Introduction

 

They say there are 2 topics you should never discuss in polite conversation; religion and politics.  Yet given this is Easter Sunday … and we’re in a church … I think it’s SAFE … if I talk about politics.  The Federal election is just 2 weeks away … where Australians get to decide who we want governing us for the next 3 years.  Now as a church minister … it’s very important that I NOT tell you WHO to vote for.  The reason being that would be a misuse of my influence as a minister.  However, I AM allowed to tell you HOW to vote.

And Christians are to vote in accordance with Jesus’ command to love our neighbour as ourselves.  Let me explain.  IF we were to vote for the party that will best look after ME … or my tribe … then we’re NOT loving our neighbours.  We’re loving ourselves.  To love your neighbour come polling day … means to vote for the party that has the best policies for ALL Australians … in particular … the poor, the marginalised and the oppressed.  But this is where it gets tricky … because there are a plethora of policies we need to take into account with this.  For example …

1. Which party has the best environmental policy?

2. Who is going to bring our cost of living down?

3. Which party will ensure electricity security … and affordability?

4. Who is the voice of reason when it comes to gender issues?

5. And which party is better at running the economy?

When it comes to voting … there are dozens of issues on which a political party may rise or fall.  When it comes to Christianity … there’s only ONE issue on which it rises or falls.  And that is … the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  In 1 Cor 15:14 … the Apostle Paul says IF the resurrection is false … is fake news … then quote ‘our preaching is useless and so is your faith’.  If the resurrection never happened … then Christianity falls.  But if Jesus DID rise from the dead … then he really is who he says he is; the Son of God.  And that means there is not a single thing in all of human existence … that is not profoundly affected BY the resurrection.  So if Jesus DID rise … then so does Christianity … as it MUST be taken with utmost seriousness.

And that’s what we’re here to look at today.  Not politics … but Jesus’ resurrection.  And there are 3 things Mark tells us about Jesus’ resurrection in our passage … which are our 3 points for today.  The first is (i) What Jesus wants us to KNOW … which is that his resurrection is a historically verifiable fact.  The second is (ii) What Jesus wants us to FEEL … which is a sense of grace and forgiveness.  And third is (iii) What Jesus wants us to DO … which is go and tell the world.  So I pray you can stick with me for the next 20 minutes or so … as we look at (i) What Jesus wants us to KNOW, (ii) What Jesus wants us to FEEL, and (iii) What Jesus wants us to DO.

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What Jesus wants us to know (v. 1-5)

 

And our passage begins with Mark showing us that the resurrection really happened.  Critics of Christianity would have us believe our passage today is a made-up story.  Mark simply doesn’t allow for that … because he gives us 3 pieces of evidence to show this really happened.  Now this is NOT proof.  No one can prove 100% that Jesus rose.  But nor can I prove 100% that someone loves you.  What I CAN do … is present evidence that someone loves you.  In the same way … Mark is presenting us with 3 pieces of evidence that this really happened.  So we read:

Mark 16:1 (NIV) 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.

So our FIRST piece of evidence is that Mark NAMES these women.  Yet for those of us who were here on Good Friday … you may recall these are the 3 women Mark tells us were at the cross.  Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome.  So WHY does Mark mention them by name TWICE?  It’s a bit redundant … isn’t it?  Well … IF we were able to RING Mark today … on a magical celestial phone … and ask him ‘why did you keep telling us the names of these 3 women?’ … his answer would be … ‘these women are my footnotes.  They’re my citations … that you can look up’.  ‘If you don’t believe my written account … then go and talk to the eyewitnesses … who are still alive’.  Well … they were at the time of writing.  But Mark names them so his original readers could go and corroborate everything he wrote.

Now … HOW is this evidence for us TODAY … given these women are now dead?  It’s because if you wanted to MAKE UP a religion … and convince people to believe it … you wouldn’t claim it happened IN your lifetime.  Why?  Because all people have to do is go to Jerusalem … or Galilee … and ask around.  The reason Mark has no qualms about his readers asking around is … he KNOWS it really happened.  And so he includes the names of the people his original readers could go and ask.

The SECOND piece of evidence is that these eyewitnesses are women.  The REASON this is evidence is because in the 1st century … the testimony of a woman was sadly considered unreliable.  In fact one of the earliest critics of Christianity … a 2nd century Greek philosopher named Celsius … criticised the gospels for this very fact.  He literally said we cannot believe these women … because ‘women are too emotional.  They can’t be trusted.’  But do you know who DOES trust the testimony of women?  God.  He makes women the FIRST eyewitnesses of the resurrection.  But the reason this is further evidence that this really happened is IF you were making up a religion … you would have ensured your first eyewitnesses were considered credible by your readers.  The ONLY reason Mark would make women the first eyewitnesses … is if he HAD to … because that’s how it happened.

The THIRD piece of evidence … is the SPICES.  Let me explain.  One of the criticisms hurled against the gospels today is that ancient people were more gullible than we modern people.  So the reason these ancient people believed in the resurrection was because they were not as scientific … not as learned … as we are today.

