Our Resurrected Hope

Call to Worship

To all who are weary and in need of rest

To all who are mourning and longing for comfort

To all who fail and desire strength

To all who sin and need a Savior

We, Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church, open wide our arms

With a welcome from Jesus Christ.

He is the ally to the guilty and failing

He is the comfort to those who are mourning

He is the joy of our hearts

And He is the friend of sinners

So Come, worship Him with us.

Scripture Reading & Reader(s)

Mark 15:42–16:8 NIV

It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’ ” Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

1st Service: Stephan Choo

2nd Service: Julie Lekki

Post-Scripture Prayer

Pray.

Body of Sermon

Good morning! My name is Brandon Morrow and I’m so glad you’ve joined us this morning. It’s the tradition of the church to respond on Easter morning to the announcement that Jesus has risen from the grave. Someone will say, “He is risen,” and all respond, “He is risen, indeed.” Let’s try that.

He is risen!

He is risen, indeed!

I believe we are at a pivotal moment in time where the whole world is in need of what Easter has. I think Easter is the antidote to a hopeless world, I think it’s the place where we get any kind of sense out of a culture that is obsessed with outrage and chaos. Easter is the morning when our greatest hope comes in to view.

Over 2,000 years ago it was the event that changed the course of the world, and every year since then, followers of Jesus have gathered together to remember and celebrate how the greatest hope the world has ever seen is still changing lives.

I want to read you some words that John Chrysostom wrote, some 400 years after the death of Jesus, where followers of Jesus were still celebrating the hope they have in Jesus Christ.

If anyone is devout and a lover of God, let him enjoy this beautiful and radiant festival. If anyone is a grateful servant, let him, rejoicing, enter into the joy of his Lord.

If anyone has wearied himself in fasting, let him now receive recompense. If anyone has labored from the first hour, let him today receive the just reward. If anyone has come at the third hour, with thanksgiving let him feast. If anyone has arrived at the sixth hour, let him have no misgivings, for he shall suffer no loss. If anyone has delayed until the ninth hour, let him draw near without hesitation. If anyone has arrived even at the eleventh hour, let him not fear on account of tardiness.

For the Master is gracious, and receives the last even as the first; He gives rest to him who comes at the eleventh hour, just as to him who has labored from the first. He has mercy upon the last and cares for the first; to the one he gives, and to the other he is gracious. He both honors the work and praises the intention.

Enter all of you, therefore, into the joy of our Lord, and, whether first or last, receive your reward. O rich and poor, one with another, dance for joy! O you ascetics and you negligent, celebrate the day! You who fasted and you who disregarded the fast, Rejoice today!

The table is rich-laden: feast royally, all of you! The calf is fatted: let no one go forth hungry! Let all partake of the feast of faith. Let all receive the riches of goodness. Let no one lament his poverty, for the universal kingdom has been revealed. Let no one mourn his transgressions, for pardon has dawned from the grave.

Let no one fear death, for the Savior’s death has set us free. He who was taken by Death has annihilated it! He descended into Hades and took Hades captive! He embittered it when it tasted His flesh! And anticipating this, Isaiah exclaimed: “Hades was embittered when it encountered you in the lower regions.” It was embittered, for it was abolished! It was embittered, for it was mocked! It was embittered, for it was purged! It was embittered, for it was despoiled! It was embittered, for it was bound in chains! It took a body and came upon God! It took earth and encountered Ηeaven! It took what it saw, and crumbled before what it had not seen!

O Death, where is your sting?

O Hades, where is your victory?

Christ is risen, and you are overthrown! Christ is risen, and the demons are fallen! Christ is risen, and the angels rejoice! Christ is risen, and life reigns! Christ is risen, and not one dead remains in the tomb! For Christ, being raised from the dead, has become the first-fruits of them that have slept. To him be glory and might unto ages of ages.

Amen.

To that, we say: He is risen! He is risen, indeed.

