Resurrection of the Lord, Easter Day

Welcome Statement

Good Morning Everyone. The day is finally here. Christ has Resurrected. I hope for you that you find much meaning in this day as I do. For many years It did not click for me the meaning of this day, and how important Christ’s Resurrection was, even more-so than his Death. I remember hearing the story many times over the year, it used to get painted the same so many times. Some Pastors I remember would get a unique vision and message out, but it’s really hard, preaching the Easter Message, that Resurrection of the Lord, every Year. So what do we do about this? Well. One solution, is to preach on just more than John 20. Many of us prefer John 20, it’s the most comfortable version of the story, it’s the most detailed, well thought out description, It shows us the aftermath, but it also paints it more like a story, a historical story, with a pleasant detailed description. In my classes, I have been studying the 4 different Gospels, their emphasises, how they complement eachother, how they differ, how they focus on different parts of Christ’s ministry, and what they intended to do in each story. John’s Gospel was the one most concerned about Jesus’s Divinity, using much more detailed philosophical and beautiful language than the other three, and is actually the newest of the four Gospels, being written at believed to be between 85 and 90 A.D. Mark’s Gospel, the one we will be visiting today, was written between 55-59 A.D. This is the most Evangelical of the Gospels, it is short, to the point, it is the first one historically although not by order in our Bibles. John’s is less concerned about a Chronological order of events and more about the deification of Jesus, while Mark is more concerned with Convincing people of the salvific story of Christ. You see, I feel sometimes we hear the story so many times, we need to shake it up a little bit to wake ourselves up. I’m not going to foreshadow anything, I’m going to simply read Mark, to get my point across. What I want you to do as I read, is picture yourself at this scene, witnessing these events as if they were for the first time in History, as a shock, to realize why Mark wrote how he wrote the way he did here. Let’s Read Mark:

New Testament Reading - Mark 16:1-8 ESV

Mark 16:1–8 ESV

When the Sabbath was past, 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.

An Abrupt Ending

So if you have a different Translation, some translations have a longer ending missing. There are debates and discussions on why this is the case. There are debates on whether it is that it was missed in the original manuscripts we had, but the prevailing theory is that it was added, because scribes were really bothered by Mark’s abrupt ending where it has the women telling no one about what had happened. Some translations choose to omit it, or keep it, and then add a footnote that it is only in some manuscripts because of this. I believe either ending is fine, because obviously to be clear, the Women did not keep silent forever, as the message was spread across the earth to this day, but I think this is something that people find themselves really uncomfortable with talking about, but it is scripture, a holy text, that we must wrestle with nonetheless! That is what it means to be a Disciple of Christ. To get back on point, I read it to the abrupt ending today, where the women tell no one, because I think Mark’s original intention with the Gospel Story was to evangelize, this cliffhanger was for him to silently and rhetorically ask the question to everyone in the room, “Do you now believe everything I am telling you?”. It is also a call for us to pickup where the Book left off. We as a Church carry on the legacy of the Apostles in Acts. We see the Bible as a finished product, which it of course is, but I believe Mark was being Clever, by showing that while Scripture may be set in stone, the Church and its people are not. This was the first Gospel written. This was during a time of rampant Change. The first epistle of Paul was written by Paul in 48 AD, the epistle to the Galatians.

To help put your mind at ease, if this discussion has alarmed you a bit. We need to revisit John 1:1 for a minute

John 1:1 ESV

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

We Understand Scripture to be this living thing, That God Himself, Christ, is the Word, in Greek, Logos. We of course had our old Testament, to the old way, to the law. But never before was the word written on a person’s heart before, in human flesh. John 1:14

John 1:14 LEB

And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.

The words uttered from Christ’s mouth were live-giving, they weren’t dead, or arbitrary. That his voice wasn’t just a bunch of utterances from his voice box as our world today would deconstruct things to. No, today, we see his words, as inherent, as divine. Those Red Letters are real.

One Thing we have to realize however, is before the written word comes the verbal. It is clear based on the dates that it was decades after this Gospel was written. This religion was like no other, as you remember through Christ’s beatitudes, it started from the least, to the Most, not the other way around. Even Paul was turned to nothing with his blindness before he was fully converted. The thing is, this verbal message, carried on, and we see that people cared about the details, and the importance of Christ’s Resurrection. The Apostles wouldn’t have been able to keep “a secret” like stealing the body as some would have argued, which is even pointed out in our Gospels! It’s a part of the Narrative that the Pharisees were concerned about this! The fact a verbal testimony can come to penship that many years later, and be as consistent as it is, suggests, we have an inspired living word that imprints on people’s hearts, not just in their memories. That Christ’s commandments transcend languages and temporal bounds, and are imprinted on this Universe. If that doesn’t tell me these words weren’t inspired in some way, I don’t know what does.

