WEBVTT 00:00:01.080 --> 00:00:03.399 Hello, you're listening to Second City Sermons, 00:00:03.560 --> 00:00:05.620 a ministry of Second City Church in Midtown, 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:08.539 Harrisburg. This epiphany in Lent, we're back 00:00:08.539 --> 00:00:11.000 in the Gospels, specifically the Gospel of Mark. 00:00:12.039 --> 00:00:14.660 We are seeing the revelation of God in Jesus. 00:00:15.140 --> 00:00:17.879 Mark is showing us the true King becomes a servant 00:00:17.879 --> 00:00:21.079 for us. He says right at the heart, the Son of 00:00:21.079 --> 00:00:24.420 Man came not to be served, but to serve and to 00:00:24.420 --> 00:00:28.530 give his life as a ransom for many. And Mark 00:00:28.530 --> 00:00:31.670 is nearly always asking his audience, what do 00:00:31.670 --> 00:00:36.530 you make of that? So, what do you make of this 00:00:36.530 --> 00:00:41.090 good news? We'd love to meet you and we hope 00:00:41.090 --> 00:00:43.189 you'll consider coming and joining with us each 00:00:43.189 --> 00:00:45.170 Sunday morning at 10 a .m. in the heart of Midtown 00:00:45.170 --> 00:00:48.009 Harrisburg. You can find us online at secondcitychurch 00:00:48.009 --> 00:00:50.390 .org and on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. 00:00:51.189 --> 00:00:55.530 We hope you enjoy this sermon. God bless. Let's 00:00:55.530 --> 00:00:58.829 pray. Lord, we bless you this morning. We are 00:00:58.829 --> 00:01:02.070 so glad to be in your house and to hear again 00:01:02.070 --> 00:01:04.629 this central story to our faith that the tomb 00:01:04.629 --> 00:01:07.909 is empty. Jesus, you conquered death, you conquered 00:01:07.909 --> 00:01:11.189 sin, you conquered Satan by rising from the from 00:01:11.189 --> 00:01:15.269 the dead. The very curse that is upon humanity 00:01:15.269 --> 00:01:19.129 on this earth because of sin, you have reversed 00:01:19.129 --> 00:01:22.450 because of righteousness. The righteous one dying 00:01:22.450 --> 00:01:25.379 for the unrighteous. God, I pray their hearts 00:01:25.379 --> 00:01:30.799 to be lifted up in astonishment and amazement 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:33.840 that maybe even like these women we might have 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:39.579 a degree of holy fear and awe, wonder at what 00:01:39.579 --> 00:01:45.060 God has done. God bless us now today as we contemplate 00:01:45.060 --> 00:01:49.480 this story again, story of all stories, the risen 00:01:49.480 --> 00:01:56.040 Christ in whose name we pray. Amen. All right 00:01:56.040 --> 00:01:58.739 Some of you may know that there has been some 00:01:58.739 --> 00:02:02.099 controversy Around the new Snow White movie and 00:02:02.099 --> 00:02:03.879 you are all thinking right now. Why is he starting 00:02:03.879 --> 00:02:08.099 a Easter sermon like that? Well, I hope it I 00:02:08.099 --> 00:02:12.259 hope it'll eventually make sense. We'll see It's 00:02:12.259 --> 00:02:14.340 true. There's some controversy around it. It 00:02:14.340 --> 00:02:19.039 had a budget of 218 million and it only Made 00:02:19.039 --> 00:02:24.879 42 million its opening weekend sad It's almost 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:28.379 certainly going to be a financial flop. Rotten 00:02:28.379 --> 00:02:30.199 tomatoes, for those of you who are abreast of 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:36.240 these things, currently it's at 39%. The IMBD 00:02:36.240 --> 00:02:41.219 rating is 1 .6 out of 10. That's actually less 00:02:41.219 --> 00:02:45.580 than half of rotten tomatoes. And Google has 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:50.460 it at 6%. Poor casting choices. These are some 00:02:50.460 --> 00:02:53.199 of the reasons politically motivated CGI characters 00:02:53.199 --> 00:02:55.800 harmful racial stereotypes It's too simplistic. 00:02:55.800 --> 00:02:58.080 It's too predictable. It lacks suspense. It lacked 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:02.319 emotional depth It seems as though the controversy 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:04.580 was mostly around people saying it's just so 00:03:04.580 --> 00:03:10.780 bad But not like a bad evil way, you know just 00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:14.400 bad Poorly done and I don't know. I didn't see 00:03:14.400 --> 00:03:18.180 it. I don't I don't know Okay. We did though, 00:03:18.300 --> 00:03:19.719 a couple weeks ago we were down in Richmond, 00:03:19.879 --> 00:03:22.960 Virginia. We were down there for my niece's bridal 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:24.419 shower and we were hanging out with some friends 00:03:24.419 --> 00:03:26.520 and one of our friends went to go see it with 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:29.620 her daughter and they loved it. And she had a 00:03:29.620 --> 00:03:31.400 theory about why it's gotten such bad reviews. 00:03:31.479 --> 00:03:34.199 I thought it was kind of interesting. So I'm 00:03:34.199 --> 00:03:36.099 always thinking like, what can I share in a sermon? 