The Sovereign Savior Conquers Death. Mark 16:1-8

As we begin this morning, would you please turn in your copies of God’s Word to the Gospel of Mark 16:1-8. We will read those verses shortly, so please have them ready.

John Bowman was born at Pierce’s Corner, Vermont in 1816. At the age of 15 he was hired by the Rutland tannery, where he quickly learned the leather working trade. He was married in 1849 to a dignified and graceful woman by the name of Jennie E. Gates, who is from Warren, New York. Before long they moved to the State of New York, which was where he established a very successful business as a tanner. Their marriage lasted for over 30 years, and during that time they had two daughters. The eldest, Addie, was born in 1854 but died after only four months, their second daughter, Ella, was born in 1860 and grew to be a fine beautiful young woman. However, in 1879, misfortune brought an end to this pleasant home life. Ella fell ill and died, and less than a year later Jenny, John Bowman’s beloved wife also died.

John believed that they, and eventually he, would all come back to life. As a result, in July 1880, he decided to construct a grand memorial for his family in his native Vermont. He found a piece of land in Cuttingsville, Vermont, and hired a New York architect and designer to oversee his plans to construct a magnificent shrine to his deceased family. Over the course of year, more than 100 skilled sculptures, stone cutters, masons and laborers worked to build his Grecian style mausoleum. About a year later, Bowman hired a designer to construct a Victorian style mansion which he called “Laurel Hall”, to serve as a summer residence, in the grandest of style. A spectacular fountain graced the lawn, and the carriage house was built nearby. For 10 years, Bowman entertained family and friends at his opulent home until he passed away in 1891 at the age of 75.

Because of his believe in reincarnation, he left behind an usual request in his will. A large sum of money would finance the ongoing maintenance of both the mansion and the mausoleum. It was required that the house be kept in “waiting readiness” for him and his family to return. The custodian of the property diligently carried out his instructions, keeping the clocks wound, a fire in the fireplace, and lights in the windows at night, along with a hot meal at dusk. 61 years later, the fund was depleted in 1953, at which time much of the furniture inside the mansion was sold at auction.

Another man who promised to come back from the dead, if it were possible was Harry Houdini, the great magician. Before his death in October 1926, he entrusted to his wife certain secret messages, with the understanding that after he had passed away, he would attempt to communicate them more fully to her. Faithful to her part of the bargain, Mrs. Houdini, attended hundreds of séances, kept a light burning before her husband photograph for years, and on the anniversary of his death every year, made a futile effort to communicate with him. But no messages ever came, and on February 1, 1943, near Needles, CA, on a train in route to New York, she died without ever having heard one word from the one she loved so much.

Harry Houdini had escaped from handcuffs, chains, ropes, straight jackets, locked trunks, and barrels. He had been buried in sealed coffins, sewed up in canvas bags, stuffed into milk cans, and even riveted inside boilers and locked in safes. But he always escaped. No locks or bars or bonds could hold him.

His supposedly miraculous feats made him world famous. But, while he escaped from every bond or restraint that could be devised, he could not escape from the grave. Neither John Bowman nor Harry Houdini has been able to come back.

These stories are but 2 of the countless individuals over the history of mankind that have fought, even promised to conquer the grave, that lost that battle and have since died and been buried.

On this Easter morning, we celebrate the only One Who was ever able to conquer the grave. If you travel to Medina, Saudi Arabia, you can visit the grave of Muhammad, what remains of him still rests in his burial site. Take a trip to Jining China and you can visit the burial site of Confucius. In 2017 archaeologists discovered a box in Jingchuan County, China, which, according to its inscription, contained the cremated remains of Buddha. All these so called prophets, these so called religious leaders are dead and gone. Not so with Jesus, He and He alone conquered the grave. The Tomb in which Jesus was buried is empty to this day and millions visit the empty tomb each year.

To a certain degree, the difference between Jesus and the other names mentioned this morning, can be summed up in one word. That word is the word Sovereign.

Not surprisingly, the dictionary definition of sovereign has changed over the years. Currently Webster’s Dictionary defines sovereign as “1a: one possessing or held to possess supreme political power or sovereignty; b: one that exercises supreme authority within a limited sphere; c: an acknowledged leader”. Noah Webster, a man firmly committed in his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, in the very first dictionary printed in the United States, published in 1828, defined Sovereign in this way; “1. Supreme in power; possessing supreme dominion; as a sovereign ruler of the universe.” He went on to define it in this way “2. Supreme; superior to all others; chief. God is the sovereign good of all who love and obey Him.” Did you pick up the subtle differences between the two definitions? One coming from a committed belief in God, the other from a system that would prefer to eliminate God completely.