On this Easter morning we’re going to spend our time looking at the Resurrection of Jesus from Mark’s Gospel account. Today ends 30 sermons through Mark’s gospel — we’ve been waiting for this moment. We’ve been primed as a community as we’ve heard over and over Jesus’ call to be His disciples, and now today, we get launched out into the world:

We are followers of Jesus, answering a call to be His disciples — a threat to darkness, a force to be reckoned with, armed with hope in the midst of suffering.

Which is one of the primary reasons why I think we are so in need of Easter… it shows us that suffering leads to victory.

That God has a plan to take the failures of the world — all the bigs one: death, corruption, famine, sickness; and all of the small ones: my failures, my crushed dreams, the people I’ve hurt — and all of them get overturned in Jesus.

It takes something truly miraculous to deal with every ounce of pain, agony, and injustice in the world, and today in our passage, we see something truly miraculous.

Jesus is dead.

He was handed over to the powers of Rome by the religious leaders who swore they would do the work of God on behalf of the people of God.

Mark’s gospel eliminates a lot of the standard arguments around Jesus’ death. Throughout the history of the church, there have been arguments that Jesus didn’t really die, but was removed from the cross; that another person died instead of Jesus; or that He died a natural death — rather than an execution as a form of counter-terrorism.

Mark’s statements are clear. Simple. To the point.

Jesus died.

Jewish law required a corpse to be buried on the same day of the death.

In verse 44, Pilate, the Governor of Judea, verifies the death of Jesus with the Soldier who was standing watch.

And Pilate releases the body to Joseph, a member of the Sanhedrin, which is the religious ruling group who sentenced Jesus to death, to be buried.

Jesus’ body is wrapped in burial clothes and He is placed in a tomb cut out of the rock, which is only about 3 feet high, and a stone was rolled over the tomb. This stone is big enough and large enough to cover the opening which would have had spots of 2-3 tombs. It would have required the help of multiple men to move it into place.

Two women stand by as witnesses that Jesus’ lifeless body was put into the tomb and it was sealed.

Jesus is dead.

Something miraculous is required to raise Jesus from the dead, to stop the power of death and suffering in its tracks, and to change the course of history. Only something truly amazing, could take this moment of suffering and tragedy and turn it into victory and good news.

In a time of uncertainty, we need unmistakable certainty about the hope that Jesus offers us.

This moment, on what will happen with the death of Jesus, stands in opposition to the to the chaotic uncertainty we face.

How will our kids turn out when they flee the nest and go off to college?

How will our grandkids face the pressures of social media, shifts in culture, and the anxiety that is crippling their generation?

What happens in the next 4, 8, and 12 years as a result of the upcoming election this fall?

What is life like going to be like 1, 2, 5, 10 years after the loss you’ve just faced?

Will your big leap of faith blow up in your face? Will you be the laughing stock of your firm?

Will the people closest to you still love you if you finally decide to come clean about the thing you’ve been hiding all of these years?

Today is the day we need unmistakable certainty about hope.

Three women arrive at the tomb of Jesus to begin preparing the body of Jesus for a proper Jewish burial.

Look with me at Mark 16:2-4

Mark 16:2–4 NIV

Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

The women will have had to bend down to enter the opening, expecting to see Jesus’ body laying on a stone bench. Mark continues in verse 5.

Mark 16:5 (NIV)

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

Every gospel account agrees that what the women see as a “young man” is an angel, and throughout scripture these angels address others in nearly the same way. In verse 6, the angel says (Mark 16:6)

Mark 16:6 (NIV)

“Don’t be alarmed,”

There is something overwhelming in scripture when people stand in the presence of angels, something about them that isn’t normal to human experiences, and their alarm prompts the angel’s response: there’s nothing alarming about what is going on.

The women don’t have anything to be scared of. This moment is no threat to them.

But this moment is threatening… this moment put the final nail in the coffin for any question we had left about what power of suffering, sin, death, sickness, and every wrong thing still has over us.

This is the unmistakable certainty we’ve been longing for…

This is the moment where suffering finally leads to victory.