It’s clear based on all of this, that at the time in terms of historical context, everyone was aware of what happened next, and this cliffhanger was supposed to be a slap in the face, a wakeup call, to put people on edge, and ask them to participate in their communities. The Bible isn’t just some history book, It’s a living word, that through careful discernment applies to our day and age just as much as it did 2000 years Ago. Of course certain books apply to different things, and many of the things in the Old Testament do not apply to us due to the New Covenant of Grace, but Christ fulfilled the Law, through his atonement, we must find that grace in this book, where ever we will find it.

Will we Reinvigorate ourselves With Resurrection?

As we hear these words from Mark today, I ask that question to all of you. When you hear that a man, both fully divine and human, has resurrected from the dead, and has called you to a life worth living, a life full of inherent meaning, with a community of people that care about you, are you going to, as Kierkegaard would say, take a leap of faith? It is a dark pit to take the leap, we cannot deny that to trust someone takes vulnerability, it requires a deep sense of burdensome trust, something that is lacking in this day and age. We all miss connection. We find ourselves locked up tight seeking spiritual fullfillment through other methods, like human connection through Social Media, by the Quantity of friends we have. But what if I told you, it’s possible to have quality relationships that actually made your heart full, that actually made life mean something inherently. This Life has told us forever that life has no inherent meaning, that death is the end. Mark here is telling us, that is indeed not true, but he is leaving us at a cliffhanger, because he knows we know the rest of the story, He trusts that we are well versed, he is giving us the autonomy like God did, to Choose to believe. You have a choose, it’s not about FOMO here, or Fear of Missing Out. I’m not here to try to “scare you” into believing. I’m here to convince you that this is the best life giving water there is. We are talking about a spirit that can move mountains in life, that can spiritually reclaim so much. I can’t promise that he would turn everything around, but I can promise he will be with you every step of the way. He has gave my life purpose. When he rolled that stone away in my life, the burden I felt removed was insane. Now I can’t say anything dramatically changed, but my outlook changed, My behavior, as Paul said, I became a new human. I had a piece of Christ in me, That Holy Spirit. So my question is, do you believe that Light? Will you let that Light in? If you won’t, I will ask it another way, will you at least take a chance? Will you try a walk with him, little by little? For me, I was Born a Methodist, but I will tell you, it wasn’t until a year ago, that i would say I was “truly” born-again, that I was “fully” converted, fully sanctified in some sense, he’s still pruning those branches. This is not some overnight process. People believe it’s about getting baptized and everything is magically fixed, or that because they don’t feel a special feeling, they are a failure. No, it is not like that. Christ works through people differently. Christ, is the lifebringer, he works with each human individually, because each person matters. He resurrected to show us life has real meaning, that we were each meant to have a purpose on this earth, that our children have a purpose, that this earth is meant for beauty, not despair and destruction. The rolling away of that stone, was the rolling away of the old, and the coming in of the new. Let me ask again, Will you let Christ, truly Change you, even if it’s little by little, For some, it’s an overnight thing, other’s, it takes years. You will not regret it, I can promise you that, there is a community here that will unconditionally love you, unconditionally support you, unconditionally welcome you. Jesus said the night he was betrayed: Matthew 26:39

Matthew 26:39 LEB

And going forward a little he fell down on his face, praying and saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”

Even Christ felt the pain of his humanity, all the way to the Cross. But he never said, “Father, I will only do your will, if so and so believes in me.” Prevenient Grace, is all around us, it is an unconditional gift to soften hearts, to give us the free will to accept or deny him. Yes, Some gifts from God are unconditional like prevenient Grace, to help you reach him before you even know you are with him. However, This came at a price, the Cross, because of our sin, we cannot forget that payment of the atonement. Without death we wouldn’t have the resurrection, but more importantly, without the Resurrection, we wouldn’t have life. This opportunity of salvation is something you can accept. I know of nothing else, and so I can offer no other more beautiful love than the servant’s love of Christ, that I will eternally trust for forever, and so I share it all with you today, that Christ has died, Christ Has Risen, and he certainly will come again. Let Us Pray.

Closing Prayer

Heavenly Father, We thank you for the 4 Gospels, that retell that old, old story, of Jesus and his glory, and his love. We thank you for Mark as a powerful Evangelist, giving us the most concise and evangelical Gospels we know, that we might spread the word to others, giving that trail to share that people might join in the Bible story, where it left off, saying “You too are welcome to be a part of the table”. We know you never intended for there to only be 12 at the table of the last supper forever. We are reminded today, through your Resurrection, of your victory over death, your continual reign over our lives, and that despite what the world tells us, spiritually, we and the Church will never falter. Amen.

Doxology / Benediction / Closing

As you go out this week. Think about how Christ has Resurrected your life from Death. What is it about Mark’s telling of the story that prompts you to think differently about how you partake in the Gospel story as a Christian? Christ isn’t just the person who took on the brunt of our sins on the Cross, he is the life-giver and the life-breather. Life today keeps claiming things are bad, but we have a brighter light than any darkness, as it is said in John 1:4-5

John 1:4–5 LEB

In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

May you Have a Blessed Sunday, and rest of your Week! Amen!