He Has Risen
Text: Mark 15:42-16:8
Core Idea: Jesus Christ rose from the grave and conquered death so that you and I can have life and life to the full. Then let us cling to the promises of God as we place our hope in the One who will never fail us – Jesus is our living hope. And let us go wherever He is for we are most satisfied when we are with Him.
INTRODUCTION
Happy Easter, Lighthouse! It is good to see all of you here. If you’re new with us today, and especially if you’re new to Christianity, we’re so delighted to have you here. I pray that you’ll come to see how beautiful and wonderful our God is – and that you’ll experience this incredible love that He has for you.
Today obviously is a very special day as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. But there’s another reason for celebration – we are finally finishing up our sermon series on the Gospel of Mark. If you didn’t know, we started this in November of 2021 – and after 52 sermons, it’s finally coming to an end. I pray that God used it to minister to you in many ways – but more importantly, that it led you to deepen your love for the Lord. Last week, we saw Jesus being crucified on the cross where He was forsaken by God so that we may be found, where He died so that we may have life. Today, Mark will take us to the tomb where Jesus was laid. Then please turn your Bibles to Mark 15:42-16:8. Let me read this for us.
42 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that He was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where He was laid. 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, 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, 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?” 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.’” 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
Now, if you have your Bibles open, you must have noticed that there’s a section that I didn’t read with a note that says, “The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9-20.” So, what does that mean? Is this part of the Bible or not? To make a long story short, most of the commentaries, if not all, agree that this was not part of the original copy of Mark’s Gospel – but that it’s been added by a well-meaning scribe who wanted to offer a more concrete conclusion to what seems like an abrupt, incomplete ending in verse 8, “They were afraid.” Now, I was debating whether or not I should take some time to talk about this in detail, but I felt like it would take up too much time from our main text which is much more important. So, I decided to share more on this in the written manuscript that’s available on our website. So, if you want to know more about the background of this extra section, do take a moment to read my sermon online (scroll down to the end). But, for now, let’s turn our attention to the text that I just read. Let me share three things from this passage:
· THE BURIAL
· THE EMPTY TOMB
· A WORD OF GRACE
1) THE BURIAL
The scene that we saw just before this was intense and dramatic – full of action and emotions (darkness covering the land, Jesus crying out, the curtain of the temple being torn). But what follows seems to be strangely calm and silent. Verse 42, “It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath).” And if there was going to be a burial, it needed to happen before the Sabbath because no work was allowed on the Sabbath. So, as evening approached, we’re told that Joseph of Arimathea (a prominent member of the Council – the Jewish ruling body) went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. His action required courage because the Roman law forbade the criminals from getting a proper burial – instead, they wanted the criminals to remain on the cross to rot or be eaten by the birds as a warning to all. So, to ask for Jesus’ body was to identify with a criminal. But here was Joseph – bearing that risk to honor Jesus. Verse 44. Pilate was surprised that Jesus was already dead because death by crucifixion usually lasted days, not hours. So, to make sure that Jesus was dead, he asked his most dependable source – the centurion who was in charge of Jesus’ execution. And Pilate gave the body to Joseph only when the centurion validated Jesus’ death. Now, we can’t see this in our English translations but it’s clearly noticeable in Greek – in order to point out that Jesus really was dead, Mark used the word “body” in verse 43 but changed the word to “corpse” in verse 45. Joseph asked for Jesus’ body and Pilate gave Jesus’ corpse to Joseph. The Jesus who was compassionately healing the sick, powerfully casting out demons, casually stilling the storm, wisely teaching the truth, lovingly discipling His followers, desperately praying to the Father – this Jesus was now a lifeless corpse.
