Message

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He Has Risen

Mark 16:1-20

Mark 16:6 “‘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.’”

The story of Easter morning starts with three women – Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. These three women were at the site of Jesus’ crucifixion, they had followed him throughout his ministry faithfully and now, after everything had ended, were on their way to anoint Jesus’ decaying body. These women gained no worldly value from anointing Jesus’ dead body. He had no monetary wealth, no powerful allies or secret will. Even his disciples, men who had been by his side of the past several years and had seen all the miracles of God with him, had deserted him for fear of persecution. And yet, these women made their way to the tomb. They expected nothing in return. They went out of the simple love and devotion of their hearts. They loved their rabbi so much that even when everyone else had run away, they stayed behind. There’s something we can learn from these women. They don’t play a flashy role in Jesus’ story, they don’t heal the sick or raise the dead like his disciples. But they are the example of a faith that doesn’t focus on the current circumstances, a steady faith that finds itself rooted in devotion and love. Perhaps it’s this faith that rewarded them that morning, for they were the first to discover Jesus’ resurrection.

Imagine arriving at your loved one’s grave only to find the entrance open, the body absent, and a strange man sitting where the body should have been. They were right to be frightened. Had their Lord’s body been stolen? Who was this man? And what did he mean by, “He has risen?” These three women expected a dead man, but they were instead greeted with the resurrection message. Let us read Mark 16:6 together again: “‘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.’” Jesus the Nazarene, crucified on the cross, had defied even death and risen. As it is written in Acts 2:23-24, “This man was handed over to you by God's deliberate plan and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.” I love the wording of verse 24 because it portrays death as powerless against Jesus – it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. Jesus, the perfect Lamb, the first-fruit of man and ransom for all, proved to us that death, the source of humanity’s despair and fear, could be overcome. His resurrection is proof of everything Jesus had preached throughout his ministry. Time and time again, he told his disciples that he would die and rise again, dying as a man and rising as the Son of God. In verse 7, the angel continues, “‘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.’” The angel’s message directly refers to Mark 14:28, “But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.” Jesus told his disciples everything that was to come. From the beginning of his ministry until now, he told them of his death and resurrection, of his identity as the sovereign Lord and purpose as the Messiah on this earth. And because he kept his word, we can believe that not only had he conquered death, but he had done it for our sake. He burdened himself with the sins of this world and took them to the grave in our place. His words are marked red with his blood and made into truth through his resurrection.

So how did the three women, the first to hear this life-changing message, react? Verse 8 says, “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” How do you begin the comprehend the impossible? This “good news” may have seemed absurd or crazy. But his resurrection was not a myth or a rumor. No, Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene first, then two of his followers. While they mourned his death and forgot about his promise, Jesus kept his word. But even when Mary and the others came proclaiming the good news, the disciples could not believe it. Consumed by fear, guilt, and shame, they refused to remember the words their Lord had said to them. Their faith was overshadowed by death, and in their grief, they could not see him. So, Jesus rebuked them, chastising their lack of faith after all that he had taught them. They, who had spent the most time with Jesus, had seen him raise Lazarus from the dead, failed to believe that Jesus had risen. The disciples’ reactions were very human. They reacted appropriately in the circumstances they were in. When we are faced with death, it’s all we can see. It consumes us, invading our thoughts and giving us no room to think about anything else. We overthink, we doubt, and we fear. But when we are in the presence of God, when we are faced with the resurrection message, all logic falls away. What’s left is faith. “Now faith is confidence is what we hope for and assurance in what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). We hope for a new life in Christ, and we are sure of a freedom from death. We may not be able to see his hands or his side, we may not have witnessed his death and resurrection, but we hear his message and see his love around us. So, I encourage us to look past death and have a resurrection faith, a faith that defies all logic and conquers death.

But Easter doesn’t just end with Jesus’ resurrection. When Jesus appeared to his disciples, he wasn’t just there to prove his resurrection. He was also there to give them a new commandment, a new mission and purpose. In verse 15, “He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” This is the great commission. Go out and tell everyone about Jesus. Tell the world of God’s greatest gift to mankind, how he took the sins of his creation and became the ransom for all, how we are saved from death and brought into new life through him. This isn’t supposed to be an exclusive “Christians-only” secret. All of God’s creation deserves to know that they are no longer bound by sin and its price of death. Romans 10:13-15 says, “for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?  And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” The least we can do is give others the opportunity to meet God and see the risen Jesus. You can’t force anyone to do anything (yes, even you parents). But if you know something that will save someone’s life, you should at least let them know. As a doctor, I can’t in my good conscience hide the truth from my patients if it will help them. Even if they say no, I am obligated to share out of respect and love for them. Likewise, when we are aware of the condemnation that awaits those who reject Christ (Mark 16:16), how can we just sit back and watch? Romans 10:9 says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” It only takes a little faith. And we are not alone in this mission. Verses 17-18 describe all sorts of signs that follow those who believe, from driving out demons to speaking tongues, being immune to poison and – my personal favorite – healing the sick with just a touch. When God first came onto this earth, he was called “Immanuel,” which means “God with us.” He is with us, from the moment Adam sinned to the moment Jesus rose again and even now, in this very room, God is with us. He equips his people so that when we go out into this world and wage our war against sin and death, he is there, now and forever.

