He Has Risen! (Mk. 16:1-8)

Introduction

· Good morning, everyone. He is Risen! It was good to see a number of you at the Good Friday service, and it’s good to be back with you this morning. I want to thank Pastor Bill for giving me the privilege of preaching the Easter Sunrise Service on this 70th anniversary of the start of this event. This may be one of the warmest sunrise services we’ve ever had. What a blessing. And we are doing it in such a beautiful setting.

· If you have your Bible this morning, I invite you to turn with me over to Mark 16

· This is a sunrise service, and we’ve all been watching it grow brighter by the minute. It seems only fitting for us to open together the passage of what happened early on Easter morning.

· Mark chapter 15 ends with two of Jesus’ friends -- Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea, removing his body off the cross. They wrap him in some linen sheets and apply a heavy amount of spice to hold off the stench of death. Then they lay him in Joseph’s personal tomb while two ladies named Mary watch from a distance. As the sun sets on Good Friday, Sabbath begins. All work grinds to a halt, and the disciples must wait to finish treating the body with oil and spices. On Saturday evening, once the sun had gone down, Sabbath was over, and shop keepers were allowed to re-open for a couple hours until nighttime. It was probably at this time, Saturday night, the ladies went to the market and bought spices, so they would be ready to go out to the tomb first thing Sunday morning to finish anointing and preparing Jesus’ body for burial. It is here that we pick up the story.

· Read Mark 16:1-8

A Morning Full of Surprise

· When the women leave their homes on Sunday morning, it is still dark. They probably travel by moonlight or oil lamp. They expect to come to the tomb and find the body still lying there. But boy are they in for a surprise!

· The first surprise is that the stone was rolled back. It wasn’t where it had been before. “It was very large.” Giant piece of limestone. Watching Strongman competition the other day. Lifting these large stone balls called “Atlas Stones.” They have to do five of them, and they range from 220 to 350lbs. Matthew 28:2 And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it.

· The second surprise is that a young man is sitting calmly inside. You don’t expect to see that in a tomb! This man was actually an angel. He is described here as “dressed in a white robe.” Matthew 28:3–4 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. From the other gospels, it appears there were actually two of them. Angels were present at Jesus’ birth, and now they are present here at his resurrection.

· The angel invites them, “see the place where they laid him.” And sure enough, Jesus was not there. According to John 20:5, the linen cloth was lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus head. But it was not lying with the linen cloths. It was folded up in a place by itself. The scene looked like someone had woken up from a good night’s rest and made his bed in the morning before starting the day. If the body had been stolen, the cloths would be gone.

· The angel says, “He has risen!” But it takes them a while for that truth to sink in. Notice the descriptions in the rest of this book: “They were alarmed” (v. 5 – overwhelmed, greatly distressed). “trembling and astonishment had seized them” (8), and “they were afraid” (8). They were still experiencing sensory overload.

· How many times have we felt like those disciples over the past year? Alarm, distress, trembling, and fear. And yet God has proven himself faithful, time and time again.

· One example of God’s faithfulness happened right here in this amphitheater, back in January. One of our members, a young lady in our church named Annie, was planning to get married. Her parents Chuck and Irene are even here today. But it was the middle of COVID. I asked Annie how wedding planning was doing, and she said really well, but a lot of details were still up in the air. A lot of brides would have been stressed, but she was just as relaxed as could be. She said, “I know everything will work out the way God wants it.” Just a few weeks before the event, she learned it would have to be an outdoor wedding. You know how unpredictable the weather can be in January in the high desert. I think we were all watching the forecast the week leading up to her wedding. It was forecast to be in the 30s or 40s, with snow flurries. We prayed and prayed all that week. Lord, please hold off the rain and snow! By God’s grace, there was not a drop of rain during the wedding. In fact, it was even sunny for a while. Her photographer called it, “the wedding when God held off the rain.” It was just as sweet as could be.

· Psalm 30:4–5 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name. …Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.

· Eventually, those disciples will go to Galilee and meet Jesus, and their sadness will turn into gladness. Their mourning will melt into joy. When we get to Acts 2, we know longer see Christ’s disciples astonished and cowering in fear, but it says in Acts 2:46–47 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

· Because of the resurrection, we don’t need to continue in alarm. Revelation 1:17–18 … “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

He Has Risen!

· “He has risen!” What a powerful statement. Say it with me. It may compete with “It is finished” as one of the greatest truths in all the Bible. These form the two great pillars of the gospel.

· The resurrection is the glorious proof that Jesus is who he claimed to be. This is God’s beloved Son! Through the resurrection, Jesus was declared once and for all to be God’s only begotten Son. That is, his one-of-a-kind Son.

· This book is full of testimony to Jesus as the Son of God. One of the reasons it is such a good book to read with a seeker or a new Christian.

· Mark wrote in the introduction to his book “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1)

· God the Father had testified to this, “And a voice came from heaven, ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’” (1:11).

· Peter had testified to this. “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’” (Mt. 16:16 || Mk. 8:29).

· Jesus himself had affirmed this. Mark 14:61–62 But he remained silent and made no answer. Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Even a Roman centurion recognized this. Mark 15:39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

· All of these are reliable witnesses. But the resurrection is one last piece of evidence, the linchpin argument.

· The empty tomb is the glorious proof that Jesus is all he claimed to be. It proves once and for all that he is God’s son, and that he is worthy of our absolute trust and allegiance.

· Romans 1:4 [Jesus] …was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead…

Conclusion

· THREE APPLICATIONS:

· The empty tomb means that we do not need to fear death. John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. Do you have this assurance today?

· The empty tomb means we can break our addictions and overcome temptation. Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

· The empty tomb means we can endure, one day at a time, knowing none of our service done in the name of Christ is wasted. 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

· Praise God for the miracle of the resurrection. He is risen! He is risen indeed!