Well, I don't know what you expect when you come to an Easter church service, but ever since he rose from the dead, Jesus has been exceeding people's expectations. And I want to invite you to open the Bible and turn with me to the Gospel of Mark chapter 16, verses 1-8. And if you don't have a Bible, there is a handout in your bulletin that has these verses printed on it, so you can read along with us. And again, I just want to welcome anybody who's here for the first time, who just walked in, I just want you to know, we thank you for coming to the Saturday night version of the Easter service. We appreciate that we've got milk and cookies for everybody after the service. All right, thank you for coming out. We’ve got a photo booth where you can get your picture taken with your family. We’ve got people in funny costumes from Bible times in the kids’ ministry building. We're going to have more free gifts later. But the main thing we have to offer you is Jesus. And what we want to tell you here tonight is what Mark writes in Mark 16:1-8. And I want to start out by reading it for us, and out of respect for God's word, I'm going to ask you if we would all stand for the public reading of Scripture. And I'm going to ask you to give this your full and undivided attention because this is the Word of God. This is an historical account of the resurrection of Jesus. Please follow along Mark 16 verse 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. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 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. 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.” 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.
That's the reading of God's Word. Please go ahead and have your seat. And we want to just learn four things from these eight verses as we go through them together. Let's start here with the introduction of these three ladies in verse one. And these ladies were actually already introduced to us a few verses earlier. If you can look with your eyeballs in your Bible with me, just a few verses up to Mark 15:40, where it says there were also women who were looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, the younger and of Joseph. So, Mary, known for these two sons, James and Joseph, and Salome. So, these three ladies here, they're introduced in verse 40. And look what it says about these three women in Mark 15:41. When Jesus was in Galilee, which is where he was for most of the gospel of Mark during his miracles, in his teachings. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him. And there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. So, Mark wants you to know when he introduces these three ladies, these ladies, they were followers of Jesus. Notice how it even refers to them as people who did ministry; these ladies were here to serve Jesus. And so, he wants us to know, hey, there were female disciples of Jesus, and specifically, he wants to introduce us to these three particular women. Now, Mary Magdalene, you might have heard of, because she's a lady that Jesus cast out seven demons out of her, according to Luke 8:2. And people have said all kinds of things about Mary Magdalene over the years, many of them not in the Scriptures, many of them just things people made up or legends about her, but she was one of the faithful followers, one of the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so, there are two Mary's and Salome. Some people think she was maybe James’s and John's mom. But these three ladies are introduced to us, and Mark wants us to know, hey, these ladies, they were there with Jesus. They were willing to go to Jerusalem with him. These ladies, they're real followers. But then look what happens in Mark 15:42. Okay, so if you were here last night when we talked about Jesus dying, and the Centurion said, go look at verse 39, where the Centurion says, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” So, this is right after Jesus dies on the cross and the Roman centurion, who was in charge of all the guys who were killing Jesus, when he says, wow, this man was the Son of God. Immediately after that, Mark draws your attention to these three women. But before he really tells you what he wants to tell you about these three women, he then in Mark 15:42-43, says, “And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 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.” So this is something very interesting that Mark does where he introduces these three ladies. Then he kind of goes and tells a different account of Joseph of Arimathea, kind of saying, hey, I'm ready to claim the body of Jesus; I'm ready to get him buried. And then you can see in Mark 16:1, he goes back to Mary Magdalene and her friends and starts talking about them going into the tomb on Easter Sunday morning.
So, we like to call this a Markan Sandwich; technically, it's an intercalation. It's where he kind of merges two stories together. He starts one, tells you a second story, and then brings you back to the first story. And oftentimes, there's a comparison, there's a contrast there that he wants you to see, to make a greater point. So, with all that introduction, I want you to see in Mark 16:1, these three ladies, they are going when the Sabbath is over. They're going in Mark 16:2. It says, it's very early, it's when the sun had risen. They're going to the tomb, and what are they going there to do? At the end of verse 1, it says, they're going to anoint him. So, this is the unexpected Easter sermon that you're hearing right now. And these ladies expect to find a dead body. And they have such a care for Jesus, and that they want to make sure even his dead body is cared for by anointing him. And you can even get into the thought process of these dear ladies who are waking up so early, really the first opportunity that they could, after the Sabbath, to go down to the tomb, where Jesus was buried, and they want to go and anoint him. And they're talking along the way, how are we even going to move the stone to get in there to anoint his body. So, these ladies when they approach and the stone is rolled away, that is not what they expected to find. They did not expect to find the risen Lord Jesus. See, you may be thinking we're going to talk about Jesus rising from the dead. When you come to an Easter service, we‘ve got to get our mindset back into the original Easter. There was no expectation of Jesus rising from the dead. Oh, Jesus expected to do it. But even these faithful ladies who follow Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are ready to go anoint his body as soon as they can after he's been buried, even these faithful ladies aren't expecting to find a risen Lord. And so, they're not even sure how they're going to get the stone rolled away. Well, they find out. Let's keep going here in Mark 16:3-4. “And they were saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?’ And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back.” And wow, it was there. That's a good thing because they weren't going to be able to do it. 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.” Well, this wasn't your kind of white okay, this is a kind of white that not even Tide can make your shirts be all bright, everybody. This is a kind of white that is a dazzling kind of white. It's the kind of white that's a lightning kind of white. This is like a heavenly kind of white because this is an angel. This is a messenger of God sent from heaven to tell these ladies something from out of this world. And what this young man in a white robe says to these ladies here is, “Do not be alarmed.” Because when anybody sees an angel in the Bible, and if you've ever read parts of the Bible, you know what happens? What do they do when they see an angel? What would you do if you saw an angel? You would freak out? That's what you would do. You would be like, whoa, that's like, haven't seen anything like that around here in Huntington Beach lately, right? That's what happens. They are alarmed. They are overwhelmed. And then they hear this message, “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.” And that's where we met these ladies was they were from a distance they were watching him die on the cross. That's when we were introduced to them back in chapter 15.
