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Mark 15:40-16:8
Executed as a blasphemer, deserted by His
friends, ridiculed by the authorities, Jesus called out to a black and
silent heaven My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?!.
It was a tortuous and godforsaken death. It was also the end of a public
ministry of just three years.
In His short life He never led an
army, never fought a battle, never took political office, never
entered religious orders. He never wrote a book, never established
a school, never fathered a dynasty.
He grew up in the poorest of families, a
derided northerner, from a despised people, subjugated by the Roman
super-power. He had no earthly pedigree or connections, no
education, no home and no money.
He might
have taken power through the sword, except that He utterly spurned
violence. He might have
joined the religious establishment, except that these were precisely the
people He opposed and precisely the ones killing Him. Jesus shunned
the ways of power, politics and popularity. He ended His life how He
began it, in complete ignominy and poverty, surrounded by murderous
enemies.
He was one of thousands of men executed by
the Romans. And one of hundreds of
Jews who claimed to be the Christ the Messiah. As He hung on that cross His was one
more young life cut short. His was
one more small movement nipped in the bud. His followers - a handful of uneducated
fishermen and the like - had scattered in fear. And that should
have been that for Jesus.
Why on earth have we even heard of Jesus of
Nazareth?
Moses lived to 120. The Buddha reached
90. Mohammed died in his 60s. All of them had
accomplished great deeds in life, they had been recognized as powerful
leaders, theyd written monumental books and theyd secured a future for
their movement. The lasting legacy of a Moses or a Mohammed needs
no special explanation. They left behind books and offspring,
theyd led armies, they were the acknowledged ruler of their
peoples. None of those things were
true of Jesus and He died as a criminal, penniless and powerless aged
33.
Why have you even heard of Jesus? Thats
astonishing enough. Given these
facts, it would be astonishing simply to have heard of Jesus today.
But heres a fact beyond incredible: Jesus is the most famous man who ever
lived and the central Figure of human history?
Heres what atheist and author H.G. Wells
said:
"I am an historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess
as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably
the very centre of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure
in all history."
Even atheists have to admit it. Jesus is irrevocably the very centre of
history. We date everything
according to whether it happened before
Him or after Him. History revolves around this penniless
preacher. Billions of followers around
the world and down through time love and worship this crucified Jew. Every other world religion has to make
a place for Him and try to explain Him.
All other faiths know they need to deal with Jesus and account for
His colossal importance. Philosophy,
politics, science, education, the arts cannot escape His shadow even when
they try. That crucified Jew
towers above this world. How is
that humanly possible?
Do you have an answer for that question? How is it possible that this penniless
preacher dominates human civilization?
Well there is only one answer. Its the answer that Mark gives at the
very beginning of his gospel. From
the outset, Mark lets us know how to think about the Hero of his biography. He says Jesus is the Christ, the Son of
God.
That means He the One anointed with
the Holy Spirit, the Son of God the Father. He is The Spirit-filled Son of
the Father. To put it another way,
Jesus is the second Person of the eternal trinity. Jesus has existed over and above and
before the universe. And Mark
tells us that this Christ, this Son of God, Jesus has stepped down INTO
His world as its Maker, Lord and King.
And Mark has shown us what it looks like when
the King steps into His world. He
walks around like He owns the place.
He stands over and above sickness healing every disease and
disability. He stands over and
above death raising people like you or I would wake the sleeping. He stands over and above human sin
forgiving and freeing sinners. He
stands over and above even nature itself a hurricane blows up and Jesus
stills it with a word. Jesus
stands over and above this world as Lord and King. But astonishingly He also steps down
into this world and suffers its evils.
Again and again Jesus says to His disciples
that He MUST be handed over to His enemies and be killed. Its the ultimate climb-down the King
must become a Slave and die. And
He MUST die because He MUST give His life as a ransom payment to free us.
See what it says in Mark 10:45:
For even the Son of
Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a
ransom for many.
Ransom payments free those who are
enslaved. And Jesus says Hes
going to enter into our slavery and Hes going to pay to set us free.
