Reader: Title: The Stone Moved For Us Call To Worship: Leader: 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. All: Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Leader: Acts 2:24 But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, All: because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Second Call To Worship: PLAY WITH INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC SLIDE 1 (15 seconds) Acts 2:31 32 Seeing what was to come, he spoke of the resurrection of the Messiah, that he was not abandoned to the realm of the dead, nor did his body see decay. 32 God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. SLIDE 2 (15 seconds) 1 Corinthians 15:14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. SLIDE 3 (15 seconds) 1 Cor 15:3 4 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, SLIDE 4 (15 seconds) 1 Cor 15:6
6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. SLIDE 5 (15 seconds) Acts 10:37 40 37 you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40 but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear SLIDE 6 (15 seconds) 1 Cor 15:53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory. 55 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? Central Text: Mark 15:42 16:8 42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid. 16 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right
side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, 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 that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you. 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Benediction: 1 Cor. 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. Notable Quotes: Today or tomorrow sickness and death will come to those I love or to me; nothing will remain but stench and worms. Sooner or later my affairs, whatever they may be, will be forgotten, and I shall not exist. Then why go on making any effort?... How can man fail to see this? And how go on living? That is what is surprising! One can only live while one is intoxicated with life; as soon as one is sober it is impossible not to see that it is all a mere fraud and a stupid fraud! That is precisely what it is: there is nothing either amusing or witty about it, it is simply cruel and stupid. Leo Tolstoy It doesn t mean death and suffering just stop. They re swallowed up. When you eat something it makes you bigger. It s becomes a part of you.if Christ s resurrection happened, and it did. That means our resurrection s gonna happen, and it will. Then everything sad and horrible will be brought up into our future resurrection and glory and make it infinitely greater than if we had never had any of those experiences. Timothy Keller Make no mistake: if he rose at all It was as His body; If the cell s dissolution did not reverse, the molecule reknit, The amino acids rekindle, The Church will fall. The same hinged thumbs and toes The same valved heart That pierced died, withered, paused, and then regathered Out of enduring Might New strength to enclose. Let us not mock God with metaphor, Analogy, sidestepping, transcendence,
Making of the event a parable, a sign painted in the faded Credulity of earlier ages: Let us walk through the door. John Updike Questions: 1. Why does the historical resurrection matter so much? 2. What contradictions do you see with culture today regarding its push towards virtuous living absent from the resurrection?. 3. Consider all of the witnesses in this text, both to the death of Jesus and the resurrection of Jesus. Explain why they help debunk claims that this account was fabricated? 4. How does the resurrection impact your life on a daily basis? How could it help you change your generosity? Your fears? Your anxiety? Pastoral Notes: (Commentaries used: R.T. France The Gospel of Mark TNIGTC, James Edwards The Gospel According to Mark PNTC; William Lane The Gospel of Mark NICNT, William Hendrickson NTC, www.blueletterbible.org (used for cross referencing and original languanges)) 42 And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. Joseph of Arimathea, according to Mark and Luke, was a member of the Jewish ruling council. Matthew and John refer to him as a secret disciple of Jesus. On the evening of good Friday, he used his own trust capital to approach Pilate directly so that he could give Jesus a proper burial. Immediately, doubts enter our minds because this opens the door to the possibility that Joseph went and hid Jesus body and or that he resuscitated his body thus deceiving people that Jesus
rose from the grave when he had not. As we navigate through this text, it is important to note something. Mark goes out of his ways to use terms to describe Jesus. Body vs. 43 Died vs. 44 Dead vs. 44 Dead vs. 45 Corpse vs. 45 Tomb vs. 46 Tomb vs. 46 Tomb vs. 2 Tomb vs. 3 Tomb vs. 5 Crucified vs. 6 Not here vs. 6 Tomb vs. 8 The point is, every word used to describe Jesus condition is one of death. For a book written around 55 AD, notice as well that throughout this narrative, Mark uses specific names of ppl. I.e. Mary, the mother of Joses. These are names of ppl who would have been alive. Their children would have been alive. The centurion would have been alive. It would have been very difficult for a movement like this to get off the ground if the eyewitnesses could not verify what they saw or if they were not trustworthy. Considering the persecution that would ensue as well, these very ppl would have and did face consequences for proclaiming the resurrection of Jesus. The point is, we must read this verse in this context. The question is, why did Joseph, a member of the sanhedrin, stick his neck out like this for Jesus? Well, Mark tells us that Joseph was a member of the sanhedrin council. Subsequently, he would have been a pious Jew. Luke called him a good and righteous man. As a Jew in leadership, he would have sought to obey Jewish law. In Deuteronomy 21, God commanded his ppl to give proper burials to all criminals 22 And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, 23 his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God. You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. However, Jesus was crucified by the Roman authorities. As part of their scare tactics, they left criminals to rot on crosses. This way, anyone who thought about stirring up trouble would have seen the rotten, decaying bodies that birds began to eat off of and decide not to stir up a rebellion. Yet, Roman history also shows from Cisero to Philo, that when asked, Roman magistrate would allow family members to gather the body of their loved ones to give them