Scripturally, the Sovereignty of God means that as ruler of the Universe, God is free and has the right to do whatever He wants. He is not bound or limited by the dictates of His created beings. Further, He is in complete control over everything that happens in His creation. God's will is the final cause of all things.

In last weeks message we looked at Jesus, God in the flesh, and His sovereignty over all the events that lead up to the Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem. How He was in complete control of everything, even setting the exact date He would enter into Jerusalem, more that 500 years before it took place. How God controlled the very words of Caiaphas, the high priest, who considered Jesus an enemy worthy of death.

This morning we are going to look at His sovereignty in a few of the events that took place in the week leading up to His crucifixion, ending with His sovereignty even over death.

With that as an introduction, would you please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Holy Word? Next Slide

Mark 16:1–8 ESV

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.

May the Lord as His blessing to the reading of His Word, please be seated.

One of the areas where the sovereignty of God is the clearest is when we see prophecies fulfilled, prophecies that were written hundreds of years earlier. There are theologians that have estimated that there are more than 300 prophesies written about Jesus, many of which have already been fulfilled. We will look at a few of those prophecies this morning. To begin with we will see: Next Slide

The Messiah Will Be Rejected By His Own People. Is. 53:1 & 3; Jn. 1:10-11 & 12:37-38

This prophecy comes from Isaiah 53. To be honest, we could spend the entire morning in this one chapter of the Old Testament. Isaiah 53 is known as The Great Prophecy of the Suffering Servant. But for this morning, I want to focus mostly on just the last week of His life. This one is pretty amazing, considering, just last Sunday we looked at the Triumphal Entry, when crowds that may have numbered in the hundreds of thousands shouted “Hosanna to the King” and “Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord” as Jesus rode into Jerusalem. In Isaiah 53: 1 & 3we read;

Next Slide

“Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the Arm of the Lord been revealed? ...3 He was despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as One from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. ”

We see verse 3 fulfilled multiple times in the Gospels accounts, but really, this took place from the very beginning. In John 1:10-11 we read “10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him.”

And historically, 4 days after they shouted Hosanna, they “despised and rejected” Him, hid “their faces” from Him, despised and “Esteemed Him not”.

The Apostle John even quotes this prophecy in John 12:37-38 when he writes “37 Though He had done so many signs before them, they still did not believe in Him, 38 so that the word spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled: “Lord, who has believed what he heard from us, and to whom has the Arm of the Lord been revealed?”

Next we see: Next Slide

The Messiah Will Be Betrayed By One Of His Followers. Ps. 41:9 & 55:12-13; Jn 13:18, 21 & 26

In Ps. 41:9 & 55:12-13 we read: Next Slide

Psalm 41:9 – “Even My close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared My bread, has lifted up his heel against Me.”

Psalm 55:12-13 – “It is not an enemy who taunts Me – I could bear that. It is not My foes who so arrogantly insult Me – I could have hidden from them. Instead, it is you – My equal, My companion and close friend.”

Of course most of you probably know these prophecies were fulfilled by Judas. We see this in multiple passages, but I want to read to you from John 13:18. 21, 26 “‘I am not saying these things to all of you; I know so well each one of you I chose. The Scriptures declare, “The one who shares My food has turned against Me,” and this will soon come true’. Now Jesus was in great anguish of spirit, and He exclaimed, ‘The truth is, one of you will betray Me!’ Jesus said, ‘It is the one to whom I give the bread dipped in the sauce.’ And when He had dipped it, He gave it to Judas, son of Simon Iscariot.”

Another one fulfilled by Judas is: Next Slide

The Messiah Will Be Betrayed For 30 Pieces Of Silver. Zech. 11:12-13; Mt. 26:14-16; 27:3-4a

In Zechariah 11:12-13 we read; Next Slide

“12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, keep them.” And they weighed out as my wages thirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter”—the lordly price at which I was priced by them. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord, to the potter.”

We see it fulfilled in Mt. 26:14-16 where it is written “Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples, went to the leading priests and asked, ‘How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?’ And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. From that time on, Judas began looking for the right time and place to betray Jesus.”

