Readings

Mark 16:1-8

(1)  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.

1 Cor 15:1-11 (Christ died and rose)

 (1)  Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, (2)  and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.

(3)  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, (5)  and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

(6)  Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. (7)  Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. (8)  Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. (9)  For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

(10)  But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. (11)  Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Introduction

Easter

Easter!

Millions today are contemplating the resurrection of Jesus, on this third day after his death. They do so in the attitude of celebration – they celebrate what the angel told Mary Magdalene; “He is risen”.

The resurrection is the crux of our Christian faith. This is why we read the passage from 1 Corinthians 15, written by the Apostle Paul.

Paul writes about death, burial, resurrection followed by his appearance to many – the order of Easter.

Note well the order: death, burial, resurrection, and appearance; always read together. (1 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Now, why is this of significance?

The order is logical, it makes sense. It allows us to discover who Jesus is.

That is why the apostles said there is no salvation for sin unless there is a living Saviour.

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead?  (1 Corinthians 15:12)

Today is nothing if Christ has not risen

And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. (1 Corinthians 15:17)

And if you are still in your sins, there is no heavenly peace for you, but everlasting judgement.

Hence the emphasis on the resurrection.

Today is important – and Christians world over, remember Christ on the first day of the week because of this.

But to be alive is not enough; he had to die first, because a living Lord can only be a Saviour because he has died for our sins. Paul again from our Corinthians passage:

… Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,  (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

Mary: sad and sorrowful

Mary does not awake early to attend an Easter church service. It was not a day of celebration!

• She goes to tomb to anoint a dead body
• She had not gone there because she thought it was Easter Sunday morning.

She had gone there because she knew that Jesus Christ was dead and buried. And when she got there, she discovered that even his body was gone.

Now, a missing body does not mean a resurrected body; however it was the conspiracy theory put around by the Jews of the day (Matt 28:11-15).

It was not an Easter morning, full of gaiety. Easter is actually the wrong word – it should be Passover, for this is what it was.  Our King James Bible mistranslates it.

We see Mary approach the grave in trepidation

• Who will roll away the stone?
• She comes with the attitude of service – to anoint the body of Jesus Christ (16:1). She expects to confront a dead body – that of Jesus.
• Her sorrow deepens when she discovers the body gone.

The other disciples - we haven’t read about them today but:

• There was emptiness, and perhaps loneliness – they had given up their lives to follow Jesus, who appears to be dead, and now his body is gone.

As Alistair Begg puts it; they were in a state of utter cluelessness.[1]

They should have been in Galilee – he had told them he would go to Galilee after he rose (Matt 26:32; Mark 14:28), but they were moping around Jerusalem.

He appears and says “Shalom” – peace.

It’s, an ordinary greeting; we learnt it and used it hourly when in Israel; “Shalom”, “Peace”.

But this was no ordinary “shalom”, but extraordinary was it all really. “Shalom – I am risen. Death has been defeated.”

(Historic) He existed historically (Who is this Jesus)

Jesus was a real man

What of Jesus – who was he?

That Jesus did live is not disputed.

But billions do not either believe he rose, or are ignorant of this fact. Further, these billions do not recognise Jesus Christ as the Son of God.

No one in the ancient world said Jesus was fiction – not Nero, who sought to kill his followers. Not even the authorities in Jerusalem.

Indeed, the chief rabbi Gamaliel cautions the Jews who did start conspiracy theories to disabuse the fact of Jesus’ resurrection. Speaking of the expanding church Gamaliel says:

“if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God." (Acts 5:34-39)

The Rabbi did not say – that’s all rubbish – there was no Jesus!

It is only in the so called days of enlightenment – days of rational, or rather irrational thought we get the notion that Jesus was somehow imaginary.

A Scottish theologian of an earlier era, F. F. Bruce, wrote, “If Jesus had not risen from the dead, we should probably never have heard of him.”[2]

How would the crucifixion of Jesus ever have launched a movement? A movement, here today we participate, and millions like us around the world. One that has consumed the world for the past 2000 years, and one that is so strongly opposed by those that hate God. On what basis?

Many people find themselves in the place, not having carefully considered the claims of Christianity then rejecting the claim, but rather having rejected Christianity without ever really considering the claims.

I say again, have you rejected Christianity based on a real study of its claims, or just because you do?

(Logical) It makes sense (The need for a Saviour)

Need of a Saviour (The Reality of Human Condition)

God did create the world – He made it absolutely perfect.

He then create men and women – the reason – to have a relationship with Himself.

• Every person owes their breath to God. Humans have a soul which includes the spirit given by the Most High (Isaiah 32:15; Luke 1:35). We are different from animals.

Then everything went wrong

Men and women decided and was thoroughly determined to run things their own way

• They started to worship themselves, and to worship their success (indeed the episode at Babel – now Babylon concerns this), and man worship what he did and said. (Genesis 11:1-9)
• Man attempted to make himself a god – a God substituted.

It’s a well-known fact that man needs to worship someone

• Bob Dylan put it this way: “You gotta serve somebody.” – it’s true[3]

Our news-feed is evidence enough that we have turned upon ourselves and we are truly alienated from God.

This was in face of the far reaching rule - the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23; Genesis 3:19 etc.). And death is eternal separation from God.

The atheist wants nothing of this.

But the Apostle Paul writes: Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures (1 Cor 15:1)

The cause of the problem: sin

The Bible says that the underlying problem in the broken relationship between man and God, and between human and human is sin – a very unpopular word these days.

Sin separates:

• Firstly, ourselves from God, and
• Secondly, ourselves at family level, community level and international level.

