Welcome, Church. I invite you to mark chapter 16.
I come before you today with a message of joy, message of
encouragement, a message of hope.
And. We're going to discover that
together here in these verses as we reflect on the resurrection
of Jesus Christ. An old, old preacher.
Numbered among the Puritans from the 1600s said the following
Christ's resurrection is the victory of the Church, the
purchase of their liberty, the cause of their justification,
the pledge for their own resurrection, and the
demonstration of the certainty of eternal life.
Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no
Christianity. Without the resurrection of
Jesus Christ, there is no forgiveness, there is no
freedom, there is no salvation, there is no hope and death.
There is no everlasting life. There is no empowerment in this
life. All in.
All. Without the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ, there is no true or lasting purpose in this
life or in the next. It is paramount.
It is the event of all events. It is the climax of the gospel.
It was the necessary miracle that made everything that Jesus
did and said legitimate and applicable to you and I, the
resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's what we're going to
reflect on today. And here's my prayer as we do
that, that your faith in the resurrection would increase
while your love for the resurrected Lord would enlarge
as you and I now behold his heart for you and me.
That's what we're going to see here.
We're not going to just merely look at a supernatural
occurrence. We're going to see the character
of the one who performed it. And so I hope none of these
things sound too familiar to you.
I pray that God would give us actually fresh eyes to see
familiar truths with a new touch, new enlightenment.
Can you believe that we're in Mark 16?
I'm not sure if you know, but there's nothing past Mark 16.
So over the past months, years actually, we have now arrived to
the final chapter of our study in the Gospel of Mark.
Isn't that wonderful? I think we've reached close to
100 sermons in the Gospel of Mark.
God has been good to us every single week.
And you know, after we finish this, I asked you to really pray
to see where the Lord would lead us next as a church because I
want to. Ultimately, I'm here to serve
you, I'm here to help you. I'm here to do whatever I can to
help you fall more in love with the Lord Jesus Christ through
His Word. But we're not there yet, so
let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Let's come to Mark 16. You're there with me, I'm sure.
And let's read there in verse one.
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. Lord, it's, it's our sincere
prayer that we would not just study about your resurrection,
that we would experience it. Help us experience the
resurrected Lord, only you can make that possible.
And so we pray for it to be made known in this place on this
Sunday. We love you with every ounce of
who we are. Help us love you more as we
reflect on your love for us in Jesus name, Amen.
Amen. So a couple of weeks ago, you
and I touched on one of these verses concerning these women
who bought spices to go and anoint the body of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we concluded that this act
was really a reflection of their unbelief because they should
have known that on this particular day, the same Jesus
that they were going to honor fled the grave, conquered the
grave, overcame death. So there is no need to buy these
herbs and spices. There is no need to try to
anoint his lifeless body. He's alive.
The anointed one said what he said he would do, accomplish
what he said he would do. And so for the for the fact that
these women are going and making their way to the tomb in this
way reveals a level of unbelief. But you also can't deny, you
cannot object to the reality that this is an act of pure
devotion as well. Why take the time to buy spices
and prepare them when you and I learned a couple weeks ago that
Joseph of Arimathea and his friend Nicodemus brought 75 lbs.
Worth of herbs and applied it to him.
You would think nothing else is necessary after that.
But you see these women were not satisfied.
They themselves long to lavish their love on Jesus Christ, and
for you and I that is really a reflection of true worship.
Listen, a worshipper doesn't just rejoice when they see that
their Lord is being honored, when they see others giving,
when they see others praising, when they see others serving,
when they see others blessing. A true worshipper says I must
glorify Him myself. I must contribute to the cause
of Christ. It's not enough for me to be a
part of something or to be with others who are advancing the
Kingdom. What do I need to do, Oh Lord,
to show you that I love you. And so you have these band of
women who are doing just that. Yes, they saw Jesus, his body
anointed, but they said we must do it for ourselves.
We must show our last act a final act of our love and
devotion to the Christ. And so they're making their way
to do that. And what makes these women even
more inspiring, if we overlook their unbelief, is that they
chose to seek and serve the lore in a very distressing time,
uneasy time. Matthew adds a detail about the
scene that makes it more suspenseful.
You don't have to turn there, but let me read it to you.
It's a very brief verse. In Matthew 27, verse 66, it
says. So they went and made the tomb
secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard, speaking about
the Pharisees and the Romans. So not only was there a stone
covering the mouth of that tomb, there was surveillance,
aggressive, vicious soldiers. We're at the mouth of that tomb
as well. We don't know if the woman knew
this or not, but if we assume that they did know about it,
then it says something about the extent of the love for Christ
that they are willing to even go and honor Him with the presence
of danger. It didn't prevent them from
their worship. Now, that might not resonate
with you and I here in the West because I'm not prophetic, but
I'm sure that not one person in this place got in their cars and
worried that coming to church might be met with terrorists or
the police stopping you, right? Nobody.