This is a freedom weve needed ever since
Adam. You see Adam was the first
king of the world. He was the
first man and was put in charge of all things. Yet through disbelief He plunged the
world into sin and death and judgement and slavery. Adam disobeyed and made us slaves. He went to the tree and brought death
for the world. He took what he
didnt deserve and reaped a judgement that we do deserve.
Jesus is a King who answers king Adam. But Jesus is actually a much OLDER
King. However He came second into
this world. And He came to put
right what Adam did wrong. He obeyed His Father to make us
free. He went to the tree and suffered death for the world. He gave
what He didnt deserve to lose, to reap for us a salvation we dont
deserve to gain. Jesus the One
who stands over us stepped down into our mess as King, to take
responsibility for a world gone wrong.
Wed made the mess. He took
responsibility.
And as David showed us last week, the cross
reveals the lengths to which He went and the depths of our own
predicament. This was how far Jesus had to stoop to meet us in our
darkness. Chapter 15:34
godforsakenness. That is what King
Jesus came to endure on our behalf.
Hell. Hell for us. The waves of judgement that were owing
to us crashed and beat against Jesus and He was drowned in the wrath of
God.
The Christ, the Son of God dies. The King is crucified. The Lord of Glory now hangs as a
lifeless corpse between two other lifeless corpses. In Mark 15 we have the eeriest scene
imaginable.
Read with me from v43 and just feel how eerie
this whole thing is:
43 Joseph of
Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself
looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked
for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he
should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him
whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the
centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46
And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the
linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock.
And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.
Notice in v43 it says Joseph was looking for
the Kingdom. Here was a follower of
King Jesus and he was looking for the kingdom. And because of this he takes the corpse
of King Jesus down from the cross.
The sign hanging above Jesus head must still have been blowing in
the breeze. It read: Here is the
King of the Jews.
Joseph is looking for the kingdom and so he
wants to bury his King good and proper.
We know from Johns Gospel that Joseph had help from Nicodemus in
this. And hed need help too, somehow
they had to untie Him and then get the nails out of His hands and feet and
then catch the body, wrap it up and carry their King to His tomb. When they lay Him inside, the massive
stone is rolled downhill into its groove and Jesus is entombed.
And again let me ask you the question How
come weve even heard of Jesus?
Even if Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,
even if He did do all of that, if the story ends at the tomb then none of
us would know about Jesus and none of us would need to know. Jesus rescue mission would have
failed. Hed have been like a surf
life-guard who sees you in trouble, swims half a mile out to meet you and
then says Im knackered before drowning in front of you. If the Gospel ended at chapter 15,
Jesuss mission would have utterly failed and virtually no-one would have
even realized He tried.
Read on into chapter 16. Verse 1:
When the
Sabbath was over [Sabbath ends at sundown, so this is Saturday night],
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so
that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2 Very early on the
first day of the week [Thats Sunday morning], just after sunrise, they
were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other,
"Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"
The men are nowhere to be seen. Theyve fled just as Jesus had predicted. But notice what these women have come
to do? They are not camping
outside the tomb with popcorn, thinking This ought to be good. What have they come to do? Verse 1 they want to anoint Jesus
body. They are paying last
respects to their dead teacher that is their expectation. Jesus followers are not expecting a
resurrection. They are all
disconsolate, defeated, dispersed.
The disciples only thought of resurrection is whether they could
maybe resurrect their fishing career.
As far as Jesus followers are concerned, its over.
Mark is showing us in no uncertain terms that
if Jesus Christ did not rise from the dead, there would be no
Christianity. Everything depends
on what happens in verse 4. Read
with me:
4 But when
they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been
rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man
dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6 "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.
7 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.'"
The young man dressed in white we know from
the other gospels was one of two angels on the scene. And its a good thing the angels are
there to explain because whats the first thing youd conclude if you
didnt see the body? Youd presume
someone had moved the body. The
angel says No, the body moved itself.
He has risen. He is not
here. Hes going ahead of you to
Galilee, there you will see Him.
Its so important that we understand what
resurrection means. Jesus does not
just live on in the hearts and minds of His followers. Woody Allen was once asked, Arent you
pleased to know youll live on in the hearts and minds of those who
remember you? Woody said I dont
want to live on in hearts and minds, I want to live on in my apartment. Woody Allen wants resurrection. Well resurrection is what Jesus deals
in. He does not just live in our
remembrance He has risen, bodily, physically. And its not as though His body rotted
in the tomb but He lives on in some spiritual form. No.