The angel connects four facts for the women. He says in verse 6, (Mark 16:6)

Mark 16:6 (NIV)

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

Again… Mark’s statements are clear. Simple. To the point.

The angel says.

It was Jesus, who was crucified

He came from Nazareth

He is no longer dead, He is alive — The angel gives greatest message in all of history with this one statement, “He has risen!”

His body is not there

To add a little bit of humor to the moment, the angel goes, “If you don’t believe, go look for yourself!”

The angel gives the command in verse 7, to the same women who say Jesus’ body laid in the tomb, to now go and be the first preachers of the gospel. “But go, tell His disciples and Peter.”

Peter’s name singled out here is important… it’s where the story comes full circle for people like us. It’s the moment our suffering, our sin, our failure, our loss, our regret gets turned to victory.

Peter had denied Jesus three times and fled.

Peter gets one of the first whispers of what the gospel does to people like us, it names our worst failures, and gives us grace and redemption like we’ve never believed.

The announcement of the gospel, the good news, the death, burial, and the resurrection of Jesus is unmistakably certain for those who had their suffering turned into victory, because they’ve met, they’ve encountered Jesus.

The angel says, “He is going ahead of you in Galilee. You’ll see Him there, just as He promised.”

Every failure of the world — all the big ones: death, corruption, famine, sickness; and all of the small ones: my failures, my crushed dreams, the people I’ve hurt, those who have hurt me — all of them have been overturned in Jesus — because there has been an encounter with the Risen Lord, Jesus.

This is the new beginning for the world. As Jesus was raised from death, so His followers share in a new life — we’re no longer dictated by pain, suffering, the darkness and chaos of the world around us. The testimony of the resurrection is the same this morning as it was 400 years after Jesus died when John Chrysostom celebrated, “O Death, where is your sting? O Hell, where is your victory?”

Peter, who got the redemption he really, really needed, later wrote in 1 Peter 2:24

1 Peter 2:24 (NIV)

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

We’re to live healed lives. Whole lives. Victorious lives because of what Jesus has done.

The women go from the Tomb to tell others, to tell the world, that Jesus has risen from the dead. They announce, and by announcing, invite the world to know hope in a world of hopelessness; to know for certain, their renewed identity, when everything is so uncertain; to send them out in the world, with everything that they need.

The gospel is the world’s greatest proclamation, that Christ has risen from the dead, and in doing so, has defeated sin and death and everything that comes with it… and it is also an invitation, an invitation into the life of Jesus where we too get to experience how His suffering leads to our victory.

I have to ask you. Will you follow the Risen Jesus? Will you let Him heal you? Will you let Him give you a hope and a future?

I want to give you time to respond to that question…

Here’s what I want to do, I want to provide an opportunity for you to respond to Jesus. Will you join me in closing your eyes and taking a minute to privately meet with Jesus?

I know there’s someone this morning who doesn’t have a whole lot of hope left, uncertainty has consumed them, they’re overcome with dread about the future… They’re afraid of what they’ll lose when people find out about the real them. They’re in need of healing, some kind of assurance that they haven’t found yet.

You can encounter Jesus this morning, who wants to raise you to new life.

Maybe some of you need a fresh commitment to Jesus because you’ve forgotten what He’s done, what He’s promised, what His death, burial, and resurrection means… Maybe some of you have never made a commitment to turn away from your old life, full of agony and suffering, and to turn and follow Jesus.

If that’s you who need a fresh commitment, would you put up your hand? Our eyes are closed, we’re waiting to encounter Jesus, but we want to come alongside you and encourage you as live in the certain victory of Jesus.

If that’s you who need to say yes to Jesus for the first time, that you will follow Him, would you just raise your hand? This is between you and the Lord.

I want to pray for you as you’ve desired to make a commitment to Jesus.

PRAYER FOR THEM

—— Can we celebrate those who’ve made a renewed commitment to be a follower of Jesus, and those who have said yes to following Jesus?

I want to say thank you for joining us this morning as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus! Let’s stand as we continue to praise our Risen Savior!