Probably the greatest challenge is, OK, how am I going to get
parking? But if your devotion of mine
ever reaches the point where it does become costly to serve
Jesus Christ, and that can happen very quickly even in this
nation, that I want you to never forget the inspiration of these
women. They did not flinch when their
commitment to Christ was leading them into a hostile
circumstance. Christ is worthy to be served,
even if it gets dangerous to serve Him.
He's worthy of that kind of devotion.
And if you think it stops there, it doesn't because it wasn't
just danger that they are about to face.
There were obstacles. What was the obstacle?
Look at mark 16, three, I'll remind you.
And they were saying to one another, who will roll away the
stone for us from the entrance of the tomb.
So obviously the stone was large enough where even in their
collective efforts they wouldn't be able to move it.
And so now they're pondering and thinking, how, how are we going
to do this? And this was a roadblock, so to
speak. And it's no different for
servants of God today who sometimes will face obstacles in
their pursuit of wanting to honor and serve the Lord Jesus
Christ. Sometimes those challenges are
natural. Other times they are caused by
the enemies of the truth. Regardless, you know what you
can say about these women, even though they were aware that
there was a stone. Keeping them from doing what
they truly want to do from their heart.
It was not an excuse. It was not an excuse for them to
not go and lavish their love upon Christ.
It's not like they discovered it when they got there.
Remember we're told there in verse 47.
Look at Matthew, excuse me, Mark 15, Mary Magdalene and Mary the
mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.
They saw where Jesus was laid. They knew the exact.
Tomb and they saw a stone being rolled in front of it, so they
knew it. It's not like it was a surprise
to them, but it didn't matter because they were willing to
make their way to the burial site.
I believe with a level of faith that they were going to get in
there somehow, that something was going to be done.
And even if nothing was going to be done, they at least went for
it and they were going to try. Now, I have a feeling that I
would know how some modern Christians would have approached
this situation, so they have a chance to honor the Lord Jesus
in this way. And just imagine knowing about a
large stone that restricts you. Yeah.
You know, I don't think it's worth it.
It's it's going to be in vain. Let's save our time, save our
money. We wanted to do it.
And Mary over there reminded us that there's a stone, so let's
just forget about it. Move on.
That's not what these Christians, these followers of
Christ were like. They had it in their hearts and
it was going to take more than danger and inconvenience to keep
them from serving Jesus. I hope that the same can be said
about you. I hope it takes way more than
dangerous situations or minor, even major inconveniences to
keep you from giving the Lord what is His due.
Loving the Lord with all your heart and notice what happens
here, that as they are worried about what's going to happen to
the tomb, verse 4 tells us that it was solved.
And looking up they saw that the stone had been rolled back.
It was very large. Do you know what happens when
your heart is set to devoting yourself to the Lord?
With that level of determination, God will make a
way for you. Do you understand that God will
make listen, when you put God first, the things that you're
worried about, they're trying to get in the way of God being
first. God will take care of those
things. He promises us that.
And we see it by way of example here.
And we're going to elaborate this on this in a moment here.
But many people mistake in the idea of why the the stone was
rolled away from the tomb. They think that the stone was
rolled away so that Jesus can get out.
No, Jesus didn't need to get out in that way.
Do you know why? Because he was glorified.
And you've read the Gospels enough to know that Jesus wasn't
hindered in his glorified state by walls or locked doors, right?
He didn't. Need the stone to be moved.
He can walk right through the walls.
Lazarus on the other hand, in John 11, when Jesus was ready to
raise him from the dead, said take away the stone.
Why? So that Lazarus could wiggle his
way out. Because the Lazarus resurrection
was not a glorified resurrection.
That was Jesus resurrection. That's why his resurrection was
so unique. A transformation took place and
it's a prototype of what our resurrection is going to look
like. So that the the stone in Jesus
case being rolled away was not so that Christ could come out is
so that his disciples could go in and see with their own eyes
that he did in fact keep his promise that on the third day he
would rise. And so don't you find it
wonderful? That these women.
Who are trying to brainstorm how they're going to remove this
stone in their attempt to love the Lord and honor the Lord
discover that it was solved before they even arrived.
Many of the things that you and I are worried about and
wondering how it's going to happen, God already has taken
care of. You know why?
Because your God and mine has lived our tomorrow's.