The body that was laid in the tomb with its nail marks through
each hand and foot that very body is the body that was raised up to
immortal life. The very Jesus who
was born and was crucified and was buried is the Jesus who rose
physically and later ascended physically to Gods right hand. He doesnt just live on through His
teaching, He doesnt just live on in some disembodied form He has
risen, He is not here. You will see Him.
Thats what resurrection means.
And just before we conclude by thinking about
the implications of this, I just want to be sure that we all realize this
really happened. Christianity is
different to all other world religions.
You see if you strip the central characters and the events out of
the other religions, the actual religion will basically stand. If the Buddha never literally existed,
you could still have Buddhism, because youd have the Four Noble Truths
and the Eightfold Path, and it doesnt matter very much whether Buddha
literally did this or that. But if
Jesus didnt literally rise from the dead Hes a total failure and the
whole thing is a lie.
Because Jesus didnt come to impart Noble
Truth, He came to actually save the world. He came as King to actually lay hold of
His creation, to take responsibility for its darkness and pain, to atone
for its wickedness through His death and to come out the other side as
the Head of a renewed creation.
Thats Christianity. Its
not 10 commandments and the Lords Prayer. Its Christ the King stepping down into
our world to live our life, die our death and then rise again to a new
reality which He has established and to which He invites us. And if Jesus didnt rise from the dead,
if His body rotted in a Palestinian tomb then we should ignore His
teaching. So often Ill ask people
what they think Christianity is all about. And the answers I get are
heart-breaking. People generally
say Its about following the teachings of Jesus. Well look at the last 5 words of verse
7. Just as He told you. What did Jesus tell them? What was Jesus teaching? He taught them that He must suffer, He
must die and after three days He would rise from the dead. Four times Mark records that specific teaching
of Jesus. The heart of Jesus
teaching is that He would die and rise for the sins of the world. Its the cross and resurrection that
are at the heart of Christianity.
And if Jesus didnt die AND RISE then He didnt do what He said
Hed do, He hasnt saved the world, Hes a liar and so are all
Christians. Everything hinges on
those words in v6: He has risen.
If thats not actually and literally true, then the whole things
a sham. So lets just look over
these verses again with the eye of an historian for a second.
Look back at chapter 15:40:
Some women were
watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother
of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 In Galilee
these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women
who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
Why does Mark
tell us names? Why do we need to
know about Salome? Why do we need
to know which Mary was which?
Because it happened.
Theres no reason for Mark to tell us these details except that
thats how it happened. Mark is
not telling a fabulous tale, hes writing historical prose
narrative. If people were making
up mythological stories in those days they did not write anything like
this. They did not make up
details. Mark is giving us a
straight historical account of what happened.
Thats why
no-one in the Bible actually sees the moment of resurrection. If this was some made up tale the Bible
would read like Hollywood. Thered
be all this stuff about the silence of the tomb broken by a deep intake
of air, the camera zooms in on Jesus face and His eyes spring open and
the music starts up. Theres none of
that theres just a lot of very ordinary historical detail because this
really happened.
Verse 44
were told that the centurion confirms that Jesus is in fact dead. The centurion deals in death. If he didnt do his job properly, hed
get it in the neck himself. He has
just thrust a spear into Jesus side, he knows that Jesus is indeed
dead. You cant say that Jesus
just swooned on the cross the Romans werent that stupid. And even if Jesus did revive in the
tomb, a semi-crucified man is in no state to roll a giant boulder back
from the tomb, overpower the Roman guard posted outside and then infuse
His disciples with awe and wonder that death had been defeated. Jesus did not just swoon on the cross,
He really did die.
And notice
v47 the two Marys saw where Jesus was laid. On Sunday morning they didnt arrive at
the wrong tomb. They knew where
Jesus body was. But heres something
amazing, nobody ever found Jesus body, nobody ever produced Jesus
body.