Okay, you saw him crucified? Well, guess what, this is declarative. This is informative. This is the message that Heaven wants us to know here on earth, “He has risen; he is not here.” Look, this is where they laid him, see the place. “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.” There, you're going to get to see him, just as he was everybody, just as he told you. See, Jesus, he was telling us he was going to rise from the dead. But they still didn't really get it, they still didn't really understand. And now there's no body in the tomb, nobody to anoint there. No, there's an angel there telling them he has risen
Go back with me to Mark chapter 8, and let's see where Jesus was talking about his resurrection. There's been a lot of build up to this moment in the Gospel of Mark. And if you were reading through mark, it would be so obvious to you that Jesus has said so many times, that he's going to rise from the dead. See, I really think that Mark writes in a way that I've really learned to love, where he's appealing to you, the reader, see how these people aren't really getting what Jesus is saying. And it's kind of like winking at the reader. Are you getting what Jesus is saying? Because Jesus has definitely been saying it. He starts here in Mark chapter 8, you can pick it up with me in verse 31, after Peter says, “the right answer, that you are the Christ, you are the Anointed One of God, you are the Son of God,” Peter says, we know who you are Jesus, you're the one from God. And okay, you’ve got that? Right. Yes, correct. And then it says in Mark 8:31, “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,” what is he going to do, everybody “rise again.” He says this in chapter 8, he says this in chapter 9, he says it three times in chapter 10. Like he's been saying it, but they're not seeing it. In fact, Peter, who just said, one of the great answers of all time, you are the Christ. Well, Peter, he says something different here. Look at Mark 8:32. And he said this plainly, Jesus is just saying plainly, look for me on the third day, I'll be back, I'm going to rise. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. But turning and seeing his disciples, he rebuked Peter, and said, “Get behind me, Satan, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man. Here's Peter, like, no, you're not going to suffer, you're not going to die. And Jesus is like, no, that's exactly what I came to do. But it was like they couldn't hear the part where he was saying that he's going to rise. Now, I want to make sure you hear Jesus say something about the resurrection.
Go over to Mark chapter 12. I want everybody to hear this with me. Because Jesus did not just teach that he was going to rise on the third day, Jesus actually taught that every single one of us will rise from the dead. Do you know this? Do you know this? Or does that sound crazy when I say it, because look at what Jesus says here, when Jesus was getting into it with the religious authorities in the temple. There's a story here in Mark chapter 12. And we can pick it up in verse 24. When the Sadducees are trying to come and stump Jesus because the Sadducees did not believe in a resurrection. They did not believe in life after death. And if you've grown up in church, you know that's why they're so sad. You see, that's a way to remember what they believe because they don't think death is the end. They don't think there's anything after this life and maybe that'll help you remember why they were wrong. Look at how Jesus just calls these guys out. I love this in Mark 12:24, hey Sadducees I see you. “Jesus said to them, ‘Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?’” Boom, right there. Oh, hey, Sadducees Welcome to the party. Let me tell you why you guys are wrong. You guys don't know what the Scripture says. And you don't know the resurrection power of God. And then he explains it like this, for when they rise from the dead. Like, no people are rising from the dead. When they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. And as for the dead being raised, your why is there a question about the dead being raised? Have you not read? Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, you know, the one that was on fire, but it didn't burn up? Have you not read how God spoke to him saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob, he's not God of the dead, but of the living, you are quite wrong. Here's Jesus saying, Oh, let me tell you, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, they're all alive right now. And God is their God. So, if we're really going to pay attention to what the gospel of Mark is teaching us about the resurrection, not only is it claiming that Jesus rose from the dead on the third day, not only is it telling us that Jesus said he was going to rise from the dead before he did it, but Jesus actually said that everyone will rise from the dead.