00:03:36.360 --> 00:03:40.620 I put this one away. And she said, you know, 00:03:40.639 --> 00:03:43.000 I don't know if it's so bad or if we just live 00:03:43.000 --> 00:03:45.560 in a world where you can review anything and 00:03:45.560 --> 00:03:48.340 we are so polarized that we take any and every 00:03:48.340 --> 00:03:51.159 opportunity, just lambast anything we do not 00:03:51.159 --> 00:03:53.300 like or doesn't fit into our narrative or whatever 00:03:53.300 --> 00:03:55.340 you have you. And so she was saying, you know, 00:03:55.340 --> 00:03:57.180 I'm not sure that it's so much of a reflection 00:03:57.180 --> 00:04:01.500 of something so poorly done as rather, it's the 00:04:01.500 --> 00:04:06.159 poor state of people. That in fact, we are bad. 00:04:08.020 --> 00:04:12.599 To be honest. don't know By the way, there's 00:04:12.599 --> 00:04:18.279 controversy because it's so bad And I don't know 00:04:18.279 --> 00:04:19.759 if that has to do with how bad the movie is or 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:24.720 just how bad we are but it's bad Some of you 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:26.800 know that the original Snow White and the seven 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:32.759 dwarves Came out in the year 1937 it actually 00:04:32.759 --> 00:04:35.800 came out in December right before Christmas they 00:04:35.800 --> 00:04:38.879 knew all the way back when when to release certain 00:04:38.879 --> 00:04:43.759 things. Three months prior to that, another great, 00:04:43.819 --> 00:04:47.920 maybe the greatest fantasy was released. The 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:51.540 book The Hobbit by J .R .R. Tolkien came out 00:04:51.540 --> 00:04:55.180 just months apart, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves 00:04:55.180 --> 00:05:00.000 and the Hobbit. We know that Snow White was released 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:03.819 actually in Great Britain in 1938 and Tolkien 00:05:03.819 --> 00:05:07.160 went to go see it. and he went to go see it with 00:05:07.160 --> 00:05:11.560 his good buddy, C .S. Lewis, and went to go see 00:05:11.560 --> 00:05:14.120 Snow White together when it was released in England. 00:05:14.579 --> 00:05:16.819 I would have loved to have just watched them 00:05:16.819 --> 00:05:23.819 watch it. I'll just say this, they didn't really 00:05:23.819 --> 00:05:28.600 like it. Lewis wrote this, dwarves ought to be 00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:35.560 ugly, of course, but not that way. He said of 00:05:35.560 --> 00:05:39.279 Snow White, they had bloated, drunken, low -comedy 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:46.199 faces. I like those little guys. Sounds a little 00:05:46.199 --> 00:05:49.480 bit like a Reddit review. But keep in mind, these 00:05:49.480 --> 00:05:54.800 were the authorities of fantasy. Tolkien, he 00:05:54.800 --> 00:05:58.899 used words like loathing, vulgarity, corruption, 00:05:59.660 --> 00:06:06.889 disgust, nausea to describe Snow White. Now, 00:06:06.889 --> 00:06:09.970 writing about Walt Disney particularly, he said 00:06:09.970 --> 00:06:20.949 that he was hopelessly corrupted. I'm going to 00:06:20.949 --> 00:06:26.050 get it together here. He wrote, though in most 00:06:26.050 --> 00:06:29.329 of the pictures proceeding from his studios, 00:06:29.639 --> 00:06:33.480 There are admirable or charming passages. The 00:06:33.480 --> 00:06:36.480 effect of them, of all of them to me is disgusting. 00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:42.879 Some of them have given me nausea. Oh dear me, 00:06:42.899 --> 00:06:48.540 I got to get together now. One of the articles 00:06:48.540 --> 00:06:50.560 that I read, this wasn't a quote, but one of 00:06:50.560 --> 00:06:52.839 the articles that I read said that Lewis expressed 00:06:52.839 --> 00:06:57.279 surprise, surprise that anything, anything human 00:06:57.279 --> 00:07:03.620 could be so bad. And so good. But here's what's 00:07:03.620 --> 00:07:05.620 interesting is that their response actually had 00:07:05.620 --> 00:07:10.680 to do with the way the bad was portrayed and 00:07:10.680 --> 00:07:15.540 the way the good was portrayed. Meaning that 00:07:15.540 --> 00:07:19.939 the bad wasn't quite bad enough. And the good 00:07:19.939 --> 00:07:24.699 was sort of sloppy good. You know, slapstick 00:07:24.699 --> 00:07:28.060 humor of the dwarves, sing -songiness, names 00:07:28.060 --> 00:07:36.350 like Dobie. Not honestly good, makeup good. Not 00:07:36.350 --> 00:07:42.170 honestly bad, kind of makeup bad. They said that 00:07:42.170 --> 00:07:44.569 Disney's took the real bad out of the story. 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:47.560 Tolkien, you may know, wrote an essay. I'd encourage 00:07:47.560 --> 00:07:49.620 you to read it in 1947. It's called On Fairy 00:07:49.620 --> 00:07:52.139 Stories. And in that, he actually says, the association 00:07:52.139 --> 00:07:54.740 of children and fairy stories is an accident 00:07:54.740 --> 00:07:57.579 of our domestic history. He says, in some ways, 00:07:57.639 --> 00:08:00.699 what's happened is they've domesticized fantasy 00:08:00.699 --> 00:08:03.920 and fairy stories, dumbing it down in a way, 00:08:04.180 --> 00:08:07.300 making the bad not so bad and the good not so 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:11.079 honestly good. You probably know that Snow White 00:08:11.079 --> 00:08:13.939 came from one of the great Stories of the Brothers 00:08:13.939 --> 00:08:16.360 Grimm written in 18 or published at least in 00:08:16.360 --> 00:08:20.500 1812 And I think you ought to hear actually just 00:08:20.500 --> 00:08:23.839 how bad the bad is in the original Snow White 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:30.399 You may remember that