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“From Unbelief To Unbelievable!” • 4.19.14
• Calvary Christian Fellowship, Resurrection Sunday Service
Intro.
- Jesus Christ, the Son of God, born of a
virgin, lived a sinless life and died a sinners death, paying once and for all,
the debt that mankind owed to God.
- Whoever believes upon Him, trusts in Him,
puts their full weight upon Him, repenting from all known sin, is unequivocably
saved, justified by God and set apart for heaven!
- His death achieved what we could never have
achieved by our works of righteousness. He satisfied God's wrath against those
who would believe forever and ever!
- We know this is the case because this is the
testimony of scripture, that which was written or transmitted by the 11
remaining disciples.
- They were men of power and authority, whose
pens captured the very thoughts and intent of the heart of God Himself!
- Today, we're going to see that these men were
much more like us on the day of the resurrection and their actions are most
instructive to us today.
- They were the first to be confronted with the
resurrection. How did they respond? Today, you are confronted with the same
truth: Jesus Christ has risen from the dead! What are you to do?
- Let's go to the word and discover for
ourselves!
Text
• Mark 16:1-4 : "Now when
the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome
bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the
first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, 'Who
will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?' But when they looked up, they saw
that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large." : I cannot imagine a less restful Sabbath than the one preceding
Resurrection Sunday!
- Aside from all of the regulations that had
been placed upon the people of God, making sure that they were actually
"resting," I'm sure that these women did not stop thinking about
Jesus.
- They had seen His broken body and the quick
job that had been performed by the men just a day earlier. You can almost hear
them thinking of how they needed to care for His body properly.
- But that's just the thing isn't it: Jesus
said that on this third day, He would rise from the dead! The very thought that
they would minister to the Lord's body was profoundly misplaced!
- These loving ladies may not have had a proper
faith, but their love for Jesus meant that they made it their goal to get
themselves to the tomb as early as possible.
- Mary Magdalene is mentioned first. She has an
interesting back story that is often forgotten.
• Luke
8:1-3 : "Now it came to pass, afterward, that He went through every city
and village, preaching and bringing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God. And
the twelve were with Him, and certain women who had been healed of evil spirits and
infirmities—Mary called Magdalene, out of whom had come seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza,
Herod’s steward, and Susanna, and many others who provided for Him from
their substance." : In the early part of the
Lord's ministry, there was a group of women who had banded together to assist
the work of the gospel.
- They had this in common: They had been
touched by the Lord Jesus! He had freed them from demonic possession or healed
them of infirmities, chronic illness or the like.
- Mary Magdalene had been possessed by seven
demons! Jesus touched her life and changed her so greatly, it was nothing for
her to take care of Him out of her own "substance!"
- Whatever means these women had and one was
the wife of one of Herod's stewards, they committed them to the Lord's work!
Mary Magdalene had been doing this from the beginning.
- The other two ladies are mothers of three of
Christ's disciples. Mary was the mother of James the Less or the son of
Alphaeus and Salome, Zebedee's wife, was John and James' mother.
- These three ladies came with spices, aromatic
perfumes that were to be smeared upon the body. Remember, Nicodemus brought a
hundred pounds of spices the day of the crucifiixion!
- "Oh, that's just not enough for
Jesus!" Their love demanded that it be done just so!
- They came to the tomb, wanting to correctly
carry out their loving duty and one of them asked a question that hadn't yet
occurred to them: "Who's going to roll away the stone!?"
- A tomb like the one we are talking about
today, was cut out of the side of a hill.
- A round stone, about 5 feet in diameter, 2 to
3 feet thick, was placed in a groove cut out in front of the opening.
- Scholars believe that the stone would have
been between 2,000 and 3,000 pounds, effectively requiring at least 3 to 4 men
to move the stone.
- These ladies were definitely there before
anyone else would have been there to help! As they came to the tomb though,
they realized that the stone had already been rolled away!
