The End of the Road… And the Beginning

Intro

Over these last several weeks we have been going through the book of Mark. We have walked with Jesus on the road to the cross. It is a road that if we are going to follow him we must also take. But we all step onto the road with baggage. Each week of this series we have pulled something from the bag that Jesus challenges us to leave behind or surrender to him if we are going to follow Him. But now this morning as we reach the end of the road of the road to the cross. The question I want us all to consider this morning is what now?

We have already read what happened when Jesus died on the cross we have already read what happened when he rose from the dead. Now what? What do we do with that?

We have to respond. The death and resurrection of Jesus demands a response from each and every one of us. Because the resurrection is the bottom line when it comes to Christianity.

“If the resurrection is true, then so are a number of other things: (1) There is a God; (2) Jesus is that God; (3) the Bible is true; (4) heaven and hell are real; and (5) Jesus makes the difference whether you go to one or the other.

Do you believe it’s true this morning? I am not asking if you think its true. do you fully with all you have believe that it is true? I know many of you in here do. I also know several of you may just think its true. and others of you don’t think it is but you still came to church on Easter because its what you do, and I am glad your here.

However you believe right now by the end of this service you will give a response. The resurrection requires a response.

Lets look at how those who were there the morning of the resurrection responded to it.

Mark 16:1–8 CSB

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they could go and anoint him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb at sunrise. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?” Looking up, they noticed that the stone—which was very large—had been rolled away. When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side; they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there just as he told you.’ ” They went out and ran from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid.

Mark’s account of the resurrection doesn’t have as many details as John’s which we read earlier. and your Bible might have a few more verses. But it is widely accepted that those aren’t Mark’s words they were added later. They relay true things that happened because the other Gospels talk about them but they weren’t Mark’s words.

So reading where Mark ended his Gospel in verse 8. It is very abrupt. There’s a reason for that and we will get to it. but first I want to point out what the angel at the tomb said to the women.

Mark 16:6 CSB

“Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him.

The angel invited the women to investigate. To come closer. He later asked them to take a step of faith but it was not a step of blind faith. He invited them to see the physical place of the resurrection.

The women are not directed to a mystical or spiritual experience. They are directed specifically to Jesus, who died by a crucifixion they witnessed, was buried in a place they witnessed, and now has been resurrected.

1. Investigate the Resurrection.

Some of you in here are skeptical. You have a skeptical mind. it’s not that you are opposed to believing you may even want to but you need some confirmation. You are worried that if you declare your belief something will come out, you will hear a piece of evidence that will later disprove it and you will look foolish.

I want you to know this morning if that you. I get it because I am just like you I have a very skeptical mind. At times it serves me really well. at other times it can get me into trouble just ask my wife Alysa.

I want you to hear this very clearly this morning. God is not afraid of your skeptical mind. He made you that way. He wants you to use it.

The resurrection was not a magic trick that he’s scared you’re going to find out the secret of.

When I was a kid I thought I was going to be next great magician. I loved the wonder of it. I wanted to amaze people. but as you know magic tricks are all deception and showmanship. and the biggest fear when performing a magic trick is I am going to mess up and get found out. And there are ceratain things in magic that you have to keep away from people so they don’t look too close and figure out the trick.

My church let me perform a magic show at our fall festival. and it went really well until about halfway through I performed this classic trick. that everyone over 5 years old knows the secret to but in my mind no one could figure it out unless i messed up.

And so I did the trick and when the big reveal came. I hadn’t tucked the hankerchif all the way in and so everyone saw the fake thumb. everyone saw the deception. and all the kids in the small crowd at once realized they had been decieved, I watched the wonder leave their face. there was no magic and everything I did after that, they were more and more skeptical of.

That moment is what we are all scared of believing in something that turns out not to be genuine so we protect ourselves with skepticism.

God is not a magician trying to decieve you with tricks and showmanship he is the real deal. There will never be a moment when you look too close and the trick falls apart. the resurrection really happened and he wants you to use your skeptical mind to look closer. To see that. God invites us just like he invited the woman in the tomb to come look closer. The closer you look the more convinced you will be that the resurection happened and if you believe that than There is a God; (2) Jesus is that God; (3) the Bible is true; (4) heaven and hell are real; and (5) Jesus makes the difference whether you go to one or the other.