That's the stepmother the 00:08:30.399 --> 00:08:33.480 witch figure there, you know, she tells the huntsman 00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:36.740 bring back the heart in a box That's not the 00:08:36.740 --> 00:08:38.559 original. In fact, this is what she says to the 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:40.929 huntsman originally Take Snow White out to the 00:08:40.929 --> 00:08:42.950 woods I never want to see her again kill her 00:08:42.950 --> 00:08:45.330 and as proof that she is dead bring her lungs 00:08:45.330 --> 00:08:51.950 and her liver back to me Yeah, yeah, that's bad 00:08:51.950 --> 00:08:57.590 And this is how she dies at the end she doesn't 00:08:57.590 --> 00:09:00.309 just fall because of some rocks this is the quote 00:09:00.309 --> 00:09:03.460 from the original Then they put a pair of iron 00:09:03.460 --> 00:09:06.379 shoes into burning coals. They were brought forth 00:09:06.379 --> 00:09:09.700 with tongs and placed before her. She was forced 00:09:09.700 --> 00:09:13.559 to step into the red hot shoes and dance until 00:09:13.559 --> 00:09:17.279 she fell down dead. You're not laughing now, 00:09:17.379 --> 00:09:23.659 are you? That's bad. It's evil. The good, their 00:09:23.659 --> 00:09:27.279 critique was, was not good enough. It's not bad 00:09:27.279 --> 00:09:35.970 enough. Dopeyness. In the way, they would say 00:09:35.970 --> 00:09:38.429 the good was sort of a sappy and a shallow kind 00:09:38.429 --> 00:09:44.870 of good. Said you have the Shire against Mordor, 00:09:45.450 --> 00:09:49.830 right? It's the word. If Gandalf against Sauron. 00:09:50.970 --> 00:09:52.950 I want to suggest to you this warning rather 00:09:52.950 --> 00:09:55.690 quickly, but I want to suggest to you that part 00:09:55.690 --> 00:10:00.789 of the controversy around Christianity is actually 00:10:00.970 --> 00:10:05.049 How much it says the bad is really bad, and how 00:10:05.049 --> 00:10:08.370 much it says the good is actually deeply, unbelievably 00:10:08.370 --> 00:10:14.590 good. It's a true fantasy. The bad's really bad. 00:10:15.269 --> 00:10:17.029 We've been in the Gospel of Mark together as 00:10:17.029 --> 00:10:19.210 a church this year, and so I thought, okay, our 00:10:19.210 --> 00:10:21.029 resurrection text this morning is gonna be from 00:10:21.029 --> 00:10:23.929 Mark, so that's what we have before us. And one 00:10:23.929 --> 00:10:25.929 of the things I want you to see is actually this 00:10:25.929 --> 00:10:29.009 dynamic of how Mark seeks to really focus in 00:10:29.009 --> 00:10:33.879 on on the bad for us, and then how he shows us 00:10:33.879 --> 00:10:36.139 the good. And a lot of this, this happens a lot 00:10:36.139 --> 00:10:37.899 when we're reading Mark, is he gives these little 00:10:37.899 --> 00:10:40.240 details, and often it's in those details that 00:10:40.240 --> 00:10:44.559 we actually are able to see well the text. We 00:10:44.559 --> 00:10:47.059 see some of these details of the badness first. 00:10:47.279 --> 00:10:49.480 First details that we see in our text this morning 00:10:49.480 --> 00:10:52.539 is actually, interestingly, sort of the Jewish 00:10:52.539 --> 00:10:55.559 observance of the Sabbath, but in the context 00:10:55.559 --> 00:10:58.240 of Roman subservience, the Jewish subservience 00:10:58.240 --> 00:11:00.799 to the Roman rule. So verse 42, if you look down 00:11:00.799 --> 00:11:02.419 there, it says, when evening came, since it was 00:11:02.419 --> 00:11:04.480 the day of preparation, that's the day before 00:11:04.480 --> 00:11:07.220 Sabbath. It sort of highlights for you, okay, 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:09.360 it's this Jewish context that's taking place, 00:11:09.500 --> 00:11:12.470 and then it jumps in. Joseph of Amherstia respected 00:11:12.470 --> 00:11:14.590 member of council who was also himself looking 00:11:14.590 --> 00:11:16.330 for the kingdom of God. Okay, you have this man 00:11:16.330 --> 00:11:18.870 He's living in this Jewish world. He's expectant 00:11:18.870 --> 00:11:22.169 for what God would do but says he took courage 00:11:22.169 --> 00:11:24.409 Meaning that even though he had a good amount 00:11:24.409 --> 00:11:26.409 of power. He's a member of the council. He certainly 00:11:26.409 --> 00:11:28.809 had Financial means like you wouldn't believe 00:11:28.809 --> 00:11:31.409 he's able to carve this great tomb out of the 00:11:31.409 --> 00:11:35.289 rock. He has to take courage because why? He 00:11:35.289 --> 00:11:38.970 has to go and ask just simply for a body from 00:11:38.970 --> 00:11:44.480 the Roman ruler Roman ruler for a dead body. 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:46.440 What these details are telling us is that the 00:11:46.440 --> 00:11:49.860 bad is actually really bad. Why? Because here's 00:11:49.860 --> 00:11:52.320 what's going on. The Jewish story was telling 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:54.840 us and told the Jews that really the whole hope 00:11:54.840 --> 00:11:57.639 of the world was on this, that God was going 00:11:57.639 --> 00:12:01.240 to act through the Jewish story, Jewish people, 00:12:01.480 --> 00:12:03.840 for the blessing of the whole world. I mean, 00:12:03.840 --> 00:12:05.940 if you go back to the beginning, right? We look 00:12:05.940 --> 00:12:09.100 at this this fall actually. If you go back to 00:12:09.100 --> 00:12:12.000 Genesis and you see just how awful things are. 00:12:11.980 --> 00:12:14.559 