So, let's get this down for point number one, if you are taking notes with us here today: “Don't expect death to be the end.” Don't expect death to be the end. The Bible does not say that death is the end of your existence. The Bible actually says that it is appointed that “to everything there is a season under heaven. There's a time to be born, there's a time to die.” That God makes everything beautiful in its time, and that God has put what in our hearts? Does anybody know Ecclesiastes 3, what God put in our hearts, eternity. See, when God made you in his image, God did not just give you a body, but God made you as a soul, you are a spiritual being. There is a real you inside of your body. And even if you die, you will rise from the dead and you will live forever somewhere, either eternal life in the presence of God or everlasting judgment. That's what the Scripture teaches, that everybody here is actually going to rise from the dead, some to life and some to more death. But that is common for all of us. And don't you just even, don't you know, that's true. I love that phrase God has put eternity in our hearts. Don't you feel that when someone that you love dies? When someone that you love dies? Don't you feel like that is wrong that they died? Doesn't it bother you that you can't continue that relationship with them? Don't you have this just feeling inside of your soul that you feel down to the core of who you are that hey, that person, I love that person. And that person knew me, and I knew them. And they're not supposed to die and be taken away and be separated from me this relationship that we've got this love that we've got, it's not supposed to be separated. It's supposed to go forever. Does anybody else feel like that when somebody you love dies? Man, I remember when my mother-in-law passed away. And I remember sitting there at her funeral and I'm looking down the row and there are my young kids at their grandma's funeral. And what are my young kids doing at their grandma's funeral? They are bawling their eyes out. Because it's like these kids know. What do they know? Grandma is not supposed to die. Why is grandma dead? I mean, maybe you've had a grandma that died. And you just felt like this is wrong that grandma died. Grandma was supposed to be sitting there in that chair. I know where Grandma is. And when I go visit her Oh, she just happens to have my favorite dessert that's on sale, right? I mean, I love grandma. Why are we separated? See? There's this idea that is built into our hearts. Death is a curse. That the way death is the wages of sin death is this brutal separation. And you can feel like death. This is not the end; it's not supposed to end like this. That's what Jesus is teaching. Jesus is teaching the resurrection, that he would do it. And he's just the first fruits of everyone is going to live after death.
Now go back to Mark 16, we need to change our expectations, life doesn't end with death, there is more after our death. And that's what the whole idea is, people should have been anticipating that Jesus would rise, people should be anticipating a resurrection for of everyone from the dead. Now, I don't know what you believe about that. I would imagine that there are some who have gathered with us today, who don't even believe that Jesus rose from the dead. Well, this is an account, written by Mark, that's claiming that an angel came and was there in the tomb, and told these three ladies that that he did rise from the dead, and that they should go to Galilee, just like he told them to go to Galilee, and they would see him risen from the dead. So, the gospel of Mark is making a claim that Jesus actually rose from the dead. This is not just a story that somebody made up. This is claiming to be nonfiction, that Jesus called his shot on the third day, on the first day of the week, that Sunday morning, and they went to the tomb ready to anoint a dead body, but there was no body because Jesus is alive this is claiming is true. Now, maybe you're skeptical. Maybe you're like, well, I think they just made this story up. Well, let me just tell you right now that if Mark was trying to write a made-up story to get everybody to believe it, he did a really poor job of doing that. Okay. And let me give you a few reasons. Okay. If you were going to cast some kind of story. And you were like, hey, we've got three ladies. And we already know the actresses who are going to play the play these three ladies, let's give these three ladies, different names, different characters, you wouldn't say okay, what are we going to call the first lady? Mary? That sounds great. What do we call the second lady? How about Mary? How about we go with that for the second lady's name as well? How about she's got two sons, one of them is kind of not that great of a son. He's the younger, the lesser son. And how about when we refer to this lady will confuse people forever by sometimes referring to one of her sons or sometimes referring to her other son, genius. Let's roll with that. How about the third lady's name so low? Man, it's really hard to pronounce, people that struggle with it. Great. Let's go okay. Right. That's not how you would do it. And just getting into the mindset of the time. Okay. Really getting back into it. It's very interesting that all these different gospels make it clear that ladies were the first witnesses of the resurrected Lord, which at this time, you women would not be your choice to be your lead witnesses. In fact, when I was doing research for this sermon, I found this quote from Josephus. Josephus, if you know him as a historian, he wrote this word called Antiquities of the Jews. And this is a quote from Josephus, his historical account Antiquities of the Jews, but let not the testimony of women be admitted in the court is his idea. Don't even let ladies testify. And then he says some not so flattering things about women after that quote, which I'm not going to choose to read here today, because I don't agree with the quote. But the quote is indicative of what people were thinking at that time. So, if you're trying to convince people that something happened that didn't happen, you don't use the same name for two of the ladies. And you don't use ladies as your eyewitnesses to the angelic account, because people look down on that kind of testimony at that time. Now, Mark, he tells us the story of these three ladies and these ladies are blown away by seeing this angel. I mean, look, look back at verse 8. Look at the response of these ladies. These ladies went out and it's like they're running. They're fleeing. It says, I mean, this had a profound impact on these three ladies. And they're fleeing, they're trembling. Their astonishment had seized them. It's like they've been seized. It's like they're