THE FALL AND RISE OF JESUS April 4, 2021 MARK 16:1-8

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. And I’m not talking pre-COVID AND COVID. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Then it was the best of times again!

It was Thursday. It was Friday. It was Saturday. It . . . was . . . Sunday!

It’s Friday . . . but Sunday’s here!

Say it however you will . . . what a difference a few days makes.

It was Thursday. The disciples and Jesus met together in the Upper Room to have a meal together . . . they celebrated their Last Supper. Jesus taught on servanthood, then demonstrated what servanthood is by washing the feet of the disciples. He went to Gethsemane to seek God’s direction and strength. He was betrayed. Arrested. Peter – and the other disciples – denied Him. The court cases began. Thursday.

It was Friday. And talk about fast and furious. Talk about a kangaroo court. The trial, such as it was – the trials, such as they were – began and ended. First, the Sanhedrin. Then He was taken to Pilate. Then to Herod. Then taken back to Pilate where He was found not guilty. But He was beaten anyway. And whipped. When given the choice the crowd, the mob, asked that Barabbas the insurrectionist be set free and Jesus be crucified as an extremist and a danger to Rome. And the final indignity: He was crucified like a common criminal. Friday

And here it is . . . Sunday.

Mark says that when the Sabbath was past [on Sunday], 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. [Mark 16:1-2]

They came to the tomb. They came to see what was happening. They came to see if they could do anything to undo the indignities done to their friend Jesus.

They had been at Golgotha. They had seen Him crucified. They had seen Him taken down from that ugly cross. They had seen Him hastily put into a borrowed grave. They had seen the stone rolled in front of the tomb [Matthew27:57-61]. And that’s where they went. Back to the tomb.

Not to Golgotha. They didn’t go to place where He had been killed. They didn’t go to see the cross but to the tomb where His body was.

Good Friday is our reminder of His death. The hymn goes When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died. And it’s good to remember the cross. We recite the old creed: He was crucified, dead, and buried. Crucified. Stuart Townend penned these words:

How deep the Father's love for us How vast beyond all measure That He should give His only Son To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss The Father turns His face away As wounds which mar the Chosen One Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon a cross My sin upon His shoulders Ashamed I hear my mocking voice Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there Until it was accomplished His dying breath has brought me life I know that it is finished

Friday. The cross is a Friday event. But we aren’t Friday people. As important as Friday is.

Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They had a purpose in going there. They went to the tomb to finish embalming the body. And they said among themselves [verse 3], “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” [Mark 16:3]

It’s interesting that they knew that there were barriers to get into the tomb but they went anyway.

They knew that a stone had been rolled in front of the entrance. They knew that there was no way that they’d be able to do what they wanted to do, but they went anyway.

And it makes me wonder about the barriers that keep people from Jesus today. What stones are in their way. Maybe it’s a pebble, something like a small stone in a shoe that rubs the wrong way and irritates. Maybe I’m the thing that keeps a neighbour or a friend from Jesus. My attitudes that don’t reflect my words. My words that don’t reflect my words. The inconsistencies in my Christian life – the inconsistencies in my life, period. Maybe it’s a boulder that they’ve put in place – their lack of understanding about what love is, about what a Christian life is, and that blocks their path to Jesus. We need to make sure that the stone is removed.

Mary, and Mary, and Salome went to the tomb. They knew that there was a stone in front of the opening. It was troubling. But they’d deal with it when they got there.

And when they got there something was amiss: they saw that the stone had been rolled away [Mark 16:4].

They didn’t know what to think. The problem was that while they knew the crucified Jesus they didn’t understand the risen Jesus.

when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed [Mark 16:4-5].

I would be too. You would be too. It was not what they expected to see. They expected to see a stone in front of the tomb, blocking access. They expected that there’d be no way to get in. They definitely didn’t expect to see an open way. Or a young man . . . a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting there.

But that’s us. All through life. We have expectations. And we have prejudices. We say that we don’t, but we do. We all do. And we work on them when they are brought to our minds. I hope.

Some prejudices – expectations of how people will act or be in a situation – are more . . . open . . . than others. We deny some of our prejudices with words, but our attitudes show them. Have you ever heard . . . have you ever said . . . I’m not prejudiced, but . . .

Maybe you stand against antisemitism. Maybe you stand for the Black Lives Matter movement. Maybe you stand with #stopasianhate. But those street people. But those people on welfare that won’t go out and get a job. But those Trump supporters (or those Bernie supporters). As soon as you start looking down on people your expectations, prejudices, and biases start to show. And rather than being empathetic or compassionate we look – and maybe we are – judgemental.

So the whole walking a mile in someone else’s shoes would help us to understand what people are going through. And that is part of what Jesus did when He came to earth. The Bible says that When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human! Having become human, he stayed human. It was an incredibly humbling process. He didn’t claim special privileges. Instead, he lived a selfless, obedient life. He identified with us. He knows what we go through because He went through it Himself. But that’s not all: he lived a selfless, obedient life and then died a selfless, obedient death—and the worst kind of death at that—a crucifixion [Philippians 2:7-8].

We’re still talking Good Friday here, I know. We’re beyond that day to Easter, I know. But the women still had a Friday mindset. They were still remembering seeing Jesus mocked. Beaten. Whipped. They still remembered seeing Him crucified.