- As a quick aside, isn't this an apt
illustration of the worthlessness of worry. Sure they had only spent a few minutes
on it, but they were wasted minutes nonetheless.
- Perhaps you'd be willing to take up the
challenge of taking a piece of paper and separating it into three columns. In
the first column, put in the situation, the second, your fear.
- In the third column, put what actually
happened. I'd be very interested to see how many times your fear became your
reality! I'd be willing to wager that you'd find the stone moved for you as
well!
• Mark
16:5-7 : "And entering the tomb,
they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side;
and they were alarmed. But he said to them, 'Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of
Nazareth, who was crucified. He is 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 into Galilee;
there you will see Him, as He said to you.'" : Remember that this is "0 Dark thirty" in a garden
area without artificial light. It's likely that they walked right past this
"young man" without even noticing!
- The other gospel records speak of a second
angel, though Mark focuses his attention on the one who spoke wearing the long
white robe.
- Can you imagine his perspective? Have you
ever held onto a joyous secret, watching another struggle while you know the
answer will soon be clear because you get to tell it!?
- They came to the entrance and tried their
best to peer inside the darkened cave, made darker by the lack of ambient light
and that's when they noticed this angel!
- They are out from their normal immovable
state! That's the word "alarmed!" They were shocked! The angel now
gets to give them the world's greatest news.
- Jesus was crucified and was here, but is not
here now! See for yourself and then go tell everyone, especially Peter, where
you will see Him next!"
- The angel is making sure that they include
Peter, who has been devastated since hearing the cock crow the night before the
Lord's crucifixion.
- What a glorious job to have! I proclaim the
same thing and you as believers proclaim the same thing: He was in the tomb,
but He's not there now!
• Mark 16:8 : "So they
went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were
amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." : Wait, what!? An angel tells you to go tell a great story and
you don't?"
- They were there at the tomb! They left as
quickly as their legs could carry them, running away like refugees in the
night! They quaked with fear and were out of sorts!
- "And they said nothing to anyone for
they were afraid!" To be fair, some have suggested that this phrase
suggests that they went straightaway to the disciples, not stopping to engage
anyone.
- Perhaps that is true, yet it remains a tragic
statement, as here we stand today, looking as they did into an empty tomb.
- "How could it be?" "What an
amazing thing it would have been to have been there?" "A formerly
dead human being, albeit a human being who is divine, was raised from the
dead!"
- They had an experience that was undeniable as
many of you are having now as the Spirit of God causes your hearts to tremble
with amazement at the truth of this story.
- How many will be guilty of the same
inaction!? How many will walk away having been freshly reminded of the core of
their faith, only to fear something more than to fear the Lord?
- What were they afraid of? Without a doubt, they
were afraid of the religious leaders, who held sway over a great many lives.
- The religious leaders were largely
responsible for engineering the slaughter of the world's only innocent Man, as
well as controlling the general consensus of opinion regarding Him!
- John 9
tells us about an indisputable miracle that occurred to a blind man who
encountered Jesus. Everyone knew what happened and the man spoke boldly before
the religious authorities.
- But even in a solid case like this, the man's
parents did not want to go on record, but deferred all questions to their
formerly blind son!
• John 9:22 : "His parents said these things because
they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue." : If that
is how they acted when Jesus was alive, how much more would they have
maintained this policy after the Lord's resurrection!
- What else did they fear? The loss of their
own reputation. People would talk and think and say things about them that were
not complementary.
- What do you fear? Oh to God that you would
fear Him and nothing or no one else!
• Mark
16:9-13 : "Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared
first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had
been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was
alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that, He appeared in another
form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the
rest, but they did not believe them either." : Mary and Salome had exited the area, but Mary Magdalene remained.
That's when the Lord appeared to her. Imagine if those ladies had only waited a
few minutes more!
- They would have heard from the Lord Jesus
themselves! As it was, Mary Magdalene got to have a personal moment with her
Lord and Savior!
