“The Ecstasy of the Resurrection”

Series: The Gospel Truth

Text: Mark 15:40-16:19

Introduction: (What?)

The novel, “The Agony and the Ecstasy” written by Irving, is about Michelangelo and the excruciating self-doubt he encountered during his creation of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Over the past three weeks we have looked at the Agony of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Courtyard of the High Priest, the Courtroom of Pilate and finally on the cross. But the story doesn’t end there. Following all the agony was and is the ecstasy of the resurrection and ascension of Jesus.

Examination: (Why?)

1. Secret Disciples and Women who Watched (VV 40-47) Following the description of the death of Jesus and the declaration of the Roman centurion that “Surely this was the Son of God!” we find in v 40 “There were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and Joses and Salome. In Galilee these women followed Him and took care of Him. Many other women had come up with Him to Jerusalem.”

Mark specifically identified three women. Mary Magdalene (she was from Magdala) from whom Jesus had cast out multiple demons, Mary, the mother of James the younger and Joses and Salome (the wife of Zebedee and the mother of disciples James and John.) Interestingly enough, none of the disciples, except John were present at the crucifixion. However, these women, who had followed and financially supported Jesus and the disciples in their ministry stayed, although they were watching from a distance. We will find later that they were rewarded for their diligence by being the first to see the risen Christ. Because they stayed on, even after Jesus died, they also saw what happened next.

Jesus “breathed His last” at 3 p.m. That left very little time until sundown. If He were to be taken from the cross and buried, it would have to happen before the Sabbath, which began at sundown, or around 6 p.m.

Vv 42-47 “When it was already evening, because it was the day of preparation (that is the, the day before the Sabbath), Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, came and boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body. Pilate was surprised that He was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him whether He had already died. When he found out from the centurion, he gave the corpse to Joseph. After he bought some linen cloth, Joseph took Him down and wrapped Him in the linen. Then he laid Him in a tomb cut out of the rock and rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. (Matthew revealed that it was Joseph’s own tomb. Luke and John both said that it had never been used.) In family tombs, often once the body had decayed, the bones are taken out and put in an ossuary or bone box so that there would be room for others to be buried in the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where He was laid.”

Joseph of Arimathea had been a secret follower of Jesus up to this point because of his position on the Sanhedrin. It seems that he got a sudden shot of courage when Jesus died on the cross and he risked everything to see that Jesus was properly buried. In John’s Gospel Nicodemus, the priest who came to Jesus by night, brought spices and assisted Joseph in the burial. The reason Pilate wanted corroboration from the centurion was two fold. One was that crucified victims often took days to die. The other was that the centurion acted in the role of a coroner and was the one who could officially declare that a victim had died. Once His death was confirmed, Pilate released the body to Joseph without demanding an “under the counter” payment which often would be demanded in such a case.

The location of the burial place, like the place of crucifixion is not a certainty. There are two places that are most commonly considered to be the location. One is called, “The Garden Tomb” because it is in an olive grove that is complete with an olive press. This is a tomb cut into the rock face of a hill. It is in close proximity to Gordon's Calvary. To enter, you must duck down because the entrance is not very high. Once inside, you are in sort of an anti-room. Turning to the right you will see a step down into another small room with a stone “bench” where the body was placed. The other supposed location is in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where, as we saw in the last message Golgotha is supposedly located. If you go there today you will see a marble slab that is supposedly where Joseph laid the body of Jesus in order to wrap it in linen and prepare it for burial. The sad thing is that people kneel around this slab, weeping and wiping cloths on the slab as if it has some magical power.

Remember, the three women observed the removal of the body, its preparation for burial, and saw the place where the body was laid.

2. The Resurrection and Appearances (16: 1-12, I Cor 15)

“When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salmone bought spices, so that they could 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.” The stone which sealed the opening to the tomb was likely about 4 1/2 ft in diameter and about a foot wide. Depending on the type of rock used to make this disc-shaped stone, it could have weighed as much as a ton. This disc was placed in a v-shaped groove and held back by a scotch to keep it from rolling. Once the burial took place the scotch was removed and the stone rolled to the bottom of the V and the entrance was sealed. To roll such a stone uphill and hold it until a scotch could be put in place would take several strong men. If you go to the Garden tomb today you will see the stone all the way across the courtyard opposite the entrance to the tomb. It was not merely rolled away, it was lifted out of the grove and put several feet away from the entrance.