And it is further fulfilled in the next chapter of Matthew when a remorseful Judas, takes the money back to the chief priest, who are in the Temple-the House of God and he throws the money on the floor. The chief priests then took the money and purchased a “potters field”.

By the way, I want to point out that part of this fulfillment came from the enemies of Jesus. There are skeptics that say that Jesus, and His followers knew of prophecies that needed to be fulfilled, and as a result of their knowledge took specific actions.

You would have thought the chief priests, experts in the Jewish Law and Jewish prophecies would have made sure they didn’t do anything to fulfill prophecies, but they weren’t in charge, The Sovereign Savior was. There are multiple other times that enemies, or those who were indifferent also fulfilled prophecies.

The next prophecy we see fulfilled is: Next Slide

The Messiah Will Be Silent Before His Accusers. Is. 53:7-8a; Ps. 35:11; Mk. 14:3-5

Here is another prophecy from Isaiah 53. I don’t know about you, but I find it rather difficult to remain silent when I am accused of something unfairly and falsely. Yet we read in Isaiah 53:7-8a

“He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word. He was led as a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth. From prison and trial they led Him away to His death. Is. 53:7-8a”

His silence baffled Pilate, we see that in the fulfillment that takes place in Mark 14:3-5 which states “Then the leading priests accused Him of many crimes, and Pilate asked Him, ‘Aren’t You going to say something? What about all these charges against You?’ But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise.”

Moving forward we see another prophecy fulfilled, in this instance by the indifferent Roman government.

The Messiah To Die By Crucifixion, With Pierced Hands And Feet. Ps. 22:14-16; Zech. 12:10a; Jn. 19:15-16; 20:25

In these Psalm 22:14-16 we read; “Psalm 22:14-16 – “My life is poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within Me. My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of My mouth. You have laid Me in the dust and left Me for dead. My enemies surround Me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on Me. They have pierced My hands and feet.” Then in Zechariah 12:10a

Zechariah 12:10a – “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on all the people of Jerusalem. They will look on Me whom they have pierced and mourn for Him as for an only son.”

Psalm 22 was written 600 years before the crucifixion, yet describes in vivid detail the events that took place that day.

There are multiple passages that speak of Jesus being crucified, but I want to highlight one that specifically speaks of the nail marks from Jesus being nailed to the cross. While history is replete with accounts of Romans nailing people to the cross, none of the Gospel accounts that describe what is taking place at the time of the Crucifixion state that Jesus was “nailed to the cross”. However, in John 20:25, Thomas is in the upper room with the disciples shortly after the resurrected Jesus had appeared to them with Thomas not present. When the disciples tell Thomas they have seen Jesus alive, Thomas responds by saying; “Unless I see in His Hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe.”

Next Slide (Do Not Read)

The Sovereign Savior Conquers Death.

There are so many more we could look at this morning. Like prophecies that He would suffer with sinners, indicating criminals would be killed alongside Him. That His garments would be divided by the casting of lots, fulfilled by the Roman soldiers. That He would be smitten and spat upon. That His grave would be made with the wicked, but He wouldn’t be buried in that grave, but in a rich man’s tomb. Traditionally, those crucified were thrown into a special dump for the crucified criminals, but the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea, asked Pilate for His body and placed Jesus in his own tomb. There were also, prophecies that He would rise from the dead, which were not just prophecies in the Old Testament, but from Jesus Himself.

In the end, what we are here to celebrate today, is that He did, in fact, raise from the dead. Over the centuries since His resurrection, many have sought out to disprove the resurrection, knowing that all of Scripture henges on this one event. None have been succesful. We talked about one such man a couple years ago. His name is Lee Strobel and he was an atheist that hated Christianity. He was a well known columnist, who set out to disprove the resurrection. In the end he gave his life to Christ, wrote a book titled “A Case For Christ” and now travels the world speaking about the Jesus he now follows. Josh McDowell is another. He was an agnostic, however, when challenged to intellectually examine the claims of Christianity, Josh discovered compelling, overwhelming evidence for the reliability of the Christian faith. After trusting in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, Josh’s life changed dramatically as he experienced the power of God’s love. He authored a book titled “Evidence That Demands A Verdict”.

