And today we go to the New Testament book of
Mark. Mark is the second of the Gospels in the
New Testament. And we're going to go to the back
of the book because you always find the answers
in the back of the book. Mark chapter 16 and
we'll look at verses one through eight. As you
do that, Just by way of introduction, as we go
through this text, we should think about the
evidences for the resurrection because there
are a myriad of evidences for this. One of the
evidences for the truthfulness of the resurrection
is this right here. What we are doing right here,
right now on the first day of the week, remembering
the resurrection of Jesus, evidence of it that
more than 2 ,000 years ago Jesus was raised and
from then on Christians have met on the first
day of the week for the Christian Sabbath. Friends
today as I begin to read I want you to ponder
a statement that I saw just this morning from
a pastor named Samuel Lewis Johnson who said
the resurrection is God's amen. To Christ, it
is finished. Let's see this from Mark 16, one
through eight. When the Sabbath was passed, Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome,
bought spices so that they might go and anoint
him. And very early on the first day of the week,
when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.
And they were saying to one another, who will
roll away the stone for us from the entrance
of the tomb? And looking up, they saw that the
stone had been rolled back. It was very large.
And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting
on the right side dressed in a white robe. And
they were alarmed. 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. 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. 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. This is God's word. Let us pray.
Father we give you thanks for your word, which
is truth That it's a light to our path father
and I pray that you would light the way through
it Lord, we need your help We need the spirit's
help and understanding what is here to see the
truth of the resurrection and to give you praise
And so would you guide us we pray in Christ's
name. Amen. I Think that most of you if not all
of you know the hymn, Amazing Grace. It's a special
hymn, and within that hymn, there's this special
line that says, I was lost, but now am found,
was blind, but now I see. Some of you are getting
ready to sing it. I'm sure this is evident as
well, that you know that there's a connection
with that song to the prodigal son of Luke chapter
15. You remember the prodigal son? who demands
his inheritance and he leaves his father and
he goes to some distant land and he squanders
his inheritance and he's living poorly and then
he comes to his senses and says, you know, it
was better back home. And so he heads back home
and when he gets within viewing distance of his
father, his father does something extraordinary.
This dad runs to his son and he embraces him.
And the son's been thinking, I'll just plead
with my father that I can just be just a servant
in his house. But the father will have none of
that. Right. Why? Because he says, for this,
my son was dead and is alive again. He was lost,
but now he is found. That is a parable that is
taught by Jesus. But have you ever thought About
how that parable actually in a way Characterizes
Jesus in Between his death and his resurrection
most specifically on that first day when these
women they come to the tomb They come to find
Jesus, and he's not there It's the case of the
missing Messiah if you will And many of us have
heard this story this resurrection story over
and over and over again But today I want to invite
you to arrive at the tomb with the women. I want
you to put your feet into their sandals and think,
what would it have been like to get to the tomb
and for Jesus to not be there? Friends, the fact
that he is not there, this is the good news.
For if they arrive to find Jesus, Wrapped up
by Joseph of Arimathea, just like he was. If
they arrive to find Jesus laying there in the
tomb, heart not beating, lungs not moving air,
then this whole thing that we're doing right
here, right now is false. Without the resurrection,
this is all a lie. The apostle Paul said it like
this, if Jesus is still in the tomb, our preaching
and your faith is in vain. But no, friends, he
who is dead is now alive. And has there ever
been a better time to not find someone where
you thought they would be? No. This is, as some
have said, this is the fulcrum. the hinge of
redemptive history. It all hangs in the balance
on the resurrection. And that's what I want us
to see today mostly from verse six. We're gonna
hang out in verse six almost the whole time here
because the angel makes five statements within
this text to explain the resurrection to these
women. And so let's look at the first one there.
He said to them, do not be alarmed. Now, why
would they be alarmed? Havina, you had an angel
appear to you recently, right? They're alarmed
because there's an angel there instead of Jesus.
It's an unexpected sight for them. It's an unexpected
scene. You see, they were going there intent
on anointing the body of Jesus. The death, the
burial had happened too quickly. They didn't
have time. to get the spices applied to him.
And so the text says that they go there for this
very purpose. They really thought Jesus was going
to be in the tomb. It seems that Jesus' own words
had not fully sunk in for his disciples, even
though Jesus said in John 2, destroy this temple
and in three days I will raise it up. But we
even see this not just with the women, we see
this with the men as well. John and Peter, they
arrive at the tomb in John 20, and it says they
did not understand the scripture that Jesus must
rise from the dead. They didn't fully get it.
And yet, because the text says scripture there
in John 20, we might be asking ourselves, what
scripture? Is there an Old Testament text that
talks about the resurrection of Jesus? The points
ahead to that, absolutely there is. Resurrection
is not just a New Testament idea. The Old Testament
is looking forward to that. Consider Psalm 16,
verse 10. It says, you will not abandon my soul
to Sheol or let your Holy One's seed decay. The
word Sheol there communicates the grave. It communicates
death. You will not leave me there, it says.