I know that's hard to wrap your mind around, but he's already
lived your tomorrow's. He's not bound by time he sees
it all. He's at your birthday and your
funeral at the same time. Think about that might get a
headache. So he's already there and so
they're figuring out how's it going to happen and he already
dealt with it. It's no different for you and I
in our own lives. So they arrive and they realize
that the stone was rolled away. Now we touched on verse one and
verse 3 and 4, but we skipped over verse 2.
Let's look at it quickly and very early on the first day of
the week when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb very
early. I wonder if they even slept.
So you have to remember that the Sabbath, which is on a Saturday,
took place and they couldn't come and visit Jesus then
because they couldn't come in contact with a dead body on the
Sabbath. And so they waited until that
Saturday was complete. And very early on the first day
of the week, which is Sunday, they went to the tomb.
Now here's what's interesting here.
They went to the tomb on the first day of the week to do
what? In essence, to worship.
And what's amazing here is that the timing of the worship sets a
precedent for Christ's followers for all ages.
In what way you and I to gather on the first day of the week, do
we not? That's why we're here today.
But we don't do it for the same reason these women did.
Why? Because these women came on
Sunday to pay tribute to the lifeless body of Jesus Christ.
You and I come here every Sunday to remember His resurrection and
proclaim that He's alive. That's the difference.
That's why you and I gather on Sundays, if you didn't know.
To commemorate the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we see scriptural proof, We see actually a pattern of how
this was established from the earliest days of the church.
I want you to see a progression of thought here in your Bibles.
You're going to have to flip to a few places though.
So look at Acts 20, verse seven. You're going to have some
people, I'm sure at some point ask you why do you worship on
Sunday as a Christian with the church?
Because you have some people who think you're not saved unless
you do it on the Sabbath, the Jewish Sabbath.
And it's good to just know why we do what we do as Christians
anyway, even if nobody asks you why you do it.
Look at Acts 20, verse 7. Luke writes on the first day of
the week when we were gathered together to break bread.
Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and
he prolonged his speech until midnight.
Read this very carefully. We're told that they met on the
first day of the week. Well, if you've ever read the
book of Acts, you notice that they met more than one day a
week, did they not? Plenty of days, actually.
Early on, they met every day. But here we're told that they
met on the first day of the week and not just meeting on the
first day. They broke bread.
They were recognizing one of the ordinances of the church
communion, the Lord's Supper. So they're doing that on a
particular day. Luke highlights that.
Then as you read through your New Testament, you discover
something in First Corinthians 16.
Look at it with me in verse. Two, I'll wait for you.
First Corinthians 16 verse two. Look what Paul says to these
believers. He says on the first day of
every week, each of you used to put something aside and store it
up as he may prosper so that there will be no collecting when
I come. So he's talking about a
fundraising effort for the church in Jerusalem, and he's
telling them, listen, before now and then I'm asking you as the
Corinthians that every first day of every week when you gather
that you put together based on what you're able to provide so
that a collection can be made. For this church in in need.
So we went from Acts 20 that says on the first day of the
week and then now Paul says on the first day of every week.
A tradition is being established here, a standard is being
raised. Then now the church seems it's
common knowledge to be met meeting at least once a week on
Sunday to worship, to collect, to serve.
And over the years now you come to the very last book of the
Bible and you read something interesting in Revelation
chapter one. Look at verse 10 of Revelation
chapter 1. John writes and testifies, I was
in the spirit on what day? On the Lord's Day.
And I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet.
So as the years went on, the church no longer just recognized
the essential meeting time of the first day of the week.
It now became known as the Lord's Day.
And what's interesting is when you look at extra biblical
sources like early church writings, the Lord's Day is
recognized as Sunday, unmistakable.
The early Christians would refer to the Lord's Day as the first
day of the week. For what purpose?
Because that's when Christ raised.
That's when he rose from the dead.
Now, can I give you a word of caution, please?
It would be incorrect and it would be untrue to say that
Sunday is the Christian Sabbath. It's not.
It's not the Christian Sabbath. People have this understanding
that once Jesus came and inaugurated the new covenant,
the Sabbath. Under the Mosaic law, which was
honored on the 7th day, Saturday was transferred now to Sunday.
So we as Christians, our Sabbath is on Sunday.
That's not true. That's not how the Bible
actually describes the Sabbath. The Sabbath wasn't changed in
terms of the timing. It was fulfilled in the New
Covenant. And what are you talking about?
I'm telling you that the Sabbath, according to the New
Testament, was realized in the person of Jesus Christ.
Let me take some time to explain that.
Out of the 10 commandments, 9 are repeated in the New
Testament. Guess which one is left out?
Keep the Sabbath. Why is that the case?
Because when you read, you don't have to turn there.
But when you read Hebrews chapter 4, you learn that the
Spirit is instructing that Jesus Christ is ultimately our
Sabbath, saying how does that work?