“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.’ (vv 5-7)

As you can imagine, their minds were blown. In v 8 we find, “They went out and ran from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid.” If you have ever run from something because of fear, you know that you went faster than ever before. The adrenaline surged through your body and gave you extraordinary strength and speed. That was what happened to these women.

Some people get hung up by the fact that each of the four gospels report the resurrection differently. They do however agree concerning the fact that the stone was removed, the tomb was empty and the first arrive- rs encountered some supernatural beings (angels). Some folks will say, that Luke mentioned two angels while Matthew and Mark only mentioned one. However, Mark did not stipulate a number of angels, he only recorded what one angel said. If each of the four gospel writers had reported the incident word for word the same, skeptics would say that they made up the story and each stuck to it. If after church today while you were on your way to your car there was an accident on the corner of Holmes Av and CR 29, and you were individually/separately interviewed by officers, each of you would tell a different story regarding what you saw or heard. That doesn’t mean that you are lying. It simply means that you are telling things from your point of view.

In some of the earliest manuscripts the book of Mark ends with v 8. However others report more extensively what happened on that FIRST Easter Sunday.

vv 9-12 “Early on the first day of the week, after He had risen, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had driven seven demons. She went and reported to those who had been with Him, as they were mourning and weeping. Yet when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it. After this He appeared in a different form to two of them walking on their way into the country. And they went and reported it to the rest, who did not believe them either.”

In 1 Cor. 15:1-7 Paul wrote about all the appearances of Jesus post resurrection. “Now I want to make clear for you, brothers and sisters, the gospel I preached to you, which you received, on which you have taken your stand and by which you are being saved, if you hold to the message I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I passed on to you as most important what I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the Twelve. Then he appeared to over five hundred brothers and sisters at one time; most of them are still alive, but some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles.” Then in 1 Cor. 15:12-19 he wrote, “Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say, “There is no resurrection of the dead”? If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised; and if Christ has not been raised, then our proclamation is in vain, and so is your faith. Moreover, we are found to be false witnesses about God, because we have testified wrongly about God that he raised up Christ—whom he did not raise up, if in fact the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins. Those, then, who have fallen asleep in Christ have also perished. If we have put our hope in Christ for this life only, we should be pitied more than anyone.” Those seven “ifs” underscore the importance of the resurrection to our faith.

An atheist was asked what difference the resurrection would make responded:

If Christ rose from the dead then God is real.

If Christ rose from the dead then the Bible is true.

If Christ rose from the dead, Christianity is true.

3. Marching Orders (vv 14-19)

After the resurrection even some of Jesus’s followers were still struggling with whether or not He was really alive. Some believed and some didn’t. In v 14 Mark addressed this issue. “Later He appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw Him after He had risen.”

We still have the same problem in the church today. Although many “belong” to a church, not all “believe” all the teachings of the Bible. Someone has said, “You DO what you believe. Everything else is just talk.” Most of you would say, “I believe that sharing the Gospel is important and it is the job of every Christian.” And yet many of you would have a difficult time remembering the last (or first) time you have shared the gospel with an unbeliever. Part of the problem is that your may not have any unbelieving friends or acquaintances. If we followed the example of Jesus, we would dine with “sinners” and “wine-bibbers” which would provide opportunities to share the gospel. It really does no good to fish in the bathtub even with the finest gear and bait. You must go where the fish are. That is exactly the mandate that Jesus left for EVERYONE who claims to follow Him.

“Then He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” These were the last words of Jesus on the earth. BTW this does not teach that baptism is essential to salvation. Belief is what brings salvation, but baptism is a physical expression of that belief.

Vv 17-18 are problematic in that they have been isolated by some as a certainty although the rest of the Bible, especially Acts, does not show anyone following these practices. “Snake-handling” was taught and practiced by a man named George Went Hensley in the Appalachian region in 1910 based on these verses.

“So the LORD Jesus, after speaking to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the LORD worked with them and confirmed the word by the accompanying signs.” To those who would ask, “Where are the accompanying signs today?” I respond, “Where is your obedience in going out and preaching the gospel. There are “signs and wonders” seen on the mission-fields around the world because the missionaries are preaching to those who have no Bible knowledge at all, and need some verification of the truth of the message they are hearing.

Application: (How should I respond to this message?)

Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead and lives today in heaven and is coming back someday? If so, what should you do about it?

Have you surrendered to Christ as your LORD? If not, today should be the day for you to say, “Jesus, I give you my life.”

Are you being obedient to the command of Christ to make disciples of those you meet as you make your way through life? If not, you are living in disobedience to Christ’s command. Disobedience is sin and requires confession and repentance.