But then you might say, well, How do I know that
this is talking about the resurrection of Jesus?
You know, because if you read Acts chapter two,
you see that Peter uses it as a proof text within
his sermon to talk about the resurrection of
Jesus. Peter does that. Paul does that. We do
see this in the Old Testament, such that... We
may land where Job does. Job at one point asks
a question, if a man dies, will he rise again?
And the answer is obviously yes. The answer is
yes, Jesus has risen. And these women, they get
there and they're like, what's going on? Do not
be alarmed though, the angel says. There is an
element to fear here. Do not be alarmed. Do not
fear. We actually see this quite often with angels
appearing to people. It all happens throughout
scripture. It happens when Gabriel appears to
Mary. It happens when the angels appear to the
shepherds. It's a signal. This do not be alarmed
is a signal that something critically important
is happening, right? So what is happening? Let's
look at statement number two you seek Jesus of
Nazareth who was crucified It's been said by
many There is no Easter Sunday without Good Friday,
right? In order to get the resurrection we have
to go through the crucifixion and the crucifixion
is where we see God's love for us most vividly
consider Romans Five, eight. He shows his love
for us and that while we are yet sinners, Christ
died for us. The cross, since I've quoted from
Romans, from Paul, the cross is Paul's central
theme when he preaches and when he teaches. Paul
never gets too far away from the cross. And the
reason for that is because Scripture never gets
too far away from the cross, right? Just as we
see resurrection in the Old Testament, we do
see the crucifixion in the Old Testament. Dalton's
already quoted from Isaiah 53. He was pierced
for our transgressions. He was crushed for our
sins. The chastisement that brought us peace
was upon him and by his wounds. We are healed.
And so Paul and the other writers of Scripture,
Never get too far away from the cross, for the
cross is where we see the story of redemption
happening. It's there in Psalm 22, the very words
that Jesus quotes on the cross, my God, my God,
why have you forsaken me? It's Jesus telling
his disciples over and over again that he would
be crucified and that he would rise again on
the third day. And yet when we think about the
cross, it's difficult, isn't it? For on one hand,
it's the instrument that God uses to sacrifice
his one and only begotten son, and so we love
that, we appreciate that, but we also hate that
our Savior had to go to the cross. Our hearts
ache even thinking about that. But friends, as
Vance Havner says, a crossless Christ would mean
no more. than a Christless cross, it must go
through the cross in order to get this statement
number three. Still in verse six, he has risen.
The Greek word here is hegerthe. He has risen.
And you might look at this and you might look
at scripture and you say, how was he raised?
Who raised Jesus from the dead? Was it God, the
father? The answer to that is yes. Galatians
chapter one, verse one says God, the father who
raised him from the dead. So God did it. But
at other times, like in John 10, verse 18, we
see I have authority to lay it down and authority
to take it up again, which means it sounds like
Jesus can raise himself. But then there's also
the Spirit, not to be forgotten, Romans 8 verse
11, the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the
dead. And so who raised Jesus? Was it the Father?
Was it the Son? Was it the Holy Spirit? The answer
is clearly, yes. The entire Trinity is involved
in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
This is the Trinity's miracle. And isn't there
also then a parallel to our salvation? The entire
Trinity, the entire Godhead is involved in your
salvation. This is put too simply, but maybe
we can remember it. The Father elects, the Son
atones, and the Spirit regenerates. Yes, the
entire Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,
all involved in saving you. And so Jesus is raised.
Look at statement number four. The angel says,
he is not here. He's not here. Why? Because tombs
are for the dead and Jesus is alive. Jesus has
no need for the tomb anymore. He's not going
back inside there. It's very much what like Luke
24, five says, why do you seek the living among
the dead? And it's at this point for these women
and it's this point as we see in other Gospels
for the disciples that the light bulb goes on.
And some of them remember what Jesus said, that
he must rise on the third day. It's like they've
forgotten what he taught. But friends, don't
ever forget the resurrection. Don't ever forget
the resurrection. It seems that we preach and
teach a lot on the cross, as we should. But how
many sermons do we hear on the resurrection?
The resurrection is not for one Sunday out of
the year. The resurrection is for every single
day. Don't ever forget the resurrection. He's
not here. It almost sounds like an answering
machine message to a landline. He's not here
right now. Please leave a message. But the problem
with that is Jesus isn't going to come back to
get the message because as I said, Jesus has
no use for the tomb anymore. And this is the
unique claim of the Christian faith. Val Grieve
in a wonderful book on the resurrection says,
Christianity is the only world religion based
on the resurrection of its founder. What that
means, if I can put it differently, Every other
world religion founder is dead. Not Jesus. Only
Jesus lives. And the very fact that body is not
there in the tomb, as I said, is evidence of
the resurrection. Let's consider for a minute
other evidences for the resurrection. People
like to discredit the resurrection. They don't
believe that it's true. But think about the church
for a minute. Would we have a church that is
going all across the globe if this were a lie?