We don’t really understand what crucifixion did to a person. Wiki it. Just reading about it makes me cringe. But because we haven’t seen it and because it happened to Jesus so long ago we’re almost . . . well, not flippant, but shallow and offhand about it. We say “Jesus died on the cross” like it was nothing.

We live a bloodless Christianity. A painless Christianity. A comfortable Christianity. We stub our toes and we cry out in some sort of pain. Crucifixion was agony. And He went through it willingly for us.

The Roman soldiers held His arm down. One put a wooden spike at His wrist. One drew back with a mallet and brought it down with force and slammed it through to the cross-beam. And again. And again. One wrist. The other wrist. His feet.

Know this: that every time that hammer fell heavily onto His body the gavel of the God who judges our sin fell less so, until the last nail was deeply imbedded into the body of Jesus and the last barrier between God and mankind was removed.

Matthew writes that the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom [Matthew27:51]. You probably know that this is deeply symbolic. If you’ll bear with me, the veil in the temple separated what is known as the Holy of Holies or the inner sanctuary from the holy place, which was itself separated from the outer courtyard. Once a year – once a year only – the high priest would enter the inner sanctuary to make offering for the people. The veil was a closed door. No one could – no one would dare – come into the presence of God. But when the veil was torn, top to bottom, from God to man, the hidden and remote God made Himself available to everyone. Every debt was paid. Every sin was forgiven. When the door of the tomb was opened – when the stone was rolled away – life itself was opened to us.

Mary, and Mary, and Salome . . . 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 [Mark 16:5-6].

“You seek Christ crucified.” “You seek Jesus, dead and buried.” They had watched Him die, despised and rejected. He was dead. And yet . . .

They had forgotten. They were looking at the wrong thing. They were looking for the wrong thing. Luke says that They were puzzled, wondering what to make of [the stone rolled away and the tomb empty]. Then, out of nowhere it seemed, two men, light cascading over them, stood there. The women were awestruck and bowed down in worship.

The men said, “Why are you looking for the Living One in a cemetery? He is not here, but raised up. Remember how he told you when you were still back in Galilee that he had to be handed over to sinners, be killed on a cross, and in three days rise up?” Then they remembered Jesus’ words [Luke 24. 4-8].

That was the moment. The moment that the worst of times dissipated. The moment that hope rekindled. The moment that joy hit them. Filled them. Surrounded them. Enveloped them.

In Mark it is statement: you seek Jesus of Nazareth [Mark 16:6]. In Luke it is a question: Why do you seek the living among the dead? [Luke 24:5].

Up until then they were Friday people. Remembering who Jesus was. Remembering how good it had been to be with Him, but that it was over now. They were honouring His memory, His life, His ministry. But then they remembered what He said . . . and they left Friday behind. No longer Friday people.

We aren’t Friday people. As important as Friday is. We’re Sunday people!

“Don’t be afraid. I know you’re looking for Jesus the Nazarene, the One they nailed on the cross. He’s been raised up; he’s here no longer. You can see for yourselves that the place is empty [THE MESSAGE].

“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 [Mark 16:6 NKJV].

He is not here. He is risen. Are there more important words in the New Testament?

In our theology or understanding of God we focus on the empty tomb, not on the Christ on the cross. The cross is important: God’s love is shown through Jesus’ sacrifice. Hymn writer after hymn writer expresses it. Phillip Bliss put it this way:

My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought My sin, not in part, but the whole Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

The cross. Important. Jesus’s death. Important. But the empty tomb represents victory. No, not represents victory. Is victorious! Here’s how the Apostle Paul put it:

In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?

It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! [1 Corinthians 15:53-57].

The tomb was empty. Of course, the miraculous explanation couldn’t and wouldn’t be accepted by those opposed to Jesus. At the resurrection the guards had scattered, but a few of them went into the city and told the high priests everything that had happened. They called a meeting of the religious leaders and came up with a plan: They took a large sum of money and gave it to the soldiers, bribing them to say, “His disciples came in the night and stole the body while we were sleeping.” They assured them, “If the governor hears about your sleeping on duty, we will make sure you don’t get blamed.” The soldiers took the bribe and did as they were told. That story, cooked up in the Jewish High Council, is still going around [Matthew 28: 11-15].

That was easily believed. The disciples were in on it. Jesus was a false Messiah. And resurrection? Come on. Be real. And if the body wasn’t stolen there were other explanations (conspiracy theories are not new). The women went to the wrong tomb. They either got lost on the way or they didn’t know where they were going in the first place. The women were blinded by their tears of sorrow. The sun was in their eyes. Or . . . let’s face it, they were hysterical, they were emotional . . . they were women, who can believe what they say?

He is risen! He is not here. The problem – our problem – is that if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! [1 Corinthians 15:14,16-17]

Here is the crux of what it means to be a Sunday person. Down to its simplest form. Ignoring the theology of the cross or different theological viewpoints or interpretations (of which there are many).

Here it is. Are you ready? Six words. Six. Jesus. Loves. Me. This. I. Know. And if you’re unsure, six more. For. The. Bible. Tells. Me. So.

That’s Easter. That’s what the empty tomb means. That’s what being a Sunday person is about. Forgiveness. A relationship with God (you do have one, don’t you?) Abundant life – life worth living here on earth. And eternal life with Him in heaven. God loves you.

He is not here, He is risen! We celebrate today – the fall and the rise of Jesus.