Believing in order to See

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Everybody knows Believing is Believing

Most people say Seeing is Believing

But did you know there is a Believing so that you can SEE

America Freedom and Rights

It’s the same for us as Christians… we believe so that we can See

Want an example?

(Said with gusto:) “Alleluia Christ is risen!”—He is risen indeed! Alleluia! (PAUSE)

But just how do you know that?

Did you see Jesus personally? Did you feel his body?

Did you put your hand into his side?

On what basis do you declare him raised? Let me tell you what the basis is—

It is the witness of the Gospel.

It is the witness of the Scriptures.

It is the testimony of those who saw. It is the testimony of those who knew.

And that is why St. Mark’s Gospel ends the way it does—at 16:8—with NO resurrection appearances, and with no vision of the risen Christ. Mark’s story ends the way YOU experience Resurrection hope!

Not with sight. Not with touch.

Not with physical evidence.

ONLY WITH WITNESS. ONLY WITH THE WITNESS OF THE WORD!

In some ways this is a fearful thing. Indeed, the women fled from the tomb on that first Easter morning. They were afraid,

having only the witness of the word of the young man, and facing a future that seemed unknown.

And so, too, as it were, do you and I.

But there is good reason NOT to fear. FEAR NOT! We need not fear, because OUR LORD’S WORD IS EVER SURE! Especially in Mark’s Gospel, our Lord’s word is ever sure. Consider what transpires in this book:

1. Our Lord predicts that the disciples will find a young donkey as they enter Jerusalem before Palm Sunday, and that someone will object to their taking it for him Mark 11:2-6 — and it is so.

Mark 11:2–6 ESV

and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’ ” And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go.

2. Our Lord predicts that the two disciples that he sends into Jerusalem to prepare to eat the Passover on Maundy Thursday will be met by a man carrying a water jar Mark 14:13— and it is so.

Mark 14:13 ESV

And he sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him,

3. Our Lord predicts that that very man will lead them to the house where someone has an upper room prepared for them to celebrate the Passover Mark 14:14—and it is so.

Mark 14:14 ESV

and wherever he enters, say to the master of the house, ‘The Teacher says, Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’

4. Our Lord predicts that he will be betrayed into the hands of the church leadership Mark 10:33 —and it is so.

Mark 10:33 ESV

saying, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.

5. Our Lord predicts that his disciples will stumble and be scattered Mark 14:27—and it is so.

Mark 14:27 ESV

And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’

6. Our Lord predicts that he will be mocked spit upon and scourged Mark 10:34 —and it is so.

Mark 10:34 ESV

And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

7. Our Lord predicts that he will be killed Mark 8:31; Mark 9:31; Mark 10:34 —and it is so.

Mark 8:31 ESV

And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

Mark 9:31 ESV

for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise.”

Mark 10:34 ESV

And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

And—and this is our point today:

8. Our Lord says that he will rise from the dead on the third day—at Mark 8:31, at Mark 9:31, at Mark 10:34, and at Mark 14:28—and the testimony of the young man

—not to mention the testimony of Peter (Acts 2:24; 1 Cor– 15:5), of the 12 (1 Cor 15:5), of the 500 (1 Cor– 15:6)

—the testimony of St. Paul (1 Cor. 15:8, 12–13)

—and the testimony of the Gospel message preached by the church throughout the ages (1 Cor 15:4)

the testimony of the young man is that YES, it, too, is so.

This is why the young man’s word is all we get in that Easter Morning story in the Gospel of St. Mark, chapter 16, verse 6. It is all we get, because it is based upon the sure word and promise of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ—

Remember how that young man ends his witness to the women, with the words “JUST AS HE SAID”?—

And such a word is all we really need.

Yes, sons and daughters of the King—“Alleluia CHRIST IS RISEN!”

([Response by hearers:] “He is risen, indeed!” “Alleluia!) (Said as if completing their sentence): Just as he said!

You have his word on it!

Amen.