You know the original sin of the fathers goes 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:16.379 to the next chapter where a brother kills his 00:12:16.379 --> 00:12:19.419 brother and uncles are vying and his power struggles 00:12:19.419 --> 00:12:21.500 then things are so bad that the flood happens 00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:22.940 and they're so bad they're rebelling against 00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:26.120 God the towers is of Babel's bill and then says 00:12:26.120 --> 00:12:28.519 I've got to do something about just how bad this 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:34.639 is Abraham I'm gonna bless you and through your 00:12:34.639 --> 00:12:39.259 offspring all the nations of the world are going 00:12:39.259 --> 00:12:41.480 to be blessed That's the story of Israel that 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:44.519 they are living too. And what happens right here 00:12:44.519 --> 00:12:47.259 is we are reminded yet once again that simply 00:12:47.259 --> 00:12:51.799 enough, can I just bury this body of this Jewish 00:12:51.799 --> 00:12:55.200 rabbi, this teacher, and you know what? You can't 00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:57.940 just do that because you are under the heavy 00:12:57.940 --> 00:13:03.799 thumb of Rome. It's bad. The hope of the world 00:13:03.799 --> 00:13:08.440 seems totally gone. It is bad. But Really, actually, 00:13:08.440 --> 00:13:11.440 it's the next details that give us a greater 00:13:11.440 --> 00:13:14.879 sense. And that's because the next details, especially 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:17.120 in light of just hearing about Pilate, tells 00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:21.539 that an innocent man is dead. So, you know, I 00:13:21.539 --> 00:13:23.539 just mentioned that Joseph of Amithea, he goes 00:13:23.539 --> 00:13:26.200 to Pilate. But here's an interesting thing. If 00:13:26.200 --> 00:13:28.320 you keep Pilate in mind, what you might remember 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:30.679 is that in the Gospel of John and in the Gospel 00:13:30.679 --> 00:13:33.860 of Luke, Pilate actually tells us twice in John 00:13:33.860 --> 00:13:37.200 and once in Luke, this man's done nothing wrong. 00:13:39.079 --> 00:13:41.019 That's the pilot. We're supposed to be remembering 00:13:41.019 --> 00:13:44.840 that. And actually in the Gospel of Matthew, 00:13:44.960 --> 00:13:46.860 what we learn if we read the Gospel of Matthew, 00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:49.679 what we find is that his wife even has this dream 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:52.580 and she says, don't deal with this man. He's 00:13:52.580 --> 00:13:55.940 innocent. Don't engage with him. So the pilot 00:13:55.940 --> 00:13:57.659 story should be going on in our minds. We're 00:13:57.659 --> 00:14:01.799 thinking, here's an innocent man. An innocent 00:14:01.799 --> 00:14:04.799 man that is put to death. But actually what's 00:14:04.799 --> 00:14:08.259 really kind of wild is that Mark seems to just 00:14:08.269 --> 00:14:13.490 beat into us this fact that he is dead. He's 00:14:13.490 --> 00:14:16.370 dead. Listen to this again. If you want to look 00:14:16.370 --> 00:14:17.870 down, you can follow along with me, but you can 00:14:17.870 --> 00:14:20.269 also just listen to it. This is verse 44 and 00:14:20.269 --> 00:14:26.210 verse 45. Pilate, again, keep all that in mind, 00:14:26.690 --> 00:14:30.110 mentioned twice, the end of 33 and 44, trying 00:14:30.110 --> 00:14:32.110 to help us keep in mind Pilate's position on 00:14:32.110 --> 00:14:37.039 all this. Pilate was surprised to hear that he 00:14:37.039 --> 00:14:42.139 should have already died. And summoning the centurion, 00:14:42.480 --> 00:14:45.919 he asked him whether he was already dead. And 00:14:45.919 --> 00:14:48.440 when he learned from the centurion that he was 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:52.500 dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. Now, of 00:14:52.500 --> 00:14:54.500 course, there's a way to write that that doesn't 00:14:54.500 --> 00:14:57.120 emphasize this, right? He was surprised that 00:14:57.120 --> 00:14:58.899 he should have already died and summoning the 00:14:58.899 --> 00:15:01.840 centurion, he asked him, was it true? And when 00:15:01.840 --> 00:15:03.700 he learned from the centurion that it was true, 00:15:04.139 --> 00:15:08.399 what's Mark doing for us? Mark is saying, this 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:13.899 innocent man died. There is no question. Pilate 00:15:13.899 --> 00:15:16.159 adopted it. He says, wait, go check it out. He 00:15:16.159 --> 00:15:18.100 checks it out. He's like, yes, you have to confirm 00:15:18.100 --> 00:15:21.080 it. And Mark again and again is telling us, this 00:15:21.080 --> 00:15:26.029 man died. Don't think it's, you know. Figma of 00:15:26.029 --> 00:15:28.970 your imagination just wishful thinking some you 00:15:28.970 --> 00:15:33.710 know story that's kind of made up The bad is 00:15:33.710 --> 00:15:37.710 bad in the Bible the innocent man the only innocent 00:15:37.710 --> 00:15:45.710 man goes to death in the Bible We continue on 00:15:45.710 --> 00:15:52.110 what we find is The death actually of hopes and 00:15:52.110 --> 00:15:54.690 dreams for the kingdom of God, it's kind of interesting 00:15:55.750 --> 00:16:00.590 