Would these disciples have continued to carry
on the message of Jesus Christ if this were a
lie? I don't think so. And think about those
disciples. Not only do they carry on the message,
the gospel, they all suffer for it, right? Every...
One of the disciples suffers for the sake of
the gospel. They are martyred. John is exiled
to the island of Patmos. Would they have done
this for a lie? I think not. They would not have
died for something they knew was false, right?
And what scripture shows us is that there are
hundreds of witnesses to the resurrection of
Jesus, too. Additionally, it's often said, that
the very fact that the women are the ones who
communicate this, who are there at the tomb,
is evidence of the resurrection. For we know
this in ancient times about the testimony of
women, that it was usually discredited, right?
And so if you were going to make up a lie, would
you make up the lie from the mouths of women?
Of course not. But God's word is true. And the
women were the ones at the tomb. Friends, this
is not stuff you would make up. It sounds foolish,
but instead it is true. R. Kent Hughes says then,
if you ever meet somebody who says, I don't believe
in the resurrection, you should ask them, then
where in the world is the body of Jesus? I could
tell you where the body of Jesus is. He is alive,
he is risen, he was risen from the grave, he
ascended, and he is at the right hand of the
Father, promising to come back, interceding for
all of you in prayer. Yes, Jesus is with the
Father. And yes, Jesus is coming back. But I
don't want you to take my word for it. I want
you to see it for yourself. Look in statement
number five. The angel says, see the place where
they laid him. In effect, hey, see it for yourself.
Check it out. And we know that these women knew
where Jesus was laid because Mark 15 47 says
Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus saw
where he was laid. And now they see that it's
empty, that the body is gone. Well, a lot of
people here have said, well, clearly the body
of Jesus was stolen. That's not the testimony
of scripture. For Matthew chapter 27 verse 62
and on says this, the next day, that is after
the day of preparation, the chief priests and
the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said,
sir, we remember how that imposter said while
he was still alive, after three days I will rise.
Therefore, order the tomb to be made secure until
the third day. Lest his disciples go and steal
him away and tell the people he has risen from
the dead. And the last fraud will be worse than
the first. Pilate said to them, you have a guard
of soldiers. Go make it as secure as you can.
So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing
the stone and setting a guard. And so you see.
They gave their whole effort to making that tomb
secure. Friends, this is not, this is not a theft.
This is a miracle. And what it does is it confirms
everything that scripture has told us. I wanna
take you to one more spot as I begin to wrap
up. It's 1 Corinthians chapter 15. If ever anybody
says to you, hey, where do I learn about the
resurrection? What's the resurrection chapter?
It's 1 Corinthians 15, beginning in verse 17
through 22. And it reads, and if Christ has not
been raised, your faith is futile, and you are
still in your sins, then those also, who have
fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in
Christ we have hope in this life only, we are
of all people the most to be pitied. But in fact,
Christ has been raised from the dead, the first
fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as
by a man came death, by a man has come also the
resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all
die, so also in Christ shall all be made. But
friends, that little prepositional phrase there
in Christ is of critical importance. Today, if
you are hearing this and you are not in Christ,
meaning you do not believe that Jesus is the
crucified and risen Son of God and Savior of
the world, if you are not united to him by faith,
then the benefits of his life And His death and
His resurrection are not yours. 1 Corinthians
15 clearly says, if you do not believe in Jesus,
you are still in your sin and you are unforgiven.
Just like Amazing Grace says, then, I once was
lost. If you are not in Christ today, you are
still lost. And friends, if I can, by way of
illustration, to hammer this home. Many of you
know that for many summers, I worked for a Christian
camp. I wasn't a counselor. I was mostly the
maintenance man. I cut the grass and cleaned
the toilets. One of the things that those who
were not counselors had to do was look out for
the safety of campers. And one of the things
we were very careful about was making sure that
campers were not lost. And so we would run drills
upon drills to make sure that there were no lost
campers. And the drill went like this, that somebody
would take a mallet and we had this huge bell
in the camp and we would hit the bell to signal
lost camper. In my time there, we never lost
a camper, but we ran many drills. Friends, this
is not a drill. This is not a drill. God's gospel.
is gracious and it's free to all who would believe
in him. And so what's the condition for salvation?
It's belief. If you don't know what to make of
Jesus, check it out for yourself. See the evidence
for yourself. Just like those women were invited,
see the place where he was laid. Look into the
scriptures. Ask good questions of Christians.
Pray to God and ask for the gift of faith. Do
not remain lost. Do not remain dead in your trespasses.
Friends, Jesus was raised. He's not in the tomb
any longer. He ascended to the Father, and by
God's grace, eternity with God is yours in Christ
Jesus. If I can, again, return to Amazing Grace,
that last verse. When we've been there 10 ,000
years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less
days to sing God's praise than when we'd first
begun. Christ said in John 14, I go to make a
place for you, an eternal home, a place free
from sin. And therefore our hope is not in this
life alone. Our hope is in eternal life in Christ
Jesus. and it's made possible by the resurrection.
Let us pray.