Easter Sunday - Sunrise Sermon | Apr 17, 2022

Scripture Reading

Mark 16:1-8 NIV

1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, 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, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

Scripture Commentary / Storytelling

The characters: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome (v1).

The day and time: Sunday, very early, shortly after sunrise.

v1 - “When Sabbath was over...”

v2 - “Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise...”

Jesus was betrayed on that Thursday night of the Passover Festival

He was crucified, died, and buried in the tomb on that Friday.

Saturday was the Sabbath, and as all of Israel rested, so did Jesus - his cold, lifeless body laying limp on the cool stone of the tomb.

The task: Anoint the body of Jesus for burial, as was the Jewish custom.

Unable to anoint the body as was the custom of their time due to the start of Sabbath, which started at sundown of Friday night, the women got as early of a start as possible to get to the tomb on Sunday morning once Sabbath had ended.

v1 - They had “bought spices” —> They were invested

The problem: In their grief, they had not thought about how they would move the stone to get into the tomb.

v3 - They were already on their way to the tomb, and the thought hits them: “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

A heavy stone was rolled in front of the entrance of the tomb and sealed by a Roman guard so that nobody could enter, and nobody could leave. It was an actual, physical barrier to them getting to the body of Jesus.

But their mental and emotional state is also somewhat of a barrier.

v4 - Tells us “But when they looked up,” meaning they were looking down, hanging their heads, burdened by their grief, their disappointment at forgetting about the stone, their heaviness of heart.

In their grief, they had forgotten a pretty significant detail. Those of you who have ever experienced significant grief, loss, or depression, know what this is like. It’s hard to do the most basic tasks, or remember even the most fundamental things.

More than that, their perspective regarding Jesus is totally hopeless. They are not expecting resurrection. They are not anticipating that he could be alive.

They witnessed the flogging. They saw with their own eyes the nails in his hands and feet, his body raised on the Roman cross. They saw with their own eyes as he drew his last breath, heard with their own ears his final cry: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” They saw where his dead body was laid in the tomb.

You aren’t left hopeful after witnessing such a thing. They are completely dismayed, likely in shock, and grieving the loss of not just their Rabbi and friend, but also all their hopes and dreams for Israel.

The twist: Once they look up out of their grief, they recognize that there’s more to the story.

v4 - The stone, which was very heavy — indicating that not just anyone could have moved this stone — had been rolled away.

v5 - They enter the tomb — I imagine them walking in on high alert, adrenaline high, tip-toeing with their hearts beating fast. There they see a young man dressed in a white robe — a way of describing an angelic messenger.

They expected to find the body of their teacher and friend. They instead see an angelic messenger. They are, to say the least, alarmed.

The Good News: The angel speaks directly to the source of their fear, and redirects it with Good News.

v6 - They are alarmed, but the angel redirects them: “Don’t be alarmed.” He commands them to not feel what they’re feeling.

Now, in any other circumstance, this would be callous, heartless, maybe even hateful. You don’t tell someone, three days after losing someone close to them, to not feel sad, or discouraged, or anxious. But you might do that, if you knew the reason why they were feeling that way was untrue.

He then affirms why they are alarmed and feeling that way: “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.”

But then he completely upends their expectations: “He has risen! He is not here.”

What they thought was true — that Jesus was still dead, that all hope was lost, that they’d never see their friend again, that they’d been foolish to think he may have been the Messiah, that they may be next on the list to be crucified for being associated with him — was in fact based on a false premise. Jesus was not dead anymore. He had risen!

The angel then, in what can only be described as an act of love, works to back up his shocking claim by providing the evidence the women need in order to believe.

Remember, they had seen Jesus die on the cross. They had watched as his body was laid in the tomb. You don’t walk back that kind of evidence with just some word from some stranger, no matter how heavenly.

No, the angel graciously gives the women what they must have in order to believe. He helps them see.

v6 - “See the place where they laid him.”

It’s like he’s saying, “Look, the last time you saw him, he was laying right here, lifeless. Look at the very spot — he’s not here! He’s risen!”

v7 - The angel then gives a command: “But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”

He gives the women the responsibility of not just believing this Good News, but also of sharing it with the rest of the disciples. They are instructed to share something they’re not even sure they believe yet.

Here again, the angel is working evidence for the claim that Jesus had risen, but this time it’s a promise: You will actually see Him if you go to Galilee as I’m instructing you.

