The Empty Tomb

Mark 16:1-8

INTRODUCTION

Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James and Salome went very early one Sunday morning to the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth, hoping to anoint his body with spices. And on this Sunday morning some 2000 years later we are going to be following in their footsteps to consider that open, unoccupied tomb that changed everything.

The very fact we are meeting here on a Sunday morning is as a result of this fact of the empty tomb and there are 6 things I want to share this morning about the reality of Jesus’s empty tomb and what it means for us.

THE EMPTY TOMB IS AN HISTORICAL FACT

“As a historian, I cannot explain the rise of early Christianity unless Jesus rose again, leaving an empty tomb behind him.” - NT Wright

Christianity not founded upon fables, or moral teachings but upon historic events.

The NT is a collection of 1st century, historical documents. The gospels are eye witness accounts of the life death and resurrection of Jesus. They are first century documents, written by people who knew Jesus and the world in which he lived. Because so many early fragments from copies of these documents exist, we can show with a large degree of certainty that the gospels have not been changed over the years or added to.

The discovery of the empty tomb by women is actually a big argument in favour of the authenticity of the gospels. Think about it, if the gospels were actually written much later on by devoted followers of Christianity they would have wanted to make their message as appealing and as believable as possible to others. Would they really have kept this bit of the narrative in there? The testimony of women in a court of law was not taken seriously - why would they have women making this most important discovery. The fact that each of the gospels report that it was women who first discovered the empty tomb is actually evidence that the gospels are reliable and are recording the events as they actually happened.

Becoming a Christian isn’t like trying to believe in magic, it’s about believing what is true, about believing the facts. It’s not a blind faith but a reasonable faith!

2. THE EMPTY TOMB IS A PLACE WHERE WORRIES GO TO DIE

Have you ever found yourself worrying about something, perhaps a school test on Monday morning, or an important meeting with your boss first thing, and then the time comes for the test and it’s cancelled, or the meeting is suddenly called off! The sense of relief is something else isn’t it?!

All the way to the tomb Mark tells us that these women were worrying about getting into the tomb. Who will roll away the stone for us? They were saying. And then they arrive at the tomb and the stone has already been rolled away.

Their major problem, their big worry was dealt with when they came to the empty tomb.

So many of us spend our lives bearing up under huge worries, bearing the weight of fears and anxieties in our souls and in our bodies. Many of these worries are about things that may never actually happen, but we live as if they will happen and the effect on us is that we are drained of our strength and of our joy.

What’s the message here? The message is that every worry, every fear, every burden meets it’s death at the threshhold of Christ’s empty tomb. If we will bring our worries with us to the empty tomb, to gaze upon the fact of Jesus’s final victory over death, they will lose their power over us in the moment.

3. THE EMPTY TOMB IS A PLACE OF VISITATION

The three women arrive at the tomb just after dawn and see the giant stone already rolled away, as they enter the tomb they get a fright; instead of finding Jesus’s body they find a young man sitting on the right hand side of the tomb in a shining white robe. The language makes clear to us that this isn’t just a young chap with access to top tier washing detergent in the first century, this was an angel.

I don’t know how many of you have encountered an angel before but the near universal reaction in scripture to angelic visitation is fear. These women had a supernatural encounter at the empty tomb - God’s power was displayed in both the stone being rolled away, and by this heavenly messenger.

The empty tomb is the place of encounter, it’s the place of God’s visitation. Many people are looking for an encounter with God, many people are looking for a visitation from heaven - but they are looking everywhere but the empty tomb of Jesus Christ. They are looking to other religions, or to other men or women to lead them into an encounter with God - but it’s when we go to that empty tomb, when we behold and believe Christ’s resurrection from the dead that we truly encounter God’s power. That is the only place to go to encounter the real power of God.

Power to roll away the stone from our dead hearts, power to give a sinner new life, power to transform us, power to create us anew into the image of Christ.

Do you need an encounter with God? Do you need a fresh visitation with His power? Come to the empty tomb and look inside at where the Lord lay. Look at your own heart - once dead and cold, now made alive with Christ.

4. THE EMPTY TOMB IS GOOD NEWS

The first time the gospel is preached after the resurrection is by this angel in the tomb

Mark 16:6 ESV

6 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.

The empty tomb is at the heart of the gospel

1 Corinthians 15:14–17 ESV

14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

The gospel is the proclamation that Christ who was crucified for us, has now gone before us and secured victory over the grave for all who believe. The empty tomb tells us that death is not the end!

5. THE EMPTY TOMB IS A PLACE OF COMMISSION

After giving the women the good news the angel then commissions them to ‘go’ and to tell ‘his disciples.’ These three women receive the first commission to preach the gospel! They went to the tomb with one mission and left with another!

These women in a sense take on an apostolic role in the absence of the actual Apostles - the Apostles will first receive the good news from these women, who have seen with their own eyes the empty tomb.

The empty tomb is still a place of commissioning today. When we behold Christ’s resurrection with the eyes of our hearts by faith - we also receive a new commission to GO and to TELL OTHERS the good news! Christ is risen!

Will you take up this God given purpose - to be an evangelist? A bearer of good news for God? God isn’t looking for the strong or the mighty or the influential to be his evangelists - he is looking for those who are willing.

6. THE EMPTY TOMB IS A PLACE OF REDEMPTION

The angel only mentions one disciple by name; Peter. The angel tells the women to go and tell the good news to the disciples and to Peter.

All of the disciples had fled from Christ in his time of need, and Peter after openly declaring his own faithfulness had denied Christ three times. And now the angel specifically asks that the women notify Peter of His Lord’s resurrection!

Peter had badly let down Jesus, and yet Jesus counted Peter in. Can you imagine how it would have felt for Peter to hear from the women ‘the angel mentioned you by name and told us to tell you?!’

How many of you feel like you have badly let the Lord down? Remember this moment at the empty tomb - Christ has not given up on you!