literally shaking. These ladies are overwhelmed by the entire experience of running into that angel. And it says, what's the last line that it says they were what, everybody? Okay, now after that, notice what it has right after that. It says some of the earliest manuscripts do not include Mark 16:9-20. Does everybody see that? Is that in your Bible as well? Okay, so now we get into this whole kind of confusing idea, like, Wait a minute. So, the rest of Mark that's put there, verses 9-20. And verses 9 to 20. like, they sound good. They sound like a very happy ending. Go down to verse 20. Okay, look at verse 20. “And they went out, and they preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs. Can I get an amen from everybody? I mean, it just ends in verse 20, like Jesus’ disciples were taking over the world, right? But verse 8 says they were what at the end of it? Okay, so there's a whole controversy here. There's a whole controversy. And what it's saying there is, there are manuscripts, and I don't know how much you've gotten into the manuscript evidence for the Greek New Testament, but there are over 5000 ancient manuscripts of the Greek New Testament. This is, by far and away, the most documented work of ancient literature we have on planet earth. And through these manuscripts, we can see that some of them, some of the earlier ones, some of the more complete ones, they don't have verses 9 to 20, at the end, which leads many scholars to believe that Mark actually ended his gospel with these three ladies being overwhelmed and afraid, which is not exactly the happy ending people are looking for, at the end of the gospel of Mark. In fact, perhaps some scribes were so embarrassed with the way that Mark ended his gospel that they felt like Mark, we can help you out, we can put a better ending on this thing. Okay. Now, maybe this springs up in your mind, wait a minute, well, how do we know the Bible is accurate? How do we know the Bible is true? How did we know if they’d changed anything? Well, basically, what I'm trying to tell you is here, maybe they did try to say something, they did try to change something, they did try to add a little bit more to Mark. And guess what? It's not in some of the manuscripts, there are so many manuscripts, we can compare them one to another. And if anything is amiss, we can identify it. And that's what they're doing here. They're saying, hey, everything that happens after verse 8, we're not one hundred percent confident that, in fact, I would go so far as to say, don't look at it as Scripture. Because why do so many manuscripts do not have it in there, which means Mark wrote his gospel, not to have a happy ending. Mark wrote his gospel, like a drop off the cliff-hanger, kind of what, that's how the story ends. The angel tells them, he rose from the dead, go to Galilee, you'll see him just like he said, and then the ladies run out of there, and they're shaking, and they're overwhelmed, and they're afraid and that's how he wanted to end his gospel. See, as a reader, when I'm reading a story, what do I expect at the end of my story? I expect to what everybody, a happily-ever-after? Now, what if Mark is intentionally not giving us a happily-ever-after? In fact, Mark, we believe is the disciple of Peter, who's kind of the closest disciple to Jesus, Peter, who learned from Jesus.
Do you realize that if you heard Jesus teach you, it probably wouldn't have had a happy ending. Like I don't know if everybody at church on Easter really understands that if you heard Jesus preach a sermon, you might not leave feeling positive at the end of that sermon, the vibes might not be high at the end of the sermon. Let me just give you guys a few examples of how Jesus ends teachings. If you can flip over to Matthew chapter 7. Maybe Mark is doing something in the pattern of the way that Jesus would teach. And Jesus regularly ended his teachings with drop-the-mic walk off, leave everybody with their mouths hanging open kind of moments, moments that you don't hear maybe a lot in church these days. But if you were ever at the Mount of beatitudes on that little hill North of the Sea of Galilee, and you hear Jesus teaching to thousands of people, Matthew 5, 6, and 7 is the most complete sermon of Jesus that we have in Scripture. In fact, Matthew, he regularly gives us discourses of Jesus. And then look at the end of Matthew 7. Look at verses 28 and 29. Matthew says this five different times in his Gospel, “and when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were” what at his teaching, everybody? Well, they're overwhelmed. They're like the ladies hearing from the angel. When people heard Jesus teach, it's like they heard from God. In fact, it says in verse 29, for he was teaching them as one who had what, everybody? Like this guy is really knows what he's saying. He really means what he's saying. People are blown away by the teaching of Jesus. And look how he ended that sermon that created this astonishing whoa, he's got so much authority response. This is the last thing Jesus preached. Go back to Matthew 7:24-27. Jesus ended his sermon like this, everyone, “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” That's the end of the sermon, everybody. That's how Jesus teaches. If you listen to what I say, and you do it, it's like, you'll have a solid foundation for the rest of your life. No matter what comes at you, you'll stand. If you don't do what I tell you to do, you're going to fall, and your fall will be great. And that's it, dropped the mic, walk up, no positive ending, no picker upper. No, but there's grace at the end of the day and have a great day, everybody. That's not how Jesus taught.
Let me show you another example. Go to Matthew 18. Go to Matthew 18, where Jesus is teaching about sin, and how he feels about sin. And if you go to Matthew 19:1, right after Matthew 18, it gives us that same thing. Now when Jesus had finished these sayings. So, Matthew, part of the reason he's longer than Mark is he gives you extended teachings from Jesus. Matthew 18, is an extended teaching from Jesus. It ends at the end of Matthew 18. So, let's go to the end of Matthew 18. And let's see, how does Jesus finish his teaching at the end of Matthew 18. When this servant was unwilling to forgive his fellow servant, maybe you've heard this story, servant gets forgiven, but then servant goes and sticks it to somebody else who owes him a debt. So how could the servant be forgiven by the master, but then go and not forgive another servant? And so, let's look at how this ends in Matthew 18:32-34. “Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” Does everybody see that? It goes right to Matthew 19, verse 1 after that, where's the positive encouragement at the end of the message? Are you seeing what I'm saying here?
