The Empty Tomb
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning
It was hard getting over my addiction to the Hokey Pokey.
But I’ve turned myself around and that is what it is all about!
Sadly the creator of the hokey pokey died recently. There was supposed to be a public memorial, but they had a hard very hard time getting him in the coffin. They put his right leg in… well, I’m sure you can imagine the rest.
Please be praying for the Hawkins family and Phelps family as they both have lost loved ones this past week. If you are a member of that family and you need anything, let me know. We are praying for you in this tough time.
This Wednesday, we are having our game night for the end of the year!
Today we are going to be in Mark 16:1-8.
Last week we saw the burial of Jesus. We saw two highly respected members of the sanhedrin come and care for the body of Jesus. They made known publicly that they were followers of Jesus. Joseph gave Jesus his brand knew unused tomb to put His body in. He bought a line cloth to wrap Jesus in and he took Jesus down from the cross and took Him to the tomb. Nicodemus brought 75 pounds of spices to put in Jesus’ tomb. Both of these men paid a high price to care for the body of Jesus. They both probably lost their positions on the Council and their standing in the city. It was not a popular choice that they made. Following Jesus does have a cost. We saw that the women who were at the cross were also at the tomb watching where they laid Jesus. They love Jesus so much that even in His death they are wanting to minister to His body, to care for Him.
Today we are going to look at the empty tomb. It is the day after the Sabbath and the ladies are going to go back to the tomb to finish caring for the burial of Jesus. They knew that the tomb was sealed with a large rock, but they didn’t care. They were going to give Jesus a proper burial and make sure that just as they did while He was alive, they were going to care for Him and minister to His needs. They have a huge surprise waiting for them at the tomb!! We get to see so symbolism that I had never noticed before when I had read these verses or even read any of the empty tomb passages. It is amazing how much is contained in the verses in the Bible when you dig in and go deep! The Bible is truly an amazing gift from God! Let’s take a look at our verses.
1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 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. 7 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.” 8 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.
Pray
Speak, O Lord, as we come to You To receive the food of Your holy Word Take Your truth, plant it deep in us Shape and fashion us in Your likeness That the light of Christ might be seen today In our acts of love and our deeds of faith Speak, O Lord, and fulfill in us All Your purposes for Your glory.
1 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him.
As soon as the sun went down on the Sabbath day, these ladies went to get what they needed to prepare Jesus’ body and the tomb. The Jews did not embalm the bodies of the dead, they put spices and aromatics to cover the smell of the decaying body. That is why they needed so much.
They didn’t believe that Jesus was going to rise
They loved Jesus deeply
2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.
They wanted to get Jesus’ body and tomb done as soon as possible.
They left in time to get there as the sun was coming up.
They were determined, and were on a mission.
3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
They knew that they tomb had been sealed by a large rock. We saw that last week in our verses. They were there watching when Joseph brought Jesus’ body to the tomb and sealed it. They were not going to let that deter them. They didn’t know how, they just knew they were going to the tomb and they would figure it out on the way or when they got there.
The only thing that mattered was getting Jesus’ body and tomb finished!
4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.
When they got there, they were amazed to see that the large stone was rolled back!!
They more than likely thought that tomb robbers had struck the tomb.
When they had left the tomb on Friday, it was sealed with the large rock!
What they didn’t know was on the Sabbath, some members of the scribes and pharisees had gone to Pilate, against the Sabbath laws, to have guards placed at the tomb. Matthew 27:65-66
65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how.” 66 And they went and made the tomb secure with the guard, sealing the stone.
Not only did they have some Roman soldier guard the tomb, they sealed it with a Roman seal, making it a capitol crime to break that seal.
They had no idea that all of that had happened on Saturday.
It was even more of a miracle that the large stone was rolled away!
5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.
Next we can see that they rushed into the tomb to see what had happened.
To their surprise, there was a young man sitting on the right side of where Jesus was laid.
Matthew tells us that he was an angel.
Some people us this verse stating that there is discrepancies in the Bible.
Mark tells us that there is one man at the right of where Jesus was.
Luke and John tell us that there were two men, angels.
12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.
This is not an error in the Bible. If there were two angels, then there was one angel.
Mark only focused on the angel that spoke to the women.
Mark leaves out a lot of the details that the other gospel writes give us. This does not mean that the Bible is full of errors.
It shows that a human wrote the Bible under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Now lets take a look at the scene we are at.
The ladies are at the tomb looking inside and see two angels one on either side, the left and right of where Jesus was laid.
Where else in the Bible do we see two heavenly bodies on either side of something?
The mercy seat that is on the lid of the ark of the covenant, that is in the holy of holies.