Now … not only is that chronological snobbery … like how arrogant … it’s also objectively wrong.  OK … Jesus had told his disciples on several occasions that he would be killed by the authorities … and on the 3rd day come back from the dead.  Yet not ONE of the disciples was sitting there on Sunday … thinking to themselves ‘maybe we should go and check it out … just in care.  Like … what could it hurt’.  The REASON they didn’t … is because ancient people didn’t believe in resurrections anymore than we do today.  And that’s WHY the women bring spices.  They were NOT going to see an empty tomb.  They’re going to anoint a corpse.

And that’s why the early church believed in the resurrection.  They had the intellectual integrity to believe the evidence.  OK … even though that evidence challenged their worldview … they didn’t believe in resurrections … but they believed the evidence … and spent the rest of their lives telling others about it … even to the point of dying an early death on account of their faith.

And so the FIRST question this passage asks us is … do we have the intellectual integrity to either (i) believe this evidence, OR (ii) come up with another historically possible explanation as to WHY the eyewitnesses all went to an early grave over their claim that Jesus had REALLY come back from the dead?

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What Jesus wants us to feel (v. 6-7)

 

So that’s what Jesus wants us to KNOW.  The resurrection really happened.  The next thing Mark shows us in this passage is what Jesus wants us to feel.  We see this in v. 6:

Mark 16:6-7 (NIV) “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.’ ”

Now as all 4 gospels recount … the disciples fled at Jesus’ arrest.  The men Jesus spent 3 years training up to be the leaders of his movement … have just shown themselves to be faithless … backstabbing cowards.  So what is the angel’s message TO these faithless, backstabbing cowards?  Is it ‘now go and tell those faithless, backstabbing cowards that they better grovel to Jesus if they want to be reinstated into his movement’?  Like that’s what WE’D say … if people abandoned US.  But what does Jesus say?

Mark 16:7 (NIV) 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 doesn’t rebuke them.  He shows them enormous patience … understanding … forgiveness and love.  So not only does Mark show us that the resurrection HAPPENED … he shows us WHY we should want it.  Because it gives us forgiveness and love.  Let me explain.

The one thing that EVERY world religion has in common … is they ALL admit there is a blockage between God and humanity.  They ALL admit we’ve wronged God in some way … and they ALL come up with their OWN way of dealing with that wrongdoing:

• Some say be good

• Some say be religious

• Some say offer sacrifices.

But what they’re doing … is they’re trying to appease God for the wicked things we’ve done against him.  The thing that makes Christianity stand out … is the God of the Bible offers to pay for that sin FOR us.  That’s what the cross is.  It’s God the Son taking the punishment for our wrongdoing upon himself.  Think of it this way.  Imagine someone is arrested and charged with armed robbery.  They were caught on camera.  They definitely did it … so they go to jail.   WHEN that criminal walks out of jail at the end of their sentence … they are free.  The law no longer has any claim on them … because they’ve paid their debt to society.  The reason Jesus came … was to pay OUR debt to GOD.  And when we accept that gift … then the law of God no longer has any claim on us.

So the angel’s words here are saying ‘even though you abandoned me … like a pack of faithless cowards … my death has taken care of that’.  Even Peter.  Did you notice the angel singles Peter out.  ‘Go and tell his disciples AND Peter’.  Why single Peter out?  It’s because Peter’s betrayal was so much worse than the others … in denying Jesus 3 times.  And so if the angel had said ‘go and tell his disciples’ … Peter may have said something like ‘you guys go.  He obviously doesn’t mean me’.  But those 2 little words … ‘and Peter’ … show that Jesus’ sacrifice can atone for ANYONE … no matter who you are or what you’ve done.

So the SECOND question this passage asks is … how do you FEEL about Jesus?  OK … if EVERY SINGLE world religion has the intellectual integrity to admit that we’re going to have to give an account for our sin one day … how do you feel about Jesus’ offer to take care of that for you?  Now SOME people … even after hearing about this amazing offer … still want to do it themselves.  They LIKE the notion that MY efforts … MY moral living … MY religious deeds got me over the line with God.  The one big problem of atoning for our OWN sin however is … it will only ever lead to either pride or despair.  You see IF we claim ‘yes … I AM good enough’ … that’s pride.  But if we realise ‘no … I can NEVER do enough’ … that leads to despair.

The thing that is so beautiful … so desirable about Jesus’ forgiveness and love is … it (i) keeps us from PRIDE by showing us we CANNOT ever do enough.  Yet it also (ii) keeps us from despair by showing us we don’t NEED to … because Jesus has taken care of it for us.