Application:

As I close this morning, I want to look at one more thing that I believe is hugely relevant to each of us today. Something each of us needs to consider by way of application.

As we look at the Gospel accounts of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, we can’t help but notice that there are at least 14 significant failures in individuals that are a part of this historical account. 12 of the 14 are easy to identify, they are the 12 Disciples. We tend to look at just 2 of these, that of Judas Iscariot and Simon Peter. But everyone of them fled that night in the Garden of Gethsemane. Which is exactly what Jesus said would take place. Everyone one of the 12 was riddled with guilt after the events of that night. Scripture tells us that 11 of the 12 spent several days after the crucifixion in hiding, much of the time behind locked doors. Only one didn’t go into hiding, and the only reason he didn’t was because, for Judas Iscariot, his guilt brought him to the point of taking his own life.

So, we’ve identified 12 of the 14. Who are the other 2. We mentioned one of the 2 earlier, Joseph of Arimathea. He was the wealthy man, who was a member of the Sanhedrin, and was declared to be a secret follower of Jesus. He came to Pilate after Jesus death and requested he be given Jesus body for a proper burial. By now many of you have guessed the second man, he was Nicodemus. Nicodemus, who was also a member of the Sanhedrin, and assisted Joseph in the burial of Jesus. In fact he brought over 100 lbs of spices for the burial.

Perhaps some of you are thinking right now, “Wait a second, how were they failures?” That is certainly a legitimate question. I mean not one of the 12 was there to provide Jesus a proper burial, they were hiding out, or in the case of Judas, making preparations for a suicide.

I believe their first failure came in wasted years. Let me explain myself. Our first encounter with Nicodemus takes place very early in Jesus public ministry, in John 3, when he comes to Jesus at night. We get the impression that he was there at night for fear of being noticed. In our first introduction to Joseph, we are told he was a “secret follower”. Keep in mind that as one who lived near Jerusalem, it is very likely, even probable, that he had encountered Jesus early in His public ministry. In other words, both of these men knew of Jesus early on, but were to afraid to follow Him publically. Which meant they missed out on 3 years of following Jesus closely, perhaps not being one of the 12, but certainly they could have been a part of the 70 other close disciples. Spending intimate times with Jesus. There is little doubt that over those 3 years, most of His close followers had one on one opportunities with Him. Not Nicodemus and Joseph, their fear closed the door on intimate times with the long awaited Messiah.

But there is also a possibility that there was a second failure for these 2. While there are legends written about these 2 who were bold the night of the burial, there is no confirmed, verifiable evidence that their boldness that night resulted in boldness going forward, NONE. You would have thought that as prominent leaders of the Sanhedrin, had they been bold post burial, they would have been hugely influential once it became clear that Jesus had risen from the dead. Yet there is no evidence. In fact many of the legends written about these 2, contradict each other.

Perhaps you’re wondering right now, “Why would I end the message highlighting 14 failures?”

Well the good news is, I’m not. You see of those 14 failures, 11 were completely transformed. Never again to be the same. And it could be that Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea were also transformed, we just can’t confirm that is the case.

You know, the last chapter of our lives have yet to be recorded. For the vast majority of us this morning, we have many chapters yet to be written. One thing I know for sure about each one of us, our lives have been marked by many failures, I can’t speak for you, but for me, the number of failures is embarrassingly high. But as we’ve looked at the failures of these 14 individuals this morning, what is clear to me, is that Next Slide

Our lives don’t have to be defined by our failures.

What counts the most is what we do with, or after our failures. For 11 of these men, their lives were marked by transformation, not failure, and their transformation is having a dramatic affect on the world almost 2100 years later.

This past 2 weeks we have spent most of our time looking at Jesus as the Sovereign King and the Sovereign Savior. The One who was in control of all of the events that led up to the Crucifixion and into the Resurrection. Well I am here to tell you that that same Sovereign Savior King, died and rose again that He might have the opportunity to take hold of each of our lives and transform our failures and use all of our successes, to bring glory to His Name and move in and through our lives in ways that impact the world He has placed us is, that others may be drawn into a life changing relationship with Him.

My prayer is that we follow the lead of the 11.

As we close in prayer this morning, if the Holy Spirit of God has been spurring your spirit today that you need to transform your life, your failures and your successes, by the power of His Sovereign Hand. I challenge you, at some point today, or in this coming week, reach out to me personally. We are not meant to do this alone.