Verse 46. We see a detailed description of the way Joseph prepared the body – he bought some linen cloth, took down the body from the cross, wrapped it, placed it in a tomb, and rolled a stone against the entrance. Here, there’s no theological truth that warms our hearts – these are just cold facts, mundane details of how Jesus’ body was handled. Verse 47, “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where He was laid” – which by the way counters the wrong-tomb theory which argues that the women went to the wrong tomb by accident and mistakenly concluded that Jesus had risen from the dead. Verse 1, “When the Sabbath was over [three days after Jesus’ death], Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.” This was to cover the stench of a decaying body. No doubt, this was an act of devotion, an act of respect and love for the Lord. Even though He was dead, their love for Jesus moved them to honor Him this way.
Now, why is this written for us? Because Mark wanted to show the finality of Jesus’ death – that Jesus really was dead. Joseph really believed that Jesus was dead – hence, the burial process. Pilate really believed that Jesus was dead – hence, gave away the body. The women really believed that Jesus was dead – hence, they were going to anoint Jesus’ body with spices. The disciples weren’t even there. There was absolutely no one who expected Jesus to rise again – not one. This is interesting because Jesus predicted three times that He would die but rise again on the third day (Mk. 8:31, 9:30, 10:34). The first half of that prediction came true (He did die) but no one expected the second half of that prediction would come true. No one dared to believe the promise that was given by Jesus – all of them conceded to the reality of death. They couldn’t even imagine the possibility of Jesus conquering the grave even though that’s exactly what He said He would do.
And I wonder if this is how many of us are with the promises of God – we don’t dare to believe that God would fulfill them in our lives, instead, we allow the reality of life to crush us. Think about some of these promises that were given to us by God:
· Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you – plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
· Psalm 32:8 says, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with My loving eye on you.”
· Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
· Matthew 11:28-29 says, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
· Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Brothers and sisters, do you dare to believe these promises are true in your lives? Or are you like the disciples who allowed the reality of life, the finality of death to crush their hearts? Maybe, just maybe, the reason why we are discouraged by the circumstances of life, burnt out by the responsibilities that we have, frustrated by the things that are out of our control, scared by all the unknowns of the future; the reason why we’re joyless, drained, and apathetic; the reason why life feels utterly meaningless, nothing to look forward to – may be because we are failing to turn to Christ and hold onto His promises. Friends, these promises and more were given to us to give us the strength, wisdom, and power we need to remain faithful to the Lord, to live meaningfully for the Lord, and to honor the Lord in all that we do. In fact, the reason why we can have hope is because of these promises in our lives. Then today, I invite you to look to the promises of God again. Anchor yourselves to them for in due time, they will be fulfilled in our lives. How do I know? Here’s the reason.
2) THE EMPTY TOMB
Last week, I pointed out that all the events that led to Jesus’ death (the betrayal, the denial, and the mistrial) and, in fact, the death itself all happened in the dark. And we just saw that even the burial took place in the evening. But look at the difference in verse 2, “Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb.” The sun was up – signaling that something new was about to happen. Verse 3. We’re invited to overhear the conversation between the women who were making their way to the tomb – “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” Apparently, in their grief, they had forgotten to get help for this part – but they soon realized that this would be the least of their problems because when they arrived, to their surprise, the stone had already been rolled away. Now, if you were visiting the gravesite of your loved one and saw a pile of dirt and a hole right by the tombstone, I’m sure your initial reaction wouldn’t be, “He/she is alive!” No, it would’ve been, “Who did this?” Then in the same way, when these women saw that the stone was moved, they weren’t filled with hope but with horror. Remember that they weren’t expecting a resurrection – then they must have thought, “Someone must have broken into the grave!” So, they frantically entered the tomb only to encounter “a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.” This Greek word for “alarmed” is found only in Mark and it means both fear and wonder, astonishment and distress. It’s the same word that described Jesus’ intense anguish in Mark 14:33 which says, “He took Peter, James and John along with Him, and He began to be deeply distressed and troubled.” These women weren’t just shocked to find this young man – they were deeply distressed and troubled because they knew that he was an angel. His presence alone would’ve made them overwhelmed.