As Peter and the
other disciples started preaching that Jesus was risen, all the
authorities had to do was produce Jesus body and Christianity would have
been over. But instead Peter
started preaching the resurrection in Jerusalem and thousands
believed. Imagine if I started
saying Eastbourne Pier has disappeared overnight and its a sign that
you should all join my cult.
Imagine I preach that message and 3000 join me and then 5000 join
me the next week. Its a pretty
good bet that Eastbourne Pier actually had disappeared. (You still might not join my cult but
the fact that people do tells you that the facts are at least true). I mean anyone could disprove my
preaching very quickly. Same thing
with the resurrection. The
apostles preached just minutes away from the tomb they claimed was
empty. Anyone could have disproved
the resurrection message by just popping across town but instead
Christianity spread like wildfire.
He has risen He is not there.
And then
Look on to v7: the angel says you will see Him. The risen Jesus was seen by hundreds of
eyewitnesses over the next 6 weeks.
Many of them wrote bits of the bible. Many of them went on to die for the
truth that Jesus was risen. These
were not hallucinations you dont get group hallucinations. These were actual appearances of the
risen Jesus.
And look at
the end of v7: Just as He told you.
Jesus had been predicting His resurrection all along. Four times Mark records His prediction
of resurrection. If Jesus wasnt
raised then Jesus is a liar and in fact so is the whole bible which
speaks consistently of the resurrection of Jesus.
But perhaps
the best proof of the resurrection is that Jesus is confronting us
right now in living power. When I
became a Christian I thought about all the possible explanations for the
empty tomb and I concluded that Jesus must have risen. But the thing that really tipped the
scales for me was the fact that when I read the Gospels I was very aware
that I wasnt just reading a history book about a long-dead teacher, but
Jesus Himself was confronting me there and then with living Power. Ultimately that is Jesus resurrection
appearance to you and me. As we
listen to His word, we hear His voice speaking with risen Power. Thats what will ultimately convince
you that Jesus did not rot in some Palestinian grave. No lives which means He can encounter
each one of us.
Do you know
really know the truth of verse 6: He has risen. And have you met this risen King for
yourself.
Because
heres why its important.
Jesus not only
died for you. He also rose for
you. He didnt just descend to the
depths for you. He ascended to the
heights for you.
He rose again
not just for Himself He rose as the Christ, the Son of God. He rose as your King. He rose as the King of all creation. And just as Adam had plunged his
kingdom into death and judgement.
Jesus raises His Kingdom to life and salvation. He rose as the Head of new creation.
Thats why,
v2, He rose on the first day of the week.
He makes a new beginning.
He renews all things by rising up as the true and better Adam, the
eternal King. And as surely as the
King was raised so will be His Kingdom.
SLIDE
And its why
in v7 the angel says But go, tell his disciples and Peter.
Here is a new beginning for everyone even Peter who had denied
Jesus three times. Because Jesus
has risen there is a Kingdom where anyone and everyone can make a fresh
start. Do you belong to this King?
This morning
we read these words from 2 Samuel 23, written about the True King.
`When one rules over
men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, 4 he
is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the
brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.'
The True King
ruling in righteousness puts all creation right. And Easter Sunday was the firstfruits
guaranteeing a cosmic crop of resurrection life. As Neil said this morning The best is
yet to come. Because He has
risen the best is yet to come.
Do you know
the truth of those words He has risen?
It means Jesus really is the Christ, the Son of God. It explains why Jesus really does tower
over this world. It guarantees a
new kingdom, a new heavens, a new earth, a new beginning for anyone who
comes to Christ.
What about
you?
SLIDE
We all begin
life in Adams kingdom. Our birth
unites us to Adam and guarantees death and judgement. Have you been born again? Have you switched sides? Have you been united to King Jesus by
trusting Him? If so His
resurrection guarantees life and salvation? But it all hinges on those three words
He has risen. Do you get it?
These women
in v8 flee the tomb trembling and afraid because they havent yet grasped
it not in all its fullness.
Theres a command from the angel still ringing in their ears Go
and tell, but they havent yet grasped it. I could leave the same command ringing
in your ears Go and tell but until youve grasped those three little
words, youll be like them full of fear and saying nothing. He has risen. That is the truth. Dont stop asking, seeking, knocking,
reading and praying until that one truth transforms your world.
Lets pray.
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