Resurrection Sunday

Mark 16:1-16

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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!