Then verse 6. As they stood there in fear, the angel said to them, “Don’t be alarmed. Everything’s going to be okay. I’ve been waiting for you. I know that you’re looking for Jesus who was crucified – but He has risen! He’s not here. Just as He promised, He is alive!” This is what today’s all about – the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In fact, this truth is so foundational, so important to the Christian faith that Paul said this in 1 Corinthians 15:14-20, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are then found to be false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead… If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead.” Sadly, many people today believe that this can’t be true because it seems utterly impossible. So, they claim that this is not history but a myth – something that the church made up to justify their cause. Now, I don’t want to take too much time here, but I do want to share that Mark’s story challenges that thought. Let me explain.
Mark 15:40, 15:47, and 16:1. Three times, Mark writes down the names of the women who saw the empty tomb – Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Once would’ve been enough. Then why the repetition? A biblical scholar Richard Bauckham argues that this was Mark’s way of proving that this isn’t a legend but history. Remember to whom Mark was writing this story – the church in Rome. Then by putting down the names of these women, Mark was saying to them, “If you want to check out if what I’m telling you is true or not, go talk to these women. They’re still alive and they will confirm everything I said.” Now, you might say, “But what if these women were lying?” That’s a fair point. But on this, Bauckham reminds us that their culture at that time was very male-dominant – and as a result, women were not even qualified to be witnesses in court. Now, here’s why that’s important. If Mark was really making this up, he would have never put these women as the only eyewitnesses of Jesus’ empty tomb knowing that his story would be quickly dismissed by many – of course, unless it was true. Then by mentioning these women, Mark is challenging us to believe that this really did happen. One more thing. We must recognize that the resurrection was inconceivable for them to believe as it is for us. You might think, “Ancient people were more naïve about miracles, but we now have science to explain everything.” But as I pointed out earlier, no one expected Jesus to rise again. In fact, even when the angel confirmed Jesus’ resurrection, the news was so unbelievable that the women, in verse 8, fled from the tomb in fear and didn’t share it with anyone – they just couldn’t believe it. Then how did they come to believe in the end? By letting the evidence challenge their worldview. Friends, if you’re saying, “My worldview doesn’t make it possible for me to believe this,” I invite you to consider the evidence that’s laid out for you. These women did. The disciples did – and they would even give up their lives to protect this truth. Then let me ask you, “Would you open your minds to let the evidence speak to you today?” In fact, if you want to know more about this, please talk to me after and I’ll happily share some books that you can read for yourself.
Now, why is the resurrection so important to our Christian faith? Let me answer this by borrowing the words from the Heidelberg Catechism – it offers two reasons. Number one, by His resurrection, He has overcome death, so that He might make us share in the righteousness He won for us by His death. In other words, it’s saying that the resurrection is necessary to complete the work of salvation. Let me explain. Imagine that you’re still a teenager – and you took your parents’ car without their permission and completely wrecked it. Unfortunately, all the evidence pointed to you and there was no way of denying it. So, you were just waiting for your parents to unleash their fury against you – but at that moment, your brother interrupted and told them that he did it. And surprisingly, your parents believed him and took your brother to their room – and you heard them screaming at your brother. Now, as long as your brother was still in that room, you weren’t cleared for your crime yet. And while you’re waiting, all sorts of things would’ve gone through your mind – “What if they find out that he was just covering for me? What if he gives in and tells them that it was actually me who did it?” But when that door opens and your brother comes out with a smile on his face, you know that the punishment has been paid and your parents have nothing against you. In one sense, that empty room confirms the satisfaction of parental justice. And in the same way, the empty tomb, the resurrection of Jesus confirms that His death was enough – enough to atone for our sin, enough to reconcile us to God, enough to present us holy in God’s presence. The empty tomb demonstrates that Christ’s payment for our sin has been accepted and His victory is ours. Christ has won – death has been defeated.