Let me show you another example. Go to the end of Matthew 25, where Jesus gave his all of that discourse. This is where Jesus talks about the future, the future destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, even the end of the age, even when he's going to return he teaches about for two chapters here in Matthew 24, and 25. And then you can see if you go to Matthew 26:1. How is Matthew 26:1 going to start. When Jesus had finished all these sayings, which is what marks the five different teachings in Matthew, we're only able in our time to look at three of them. But at the end of it, look at how Jesus ends two chapters of teaching about the future. In fact, Jesus wants to teach about the coming judgment, the coming day of judgment, at the end of all things. Here's how Jesus finishes his message, starting in Matthew 25:41, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
One thing I want you to understand here today is that Jesus doesn't make every ending happy, because Jesus can see the future. Jesus knows all things. Jesus is the Lord of heaven and earth, and Jesus knows that not every ending will be happy. So, Jesus is trying to make it very clear that if you do not listen to him, If you do not hear what he's saying, and do it, the end of your story will not be happy.
Let's get that down for point number two: “Don't expect every ending to be happy.” Don't expect every ending to be happy. I don't think Mark wrapped up his gospel with a nice happy ending. And you know, where I think Mark might have learned to end things like that from the master teacher himself, Jesus, because Jesus is the only person in this story, who has the right expectations about what is going to happen. And Jesus, he understands that at the end of some people's story, it's not like they ride off into the sunset. It's not like the credits roll and the lights come back on. And we can all move on with our lives. See, we think that stories are over when all the problems are resolved. And they can live happily ever after. You know what Jesus is teaching. Not everybody is going to live happily ever after. Oh, everybody's going to live after they die. But some of them will be living in everlasting punishment. And Jesus, he's trying to get that message out there, Jesus is trying to make it very clear, there is a possibility, in fact, there is a probability in fact, you are already headed right now for a story that will not end happy. Unless you LISTEN to Jesus. Unless you believe in his resurrection, unless you see that he is the way, he is the truth, he is the life. And Jesus is the one who defeated death and rose from the grave. And everyone who believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life. But don't mistake his teaching. You are perishing, unless you believe that's what Jesus came to teach. Jesus came to teach that the problem isn't what's happening around us. The problem is what's happening inside of us. And the evil that defiles us doesn't come from around us, it comes from within us. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks, and all kinds of evil comes out of our hearts. And because of that evil that we call sin, well, the wages of sin is death. And after you die, it's appointed for a man wants to die, and then comes judgment. And so, some people, they'll rise to be judged and to experience a second death. And Jesus was very clear about this. And Jesus would teach, and people would be shaking after Jesus was teaching. People would be astonished. They'd be like, wow, he speaks with such authority. You want to know why he speaks with such authority, because Jesus is the one who's going to judge the living and the dead. And he knows how it's all going to work. And he's trying to tell us if we'll listen to him.
And so, Mark, the way Mark is writing. I don't know if you've been paying attention. If you read Mark leading up to this, and even now, if you haven't read Mark, you could go back and you could read it pretty quickly. It's sixteen chapters. I'm telling you in the last chapter, it's really only eight verses that I think Mark really wrote and wow, you will see over and over throughout the gospel of Mark that Jesus is saying things that are powerful. Jesus is saying things that are clear. Jesus is saying things that are moving and he's always like, did you guys hear that? Did you guys understand that? Did you guys get what I just said? And he's saying it again and he's repeating it again. And as you're reading through the Gospel of Mark, you're starting to feel a certain way. Like why is nobody listening to Jesus? Because he's saying it right there. And it's going right over everybody's head, even these sincere ladies here.
And so, go back to Mark 16:7, go back to Mark 16:7, and look at how the angel ends his announcement from heaven that Jesus is alive, he's risen. And, and I really think Mark's trying to bring us in, Mark's trying to get us to feel maybe how these ladies would have felt here at the end of this story. And look at verse 7, look at what it says, “but go tell his disciples and Peter, that he is going before you to Galilee.” Now, first of all, we just want to take a moment to highlight that it says, “go tell the disciples.” And who does it mention by name, everybody? Peter. Why is that significant that it calls out Peter by name? Because if you've been reading through Mark, what did Peter just do three times before the rooster crows? He acted like I don't even know that guy. I don't even know who you're talking about. I'm not one of those guys. Three times, Peter denied Jesus. Is Jesus done with Peter? No, it makes sure you tell Peter. But what the angel tells these three ladies to go tell the rest of the disciples has already been said. We're not even really revealing anything new. This angel is just affirming things that Jesus had already said were going to happen. And that's why I love the end of verse 7. “There you will see him, just as he told you.” And then if you could just underline this, if you could circle this, if you could write this down, “just as he told you.” Just as he told you, like, all you have to do is just listen to what Jesus is saying. And then you'll start to have realistic expectations for what is going to happen in life. If you just listen to what Jesus told you, you'd already know that you're supposed to go to Galilee, what he's referring to is Mark 14:28. If you can go back to chapter 14, verse 28. This was the last supper that Jesus had with the disciples when they were in that upper room. And he gave them the bread and said, “This is my body.” And he said, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many.” And one of the things he said, he said, this guy is going to betray me; you're all going to flee. Peter specifically is going to deny me three times before the rooster crows at this dinner. Jesus is revealing the whole rest of the plot, the whole rest of the story, the whole movie is revealed right here at this dinner. Here's what's going to happen, guys. And look what he says in chapter 14, verse 28, he says, “But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” He already said it. They should have all heard it. They should have all known it. Okay, he died, he suffered. They killed him. What did he say after that? What did he say after that? Where did he tell us to go? The angel’s like, yeah, he's risen. And you should go to Galilee, just as he told you.