Well, the Sabbath in the Old Testament.
Represents rest. It was a time of the week where
you as a faithful follower, worshiper of God, would rest
from your works and you would take the time to meditate.
And it was an act of faith and recognizing that God is your
ultimate provider and sustainer. Now we come to the New
Testament. We realize that the Sabbath as
instrumental and as practical. As it was was a shadow, the
substance was realized in Jesus. The connection.
In the same way the Sabbath represented rest.
Now when we come into Jesus, we rest.
In what way do we rest? Well, in the Old Testament you
rested from your works. In the New Testament you rest.
In Jesus's works. In the Old Testament you would
rest one. Day a week as an act of trust.
In the New Testament, you rest every single day, trusting in
the finished work of Jesus Christ.
So our Sabbath is in a person now.
That's what we believe as Christians.
So when people come up to me and say you don't honor the Sabbath,
I say, actually I do. His name is Jesus and scratch
your heads, huh? He's my rest.
That's what he. He's the fulfillment of, He's
the fulfillment of many things, including that day.
So then what's Sunday all about? Well, the Bible commands us as
Christians to regularly gather so that we can edify one
another, receive the Word of God, equip, encourage, reprove,
rebuke, teach, all that takes place.
It's commanded that we do so consistently.
And through the leading of the Holy Spirit and the leading of
the apostles, Sunday became that standard day where we do that.
And that's why you read things like in Colossians 2 and Romans
14, where Paul is dealing with issues in the church, especially
with Jews who converted to Christianity who made such a big
deal about the Sabbath. And he goes, listen, if you want
to recognize a holy day, you're free to do that.
It's a matter of personal convenience.
If you want to even honor Saturday as as a Sabbath day,
you can do that. But don't make a binding on
other Christians. Don't judge those who don't
recognize the Sabbath, and those who don't recognize the Sabbath
don't judge those who do. It's a matter of conscience.
It's not a matter of law, even under the law of Christ.
So we come on the first day of the week.
We come on the Lord's Day because that is the pattern that
we see in the New Testament. We are commanded to meet here,
but this is not Sunday. Is not.
Christian Sabbath. Jesus is our Sabbath, and that's
Hebrews chapter 4. Just in case you don't believe
me, you have to read another time though.
And so we see here that there is something being established
unknowing to these woman. But notice what happens in verse
5, Mark 16. And entering the tomb, they saw
a young man sitting on the right side dressed in a white robe,
and they were alarmed. So they walk into this tomb and
as I said earlier, it wasn't open so that Christ could leave.
It was so that they could go in. And when they came in, they saw
a young man. Now, other Gospel accounts tells
us that this was an Angel. I find it interesting that an
Angel is described as with human appearance, and that's a regular
thing. That's a consistent thing
throughout the Bible. When you look at Hebrews 13,
we're told to be hospitable because you might even be
entertaining angels unaware. So another Christian
misconception. I'm sorry.
To tell you this. Angels don't have giant wings.
I know you saw it on cartoons. I know, I know you saw it.
Maybe children's Bible stories. But they don't have wings that
they have human appearance. Are there other heavenly
creatures in heaven that do have such characteristics?
Yes. But more than anything else,
when it comes to angels, they have very similar traits as you
and I as humans. Now we talked about many weeks
ago why Mark chose the language of young men to describe this
Angel, right? You have to go back to the last
sermon in Mark 14, I believe to this rediscover that.
So we won't we won't delve into that here.
The point that I want to make is though they saw this young man
sitting at the right side of the slab where Jesus body was laid.
He was not alone. He wasn't alone.
Can I tell you who else was with him?
Go to John in chapter 20, John chapter 20, beginning in verse
11. Now, if you're willing to go
from Scripture to Scripture with me at this point, it's going to
be rewarding. I'll tell you that in advance.
So let's start in John 20. Look at verse 11.
I want you to see that this Angel was not by himself.
John 2011. But Mary stood weeping outside
the tomb, and as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb.
And she saw 2 angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus
had lain. One at the head and one at the
feet. Contradiction.
No, The Bible does this over and over again.
It could be that the reason why Mark highlights one of them is
because he was a spokesperson. He was the one that was
communicating to these ladies while the other one silently was
there. So we see that there are
actually. 2 angels at the scene. And I what I want to draw to
your attention is where they were sitting.
What are we told by John? There was one who was sitting at
the head. There is one sitting at the.
Feet. Now, John, I believe, is
describing this in detail by the Spirit ultimately, because he
hopes that you and I will be familiar enough with the Old
Testament to realize that he is making a very striking parallel.
You're saying, have I ever seen anything where there are these
heavenly creatures positioned in a similar way?