So if we continue on, sorry, in verse 45 and 00:16:00.590 --> 00:16:03.110 46, again, remember 43 and 44, you have Pilate 00:16:03.110 --> 00:16:05.389 mentioned at the end of 43 and then at the end 00:16:05.389 --> 00:16:07.750 of 44 to give context for those. Well, at the 00:16:07.750 --> 00:16:10.149 end of 45 and the beginning of 46, Joseph again 00:16:10.149 --> 00:16:12.450 is mentioned. He's actually mentioned three times 00:16:12.450 --> 00:16:16.549 in the story of Arimathea. So verse 45, you know, 00:16:16.549 --> 00:16:18.629 when he learned from the centurion that he was 00:16:18.629 --> 00:16:21.450 dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph 00:16:21.450 --> 00:16:25.019 brought a linen shroud and taken with him. Listen 00:16:25.019 --> 00:16:27.059 to this, all the details. He bottled it in shroud, 00:16:27.480 --> 00:16:29.759 taking him down, wrapping him in linen shroud. 00:16:29.860 --> 00:16:33.039 He laid him in a tomb. Joseph is doing all these 00:16:33.039 --> 00:16:35.299 things. He buys the thing, he takes him down, 00:16:35.440 --> 00:16:38.559 he wraps him, he lays him. And what do we know 00:16:38.559 --> 00:16:42.220 about Joseph? Well, what we'd first heard about 00:16:42.220 --> 00:16:44.700 him, he was a respected member of the council 00:16:44.700 --> 00:16:49.879 who was looking for the kingdom of God. Which 00:16:49.879 --> 00:16:55.059 is to say, That for this man in this little detail 00:16:55.059 --> 00:16:58.279 that we're given is that in this story the hopes 00:16:58.279 --> 00:17:00.940 are dashed We actually have another great story 00:17:00.940 --> 00:17:04.079 in Luke 24 that we're gonna see next week But 00:17:04.079 --> 00:17:07.200 the hopes are dashed your greatest desire got 00:17:07.200 --> 00:17:09.299 to act in the world, right? It was looking for 00:17:09.299 --> 00:17:15.339 the kingdom of God Gone What I'm saying to you 00:17:15.339 --> 00:17:17.720 is that this story that we have in the Bible 00:17:17.720 --> 00:17:22.099 is not glossing over things It's not dumbing 00:17:22.099 --> 00:17:27.079 down the tragedy, the evil, the badness of it 00:17:27.079 --> 00:17:29.099 all. It's sort of putting it right in our face. 00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:36.759 This is bad. As if to continue on, what we have 00:17:36.759 --> 00:17:41.140 here is next is we have the Mary's. Some of you 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:43.019 might have noticed in verse 47, it says Mary 00:17:43.019 --> 00:17:46.619 the mother of Joses. The second part of that 00:17:46.619 --> 00:17:48.420 says Mary the mother of James. To be honest, 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:50.019 we don't know if those are the same people or 00:17:50.019 --> 00:17:53.079 not. They're the Marys. There's quite a few Marys 00:17:53.079 --> 00:17:56.619 in the story. If you're really interested, I 00:17:56.619 --> 00:17:59.779 shouldn't get into it. The mother in 47, that 00:17:59.779 --> 00:18:02.079 word is not necessarily there. It's kind of debated. 00:18:02.220 --> 00:18:04.039 I'm not going to get into that. Here's the point 00:18:04.039 --> 00:18:07.440 with the Marys. They prepare these embalming 00:18:07.440 --> 00:18:10.019 spices. Why are they doing this? Why would they 00:18:10.019 --> 00:18:14.460 do this? But because the body is going to stink. 00:18:15.309 --> 00:18:17.269 There's no question in their mind that their 00:18:17.269 --> 00:18:19.849 great loved one, who they spent all these years 00:18:19.849 --> 00:18:27.630 with, Mary, her son, who heard the angel Gabriel 00:18:27.630 --> 00:18:31.450 long ago, say what God was going to do in and 00:18:31.450 --> 00:18:38.490 through her, preparing spices, because her son's 00:18:38.490 --> 00:18:44.609 body is going to rot. There is no glossing over 00:18:44.599 --> 00:18:50.099 the evil, the bad, the fact of death, the effect 00:18:50.099 --> 00:18:52.779 of sin in this world. It doesn't happen in this 00:18:52.779 --> 00:18:57.440 story. Of course, there's also a theological 00:18:57.440 --> 00:18:59.619 description that's taking place in all of this. 00:19:00.700 --> 00:19:04.220 The evil in the world and the sin of the world 00:19:04.220 --> 00:19:08.980 are so bad that the innocent must die. That the 00:19:08.980 --> 00:19:11.880 God man, right, proclaimed to Mary long ago, 00:19:12.000 --> 00:19:16.559 must actually be put inside a tomb. Must expire 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:22.700 Your sin demands the very death of God That's 00:19:22.700 --> 00:19:30.259 how bad it is so wrong it is And I would guess 00:19:30.259 --> 00:19:34.619 that today there may be some of you who Don't 00:19:34.619 --> 00:19:37.619 think much of the Christian story. Maybe maybe 00:19:37.619 --> 00:19:42.559 you don't buy it Just just allow this this little 00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:46.400 bit to challenge you today That at least Christianity 00:19:46.400 --> 00:19:50.180 doesn't gloss over the ugly Because you all know 00:19:50.180 --> 00:19:55.519 I know how bad this world is So fraught with 00:19:55.519 --> 00:19:58.339 not just not just wars between countries but 00:19:58.339 --> 00:20:02.740 wars in our hearts wars in our families We know 00:20:02.740 --> 00:20:05.599 how ugly the world is Christianity doesn't pass 00:20:05.599 --> 00:20:11.039 over that as though it's nothing Now, here is 00:20:11.039 --> 00:20:14.519 the very death of God, how wrong the world