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What Jesus wants us to do (v. 7-8)

 

So … we’ve seen (i) What Jesus wants us to KNOW … that the resurrection REALLY happened, and we’ve seen (ii) What Jesus wants us to FEEL … that his resurrection SHOWS his sacrifice for sin worked.  The third and final thing Mark tells us in this passage is what Jesus wants us to DO with all this.  Now my application from Good Friday was ‘be like the women’.  Where the disciples all fled upon Jesus’ arrest … the women followed him … even though the authorities were out to crush Jesus and his movement.  The women showed enormous courage.  So be like the women at the end of Mark 15.  My application for Mark 16 is (a) be like the women, AND (b) don’t be like the women.  Have a look at v. 8:

Mark 16:8 (NIV) Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

So my FIRST piece of application is (a) be like these women … in that they take this event seriously.  C. S. Lewis once said ‘Christianity, if false, is of zero importance, and if true, is of utmost importance.  The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.’  The movie RED ends with the protagonists succeeding in this elaborate and dangerous plan to take out the bad guys … whose corruption went all the way up to the Vice President.  And directly following the final shot out … John Malkovich’s character says ‘you wants to go for pancakes?’  Like he’d just been in a life-or-death situation … and he's thinking about pancakes.

These women didn’t walk away form the empty tomb saying ‘who wants to go for pancakes’.  They walked away trembling and bewildered.  The reason being … IF it were true … and the Son of God came back from the dead after 3 days … then there is nothing in all of human existence that isn’t profoundly affected by this.  It means death has been defeated.  It means Sin has been defeated.  And it means a way has been opened up into eternal life.  My prayer for today … is you won’t walk out of here thinking to yourself ‘I could really go for some pancakes right about now’ … or something else just as mundane.

Jesus wants us to KNOW that the evidence for the resurrection is overwhelming.  It more than holds up under scrutiny.  But even more than that … Jesus wants us to FEEL his forgiveness and love.  The fact that he came back from the dead means he really IS who he says he is; the Son of God … who has come to give his life as a ransom for many.

Now if you are convicted that you want to be like these women for the first time today … your application for today could not be simpler.  To accept Jesus’ gift of forgiveness for the first time … all you need to do is (i) repent … say sorry for your sins, and (ii) put your faith in the Lord Jesus … obey the Lord Jesus.  And if that’s something you’d be interested in today … then please come and speak to me over morning tea.  There’s no conversation I’d rather have.

So that’s how we can be LIKE the women.  Realise this cannot be of moderate importance.  Our SECOND piece of application for today is a bit harder.  And that is … DON’T be like the women.  The angel said ‘go and tell’ … v. 7.  Yet the women told no one … v. 8.

Now if you’ve got your Bibles open there … you’ll notice that’s where Mark’s gospel ends.  All modern versions of the Bible have a little note at the end of Mark 16:8 … that say something like ‘the earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9-20’.  Almost ALL NT scholars tell us Mark 16:9-20 was NOT written by Mark.  And I agree with them.  Mark 16:9-20 is NOT part of the Bible.  It was added by a scribe sometime in the 2nd century.  And the reason this scribe did this … was because Mark ends on a really horrible note.

Mark 16:8 (NIV) Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

The end.  Now according to the book of Acts … the women DID go on to tell about Jesus.  They told the disciples AND they told the world.  So why does Mark end his gospel on this SOUR note?  Well … IF we were able to RING Mark … on a magical celestial phone … and ask him ‘why did you end your gospel this way?’ … what he would say is … ‘to hand it over to the reader.  The reason I left my gospel OPEN is because the message of Jesus is still open.  And I’m asking my readers … “will YOU go and tell the world?”’

And that’s our SECOND piece of application for today.  If you’ve ALREEADY taken the gospel of Jesus seriously … and given your life to him through repentance and faith … what this passage says is ‘don’t be like the women in v. 8’.  Don’t walk out of here today too afraid or too bewildered to say anything to anyone.

Now I’m not saying this is easy.  There will ALWAYS be pushback when it comes to preaching the gospel … because there will ALWAYS be some who will blindly reject the evidence … while others will dismissively reject the gift of forgiveness.  But their response should not affect our proclamation.  Just because they choose not to BELIEVE this is the most important message in the universe … doesn’t mean it’s NOT the most important message in the universe.  But if we fail to PROCLAIM the most important message in the universe … then they fail to even HEAR the most important message in the universe.  So when the Bible says ‘go and tell’ … may we NOT be like the women in v. 8.

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Conclusion

 

And THAT’S the resurrection.  That’s the ONE issue that Christianity either rises or falls on.  And the REASON it’s the one issue is because it shows Christianity CANNOT be of moderate importance.  So if you’re the kind of person who only comes to church on Christmas and Easter … by all means … please keep coming.  How else are you going to grasp the weight of Christianity unless we see you again at Christmas.  But BETWEEN now and Christmas … please know that in treating Christianity with moderate importance means either (a) you don’t understand the immeasurable importance of Christ … OR (b) you lack the intellectual integrity to admit it’s importance.  My prayer is that will change for you … OR that you’ll come back at Christmas.

But for our regulars … my prayer is we won’t just acknowledge the immeasurable importance of the gospel … we will go and tell people ‘Christ is risen’ … ‘he is risen indeed’.