17 “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. 18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. Of one piece with the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.
Now these Cherubim are not angels, but they are heavenly beings just like angels.
Now what was the mercy seat used for?
22 There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.
It is where God met with Moses and the priests.
14 And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
This is where the priest would make the blood offering for the nation of Israel.
So there was this golden seat that had two heavenly beings on either side and they was blood sprinkled on it for the nation of Israel.
Back to our scene.
We have two heavenly beings on either side of where Jesus was laid.
His body went from the cross straight to the tomb. There was still fresh blood dripping out of Jesus’s body and on His body. It would have gotten on the place where He was laid!
Two heavenly bodies on either side of a place that had blood on it from the sacrifice!!
This symbolizes the mercy seat in the Old Testament.
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.
Every time we see someone encounter an angel, they are told to not be afraid. Here the angel is telling them don’t be amazed. Why would you be amazed at an angel talking to you in an empty tomb that should have had a body in it!!
Jesus told them multiple times that He was going to die and then rise again on the third day!
They didn’t understand what He was telling them.
This empty tomb should not have been a surprise.
Some people who argue that Jesus didn’t rise from the dead, say that the women went to the wrong tomb.
This clearly shows that they are at the right tomb.
The angel tells them that look here is where Jesus who was crucified was laid.
He is not here. HE IS RISEN!!
What great news that these women just recieved!! They are the first to hear this! The King is Risen! The Messiah lives!!
They just wasted all that money on the spices!!
Look, He is gone.
7 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.”
Here we can see the reward that the women get for loving Jesus and being with Him and caring for Him even in death! They get a command that foreshadows the great commission. Go and tell the disciples and Peter.
God uses these women who have been faithful to reveal that His Son is alive, that He is Risen. Their reward is that they get to make the announcement that the Messiah is alive!
For those who want to say that the disciples stole Jesus’ body, if they had, they would not of had women go and tell that He is risen.
Their testimony was not worth anything. It was unusable in court at that time. No one would believe them. It would be foolish to have women spread the news if they had stolen the body.
They would have had men tell the news so that it would be more credit.
The angel tells the women to specifically tell Peter that Jesus was going to Galilee, the headquarters for the majority of His earthly ministry.
Why single out Peter?
It wasn’t because he was the leader.
It was because he had denied Jesus three times.
Peter was heart broken over what he had done.
He didn’t think he would ever be able to serve Jesus again.
How could someone forgive what he had done?
Jesus and God could and will!!
Jesus is going to restore Peter three times, the same number of times that he denied Him.
What an amazing picture of grace and mercy!!
Jesus wanted to make sure that Peter was there!
He wanted Peter to know that he was forgiven.
There is nothing we can do to that God can’t forgive if we ask.
Our sin is not bigger than God’s mercy and grace.
It doesn’t matter what you have done in the past, if you are truly repentant and seek God’s forgiveness and believe in Jesus, you are forgiven!
They are to tell them that He will meet them in Galilee just like He told them.
There they will get to see Jesus!
8 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.
This was a lot for these ladies to process!!
They were amazed and scared at the same time!
It is not every day that you get to have a conversation with an angel!!
It is not every day that you go to visit a tomb and find out it is empty!!
It is completely understandable for them to have this reaction to these events.
Our verses end with a true miracle.
The women said nothing to anyone!!!!
All these women and they said nothing!!
They probably knew that know one would believe them!!
It is amazing to see God providence in our journey through Mark. He is having us end the year on the empty tomb!!
God is so good!
I want our big take away besides the empty tomb to be that Jesus seeks to forgive us.
He made sure to let Peter know to be in Galilee. He knew Peter was upset at what he had done and He wanted to make sure Peter was there to be restored!
God hates our sin.
God truly wants to forgive us, we just have to want to be forgiven!
When we are truly repentant, not just sorry we got caught, God is faithful for forgive us.
When we are repentant, He forgets our sin and puts it as far as the east is from the west.
We can not our sin God’s mercy and grace!
He is a just God and the God of judgement, but only for those who are not repentant, for those who love their sin and sinful life style.
I can not say that enough.
If you are living a life style of sin, you are not repentant!
We have to hate our sin just as much as God does!!
He wants to forgive us, but we have to have Jesus as our lord and king before He can.
We are about to start a new year Liberty
Let’s make sure we have the correct attitude about our sin!
In these last few days of 2025, seek God and ask him to point out any unresolved sin that may be in our lives!
Let’s make 2026 the year that we run away from our sin and into the arms of Jesus.
Let be more obedient and more forgiving in this next year than we ever have!
Let’s make 2026 the year that we focus on Jesus and His commands for us!
Let’s pray.
