Mark 16:1-8 The Resurrection

Joel and Mary Nadel, Covenant United Reformed Church

From: The Holy Bible and J.C. Ryle’s “Expository Comments on the Gospels - Mark”

House Rules: Phones, Respect, Stay on the Text

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Review

Begin with the start of Jesus’ earthly ministry

Message: “Repent and believe the Gospel” - the Gospel was Jesus life and death

Preached, taught, performed miracles for three years”

He came to Jerusalem to fulfill the Gospel promise - to die for our sins

As we begin this text, the Lord has been taken down from the Cross, following His death, and been buried in a tomb

Mark 16:1–8 NASB95

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ” They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Introduction

The resurrection of Jesus was a miracle - but it was not the first resurrection

Zaraphath’s son - Elijah 1 Kings 17:7

The Shunnamite woman’s son - Elisha 2 Kings 4:18

A dead Moabite, who was thrown in Elisha’s grave 2 Kings 13:20-21

The Widow of Nain’s son Luke 7:11-17

Jairus’ daughter Mark 5:35-43

Lazarus

Saints that rose at Jesus’ death (Matt 27:52)

All of these resurrections demonstrated God’s power through the prophets and His son

The resurrection of Jesus showed His love and mercy and promise to His people

#1: The power of the love for Christ

The best example of this is the actions of Mary Magdalene, the other Mary, and Salome, which Mark records in this text

They bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him

They came early in the morning, on the first day of the week, arriving at the grave as the sun rose

This action took a lot of courage

visiting a grave in the dim light of early morning would be a bit scary to most, under any circumstances

to visit a grave of someone who had been executed as a criminal, and to show respect and honor to someone considered an enemy of the state, was very bold

Having said that, these actions show the difference between weak and strong faith - between a weak feeling and a strong one toward Christ

these holy women had tasted of our Lord’s forgiving mercy

They were thankful to Him for the light, hope, comfort and peace He brought

They were prepared to risk everything in testifying for their love of their Savior

Why don’t we see this strong love for Jesus among Christians today?

Why do we rarely meet with Christians who will face any danger, and go through fire and water for Christ’s sake

Only one answer: weak faith and a low level of obligation to Christ

A low and weak sense of sin will always result in a low and weak understanding of the value of salvation

A small sense of our debt to God will always result in a small sense of what we owe for our salvation

Luke 7:47 ““For this reason I say to you, her sins, which are many, have been forgiven, for she loved much; but he who is forgiven little, loves little.””

#2: the trouble we Christians fear, will sometimes disappear as we approach the trouble

These women, as they approached the Lord’s grave, were worried about the stone at the door

Mark 16:3 “They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?””

Their fears were needless - there was not an issue with the stone Mark 16:4 “Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.”

Here we have a striking example of the experience of so many Christians

We believers are often scared and intimidated by the prospect of evils and yet, when we most need help, we find the fear is removed and the “stone rolled away”.

A large percentage of our fears and anxieties come from things that never really happen. These are negative fantasies

We look ahead to all kinds of possibilities as we travel through this life - we imagine all kinds of crosses and obstacles

We mentally worry about tomorrow’s troubles, as well as todays

Yet in the end, we often find that our doubts and concerns were groundless and that what we were most afraid of, never comes to pass

We need to pray for more practical faith - when we are following God’s will, in the path of duty, He will not forsake us

We need to be bold and brave, and we will often find that the lion ahead is chained, and the thorny hedge is only a shadow

#3 Christians need not be afraid of angels

We see that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome encountered an angel (young man), they were amazed/alarmed/frightened

Mark 16:6 “And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.”

This may seem a trivial, or unimportant lesson for us today

We don’t see visions of angels (though some claim to)

We may find this lesson helpful in the future though

The return of Jesus is coming, when He will judge the world, together with the angels around Him

Angels will gather up His elect, His chosen people from around the world

He will gather the weeds into bundles and burn them - He will gather the wheat of God into His barn

The people the angels take will be carried on to glory, to honor, to immortality

Those that are left behind (the weeds), will be left to shame, contempt, and eternity in hell

As Christians, we need to strive to live so that when we die, we will be carried by the angels to the arms of Abraham

We need to be known to the Angels as those who follow Jesus, as those who love Him in this world, and as the heirs of His salvation

We need to be diligent to make our repentance certain, so that we might have joy in the presence of God’s angels

That way, whether we be awake or sleeping, when we hear the voice of the archangel, we won’t need to be afraid

When we rise from the grave, we will be in the company not only of the angels, but our friends and brethren in Christ - with them we will spend eternity

#4: God is very kind, even to His backsliding followers

This message alone is a striking example of this truth

The women expected to find a dead body that morning, even though Jesus had told them He would rise on the third day

Mark 16:6 “And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.”

Mark 16:7 ““But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ””

This message was directed not only at the eleven, but specifically to Peter as well

This was a very gracious thing to do, considering they had all recently deserted their master

Peter had denied the Lord three times, and He is specifically mentioned - He is singled out

There were no exceptions to the Lord’s grace - all were pardoned

All were restored to His favor - even Simon Peter

We could easily say this is not how men would act

It is perhaps on no point in the Christian faith that we are so narrow, so judgemental, about God’s willingness to forgive and pardon sinners

Micah 7:18 “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love.”

The lesson for us is that we need to be very open and understanding about sinners, when we talk about the Christian faith

We need to promise never to be unforgiving toward others

If Christ was so ready to forgive us, we ought to be very ready to forgive others.

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