proper burial. Jesus family? His disciples? Well, they are not there. His mother might be present, but if she is the Mary of vs, 40, she is at a distance. Therefore, a devout Jew from the council is the one to ask instead of members of the family. It was also passover, hence the urgency of Joseph. No criminal was taken down from a Roman cross without several verifications of their death including of which meant visits to the tomb to ensure they were dead. As we will see, the centurion at the foot of the cross is also the one who goes to Pilate to confirm his death. Add it up for just a second, the three people in this moment who are ensuring Jesus death and proper burial are a Roman centurion, A member of the Jewish ruling council and even Pontius Pilate. These were not obscure unknown members of that society. These were well known people that could easily have been queried some 20 years later about the events they saw. Lastly, in the centuries the Roman empire was in power, there was not one single recording (except this one) of anyone surviving the cross. 45 And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. 46 And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Pilate, releases permission to Joseph to take down the body of Jesus and place him in a tomb. This after he verifies from the centurion that he was dead. Because the sabbath was quickly approaching, Joseph moved quickly. A man of his report likely was not working alone, he likely directed his servants to do this, hence the ability to accomplish this in just a few hours. They took Jesus off the cross, according to Jewish custom, they would have washed him and then placed him in a linen shroud. They were unable to apply preserving spices to his body due to not having enough time. They then took him likely to a nearby tomb. Tombs in those days were usually in abandoned rock quarries. These tombs were cut into the rock with a ledge inside the body on them. They faced downhill so that with the help of a few people, they could roll a disk like shaped stone over the tomb to keep robbers and animals out of the grave and keep it sealed since it would much more difficult to roll the stone away. What we must pay attention to in vs, 42 46 is Mark is doing everything he can to show us that Jesus was dead. Perhaps most shocking is the word corpse in vs. 45 to refer to Jesus. Christianity teaches that Jesus was a corpse. Throughout ministry as a pastor, I have walked into several rooms where there were lifeless bodies. A few years ago, becuase of the Sunday service and attending a play of one of our members, I came too late to visit someone in hospice. I had just visited this person a few days before. A few days before he was telling jokes, sharing his joy about dieing and lamenting that he would not get to play fantasy football anymore. He still was full of so much life. But it was a vastly different scene to walk into the room when someone is gone. There face is pale. It is a look I never forget becuase rigor mortis sets in. When you stop breathing, your cells no longer produce ATP, the chemical in our muscles responsible for relaxing our muscles. The sets in within 2 hours in the face after death. This is
why the person often looks vastly different. The bacteria in our gut now has a new found freedom that it never had before and enters the rest of the body causing a noticeable odor. Mark is showing us that this is what his body looked like. A stiffened body, lifeless body, cold body, a pale body. Imagine the actual effort to take Jesus off the cross. Pulling out the nails and then the hand and arm drops. Wrapping the the lifeless face of Jesus, the man who had days earlier boldly turned over tables in the temple. Full of life, full of radicle words. Now? Silent and lifeless. And this is what Christianity teaches. Jesus literally died. You have a savior who knows death personally and intimately. So why does it matter that he died? And what does it mean that Jesus needed to rise from death? God is not indifferent to pain and suffering: This is an implication we have said at least a few times during this series. That Jesus has experienced physical death and being abandoned by God to suffer hell itself and that he cried out to God and didnt get an answer but instead got more suffering tells us something. It tells us that our suffering cannot possibly mean he does not love us or that he does not care. It ripped the father s heart to hand his son over to such injustice, it ripped the son s heart to suffer and not have his father too. He did that to pay for our sin. God the father had a greater purpose in this painful suffering. He was not any less loved by the father on the cross than he was in all eternities past. In fact, he was inviting us into their love and making it possible. Though we often cant pinpoint why we are suffering in any given moment, we can not conclude that our suffering means he loves us less or does not care. No other worldview holds these two things together. That the God we deride for seemingly not caring about our suffering willingly submitted to the worst forms of it. Death s dark and gloomy cloud hangs over us: Of all things for God to suffer under, it is the one thing none of us can shake. I dont care what you believe, you must at some point in life address your own mortality. If you live long enough you will cry the painful tears of saying the permanent goodbye to a loved one. This passage points us to a God who had that dark and stormy cloud rain down brutally upon him suffering infinite deaths for the sins of the world. That we all die shapes how we live and why we are here. You cant deny that. Death changes everything. He didn't learn more about death, we learn more about him: Jesus didnt come to earth to learn more about suffering and death. He is the creator of the universe. He didn't need to come to earth for that. He came to die for our sins and face the ultimate death for us. What we experience in our deaths is but a shadow compared to the death he experienced. That he suffered like this helps US to know we have a king that suffered and can identify more with us. We can be comforted knowing that we're not praying to a God who hasn't gone through what we go through.