In essence, as the Bible says, we are sheep who’ve gone astray; we are jealous, self-centred, disillusioned.

Yes, we need a saviour. A mere glance at the news-feed say’s so.

The world is broken. What about you? Mental health issues is on an exponential rise. As is family violence, and family break-downs. Community violence, and of war.

Is there enough sessions with your counsellor? What about sessions of the UN?

Is there enough effort being undertaken to forge peace – not just Israel and Ukraine, but Central Sahel, Mali and Niger, plus the ongoing war in Sudan; what about Kosovo and Serbia, Guatemala and Venezuela; and let’s not forget Haiti.

The hearts of men and women in our world are actually crying out for meaning, for love, for forgiveness, for reconciliation, for hope.

(Logical) It makes sense we need a risen Saviour

Penalty for sin

The penalty for disobeying God is death – it’s the fundamental truth of life. Sin brought about death; which leads to the total and absolute separation from God.

Salvation for Sinners

The resurrection tells us that death has been overcome – and this could only be the case if the penalty for sin had been paid for.

This is an anathema to some. Many will say – I’m not bad enough to deserve death; but life tells you, you will die. From the minute of your birth, your life is heading towards death – it’s inevitable. And then what?

God’s holiness cannot possibly look on sin, or the sinful fallen man or women. Humans are naturally at war with God.

This is uncomfortable – the loving God who looked upon the sinner. But Jesus died for you –

• He paid the debt for your sin, if you accept it; it’s not thrust at you, it’s offered you. You need to accept it, to be secured.
• We say Jesus reconciled sinners to God (Romans 5:10; 2 Corinthians 5:18; 5:20)
• But more importantly, his death turned the wrath of God from the believer. A believer will not be judged. Everyone else will be. (Romans 3:25, Hebrews 2:17; 1 John 2:2, 4:10)
  

So the answer is that in the Lord Jesus Christ, God “made him … sin who knew no sin”, in order that “we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV))

(Testable) We can put it to the test (We know it’s true – do you?)

Jesus rose

But we know, Jesus rose

• The Bible says so - John’s gospel, Mark’s gospel – indeed all four gospels
• Secular history records it so
• Jewish writers say so
• The writings of antiquity say so
• The Early church fathers say so

Assertions can be tested. We have evidence and we know this to be true

Paul in 1 Corinthians 15 four times says our risen Lord was seen by people:

• He was seen by Cephas[4]
• He was seen by the 12 disciples[5]
• He was seen by over five hundred people
• He was seen by James (the brother of Jesus), then the apostles (besides the 12).
• He was seen by Paul, on the Road to Damascus

And further:

1. The body of believers, grew daily (Acts 2:41&47, Acts 5:14, Acts 12:24, Acts 19:20)
2. Faith in Jesus grew in the face of persecution; persecution even unto death.
3. The Church encompassed not only Jews but also gentiles, whatever station of life – freeman or slave (Gal 3:28)
4. The testimony of the gospel cuts to the heart - it affects the conscience of man, it changes lives (Acts 7:54 – Evidenced by Stephen)

(Conclusion) I say to you: you have a decision to make.

So I say to you: you have a decision to make.

Either we are prepared to acknowledge the burdens that we bear and say, “I’m going to try my best to go on from here; I’m just going to continue to make my endeavours along the religious line”— I ask, how’s that working out for you?—or,

You say; “My burdens are too heavy. If the people around me knew them, they would be appalled. “

But if what you’re telling me is right—if you’re telling me that this Bible is true, if you’re telling me that I may personally lay my life down upon Jesus—then I need to respond”.

You say, “Well, I know a lot of people who have escaped it. They just say they don’t believe it.”

Did they really escape it? You think because you’ve decided that you don’t believe something, it no longer exists? Only in this century would such an assertion be considered.

It’s illogical. I cannot seen red applies in green tree – so neither exists?!

Unless we’re going to go down the road of Meghan Markle, and many others, where she apparently has her own truth, saying “This is my truth.” So, we’re just all going to get by on our own truth, are we? What about the one who is “the way, … the truth, and the life”? Jesus Christ.

Summary

Listen to what Jesus has done!

• Jesus Christ has assumed our nature in order to rescue us by his death.
• By dying, by taking it to himself, he destroyed the devil’s hold on death, and he freed all who are struggling through life, scared to death of death. He has subverted a permanent end-of-life changing condition – hell.

Borrowing from the late Steve Armstrong, an evangelist from San Antonio, Texas: He said; “The resurrection is the heart of our hope because:

• It confirms that Jesus is who He said He was: The Son of God
• Forms the good news – called the Gospel Message – that Christ is risen. We are to believe he died, was buried and rose from the dead.
• Without a resurrection, we are nothing; Christ’s resurrection confirms for both believers and unbelievers, that God is.
• The resurrection confirms there is a future judgement.
• The resurrection confirms that Christ forgave the sins of those that believe.
• The resurrection places Jesus as the head of the Church (which was established in Acts 2)”[6]

Yes, our bodies will die, but our souls will be saved.

I urge you, I beseech you: do not put this off. “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ] our Lord.” (Romans 6:23).

Receive the gift. Believe on Jesus Christ.

But I’m a Christian – a believer. I say I hear you.

Believers – your obligation is the fact you have been brought with a price – the price of the blood shed by Jesus Christ; consecrate your life to Christ. Christian – your life is a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1).  Offer it to God!

An old hymn of Elizabeth C Clephane:[7]

There lies beneath its shadow,
But on the farther side,
The darkness of an awful grave
That gapes both deep and wide:
And there between us stands the cross,
Two arms outstretched to save;
A watchman set to guard the way
From that eternal grave.

Amen.