Jesus knows the end of the story. From the beginning of the story. See, Jesus is unlike anybody else we've ever met. You hear somebody tried to call their shot. You hear somebody trying to manifest something, speaking into existence, predict the future, you're like, yeah, right. Good luck with that. Jesus actually does that all the time. And you can keep living by your own expectations. And you can try to figure out life through trial and error. And you can decide what you think is true. But the truth is, Jesus is preaching the truth. And if you want your expectations to match reality, you should listen to every word that comes out of the mouth of Jesus, because Jesus is the only one telling you what's going to happen before it does. And so, I think Mark is actually a book that when you get to the end, and these ladies are fleeing the tomb, and they're astonished, and they're afraid, and they're supposed to go tell somebody, but they don't tell anybody. And you're like, wait, why are there so many people in Mark telling people when they're not supposed to and not telling people when they are supposed to? And I think you're supposed to be bothered. And I think Mark is one of those stories, one of those movies that, as soon as you finish it, you're like, wait a minute, I think I missed something. I think there's a plot twist in here. Let's go back to the beginning. I think that's what Mark is. And I think you're supposed to think, wait a minute. What did Jesus say that the people are missing?
Go back to Mark 1:15. And Mark summarized the whole message of Jesus right from the very beginning, Mark, he condensed, the most important thing you're ever going to hear in your entire life. And he gave it to you, he gave you the whole plot right off the top. And he said in Mark 1:14, “Now after John was arrested,” after a very brief introduction here in the Gospel of Mark, “after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee,” and Jesus was proclaiming the gospel of God. And Jesus was saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, Repent, and believe in the gospel.” You can summarize the teaching of Jesus down into one line: now is the time, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is it's right there. And, and you could reach out, and you could grab it. And here's how you could do that. You’ve got to repent; you’ve got to change your mind. And you’ve got to believe, you’ve got to transfer your trust. Your repentance is a turnaround. It's a change of mind that leads to a change in your life. And believing is a transfer of trust. It's when you stop trying to do it, and you trust in it, says the Gospel. Well, what is the gospel? Well, that's what the rest of Mark is. And the rest of Mark is Jesus saying, okay, now that you know who I am, I am the Christ, I am the Son of God, and here's what's going to happen. We're going to go to Jerusalem, they're going to come and get me, I'm going to suffer, I'm going to die. And on the third day, I will rise. And when Jesus did that, it's not just some story from long ago, no, when Jesus did that, he was dying on that cross, to take God's wrath and pay for your sin as a sacrifice. He died willingly in your place. And on the third day when they went to the tomb, and it was empty, because Jesus is alive. It is in the power of the resurrection of Jesus, that everybody who believes in Jesus, you have a new life, you have the same power of Jesus. now working in you, Jesus gives you his Spirit, now working in you. Just like Jesus rose to eternal life, you also, even if you die, you will live in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. Can I get an amen from anybody? That's the whole point of mark right there. And he told you the whole story in the first chapter. That's how Jesus rolls, because Jesus knows, it's hard for us to hear it. It's hard for us to get it. But he just keeps telling it to us over and over and over.
So, point number three: You’ve got to “let Jesus tell you what to expect.” You’ve got to let Jesus tell you what to expect. You’ve got to stop trying to live by your own expectations. And you’ve got to start listening to Jesus. Jesus can tell you your future, Jesus can tell you what's going to happen to you. Jesus can tell you what's going to happen to you after you die, if you listen to Jesus. You can see the future; you can see the end from the beginning. He's telling you this is how I'm going to judge people. This is how I'm going to see people, this is how people are going to come to me, and many on that day will come and they'll say, oh, Lord Jesus, we did this for you. And we did this for you. And we did this for you. We went to that church on Easter for you, Jesus, we read the gospel of Mark for you, Jesus, and what is Jesus going to say to many people on that day? I don't know you. You're still in your sin. You've never repented. You've never believed. I don't know you. And they're not going to be able to blame Jesus. Because if they actually look up what Jesus said, he already told them exactly how that was going to happen. Jesus is the one place that you can find realistic expectations for this life and what happens next. The news is all bad news. The good news can only be found from Jesus. And Jesus has talent, every single living soul who will listen to his voice. Now it's the time the kingdom is like you can reach out and grab it. Repent and believe in the Gospel. There's another thing that Jesus said in Mark 14, if you can go to chapter 14 with me, because when they put him on trial, I mean, Jesus, you kind of can see in the Gospel of Mark, Jesus is holding back. Jesus is being very careful about when he says what or when he does what, especially in market highlights how he's going around to these other places, because he's not trying to stir it up until the right time. And when the demons are saying, we know who you are Jesus, you're the Son of God, he's like, hush demons, we don't want you saying that to people. And they're asking him questions, by what authority do you do these things? And Jesus is looking at these guys. And he's like, hey, let me ask you a question. He's not directly answered. In their questions, but here in Mark 14:61, where he's still kind of being quiet, it says “he remained silent, and he made no answer.” They're accusing him. They're bringing these false charges against him. They're saying all kinds of things that would have had me and you riled up a whole long time ago. Jesus, he's silent. He's so silent, that when he stands before Pilate, he is amazed by this guy. Pilate’s like, who is this guy, that he would face all of this and open not his mouth. But here. Look what the chief priest says in verse 61, of Mark 14, the chief priests asked him a direct question: “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” Which has really been developing throughout Mark. Are you Jesus, the Son of God, and Jesus said in Mark 14:62, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” If Jesus can say he's going to die and rise on the third day, and that's exactly what happened, then do you think that when Jesus says, he is the Son of God, and he's at the right hand of the Majesty on high, and he's going to come riding on the clouds? Do you think we should listen to what Jesus says here? I promise you, based on what Jesus says right here, you will see Jesus on the clouds, every single one of you, doesn't matter whether you believe it or not, it's true. You want to know how we know it's true? Because Jesus said it. And Jesus is where we can find realistic expectations that match the universe that he created, that match our souls that he made us to be. You want to know how to think about life? You want to know what is the point of history? You want to know how does the story end. Look for him on the clouds of heaven. One with glory as of the Father, that's how it's going to go down. See, Jesus is telling you what to expect. Now, some of you may not believe this, I want to strongly encourage you as much as I possibly can to believe this and not because I said so. Because Jesus said so. And I want to encourage you, if you've never read something like Mark, you’ve got to check this out. This is not like something else. This is like this guy is just telling us what happened in Mark. Go to the end with me now, because now that we have built up all those thoughts, we can finally get to the point that Mark is making. Mark is making a point here with these three ladies, two Marys and then this other guy, Joseph of Arimathea. So hey, everybody, look over here. Do you see the three ladies because they're looking at Jesus dying on the cross? Okay, hold that thought about the three ladies.