Number two, by His power, we too are already now resurrected to a new life. In other words, our hope for a new life is not just something to look forward to in the future but a present reality – it means that we can begin to experience the blessings of a new life today. What does that mean? It means that all the promises of God are yes and amen in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20). It means that we don’t have to fear rejection by God ever again because Christ was rejected for us. We don’t have to fear abandonment by God ever again because Jesus was abandoned for us. We can be sure that everything that’s happening in our lives is happening according to His will to accomplish good in our lives. We can be sure that God will always love us, always forgive us, always remain faithful to us all because of what Christ has done for us. In Christ, the truth from Isaiah 43:1 becomes ours to embrace, “This is what the LORD says – He who created you, He who formed you: ‘Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are Mine.’” Brothers and sisters, because Jesus rose again from the dead, we are now His. And none of the things that cause us grief in this world will have the final word – for the empty tomb says otherwise. Isn’t that amazing? But the good news continues.
3) A WORD OF GRACE
If the angel stopped at verse 6, the news of resurrection would’ve been amazing, but it would’ve been crushing to the disciples. Why? Because they had completely failed Jesus when they deserted Him. “Jesus rose again!” “So what? How can we go meet Him after what we have done? He wouldn’t want to see us anyway.” Now, at the same time, this is what he didn’t say, “You tell those faithless backstabbing cowards that if they have any hope of being reinstated into His Kingdom, they better run and beg for His mercy.” No, this is what he said in verse 7, “Go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.’” In fact, this is exactly what Jesus said in Mark 14:27-28, “You will all fall away for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Jesus was basically saying to them, “Friends, I want to see you. I want you to be part of My Kingdom. So, I’ll go ahead of you and wait for you. Come and join Me at the place where we began our journey together.” He was offering them a word of grace. Now, note those two words there, “And Peter.” If the angel had just said, “Go, tell His disciples,” Peter would’ve said, “You guys go. He doesn’t mean me – not after what I’ve done. What I’ve done is irredeemable.” But knowing this, Jesus was personally inviting Peter. The greater the fall, the greater grace is available for you. Think about how radical that is – and amazingly, this radical grace is also available to you as well.
Friends, He is waiting for you. I want to speak to those who have been away from church for a while or those who feel very distant from God. I want you to know that God’s word to you is not, “How dare you show your face after all that you’ve done?” He’s not sarcastically saying, “Wow, you actually came today? I thought I would never see you again.” But this is what He’s saying to you, “I’ve been waiting for you. It’s so good to see you.” Are you keeping your distance from God because you feel like you’re not worthy? Do you feel like you’re irredeemable? Then let this truth draw you to Christ again because He has been waiting for you. In fact, the Bible clearly says that those who come to Christ, He will never drive away (Jn. 6:37). So, turn to Him today and experience the grace that He has for you.
And if you’re not yet a Christian, Jesus is saying to you, “I walked out of that tomb so that I can set you free from the weight of your sin, so that I can give you life and life to the full. So, come and follow Me. Journey with Me. Give your life to Me. Trust Me – for I will give you this hope, peace, and joy that the world cannot offer.” Friends, I invite you to do what may be unthinkable to you – believing that Jesus Christ died to take away your sins and rose to conquer death for you. This radical love is available for you today. Receive it and experience a new life in Christ.
Lastly, the Christians. Verse 8 says, “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.” That’s how Mark decides to end his book. Doesn’t that feel very anti-climactic? That actually makes the story feel unfinished – but that’s the point. The story of discipleship is not yet complete because it’s left for us to finish. Mark is inviting us to go and tell people that Jesus is alive. Then brothers and sisters, how is your story being written today? Even though this sermon series is coming to an end, I pray that our journey with Him will continue – that our love for Him will deepen as we choose to intentionally live out the gospel and boldly proclaim it to the world.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, Jesus Christ rose from the grave and conquered death so that you and I can have life and life to the full. Then let us cling to the promises of God as we place our hope in the One who will never fail us – He is our living hope. And let us join Him on this journey and go wherever He is for we are most satisfied when we are with Him.
