A New Day Had Dawned

Just as the Triumphal Entry is tough to look at in a vacuum; the resurrection needs context

Understanding the days immediately preceding His resurrection gives us insight to the day of, and the days following

Mark’s account is something of the least informative of the Gospel accounts so we’ll tap into the other Gospels for some additional information

We see nothing of the acts of Jesus post resurrection in this text

This is sometimes called the “short ending” of Mark; vv. 9-20 are believed by most scholars to have been added at a later time, including summaries of other events—not claiming they’re not truth…just not original with Mark’s writing

Mark leaves us with a “then what?” hanging over our head—the only cliff-hanger in the Bible

Thankfully, we have the other Gospels which fill it in for us

The Set Up

Jesus was dead!

It had been an early—exceptionally quick death for one that was designed to extend the agony—the Romans had it down to a science

In spite of those who try to claim otherwise, we will take the word of the Roman Centurion—the Roman soldiers assigned to the crucifixion detail were experts in death; Pilate granted the corpse to Joseph, who placed it in a new tomb

That’s crucial to the nay-sayers who claim that He never really died

We find Joseph of Arimathea entering the story

Elsewhere in the Gospel accounts, we find that he was

Rich

A member of the Sanhedrin, though secretly, until now

Went boldly to Pilate...

He came out of the closet—in a way that was far more risky than the term implies today

John’s Gospel tells us that he was joined here by Nicodemus…known from John 3; another one coming out of the closet

Took spices

Took the corpse of Jesus

Placed Him in his own tomb—newly hewn

A couple things to note:

The norm for victims of crucifixion was often the garbage dump

Joseph may have been moved by Jewish tradition: honoring the remains of the dead

More likely, his understanding of Christ had become very real

This may be the fulfilling of Is 53 9

Isaiah 53:9 (ESV)

And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death,

…though destined for the dump, Jesus’ body ended in the grave of a rich man

He may not have had a full understanding of the Kingdom of God…but he was

…looking for the kingdom of God...

He had recognized that all the dead rituals in which he had participated were of no value, but the man—the man who claimed to be God—held the truth about the Kindgom

By undertaking this action, he would have made himself ritually unclean for the Passover, been unable to attend the temple on Sabbath—a big deal for a member or the Sanhedrin

…a big deal; but apparently worth it

The women saw where He was buried---putting to rest the idea that they’d gone to the wrong tomb…another common thought of the nay-sayers: the women went to the wrong tomb

The Scene

At sunset of the Sabbath, the women would have likely met, assembled the supplies they needed and made a plan for morning

From elsewhere in the Gospel accounts, we know that Jewish leaders had gone to Pilate and had the tomb sealed and a guard posted…it would be interesting to know how those guards made out???

First light found them going to the tomb, dealing with the logistics of removing the stone—bit enough to cover an opening about 3x4 feet…about a foot thick…many hundreds of pounds...

The found the tomb open, they were greeted by an angel—the other Gospels make that clear—and given the message that Jesus would go before them into Galilee

Other Gospels record the scene a bit differently—remember that the story-telling of the day was specific to audience; all events happened, the details have been edited by the writers, for those to whom they wrote

Fast-forward to one event in Galilee, recorded only by John, in chapter 21

The 3rd time Jesus has revealed Himself to the apostles..there were 7 of them present

This is known by some as the restoration of Peter

In this, from vv. 15-19. Jesus takes a few moments with the man who most visibly denied Him, and in a bit of Q&A, restores him; commissions him to feed His sheep and Follow Him

He also tells Peter that he will die a death other than a natural death as an old man

Tradition tells us (n good reason to doubt it) that Peter died on a cross…upside down, as he didn’t consider himself worthy to die the same death as the One he had denied

The Significance