Now let's go over here to this guy named Joseph. And this guy, Joseph, if you can look at it with me here in Mark 15:42. This guy Joseph is a respected member of the, what does it say there, everybody? The Council. So, Joseph is in the middle of all these religious leaders of the Jews, making all these false accusations, having all this hatred, all this strife, these guys wanting to kill Jesus for chapters and saying all these challenging things to trap Jesus, all these guys who are rising up against Jesus, Joseph is surrounded by those guys. He’s in the midst of those guys. He’s one of those guys. Now, these three ladies, they're disciples of Jesus. They're like looking at a distance to what's happening to Jesus. They're like going to the tomb ready in the morning. But then when they see the angel, these ladies, they're running over here. They're astonished. They're afraid. But see, there's a contrast here. Can you see the ladies over here? Okay, now look at Joseph. Look what it says about Joseph here. You would not expect this from a member of the Council after all, we've seen the religious leaders of the Jews do this guy Joseph Arimathea, a respected member of the Council, who was also himself looking for, what does it say there everybody? The kingdom of God. You mean the kingdom of God that Jesus said is at the right hand, reach out and grab it? Well, I'm here to tell you that after Joseph saw Jesus die on the cross, it says he did right after it says he was himself looking for the kingdom of God. He took what everybody? Courage. This guy he stands up and he went to Pilate, and he asked for the body of Jesus. At great, I'm sure, risk to himself. I'm sure all the other guys in the Council, or at least a lot of them, the majority of them. They're gloating. They're basking in their victory. We finally silenced him once and for all, that rebel, that cultist, we finally got rid of our Jesus problem. Now everybody will be listening to us again. Now, we'll be back on top again. They must have been going around like the evil empire had one. And Joseph in the midst of all of that. These guys just killed Jesus, and he takes courage. And he says, I'm going to go get his body. And I'm going to go bury his body. And here's Joseph emerging from the Council, as someone who believes in the kingdom of Jesus. So, you're supposed to be like, whoa, look at this guy, being bold, taking courage, like there is evil all around him, and he's ready to stand up for the kingdom of Jesus. And then these ladies who are sincere, they're blown away by the message. They don't know what to do. They're told go tell the disciples, tell Peter, but look at how Mark 16:8 ends, it says, “trembling and astonishment had seized them.” And what does it say about these ladies right there? It says that they said what? Nothing to anyone. Why? For they were what? “Afraid.” I think Mark has you right where he wants you at this point in the story. Because he's just shown you Jesus dying on the cross. And you already knew Jesus was going to rise from the dead. And so now, it's like he's given you two different groups of people to look at right there. Do you see Joseph taking courage in the midst of all the bad guys? Whoa, look at these ladies, who are told to go and tell everybody. And it’s because they're so overwhelmed. They don't tell anybody. They're silent. Dropped the mic cliffhanger. I think what Mark has done is he's now put yourself in the story. Because I think what Mark knew is that the Gospel wasn't over yet. You can't act like the Gospel’s over because now it's come to you. And what are you going to do with the resurrected Lord Jesus? He doesn't present the resurrected Lord Jesus. He doesn't let you see him. He doesn't give you that kind of ending that you want. Yes, he's alive. Yes, let's celebrate. Yes, let's go take the world. He says, well, here's what I can leave you with. One guy stood up surrounded by evil. And then a few ladies who had sincere intentions, they were just overwhelmed. And they didn't speak when they were told by an angel to go speak. So, what are you going to do if you believe in the story of Jesus? And you believe that? Yes, he died. And yes, he rose. And so, I'm going to turn from my sin that he died for, and I'm going to trust in him and the power of his resurrection. I'm going to follow Jesus. Okay, well, are you going to take courage and stand up when there's evil all around you? Or is it just so much that you will be silent? And you'll be afraid? Oh, I love this contrast right here. Because this is where I find many people in this room living their life right now. You tell me you already believe the story; you already know the story. Well, let me ask you, how does the story actually end for you?