really 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:19.519 is. But it is also in this context that the good 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:24.380 shines. That the good is not a good of slapstick 00:20:24.380 --> 00:20:31.640 humor and dopey dwarves and all that. If this 00:20:31.640 --> 00:20:34.559 story tells us how bad the bad is, it is also 00:20:34.559 --> 00:20:36.960 so deeply concerned with how much we know the 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:44.599 good. You know, your Bibles seem to have the 00:20:44.599 --> 00:20:47.779 turning point in chapter 16, verse 1. That doesn't 00:20:47.779 --> 00:20:50.740 seem to fit as well, I don't think. I think it 00:20:50.740 --> 00:20:52.539 should start in verse 2, okay? So let me just 00:20:52.539 --> 00:20:55.160 read to you just the beginning of verse 2. Actually, 00:20:55.900 --> 00:21:00.200 yeah, let me read to you most of verse 2. And 00:21:00.200 --> 00:21:05.759 very early, on the first day of the week, when 00:21:05.759 --> 00:21:12.029 the sun had risen, Did you get that just just 00:21:12.029 --> 00:21:15.329 those few little things very early? first day 00:21:15.329 --> 00:21:18.329 of the week When the Sun had risen it is almost 00:21:18.329 --> 00:21:21.069 as though you're saying mark himself is saying 00:21:21.069 --> 00:21:27.589 wait a sec You thought You thought the bad is 00:21:27.589 --> 00:21:31.470 just gonna gonna make it You thought that it 00:21:31.470 --> 00:21:34.549 was just gonna be always as bad as you have always 00:21:34.549 --> 00:21:39.890 experienced Something is about to happen I mean, 00:21:39.930 --> 00:21:42.069 just these details that Mark gives us almost 00:21:42.069 --> 00:21:48.309 want us to go, wait, what's going on? Something 00:21:48.309 --> 00:21:51.930 new is breaking in. The embalming spices aren't 00:21:51.930 --> 00:21:55.690 needed. And then consider the next deal, the 00:21:55.690 --> 00:21:57.950 stone. It's almost as though Mark again is saying, 00:21:58.750 --> 00:22:01.769 wait, something is happening. Never expected. 00:22:01.789 --> 00:22:06.569 It's the impossible. Verse three and four. And 00:22:06.569 --> 00:22:10.140 they were saying to one another, You know the 00:22:10.140 --> 00:22:11.579 sort of things you say when you walk along the 00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:14.500 side of the road Who will roll away the stone 00:22:14.500 --> 00:22:19.539 for the tomb? In a sense of how grand it was 00:22:19.539 --> 00:22:24.339 and how secure it was Verse four and looking 00:22:24.339 --> 00:22:29.420 up they saw the stone had been rolled back and 00:22:29.420 --> 00:22:32.059 Mark wants you to see just how good it is and 00:22:32.059 --> 00:22:35.019 how wild it is and how unexpected Expected it 00:22:35.019 --> 00:22:39.809 is it was very large What a simple statement. 00:22:41.009 --> 00:22:44.029 You would have never guessed it. You'd have never 00:22:44.029 --> 00:22:47.809 guessed it. It was very large. Something new 00:22:47.809 --> 00:22:50.829 is breaking in. The impossible is happening. 00:22:51.029 --> 00:22:56.230 The good is beyond what we would imagine. And 00:22:56.230 --> 00:22:59.589 then there's the young man. Verse five, entering 00:22:59.589 --> 00:23:01.549 the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the 00:23:01.549 --> 00:23:04.529 right side dressed in a white robe and they were 00:23:04.529 --> 00:23:07.180 alarmed. which I just thought is so wild. It's 00:23:07.180 --> 00:23:10.019 almost like the good is so good that he's peaceful 00:23:10.019 --> 00:23:19.299 about it. And he said to them, do not be alarmed. 00:23:19.799 --> 00:23:23.000 You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. 00:23:24.619 --> 00:23:29.119 He has risen. He's not here. See the place where 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:34.559 they laid him. The bat, he's crucified. See the 00:23:34.559 --> 00:23:40.099 place where they laid him But the good and oh 00:23:40.099 --> 00:23:45.180 how good how unexpectedly good he's risen The 00:23:45.180 --> 00:23:48.519 tears that were flowing Right the world that 00:23:48.519 --> 00:23:50.960 we live in where it just seems incessant the 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:56.400 wrong that happens The evil Empire crushing the 00:23:56.400 --> 00:24:01.920 one ever to have lived he's risen he's not here 00:24:02.250 --> 00:24:09.269 He's gone ahead you golly Of course trembling 00:24:09.269 --> 00:24:11.289 and astonishment and fear grab a hold of them 00:24:11.289 --> 00:24:17.809 right of course Here is true fantasy But the 00:24:17.809 --> 00:24:22.329 best the best fantasy the bad is not merely a 00:24:22.329 --> 00:24:29.109 little bad It's awful horrendous and the good 00:24:29.109 --> 00:24:32.519 is oh so beautiful You know the controversy around 00:24:32.519 --> 00:24:35.700 us and the resurrection the controversy still 00:24:35.700 --> 00:24:41.599 Is that the cross declares to us that things 00:24:41.599 --> 00:24:45.279 are even worse than you thought actually I mean 00:24:45.279 --> 00:24:50.220 the God man had to become Human and actually 00:24:50.220 --> 00:24:52.900 die an innocent death in the worst way possible 00:24:52.900 --> 00:24:57.619 on the cross God Himself, that's what sin demanded 00:24:57.619 --> 00:25:01.710 the torture and the affliction of God in the 00:25:01.710 --> 00:25:04.670 flesh. It's way, I mean this is the offense of 00:25:04.670 --> 00:25:08.210 the cross. You are way worse than you think. 