47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid. 16 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. The two women present earlier are now back in the narrative which is absolutely startling. At that time, Jewish custom did not accept the testimony of women. If one was fabricating a religion, it is unfathomable to include women in the narrative. The only explanation as to their presence in the narrative is that they were there. They, out of devotion, bought spices after the sabbath was over, not to embalm, but to help with the decaying odor. They went to the tomb expecting to see a dead body. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, 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 that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you. 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. On the way to the tomb, the ponder together how they might actually make it inside the tomb. Not only was it not uncommon for roman officials to allow the Jews bury their loved ones after crucifixion, it also was permitted to visit them. But, it meant someone would have to move the stone for them. They saw where Jesus had been buried and saw the stone rolled over the tomb. Here, however we come to the hope of this passage and the hope of this world. The stone had already been removed. Why? Our first and often our only answer is so that Jesus could get out! But we must see that the resurrection is first and only a work of God, including the stone s removal. Last week, as soon as Jesus died, the temple was torn to grant access to God. Now, as soon as Jesus is raised, a stone has been removed. Why? So that we can enter in. So that we can enter into a new world order of ppl who never die, but live forever. The empty tomb by no means proves the veracity of the resurrection. The resurrection informs us about the meaning of the empty tomb. Consider for a moment the implications of the tomb being empty. Had they walked in and Jesus was still there, wrapped in the linen shroud, then we would have to conclude the following:
Life is meaningless if death is all there is: Leo Tolstoy said this: Today or tomorrow sickness and death will come to those I love or to me; nothing will remain but stench and worms. Sooner or later my affairs, whatever they may be, will be forgotten, and I shall not exist. Then why go on making any effort?... How can man fail to see this? And how go on living? That is what is surprising! One can only live while one is intoxicated with life; as soon as one is sober it is impossible not to see that it is all a mere fraud and a stupid fraud! That is precisely what it is: there is nothing either amusing or witty about it, it is simply cruel and stupid. Jesus death shows us why he must rise. We cant stop simply with his death. Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians that if Jesus did not rise from the dead, everything is meaningless. This passage shows us the tension that his death is 100% necessary and his resurrection is 100% necessary. Not simply becuase a movement was at stake. But If Jesus died and never rose, then there is nothing Christianity can do for life s deepest problems. It might inspire you, help you walk a more moral path, but it simply cant have the power to change you. Only one who can conquer death can. Only one who conquered the very thing none of us can, can change you and give you real hope in a world full of death and sin. The highest virtue is to seek personal happiness: If the tomb still contained Jesus dead body on easter sunday, then Tolstoy was right, we should be drunk on life. It sounds great in many ways, but what that also means you inevitably become more self absorbed. You cant legitimately call people to live sacrificially and fight against injustice in a world where death is truly how it ends. We are still stuck in our sins: If Jesus only died, we have no payment for sin becuase the wages of sin is death. Jesus therefore could not have fully paid the wage if he is still dead. The dark cloud still hangs over us: Everything, as Tolstoy points out, is shaped by our death. If we accomplish many selfless feats in this world and call others to it, we must ask what difference does it make in light of my death?. If the earth eventually burns up inside the sun, then anything we have left and any memory is truly wiped out forever. So we must even ask, why do I even do what I do? Therefore, consider all that the resurrection means today: The dark cloud is gone: The woman at the tomb were not fearless. We still will face many fears, including the fear of death. However, it truly is not cliche to tell someone whose believing loved one has died that they truly are set free and more alive now than ever. Death is swallowed up,
not simply vanished, but even more so, consumed by the resurrection. Jesus reveres rigor mortis. At some point, his heart started beating again. His lungs received oxygen and his blood carried it through his body to the rest of his organs. His brain synapsis started firing again, his amino acids rekindled and eventually his physical body ripped off the linen shroud. Nothing we do is in vain: The apostle Paul concluded an entire chapter on the resurrection by saying therefore be unmovable, knowing that nothing we do is in vain. Life is not shaped by death, but our future glory of having a glorified perfect body. Therefore, there is nothing we can really lose in life compared to what we gain. Any act of seeking to bring the kingdom of God to earth through sacrificial love is not in vain. Our bad things turn out for good, your good things can never be lost, and the best things are yet to come.: Jonathan Edwards laid these three points out in a sermon he wrote when he was 18. If the resurrection is true, then what Edwards is saying is absolutely true. Because we inherit glorified bodies and a perfect earth, nothing good we do here will ever be lost. God works even all of the most painful of sufferings in our life ultimately for our eternal good. Most humans would choose one minute of pain for 70 years of bliss. Yet, that even pales in comparison to 70 years lived of toil and struggle compared to an eternity of joy and bliss (paraphrased from Edwards sermon) If I knew the world would end tomorrow, I would plant a tree. Luther