When I first took on this message, I half-jokingly said to my bible teacher, “Well, now I get to give everyone the burden of the great commission.” In response, he said immediately, “Is it a burden?” And I realized that no, it’s not. It’s not supposed to be a burden. Jesus’ resurrection gives us hope of a new birth, a living hope of an eternal inheritance. 1 Peter 1:3-4 says, “Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade.” Jesus has taken death out of the equation in our lives. There is no more reason to let death hang over our heads like a dark cloud. We are free, free from a life of fear and despair. We are free to be hopeful, free to live our life to the fullest, new and renewed in Christ. Think of it as Jesus’ personal gift to you and fill it with life, with joy and hope and happiness. Whenever we say the word “joy,” I am always reminded of Christmas, where carolers sing, “Joy to the World.” Christmas is always joyful, always full of cheer and mirth. So why not Easter? To me, Easter is far more joyful than Christmas. Easter is a day of liberation, an earth-shaking, curtain-tearing day where the impossible is suddenly made possible. When someone hears good news and is so full of joy, they can’t help but tell those around them. I always think of my dad as an example. When he found out my mom was finally pregnant with me and my brother, he apparently told everyone around him – his friends, family, church, and even random people on the street passing by. He would grab their attention excitedly, pointing to my mom and saying, “Did you know?! My wife’s pregnant! She’s pregnant!” And the stranger would smile awkwardly and congratulate him. He’s the perfect example of how we should react when we hear the good news of the gospel. We should be so excited and joyful we can pull random people off the street and share it with them. I’m not saying that you should go out and do that, unless you really want to, but I’m bringing our attention back to the joyful spirit of the gospel message. If you find yourself burdened by the great commission, if you feel weighed down by the command to share the good news, then I encourage you to take a step back and dive into the resurrection message again. Pull yourself back to the cross, to Jesus’ blood and to the empty tomb. He is risen! He has conquered death! He has taken your burdens away from you, so rejoice and be glad! I encouraged you to find that joy again, renew your spirit and let it spill over until the gospel is no longer a burden but a blessing.

Before I conclude, I want to share a story about myself. I was born and raised in the church, a typical “pastor’s kid.” When I was nine, I was moved by the story of Jesus and was born again for the first time. I remember that I was initially filled with the holy spirit and a fire for the word then, but as time passed, that love cooled down and became lukewarm. I found myself straying away from God and focusing on myself. I wanted to be liked by everyone, and that meant that I would have to hide things that may be disliked by others. I became ashamed of being Christian, I didn’t want to share my faith with others for fear of what they would say about me. For years, I lived as a quiet Christian, uncomfortable when God or Jesus was brought up and unwilling to speak up. So, imagine my surprise when, just one week ago, I spent 2 hours on the phone with my best friend from college about my own faith. This friend is very special to me, she was my closest companion throughout my university years and was a source of joy and support. Even now, there are few people closer to me. To share a bit about her, she is agnostic and believes in a vague higher power, raised by a Buddhist mother and curious about faith and religion. She knows I’m Christian and has asked me a couple times throughout our friendship about faith, but at the time I had been afraid to respond, because I wasn’t certain of my own faith and didn’t have the confidence to answer her questions. So, for 7 years, I avoided giving her straight answers. And yet, when our random, Thursday-night conversation brought up that topic, I found myself talking. I was shaking, because I was afraid of what she might think and of giving her the wrong information. I didn’t know what to say or how to respond. But, as I look back on this, I realize that perhaps God had been preparing me for this conversation through this message. I spent a month writing about the gospel message, about the joy that Jesus’ resurrection brings and how it encourages us to spread this to those around us. For the first time during Easter season, I was actually joyful during bible study and while writing this message. Perhaps he had given me the opportunity to be the very first person to respond to my own message, to have that joy overflow and go out to share this good news to someone important to me. For the first time in my life, I shared the gospel with someone. After that conversation, I remember feeling strange, almost like I couldn’t believe what had just happened. But I was joyful, because I was able to share the gospel and the love of God with someone who is important to me.

To conclude, I would like to summarize this passage in three short phrases. When I first read this passage in Mark and finished our bible study, I was suddenly reminded of 1 Corinthians 13:13: “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” I recognize that this verse isn’t included in our resurrection passage, but I felt that these three words aptly summarize the resurrection message, from start to finish. Today’s sermon builds off of these three words in the hope that through Jesus’ death and resurrection, we may all have resurrection faith, embrace a new living hope, and set out into the world to share God’s incomprehensible, all-encompassing love. If you find yourself focusing on sin, if you find yourself judging yourself or others, look away. Focus your eyes on Jesus, on the cross. See where they pierced his hands and side. See how he glows in his resurrected body. Leave your sin and your judgement at the foot of the cross and be resurrected with him. Be reborn, new and alive in Christ. Rejoice in your new self, for he has taken all your sins, all your imperfections and buried them. You’re no longer a slave to the wrongs you’ve committed, to your problems and insecurities. God has made you perfect through Jesus. I hope that all of us here may be filled with joy from our faith and new hope in Christ, and let that joy spread far and wide to the ends of the earth, sharing God’s love to everyone around us. Just as the chapter of Mark ends, I pray that we can go out and preach everywhere, and the Lord will work with us and confirm his word by the signs that accompany it (Mark 16:20).

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Attachment

• He Has Risen 2024.docx