00:25:09.950 --> 00:25:14.049 Part of its controversy. Of course part of its 00:25:14.049 --> 00:25:18.910 controversy is also, also is that the empty tomb 00:25:18.910 --> 00:25:24.950 and the cross declare to you how wild, how amazing, 00:25:25.329 --> 00:25:31.690 how unimaginably great God's grace is. unbelievable 00:25:31.690 --> 00:25:35.410 the stone was large the boy was just sitting 00:25:35.410 --> 00:25:44.529 there he is not here he's risen you see if Jesus 00:25:44.529 --> 00:25:50.990 didn't die well then maybe God is just shrugging 00:25:50.990 --> 00:25:55.069 off evil maybe if he doesn't come he's not thinking 00:25:55.069 --> 00:25:58.289 it's much of a big deal you know Maybe we can 00:25:58.289 --> 00:26:03.549 have a tame evil stepmother who just puts the 00:26:03.549 --> 00:26:06.170 heart in the box. You don't have to face actually 00:26:06.170 --> 00:26:15.049 what happened. If Jesus did die, then we can't 00:26:15.049 --> 00:26:21.710 do that. We can't shrug things off. You're not 00:26:21.710 --> 00:26:26.210 invited. You shouldn't dismiss the trolls. and 00:26:26.210 --> 00:26:31.089 the wurakai, right? Or just simply turn a blind 00:26:31.089 --> 00:26:34.789 eye to the power hungry, the money grabbers, 00:26:36.009 --> 00:26:38.950 people that have hurt you, ways you've hurt others, 00:26:39.710 --> 00:26:41.589 the sin that has been inflicted on you and the 00:26:41.589 --> 00:26:44.329 sin that you've done to others. You are not invited 00:26:44.329 --> 00:26:47.170 to turn a blind eye to that, because God has 00:26:47.170 --> 00:26:52.230 not done so. People is evil. We don't have to 00:26:52.230 --> 00:26:58.410 dismiss what has happened to us. Jesus had to 00:26:58.410 --> 00:27:02.609 die and he did die, then it is God's own declaration 00:27:02.609 --> 00:27:06.190 of just how bad things are, how awful the world 00:27:06.190 --> 00:27:10.109 really is. But if that's true, as Christianity 00:27:10.109 --> 00:27:15.190 says it is, the fact that Jesus rose from the 00:27:15.190 --> 00:27:18.549 dead, the fact that he says he is risen, he's 00:27:18.549 --> 00:27:23.589 not here, well that changes things too. Because 00:27:23.589 --> 00:27:25.730 that actually means that even into this world, 00:27:26.700 --> 00:27:30.140 In this world where the Empire is over the people 00:27:30.140 --> 00:27:34.240 of God with their heavy thumb Ultimately saying 00:27:34.240 --> 00:27:41.380 everything will be alright With you always I 00:27:41.380 --> 00:27:46.819 Have control of it all as we saying death cannot 00:27:46.819 --> 00:27:53.619 hold me down I've overcome I Will take you safely 00:27:53.619 --> 00:27:57.630 to myself if God in Christ raised from the dead. 00:27:57.769 --> 00:28:01.970 If He rose from the dead, that is true. That 00:28:01.970 --> 00:28:05.450 in the bleakest moments of your life, God is 00:28:05.450 --> 00:28:09.230 holding you, saying it will be all right. If 00:28:09.230 --> 00:28:11.349 I gave my life for you, if I conquered Satan 00:28:11.349 --> 00:28:15.529 and death for you, you are always secure in my 00:28:15.529 --> 00:28:20.410 love. Whatever pain cripples you, whatever fear 00:28:20.410 --> 00:28:23.950 overcomes you, whatever experience seems to cloud 00:28:23.950 --> 00:28:29.000 your judgment. Lord holds you in his hands All 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:34.660 of the bad is truly so bad But God says the good 00:28:34.660 --> 00:28:41.180 is beyond your imagination Let me try to wrap 00:28:41.180 --> 00:28:46.000 this up So at least some of you now know that 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:49.119 there's controversy around Snow White You all 00:28:49.119 --> 00:28:51.339 do now. I've declared it to you. It's true. You 00:28:51.339 --> 00:28:55.480 can look it up My guess is that some of you knew 00:28:55.480 --> 00:29:02.940 that. Some of you might also know that in Tolkien's 00:29:02.940 --> 00:29:06.900 great trilogy, Frodo, the great ring bearer, 00:29:07.079 --> 00:29:09.519 leaves with the fellowship. Actually, let me 00:29:09.519 --> 00:29:13.200 just ask this. What day do they leave from Rivendell? 00:29:17.140 --> 00:29:23.960 December 25th. Interesting. Do you know what 00:29:23.960 --> 00:29:28.480 day Frodo is at Mount Doom and destroys the ring? 00:29:32.059 --> 00:29:35.940 It's March 25th. That's interesting. Now let 00:29:35.940 --> 00:29:39.400 me put those things together for you. March 25th 00:29:39.400 --> 00:29:41.279 has been the day for most of the church's history 00:29:41.279 --> 00:29:42.619 that the church has celebrated what's called 00:29:42.619 --> 00:29:45.380 the Feast of the Annunciation. The Feast of the 00:29:45.380 --> 00:29:47.279 Annunciation is the day that we remember actually 00:29:47.279 --> 00:29:52.089 Gabriel coming and meeting there with Mary. the 00:29:52.089 --> 00:29:58.849 inception of Christ. And in the ancient world, 00:29:59.009 --> 00:30:00.710 and actually it's been believed for as long as 00:30:00.710 --> 00:30:03.609 we know, well in the ancient world a great prophet 00:30:03.609 --> 00:30:08.710 would die actually on the day of his conception. 