Well, if this nothing's happening, come to Exodus 25
with me. We're going to make some
connections here, OK? God told the nation of Israel
when they came out of Egypt, going into the promised land, I
want you to build me a House of worship.
And he puts all these furnishings in place with all
these elaborate instructions of how to construct them.
The most prominent 1 was this thing called the Ark of the
Covenant. Do you remember it?
It looks like a chest piece, right?
It's, it's not too large, but we're given every measurement
the, the layering of the material and even the
inscriptions and the designs of it.
What's the purpose of this ark? You're going to find out in a
moment. But it really symbolized God's
throne on earth. And it would be tucked behind in
the deepest part of that Tabernacle, later the temple.
And it was where he would manifest his glory.
And it was really God's attempt to convince the people, yes,
though I inhabit heaven, I long to dwell with you.
And so I want you to make me this chess piece to symbolize
it. You can't come into contact it
freely, but I want you to at least know that my presence is
here. And there's going to be a few
things that I'm going to give you in terms of instruction how
to interact with my presence. And I want you to look at one
particular set of instructions concerning the ark in Exodus 25,
beginning in verse 17, we read You shall make a mercy seat of
pure gold. Pause.
He's talking about the Ark of the Covenant, the mercy seat.
Let me just tell you so you don't get lost here.
The mercy seat. Is the lid.
It's the lid. That's going to go on top of
this chest. So we're told here.
You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. 2 cubits and a half
shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breath.
You shall make 2 cherubim of gold.
Cherubim are heavenly creatures. You can make this claim that
they're in a category of angelic beings, and you shall make 2
cherubim of gold of hammered work.
Shall you make them on the 2 ends of the Mercy?
Seat. Make one cherub on the one end
and one cherub on the other end of one piece with the mercy
seat. Shall you make the cherubim on
its 2 ends? The cherubim shall spread out
their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings,
their faces one to another toward the mercy seat shall the
faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat
on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony
that I shall give you. So you have these two cherubim,
unique heavenly creatures, and they're to be infused on the
lid. And the way they would be
positioned is like this. They'd be facing one another and
their wings would be covering like this, and they would be
facing each other, but they would be looking down at the
mercy seat. Now, here's my question.
When I read this, I have many questions.
My main run was why call the lid?
Why don't you just call it lid? Why call the lid the mercy seat?
I'll tell you why, but you have to go to Leviticus.
Leviticus, Yes, Leviticus. And these are the instructions
that God gives to the priest on one particular day out of the
year called the Day of Atonement, where this would be
the ordinance observed to forgive and cover the sins of
the nation. And I want you to look at one
particular set of instructions of what they were to do as they
interacted with the Ark of the Covenant, which was in the Most
Holy Place. They can only enter into that
place once a year. And notice what we're told in
Leviticus 16, verse 14. Leviticus 16, verse 14 about the
high priest. He is told, and he shall take
some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger
on the front of the mercy seat on the east side.
And in front of the Mercy seat, he shall sprinkle some of the
blood with his fingers 7 times. Do you now know why it was
called the Mercy Seat? Because it represented the place
where God's mercy and atonement for sin were symbolically
administered, especially on the Day of Atonement.
Remember what we read in Exodus that yeah, we talked about the
lid, but we're also told what's to go inside the Ark.
One of the main instruments that are supposed to be in the Ark
was the testimony, the law. The 10 commandments were
supposed to be placed in the Ark of the covenant.
So look at this imagery. You have the law in the Ark
Question, did the Israelites faithfully observe the law or do
they continually break it? Break it all the time?
So you have the law in the ark, then you have the mercy seat on
top of it. And then once a year, the priest
would take the sacrifice and sprinkle the animal's blood on
the lid, blood covering our breaking of the law.
This is what it's symbolizing. So now you have this background
because you're faithfully reading your Old Testament right
now. You come to the New Testament
library and you're reading the Gospel of Mark, and you come to
where Jesus died, where he was placed in a tomb, where he was
raised. But you learned that at the
burial site, the place that was carved out where he would lay
his body, there's an Angel one at the head.
One at his feet. Why?
To make this connection, this imagery that Jesus Christ is the
new and greater mercy seat. That's why.
And you and I now in the new covenant, don't have to wait
once a year and hope that the high priest will be faithful and
careful to observe the complex and elaborate protocol to ensure
that we can endure another year. What Christ has done once and
for all is sufficient for all sinners of all time.
He is the new. And the greater mercy seat.
You see it right here. That's why I say it over and
over again. I'll never stop saying it.
You can't do anything about it then, unless you want to know
the depths of the New Testament. You have to have a grasp on the
old. You have to.
And so they see these two angels in John and Mark.