Here are a few things my skeptical mind has uncovered that have reinforced my belief.

The tomb was empty—and no one ever produced the body.

The first witnesses were women—an unlikely detail if you were making it up.

The disciples went from hiding in fear to boldly preaching in public.

Multiple people and groups claimed to see Jesus alive.

These weren’t just visions—people ate with Him, talked with Him, touched Him.

Over 500 people saw Him at one time.

His own brother James didn’t believe—until he saw the risen Jesus.

Saul, who persecuted Christians, became Paul after encountering Jesus.

The message spread rapidly in the very city where Jesus was killed.

If it was a lie, it would’ve been shut down immediately.

The disciples gained nothing—no power, no wealth—only suffering and death.

And yet they never changed their story.

People will die for what they think is true… but not for what they know is a lie

Jesus doesn’t ask you to take a blind leap of faith. He invites you—just like the women at the tomb— to come and see… to look closer… to investigate.

Look what he asks them to do right after they investigate.

Mark 16:7 CSB

But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there just as he told you.’ ”

He asks them to go home in faith that they would see him there. We know from the Gospel of John that after this Mary does see Jesus in the garden. but the call that the angel gives is go to Galilee. Go home and you will see him there

2.Follow the Risen Jesus.

Your journey with Jesus doesn’t stop when you examine the evidence and realize you believe.

The angel didn’t say, “Stay here and process.”

He said: Go to Galilee. Go back home. Go back to normal life.

And here’s what’s wild— they would only see Jesus there… if they went there.

The evidence was enough to believe… but they still had to take a step of faith to experience Him.

And that’s where a lot of us get stuck.

Some of you believe the resurrection happened. You’ve heard the evidence. You don’t really have an argument against it.

But your faith has stopped at belief.

Because following Jesus isn’t just: “I think this is true.”

It’s: “I’m going to live like He’s alive.”

At some point— you don’t need more evidence. You need obedience.

You don’t experience the risen Jesus by standing at the empty tomb… you experience Him by following Him where He’s already gone.

That means: going back to your home, your job, your daily life— and actually following Him there.

So let me ask you:

Are you following Jesus in your everyday life… or are you still standing at the tomb?

Because if He really is alive— then where He’s leading you is worth following.

Every Easter we stand and we marvel at the empty tomb. Which is a good thing to do. But the woman that day couldn’t stay there just staring at it. We can’t have an easter service everyday. We have to go back home to everyday life, which is good because that’s where Jesus is. He isn’t at the tomb anymore it’s empty. We follow him in faith back to our homes, our jobs, our schools. Faith is to be a daily exercise of walking to where the Lord has gone, believing him to be there, and finding him to be so.

Are you following Jesus in your every day life where he is leading you. or are you coming to church on Sunday’s marveling at the empty tomb and then following yourself instead of where Jesus is leading you?

If you believe the resurrection that means you believe he’s God. and if He’s God don’t you think where he’s going to lead you is going to be better in the long run even if it’s hard now?

Follow Jesus. Not to an empty tomb. There’s nothing special about the tomb, there’s nothing special the cross. They are just pieces of stone and wood. What is special is what Jesus did on the cross, and what Jesus did in that tomb. That give us freedom to follow him to the death of ourselves and the resurrection that only he can give.

The Road to the cross leads to the empty tomb where we are invited to investigate and believe, but it doesn’t end there it leads out of the tomb and back to where we live where we experience Jesus every day in our everyday lives. Just like it is what Jesus did on the cross and in the tomb that turned them from symbols of death to symbols of life. it is what Jesus does in your life that moves your life from being a symbol of death an sin. To a life that is special because of what he has done in your. a life that has is truly special. And when that happens you.

3. Become The Gospel.

Mark’s book ends so abruptly in verse 8 Mark 16:8

Mark 16:8 CSB

They went out and ran from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid.