Because you were created by God, you are a soul formed in your mother's womb, God made you for such a time as this. And in the year of our Lord 2024. it is time for Christians to take courage and not be silent, and not be afraid. It is time for us to let everybody know Jesus is alive. And the kingdom of God is at hand. And I'm waiting for the Kingdom. Yes, I am actually one of those people that believes we will see Jesus riding on the clouds and everybody, every single person will bow their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus is the Lord who is risen from the dead. I don't believe an Easter on one day of the year. I believe that Easter is true. And Jesus is coming whether you believe in him or not. Where are those kinds of Christians taking courage and being bold?
So, we have a takeaway gift here at Easter. Let me get this down for point number four everybody, here's point number four: “In 2024 time to be courageous for the Lord. We want to respond like Joseph of Arimathea and be like, I don't know, it might look like the bad guys in the evil empire is winning right now. But I'm going to take courage because I'm waiting for the Kingdom. And we have a gift that we want to give every family, or at least I guess the first 250 families, I guess, but we want to give to every family here is to get ready for the crazy year we're about to have in America. You can go put one of these in front of your house, everybody. That's right. That's right, Jesus. Go ahead, hand them out. Who wants one, everybody, here you go, raise your hand. And if you don't get one right here, please walk, don't run to go get one after the service in the Revival Room where you can take a nice picture with your sign and your family if you want. Who wants to go? Let everybody know Jesus is the way in 2024. Okay, and let's just say, does anybody remember the election that we had in 2020? Does everybody realize that we have the same two candidates in 2024? Is everyone prepared for this one to be worse than the first one was? Who do we need right now in the United States of America, everybody? I'll tell you what, I've grown up in America all my life. I love the United States of America. But I remember one time we took a trip, some of us. We went to the Capitol, and we were walking among the monuments right outside the White House. And as a Christian person, I had to realize that I could no longer put my trust in the United States of America. My trust had to be in Jesus. And I didn't know what was going to happen in the United States, but I know what's going to happen with Jesus. And because I know what Jesus said, because his Word gets on my heart, because I meditate on the words of Jesus day and night, guess what I can be in the year of our Lord 2024? Strong and courageous, because I know the end of the story. And there's nothing that anybody can do. There's nothing the President can do, the Governor can do, the other nations of the world can do. There is nothing that anybody on this planet can do to change the story of Jesus Christ. We already know the end from the beginning, we already know, hey, you're going to see him at the right hand of the Majesty on High, riding on the clouds of heaven. That's where the story's going. And so, I want to encourage you, does it feel like you're surrounded by evil? Take courage. Does it feel sometimes like you're overwhelmed, and you're afraid, and you want to say nothing? I think Mark ended it like that, so you would know right there with those ladies acting like that, that's not the way I should act. That's not the way I should be about the resurrection. I can't be overwhelmed, I can't be silent, I can't be afraid. If this is true, that Jesus rose from the dead, then everybody needs to know this. And then I have the power to live a life, a brand new life, an eternal life. I have the power in Jesus to no longer walk in how I used to live. But to walk in the name of Jesus in the light of Jesus Christ. It's time for me to do that. It's time for you to do that. So, I want to encourage you to look at Joseph of Arimathea, taking courage to look at the ladies being silent and afraid. And to consider brothers and sisters. How are you going to respond to Easter 2024? How are you going to respond to the resurrection of Jesus? Let's pray.
Father in heaven, thank you for this time that we could spend together in Mark 16:1-8. Thank you for the way Mark wrote this. Thank you for him giving us the picture of these ladies. And how overwhelming they must have been Thank you for having given us the picture of Joseph taking courage. Father, I pray that you would use these pictures, and that you would work in our hearts, that you would stir up all my brothers and sisters. It's time for us to be bold in living out our faith in Jesus and sharing our faith with other people and realizing that there's only one we can trust for the future. There's only one who can see us through to the other side. And he is the Lord the Reason one, Jesus. So, Father, please do a work at this church, build this church in the name of Jesus. And let it start in our hearts because we have faith in what Jesus has said. More than we look at Joseph, more than we look at the three ladies, Father, I pray that we could hear the words of Jesus. And I pray that when we hear his words we will believe that and will have faith. Father, I pray for the people who are here tonight. I'm so thankful they came, and I pray that they would repent and believe in the Gospel. So, most important message they're ever going to hear that now's the time. The Kingdom, it's right there, you could reach out and grab it. So, Father, please let people turn from their ways of sin. Let them put their trust in the fact that Jesus died and rose again. Open people's eyes to see Jesus is their living hope through his resurrection from the dead. And Father, for those of us who do believe, let us live ready? Let us live by faith. Let us live like any day now. He's coming soon any day now. We're going to see him in all of his glory any day now, he's going to come right in on those clouds. Father, let us live by faith all the way to the end. And let us realize that even as we give our all that it's Christ, who gave his all for us, and it's not actually us, who are living the life we live now we live by faith, but it's actually Christ in us. His power, his resurrection power is in me, and when I feel like I can't do it, he can do it. So, Father, please, let us see it's not I but it's Christ in me. We pray this in his name, amen.