It's only one young man, and they have a message for these
women, verse 6 of Mark 16. And he said to them, do not be
alarmed, you seek Jesus of Nazareth.
So they're confirming you came to the right tomb.
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. Don't you love that?
The first message of. These witnesses now yes we got
the imagery that you have two angels that make a connection to
the mercy seat, but the scriptures also tell us that
according to the law, you need 2 witnesses to establish a matter,
right? Deuteronomy 19.
So you have two angelic beings who are there to testify the
resurrection happened. Because as much as the
resurrection is found in every single gospel account, do you
know that we don't have the actual play by play of how the
resurrection happened? It's concealed to us.
We don't have that. But we have witnesses, angelic
beings who said he's risen Jesus of Nazareth.
Yeah, he's not here. And the first message of these
witnesses of the resurrection, you know what it.
Is do not be alarmed. Now, in context, we know that
they said this because they were bewildered.
They were just caught off guard. They can't believe what's taking
place. Here are these heavenly beings.
Jesus is not here. This tomb is vacant.
So we understand why they said do not be alarmed.
However, what they said to these women echoes throughout the
years, throughout the ages for all people of all time when they
understand the resurrection. The resurrection doesn't just
conquer death. The resurrection conquers our
fears, every fear. If you really understand the
implications of what Christ has done by raising from the grave,
then we understand that we have no reason to be afraid.
I have no reason to be afraid of judgement, eternal judgement.
Why? Because the resurrection is the
seal that I am no longer condemned.
The resurrection makes me fearless in the face of death.
Why? Because He's the prototype of my
resurrection and the way that He transitioned into glory, so will
I also enter into His presence in the same way, I have no
reason to fear anything in this life.
Why? Because the resurrected Lord not
only conquered death, not only ascended on a high, not only is
going to scoop me out of here at one time, but He walks with me
day by day by day. He's not just my Savior, He's my
shepherd. Living shepherd.
Not a theoretical 1, not a crutch to lean on, not a real
living being that relates to me, speaks to me, guides me
providentially, sometimes supernaturally.
Because He's alive, do not be alarmed, not just in this
moment, for the rest of your days, you have no reason to be
fearful. If he's alive and you belong to
him, do not be alarmed. But that's not the only message
that these first witnesses of the resurrection had to share.
Verse 70. I've referred to this verse many
times from this pulpit, but I never grow tired of explaining
it. I hope you never grow weary of
hearing it. They tell them, don't be
alarmed, but I have a mission for you now.
And speaking on behalf of the resurrected one, look at verse
seven. He says go tell his disciples
and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.
Forgive me if you heard this before.
Again, I don't grow tired of hearing it and knowing it.
We believe as we studied Mark that Peter was the main
contributor to the data of Mark's account.
And it's funny because only in this Gospel account are we told
that Peter's name was explicitly said, highlighted and
underscored at this point of his life.
Go tell the disciples. Not just the disciples.
Go tell the disciples and Peter. Why?
Because if the ladies went back to the fearful disciples and
they said the Lord said to the disciples to go meet him in
Galilee, you know what Peter would have said to himself?
That's definitely not. Me, I'm not one of the
disciples. I committed that sin.
I heard my own with my own ears. This Jesus saying, if anybody
denies you before men, I'll deny you before my Father and his
angels. I did that not once, three
times. And now these ladies come in and
say the Lord is alive. He told me to tell you, the
disciples, to go meet him in Galilee.
What do you think Peter would have felt?
Have fun guys, not me. Jesus, knowing just how overcome
he was by his own failure, telling these angels,
dispatching them and making sure that they were crystal clear.
Highlight Peter's name. Make this invitation personal to
Peter. Make sure that Peter doesn't
miss the opportunity for me to be restored to him.
So you know what? One of the first messages in
connection to the resurrection is not just you have no reason
to fear, but grace. Grace the resurrected Lord is
ready to forgive, ready, eager, longing.
Even today, His Zealand wanting to forgive sinners, His fallen
servants, hasn't diminished one bit.
In fact, one of the main reasons why he hasn't come back yet is
so that all would reach repentance according to second
Peter. Make sure you tell the disciples
and Peter, you know what's so interesting?
God's grace in Christ is not just seen and how he deals and
treats Peter. It's with all the disciples
because the instruction in verse 7 is go and tell the disciples
and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.
There he you will see him just as he told you.
So this is not the first time the command to go to Galilee
after the resurrection was given.
Can I show you where else it was given?
Go to Mark 14 and look at verse 28.
This is on the night that he was going to be betrayed.
And he gives these instructions in Mark 14.
Let's read it from verse 26, actually.
And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of
Olives, and Jesus said to them, You will all fall away.
For it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will
be scattered. But after I am raised up, I will
go before you to Galilee. Now you would think that for.
