’s a message of forgiveness. It’s a message of hope. It’s a message of life!
The mission for us today is to take comfort in this message of Christ. Jesus died and rose for you! But it’s not to just sit in this tomb and enjoy the message for ourselves. The mission is for us to go and spread the message - Jesus lives! How could we, why would we - leave this message to ourselves - when we know so many potential disciples of Jesus are huddled in their homes - still thinking and believing that either God is dead and decaying or there is no God. They’ve got their spices in their hands, the oil packed in their pouches - and they’re going to give God His last rites. Tell them they’re going the wrong way. The Easter miracle isn’t found in the tomb, because Jesus isn’t in the grave. Jesus is alive. We worship a living God - the same God that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob worshiped. We worship the same Jesus that rose from the dead two thousand years ago. He promises us that whoever lives and believes in Him will never die. Through faith in the living Jesus we have the promise of eternal life in heaven for our souls and a resurrection from the dead for our bodies. Tell them where to find Him - in the Word - in the sacrament - in the Gospel. Soon you will see them sprinting to their Galilee - the Word - experiencing the truth for themselves - Jesus lives. The living Lord will change their lives from despair to hope. That’s what the message of Easter does. Amen.