ON MARK 16:9-20
Let me share a few things about Mark 16:9-20 in order to hopefully bring some clarity but more importantly, bring some encouragement to all of you. Let me begin by saying that this is an issue of transmission, not inspiration. The English Bible we have is inspired, trustworthy, and the very Word of God but it’s still a translation – precisely, Hebrew in the OT and Greek in the NT. Now, when the NT books were being written, it’s not like the original copy was passed down for people to read – they were copied into many manuscripts. And remarkably, there are more than 5,800 Greek manuscripts of the NT, 10,000 Latin translations, and over 9,300 translations in other languages (like Coptic or Syriac). To understand how astonishing these numbers are, there are only 7 copies of Plato’s Dialogues, 10 copies of Caesar’s Gallic War, 49 copies of Aristotle’s Poetics, and 1757 copies of Homer’s Iliad. All this to say, there’s a high degree of certainty that the NT we read today is the same NT written 2,000 years ago.
Now, even though most of the contents in the manuscripts are consistent with one another, there are some small differences – today’s passage being one of them. And here’s the reason why many believe that these verses were not in the original: the oldest complete Greek manuscript of Mark’s Gospel which goes back to the 4th century does not contain the last 12 verses – and since the oldest one must be the closest to the original, it must be the most reliable one. Then how did these 12 verses get there? Of course, we don’t exactly know but most scholars believe that a well-meaning scribe added more verses to offer more information to what seems like an abrupt ending in verse 8 – “They were afraid.” In fact, these 12 verses have a very different style of writing from the rest of Mark’s Gospel which indicates that it’s most likely an add-on.
Okay, so, if that’s true, then why are they still in our Bibles today? In order to make sense of this, I must point out that the oldest Greek manuscript that had verses 9-20 wasn’t found until later – which means verses 9-20 were translated as part of the Bible because the only manuscripts we had contained verses 9-20 (for example, many of the older translations like KJV treat verses 9-20 as part of the Scripture). Now, when the oldest Greek manuscript was found, through a rigorous process, the scholars concluded that verses 9-20 were not authentic to the original manuscript. Then what should we do with verses 9-20? Take them out or leave them? The scholars decided to leave them in and treat them like a commentary for the readers since there was nothing in them that contradicted the rest of the truth in the Bible. But to distinguish them from the other parts of the Bible, many of the newer translations would italicize them and separate them with a note. This is why I shared that this is an issue of transmission, not inspiration. Now, considering this, someone may argue that the Bible is not trustworthy since it has evolved over time – that the Bible is just being used by the Church to promote its agenda. If someone said this to you, how would you respond? You can answer them this way. “Yes, it’s true that the Bible is constantly going through rigorous, thorough, transparent tests and criticisms to validate the authenticity of its content. But if you think about it, this is inevitable since we do not possess the original manuscript. And this could actually be a reason why we can be confident that the Bible we have before us is precisely the unvarnished, unedited, unevolved Word of God since the Christian community has and will continue to devote itself to careful investigation in order to preserve and reproduce the original text.” Again, the problem is not inspiration but transmission. Then through God’s grace and providence, we can have confidence in our Bibles. This is the inspired Word of God – we can bank our lives on them. For more information, you can read Don Carson’s The King James Version Debate: A Plea for Realism and Paul Wegner’s The Journey from Texts to Translations: The Origin and Development of the Bible.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) No one dared to believe the promise that was given by Jesus – all of them allowed the reality of life, the finality of death to crush their hearts. What are some promises of God that have encouraged and sustained you in the past? What does it mean to cling to these promises in times of trouble?
2) Why is the resurrection of Jesus so important to our Christian faith? How does the resurrection of Jesus give us hope in this life and in the one to come?
3) Mark ends his book rather abruptly to teach us that the story of discipleship is not yet complete as it’s left open for us to finish. Then how is your story being written today? Share the joys and challenges of living out your faith in the context of your life and pray for each other.