The Women’s Response: Not what you’d expect.

Did they run into town with joy and share the news with everyone that Jesus had resurrected? Did they sprint to the disciples to tell them the good news? No. Quite the opposite.

v8 - “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”

Their world had been so rocked that they are overwhelmed with fear and adrenaline and uncertainty that they run away from the tomb, and tell nobody.

Now, clearly, the story doesn’t end this way.

We’re here, nearly 2,000 years later, an ocean and a couple of continents away from where the story took place, and we’re celebrating the news that the angelic messenger shared that first Easter morning.

What happened?

How does a terrified group of women who saw with their own eyes their friend and Teacher - and in Mary’s case, her son — brutally murdered on a Roman cross, go from trembling bewilderment and silence, to - evidently - boldly believing and sharing the truth of Jesus’s resurrection?

There is only one logical explanation.

It’s that when they fled the tomb and went to Galilee, they saw Him. Just as He said, just as the angel instructed. It happened. They came face to face with the risen Jesus.

And in the face of the one who they saw die, now living and vibrant and full of joy and life, they had no choice but to believe. Against all odds, the angels words were true: Jesus had risen!

This Easter story boils down to two really simple points I want to leave you considering this morning.

1. A dead Jesus changes nothing.

If Jesus is dead, then all of this is pointless.

CS Lewis: Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or he’s Lord. The worst thing we can say is that he is dead but a good teacher, or exemplar of wise living

If Jesus is dead and never rose from the grave, then…

My preaching is useless.

Your faith is useless.

I’m a liar -- worse, I’m a blasphemer.

We’re all still guilty of all our sin -- the cross means nothing.

Christians who have died are just that -- dead. They’re dust. That’s the end of the story.

Apostle Paul: “We are of all people most to be pitied.”

2. A living Jesus changes everything.

If Jesus is alive, then what is written about him in the Bible is true: PREACHING

He is the Son of God.

He is the King over all things.

He is the only one through whom salvation is possible.

He is “The Way, the Truth, the Life”

Way = shows us the way human existence is meant to be lived

Truth = shows us fundamental truth about reality and how to interpret it

Life = shows us that without him we are cut off from the source of life -- we shrivel up and die without him

He is the one through whom all things were created

In him all things hold together

He’s intricately present and involved in holding the entire universe together, including the details of your life

If he is alive, then you can have

PURPOSE AND MEANING IN YOUR WORK AND FAMILY

HOPE WHEN THINGS LOOK HOPELESS

PEACE WHEN THINGS ARE UNCERTAIN

SECURITY WHEN LIFE IS EVER CHANGING

LOVE FOR THOSE WHO HURT YOU

JOY WHEN YOU EXPERIENCE LOSS

AND CONFIDENCE IN THE FACE OF DEATH

WHY?

Because if the tomb is empty, then Jesus is who he said he was, he is alive today and he will come again one day to finish what he has started.

The beauty of Easter is that it tells not just of Jesus’s resurrection, but the resurrection of all things to life through the power of the Spirit of God.

Someday all sad things will become untrue. Better for having been broken.

Pastoral Ending

What are you hedging your bets against? What are you hoping for, believing for, but are too afraid, too overwhelmed with conflicting emotions and the possibility of being let down to give it your full faith?

Unexpected diagnosis. Job situation. Relationship with a family member.

You can’t look and see the place where he was laid.

But you can look and see the faith of the women who did.

They expected Jesus to be dead.

You don’t have to be a sophisticated modern person to know that dead people stay dead.

They were invested in the idea he was dead: they bought spices.

In their grief, they realized they had a problem: who would roll away the stone so they could get in the tomb?

The last thing on their mind was resurrection. It wasn’t even an option.

They were simply going to try to make the stench of death a little more bearable.

How many of us face life with this kind of mindset? No hope that things can change, no hope that things could be different, no hope that dead relationships and dreams can be brought to life?

Just managing the decay.

That’s what the women were doing.

But the seed of faith in the good news of the resurrection settles in and begins to grow, and eventually, after telling the other disciples what they’d witnessed, they come face to face with the risen Jesus.

They see the risen Jesus. And their world is changed.

The rest is history. They tell everyone. The church is born. Then THE world is changed.

The risen Jesus changed their lives.

Has he changed yours?