00:30:10.609 --> 00:30:12.950 And so the church for a long, long time celebrated, 00:30:13.069 --> 00:30:16.230 it was March 25th. By the way, March 25th was 00:30:16.230 --> 00:30:19.049 also the day that for a long time, The new year 00:30:19.049 --> 00:30:21.630 began, because the new year began at the day 00:30:21.630 --> 00:30:25.630 of Christ's death. Anyway, for many years, people 00:30:25.630 --> 00:30:29.289 believed that March 25th was the day of that 00:30:29.289 --> 00:30:35.349 first Good Friday long ago. You see, what I'm 00:30:35.349 --> 00:30:37.329 saying is that, and you might know this actually, 00:30:37.430 --> 00:30:39.609 I hope you, gosh, this is kind of getting to 00:30:39.609 --> 00:30:42.690 the nerdy Lewis Tolkien kind of stuff. We've 00:30:42.690 --> 00:30:47.099 already gone there, so let's keep going. So if 00:30:47.099 --> 00:30:49.279 you know that Tolkien really didn't like actually 00:30:49.279 --> 00:30:51.519 he gave Lewis a really hard time for the Narnia 00:30:51.519 --> 00:30:57.359 books Because they were too explicit about Who 00:30:57.359 --> 00:31:03.180 Jesus is by the way, he's the lion And and he 00:31:03.180 --> 00:31:05.220 didn't like how explicitly was he thought fantasy 00:31:05.220 --> 00:31:09.400 should be hiding things more But you know what 00:31:09.400 --> 00:31:13.619 what Tolkien did is he had not the ring bearer 00:31:13.619 --> 00:31:16.799 Who was taking this ring of power, right? which 00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:19.799 is the ultimate sign of corruption and how it 00:31:19.799 --> 00:31:22.279 corrupt others hearts. But he actually has the 00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:29.339 cross bearer carrying this sign of power and 00:31:29.339 --> 00:31:33.220 corruption and sin and making his way not up 00:31:33.220 --> 00:31:38.119 Mount Doom, but up Mount Calvary. And what does 00:31:38.119 --> 00:31:41.539 he do is he crushes it. He destroys it there 00:31:41.539 --> 00:31:44.140 on the cross. And how do we know he does that? 00:31:44.140 --> 00:31:49.130 Because of the empty tomb. That's it That is 00:31:49.130 --> 00:31:52.170 the great fantasy told you that Lewis knew that 00:31:52.170 --> 00:31:55.609 I hope you know that and what it makes a great 00:31:55.609 --> 00:32:01.950 great story But it tells the truth The true account 00:32:01.950 --> 00:32:05.829 of the way the world is and You have to wrestle 00:32:05.829 --> 00:32:08.470 with that. Does your accounting of the world? 00:32:08.789 --> 00:32:11.730 Taking the consideration how truly awful things 00:32:11.730 --> 00:32:16.339 are And yet how deeply beautiful and hopeful 00:32:16.339 --> 00:32:22.720 things are. Friends, that is what we have in 00:32:22.720 --> 00:32:28.259 Easter. That is what we have in the cross. God's 00:32:28.259 --> 00:32:30.140 saying the bad is beyond what you could have 00:32:30.140 --> 00:32:33.579 thought. And the good is beyond what you would 00:32:33.579 --> 00:32:38.960 ever imagine. That is why we celebrate Easter. 00:32:39.420 --> 00:32:43.980 Let me pray for us. Lord God, Heaven. God we 00:32:43.980 --> 00:32:46.819 bless you that you are the one who took on Satan's 00:32:46.819 --> 00:32:49.319 sin and death perfectly on the cross that you 00:32:49.319 --> 00:32:53.259 destroyed the powers of this world That would 00:32:53.259 --> 00:32:58.460 weigh us down. It would cause such global catastrophe 00:32:58.460 --> 00:33:06.039 Take our hearts and twist them They would cause 00:33:06.039 --> 00:33:11.180 the likes of sour men to grab and to destroy 00:33:11.180 --> 00:33:15.359 goodness of the world and all the rest Lord how 00:33:15.359 --> 00:33:20.700 evil evil is and Yet Lord we are so delighted 00:33:20.700 --> 00:33:23.660 that you take that on that you don't brush it 00:33:23.660 --> 00:33:26.119 aside You go to the place where evil is most 00:33:26.119 --> 00:33:29.799 pronounced a Roman cross and you die there the 00:33:29.799 --> 00:33:33.579 innocent one for those who are guilty and You 00:33:33.579 --> 00:33:36.859 conquer Satan's sin and death in the resurrection 00:33:36.859 --> 00:33:39.880 or we bless you for this this morning. We praise 00:33:39.880 --> 00:33:42.920 you. We worship you we adored you and God, I 00:33:42.920 --> 00:33:45.920 pray that you lift our hearts to this reality. 00:33:46.940 --> 00:33:50.099 God, whether we have been following you for decades 00:33:50.099 --> 00:33:52.920 upon decades or whether this morning we're here 00:33:52.920 --> 00:33:55.019 and we don't know why we're here and we're not 00:33:55.019 --> 00:33:58.480 even sure we like being here, but God, I pray 00:33:58.480 --> 00:33:59.819 that you might move in our hearts a little bit 00:33:59.819 --> 00:34:02.420 to say, does my account of the world even make 00:34:02.420 --> 00:34:06.400 sense of these things? Challenge us with the 00:34:06.400 --> 00:34:09.820 cross and the empty tomb this morning. Do this 00:34:09.820 --> 00:34:12.849 great work and let's look. We bless you. We say 00:34:12.849 --> 00:34:15.750 hallelujah. Praise be to God for the great work 00:34:15.750 --> 00:34:21.590 you have done in whose name we pray. Amen. Thank 00:34:21.590 --> 00:34:23.829 you for listening to Second City Sermons podcast. 00:34:24.469 --> 00:34:26.309 We hope this sermon has encouraged you to worship 00:34:26.309 --> 00:34:29.630 God and to celebrate the gospel of Jesus. Please 00:34:29.630 --> 00:34:31.929 consider subscribing to this podcast and joining 00:34:31.929 --> 00:34:35.150 us in person each Sunday at 10 a .m. You can 00:34:35.150 --> 00:34:37.409 find us online at secondcitychurch .org and on 00:34:37.409 --> 00:34:40.449 Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Thanks again 00:34:40.449 --> 00:34:41.769 for listening. God bless.