- It's not said here that she was asked to say
anything, but nothing could possibly have stopped her! She openly, loudly
provlaimed that He had risen, mourning and weeping!
- What an emotional roller coaster she had been
on! Earlier in the morning, she had prepared herself to see Jesus lying there
dead. Now she has seen Him alive!
- Friends, here's an example to emulate. She
came and saw. That's what the other ladies did. But what is better is that she
went and told!
- But again, a curious thing takes place, as
she tells the disciples, "those who had been with Him" and they did
not believe! What is going on!?
- They had been told by Jesus on numerous
occasions that He would die and be buried and rise again! Yet, here they are
still sitting around and refusing to believe an eyewitness report!
- Mark adds that Jesus personally appeared in
another form to two other disciples who were walking on the Emmaus Road, an
account detailed in Luke 24.
- They were walking and discussing what had
happened over the weekend. The Sabbath had likely kept everyone away from each
other.
- This is their first chance to talk and they
are sad. That's when Jesus appears to them in an unrecognizable form.
- Why the change in form? I wonder if Jesus
just joyfully wanted them to be encouraged in a different way or to recognize
Him as we should, not through appearance, but by His Word!
- That's how they recognized Him. Jesus gave an
extensive sermon detailing all of the Old Testament prophecies that He had just
fulfilled and they knew it was Him!
- Those disciples went and told but that didn't
cause them to believe either! Note the consistent theme of this chapter:
Unbelief!
- The ladies came to the tomb in unbelief. They
had perfumes for a dead body! The disciples did not believe the initial reports
either! Both Peter and John had to come see for themselves!
- Three witnesses, the standard legal corum had
been established in Mary Magdalene, Cleopas and the unnamed disciple of Luke 24 and they did not believe!
• Mark
16:14 : "Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He
rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe
those who had seen Him after He had risen." :
These who had the most knowledge, who has the greatest access to Christ, did
not believe!
- Jesus rebuked their unbelief and their
hardness of heart! How much more would He do that in us!? But they believed in
Him? They were faithful to Him! But their hearts were hard.
- What does Christ refer to? What are
"hard hearts?" This refers to stubbornness, resistance, an
unwillingness to bend in a direction.
- Brothers and sisters, it's the greatest day
in history. The Messiah, the Man who would take away the sin of the believing
world, has risen.
- Have you received enough knowledge and grace
that you are now hardened in the same way as the disciples? Your His child but
you have grown stubborn. May you hear His Word to you again!
• Mark
16:15,16 : "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved;
but he who does not believe will be condemned." : This is a remarkable placement, especially given the
circumstances outlined in this chapter.
- Fear had stopped the mouths of the two women.
Love had opened the mouth of Mary Magdalene! The two said nothing to nobody but
nobody could stop Mary from telling everybody!
- The unbelief and hardness of the disciples
heart kept them from believing and thus were hardened, stubborn in their
resistance to what the Lord' will.
- It's with this context that Mark relays
Christ's command to His disciples, the command which remains in effect to this
very day!
- Go into all the World, wherever He has placed
you, with whatever voice and influence you have. You will not be judged by
another's calling, only your obedience to His calling!
- Go into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature! Don't hold it in. Don't discriminate! Go and tell the world
the gospel!
- The Gospel is that Jesus Christ died for the
sake of every sinner who would believe. He rose again the third day to prove
that every word He said was true! Now go tell someone!
- Here's the promise that's attached: He who
believes and is baptized will be saved! The Apostolic church loves to use this
verse to prove their pet doctrine of baptismal regeneration.
- However, notice the last phrase: He who does
not believe will be condemned, not, He who does not believe and is not
baptized! Belief is the issue!
- For the early church, baptism happened almost
simultaneously with belief and was the initating mark of a true believer in
Christ!
- You don't have to baptize and you don't have
to make them believe, but you must by commandment of God, preach, announce,
proclaim the gospel!
- May our love for Him grow hot enough and our
hearts be soft enough to do just that!
Conclusion
- Let's pray!