Jesus to say I already set up a meeting place for you and I
after I defeat death, that that would that would be the thing
that catches your attention more than anything else, right?
But after I'm raised, I will go before you to Galilee.
Now, for him to say I will go before you to Galilee means I'm
expecting to meet you in Galilee.
I'll be there ahead of you. But I'm expecting you to be
there, right? So look, if I'm there, I'm
saying, whoa, whoa, I need to know more about this.
Wait. You're going to.
Raise and you're going to meet us somewhere after you defeat
death. I have a lot of questions.
Here's how Peter answers in verse 29.
Peter said to them, Even though they all fall away, I will.
Not. With all with all that Jesus
said he's he's caught up himself.
He missed it and not just him. We read later on in the same
place in verse 31 and they all said the same.
The only thing that they were concerned about was we're going
to be loyal to you. You totally missed how you're
supposed to meet him. If somebody tells you, hey, at a
certain time in a certain place, we're going to meet you're.
Going to want to know more details so that you can meet.
No right over the heads. And what do you see?
Jesus does conquer the grave. He sends angels to remind the
disciples what they forgot to grasp to begin with.
Go to Galilee. I already told you this.
Meet me there. So what do you see here?
I'm telling you, see the patience of Jesus Christ.
That's what you see here. This is Christ here reflecting
his long-suffering. Listen, He is incredibly loyal.
How many times have you heard something from the Word?
God trying to reveal something about himself?
God trying to instruct you about something that would please him
and honor him and. And what does the Lord do when
we fail to hear him? The perfect Savior, the perfect
King, what does he do? He's willing to revisit it and
instruct us again, patiently, gently, lovingly.
I told you to go to Galilee. And so they were going to hear
it again. And if you're not convinced, I
hope Matthew's additional notes will win your trust.
So the ladies hear this right. We read it early in the
beginning of the service in verse 8 of Mark 16.
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. But something happens when some
of these women make their way to the disciples that make this
event even more spectacular. So here's our final text in
Matthew 28, and look what happens here in verse 8.
It might be our final text, Matthew 28, verse 8.
So they departed quickly from the tune with fear and great
joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
Very similar to Mark, right? And behold, Jesus met them and
said greetings, and they came up and took hold of his feet and
worshipped him. And Jesus said to them, do not
be afraid, Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and
there they will see me. So I want to end with three
thoughts from this final scene of Mark's depiction of the
resurrection. With Matthew's help, some of
these ladies, they make their way back.
As they're running, Jesus appears, and the way he appears
grips me because he appears. And what does he say?
Greetings. You know what greetings is.
It's the normal way you would say hi to somebody at this time.
Translation. Hello.
That's how he did it. I'm thinking you just defeated
death. The last time that these
followers of yours saw you, you were hanging on a cross,
bleeding, bruised according to Isaiah, unrecognizable, and one
of your first resurrection appearances.
The way you choose to do it is say hi.
I'm not trying to be facetious here.
This is what it's saying. Greetings according to the ESV.
But it's intentional. Why is it intentional?
Because we've seen how Christ reveals himself to others in his
resurrected form, right? Remember Saul of Tarsus ready to
go to Damascus to arrest some Christians?
How did Jesus reveal to him on the road to Damascus?
Not greetings. He showed up, and he was shining
brighter than the sun in such majesty and glory that Saul of
Tarsus couldn't even stay on his feet.
He crumbled to the ground. Why didn't he do that here?
It's a different audience, different group of people,
different heart posture, their heart posture.
At this point, they're fearful, they're bewildered, they're
astonished, They're trying to make sense of this as they're
running and trying to. Obey these instructions.
And so when the Lord reveals Himself, you know how He does
it. Delicately, informally, gently.
Greetings. And it was enough to bring them
to their faces, not like Saul of Tarsus, but to grab his feet and
to worship him. And again, we don't just see the
patience of Jesus with Peter or with the 10 other disciples.
We see it with these women. Why?
Because they were told by the angels.
Do not be alarmed. Fear is not God's will for us.
But we read that they ran back and they were still fearful.
And then Jesus appears and he personally says what we read it.
This is the second point in verse 10.
Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid.
So they didn't learn from the first time, but he instructs
them again. He guides them patiently, he
revisits something that they missed.
Just like the 10. Do not be afraid.
And lastly. He repeats the charge that He
gave through the angels, but notice that when He personally
addresses His disciples, how He does it?
Look at verse 10. Do not be afraid.
Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see
me. Not my servants, not my
apostles, not my slaves. Now my disciples, go tell my
brothers. Now this is not the first time
Jesus addressed his disciples as his brothers.