Why would it end like that? It’s not this easy conclusion that the other three gospels end with? As I have said Mark’s Gospel is written for two purposes. to show us who Jesus is. and what our response should be. The book ends with the women responding by leaving but not telling anyone what happened at first. Obviously that changed or we wouldn’t know what happened. But we see their response to Jesus. and then the book just ends. This isn’t an accident it is a deliberate choice Mark made to end the story here to leave the ball in the readers court. It completes what he started in the first verse of Mark Mark:1:1

Mark 1:1 CSB

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

When he says the beginning here he isn’t talking about the begining of the book. This entire book is the beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ.

The end of the book is just the beginning. Because of this book you have heard the good news this morning. You have been given evidence that it is real. once you hear it you are called to respond to the good news by believing it. but your response is not to just believe it and then go on like usual. You respond to the good news by beleiving the good news and then becoming the good news. You become the Gospel.

There are so many historical evidences for the resurrection I could have thrown facts at you all morning. but you know what people care about these days. They don’t just want to know its true. they want to know it is good. They want to know it is good for them.

As much as I love historical evidence my favorite evidence for the resurrection that I see is the people who have been resurrected from their old life. Resurrection that is only possible because Jesus defeated death and sin when he resurrected.

The resurrected life that I have seen in the students that I have gotten to see come to Christ over the years. Thats the good news, thats the Gospel,

The church members that I have seen over years go from someone people avoid to someone people are drawn to. that’s the good news, thats the Gospel.

The stories of forgiveness I have heard. that I have heard people extend to people who have wronged you and didnt deserve forgiveness but you did it anyway. That’s the good news thats the gospel.

The college students have told me they picked their career because they know God was calling them to use their normal career as a ministry opportunity to point people to Jesus. That’s the good news that’s the Gospel.

If your response to the resurrection was to place your faith and your trust in Jesus so that you can be resurrected. Than you are good news. What Jesus has done in your life is the good news.

Because Jesus has been resurrected. all the baggage we carry the plans we have made for our lives, the superficial things we put our identity in, the sin that we carry, everything that Jesus has asked us to leave behind in the book of Mark that we have studied we can leave it all behind and follow him fully and freely.

Because the tomb is empty the bag is empty. He has taken all the weight of everything you are trying to carry on himself.

So now the question is not: “Did it happen?”

The question is: 👉 “What are you going to do about it?”

And this morning, there are really only a few responses in this room.

1️⃣ Some of you need to believe for the first time.

You’ve investigated. You’ve heard the evidence. You’ve wrestled with it.

But you’ve never actually responded.

You’ve thought it was true… But you’ve never surrendered your life to it.

👉 Today is the day.

Not when you have all the answers. Not when you clean your life up.

Right now.

Jesus didn’t say “figure it all out.” He said follow me.

2️⃣ Some of you need to stop standing at the tomb.

You believe it. You’ve been in church. You’ve celebrated Easter… a lot of times.

But if you’re honest—

You’re not really following Him.

You’re still carrying the bag. You’re still doing life your way.

👉 And today Jesus is saying: “Stop standing here… and start following me.”

There is a step of obedience you already know you need to take.

You know God is telling you to step up and disciple your kids. But you’ve been putting it off. You can step out of the tomb in obedience.

You know God is calling you to be more involved and serve in the church but you have hid behind your busy schedule. You can step out of the tomb in obedience.

You know that you have been running to a sin when you get anxious or burnt out. You can repent of that today and start running to Jesus when those feelings creep up instead.

You don’t need more evidence. You need to move.

3️⃣ And some of you need to become the Gospel again.

You’ve been saved. But somewhere along the way… you got comfortable.

The resurrection changed everything for you once— But it’s not shaping your life right now.

👉 And today is a call back.

Back to surrender. Back to mission. Back to living like Jesus is actually alive.

The resurrection demands a response.

Not next week. Not when life slows down.

👉 Right now.

So here’s what I want you to do.

Right where you are:

If you need to trust Jesus for the first time…👉 tell Him that.

If you need to take a step of obedience…👉 commit to it.

If you need to come back and follow Him fully…👉 surrender again.

👉 “The tomb is empty… so you don’t have to walk out of here the same.”