There was a time where Jesus was teaching and a messenger came in
where he was and said, Jesus, your mother and your brothers
have come to meet with you. And Jesus looked at him and
said, who are my mother and my brothers?
And it says there in Matthew 1249, and stretching out his
hand toward his disciples, he said, here are my mother and
what my brothers. And then he goes on to explain
that it is those who do the will of God who are my mother and my
brothers. But hold on.
When Jesus resurrects and he tells these sisters, go and tell
my brothers. Was their spiritual state
strong? Would you say that they are
completely honoring the will of God?
And yet he still calls them my brothers.
Why? Because he's loyal.
Why? Because the resurrection seals
our adoption in him, that's why. Go tell my brothers.
At the weakest point in their faith, He still calls them my
brothers. He still provides this term of
endearment and of one of the deepest bonds of relationship
that you can experience. That's the heart of the
resurrected Christ. And so amazing because in
Hebrews chapter 2, and this is where we will end, we're told
something about Christ. I assure you, this is the last
place in chapter 2. Look what he says here by the
Spirit about Jesus, my brothers, How can it be verse 11 of
Hebrews 2 for he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified?
Pause. Who's that who are being
sanctified? I hope you are if you're in
Christ. So we're talking about he who
sanctifies. That's Christ and those who are
being sanctified. What happens?
All have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to
call them brothers. Jesus is not ashamed.
To call you his brother. You know what's convicting about
this verse as much as it's comforting who are the ones who
tend to be ashamed to be associated with Jesus Us.
But he's not ashamed. Why should?
We we should never be ashamed. Christ is never ashamed of you.
What do we have to be ashamed about concerning our Jesus?
Like what is it about the gospel and serving the Lord and
representing him that makes us hesitant and recoil and
reconsider what we say or why He's perfect.
I understand how he can be ashamed of me.
I get it, I understand it. But why would I?
Ever for a moment even entertain the idea.
He's perfect. He died for me, He's faithful.
Why should I gain from his reward?
I cannot give an answer. And so this is what we have to
understand here, that the love of Christ.
Is stronger than you can ever imagine.
Don't you doubt that? We're looking at the resurrected
Lord. This is Christ today.
This is Christ now. This is how Christ looks at you.
Yes, you, even you stumbling Christian, inconsistent follower
of Christ. Man, if you're truly born of the
Spirit, that's going to strengthen your holiness, not
weaken it. That's going to encourage you to
love it more. Does it not?
Does it not melt you? Does it make your knees weak?
Only the unregenerate can hear what I'm saying at the end of
this message and say, yeah, I can sin.
No, you need to get saved. But the one truly belongs.
Them though, they know their weaknesses.
No, they know what they're supposed to be doing.
But oh, they they fail. I want you to hear this loud and
clear. Go tell my brothers.
I want you to hear this loud and clear.
He's not ashamed of us. Oh, let that strengthen your
faith, that on that final day when you give your final breath,
if you belong to him, if you truly belong to Him, you have no
reason to fear to give that final.
Breath, you have no reason to cower.
I'm going to the one who is not ashamed of me.
I'm going to stand before the one who will defend me though.
Satan and all his hordes. Have things against you, things
that you even forgot about, things that you didn't even know
were wrong. He's not ashamed of you.
Why? Because he died.
And not only did he die, he resurrected the Father.
Amen. His sacrifice on your behalf.
That's what the resurrection is all about.
And that's why we come every week to celebrate as a church.
But every day we rest in Jesus being our Sabbath.
Let's. Pray.
I want to take this time and give this time to you to reflect
whenever it was that minister to your heart.
But I want you to also talk to the Lord and thank Him and
glorify Him in your own way before we collectively read
words off the screen. I want you in your own way to
take this time on this Lord's Day to say thank you.
Thank you that You love me enough to die and to resurrect.
Is it true, Lord, that you see me with such love?
I believe it because it's in your word.
I'll just marinate in that truth for a moment, and I'll join you
before we sing. And the praise team can even
come now to prepare us to sing. But I'll give you some time.
Yes. Lord, we ask that You receive
glory from our lips today. Thank You that Your yoke is easy
and Your burden is light. Thank You that we can rest in
You every day. We pray that the strength of
Your love would not just have been heard and learned,
experienced, and that the experience of Your love would
break shackles and liberate us and help us to come into the
fullness of the Christian life. Lord, only by Your Spirit can
you make these truths real and experiential to us.
We commit that into Your hands. Your word went forth, but we
pray that it would be applied and it would change us.
Receive the sacrifice of praise. Thank you for loving us.
Thank you for being so patient. Thank you for willing to teach
us over and over. Thank you that you call us each
by name. Help us never forget in Jesus
name, Amen. Let's stand church, and let's
exalt the resurrected Christ.