When you’re reading a great book it builds anticipation for the last chapter… for how it finishes.
When you see a story in the form of a movie… you can feel it moving towards a climax that will
help you understand it all.
Today we come to the last chapter… the final scene in the ultimate drama….the Divine drama… the
definitive drama … It’s a drama that longs to include every human soul to know that it’s their own.
For those who have been joining us on Sunday mornings… this is the conclusion of a series…
BREAKTHROUGH (Gospel of Mark)
For all of us… it is the climatic conclusion to a story that we all know something about. For no
figure has had a greater impact on our civilization than Jesus… the Christ.
His teachings… treatment… proved to have a power that is transforming and transcendent.
But he always pointed towards the conclusion… something more climatic.
He defined his entire meaning and mission… Kingdom of God… exchange of sovereignties… the
intensity no one was prepared for…
Verses 1 – 3
Mark 16:1-3
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome
bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the
week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other,
"Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"
Sabbath (Saturday)… now they would be permitted… so early Sunday morning… and they realize
that they will have to contend with the large stone that seals the tomb…
No small phenomena… the size… the guards…
For ultimately it represented Rome … the all powerful world empire… tried him…killed him…
and sealed him shut.
> Stone… symbolized their sorrows… sealed their longings
• Jews… justice… power over evil… a world made right…
• For others it was obvious that all that is wrong isn’t just out there… but within as well.
o Mary Magdalene – power over sin…
o Peter … left with his shame… not the man he thought he. was
• Mary… mother of Jesus… she faced the death of her son (having already lost her husband
Joseph).She longed for a quality of relationship that didn’t have to end.
These are the longings that run through our souls… we may try to deny them … but deep down
they still cry out: We sense the world isn’t right… and wonder if there anything that can turn it
right-side up.
So they come early that morning.. with spices…
Their longings have died… but at least they can try to dress them up… make the stench go
away… do something ceremonial to try and hold to the ideals / love we had hoped for.
Sounds a bit familiar. We can all try to avoid the stark reality of our longings and losses. This is
what religion often becomes… simply trying to look back upon a figure of inspiration.
But at least they had the courage to go… while others hid away in their fears… these women had
a loyalty and courage to go.
And what happened next would not only transform them… but become an invitation to us all.
vv. 4-7
4
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.
5
As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side,
and they were alarmed.
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. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter,
’He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’"
With those words… with that discovery… everything changed.
Nothing could contain what was inside… all that Jesus had proclaimed now broke through.
This is what transformed these lives…there was no mere figure of inspiration and ideals to dress
up…
They were transformed by the reality that Jesus was loose after all… that all that he had been
trying to explain was true and coming about. The breakthrough he had declared and
demonstrated… had broken out… beyond the limits of temporal life and death…
“He has risen! = (GK - ēgerthē, pass.) “He was raised”…indicating that the Resurrection was
God’s act. (a New Testament emphasis cf. Acts 3:15; 4:10; Rom. 4:24; 8:11; 10:9; 1 Cor. 6:14;
15:15; 2 Cor. 4:14; 1 Peter 1:21).
There is so much that declares it…
• Prophecies that are verified over several hundred years before
• Jesus himself… establishing his divine role… and then predicting both his death and rising
again
• Witnesses…over 500 that could testify and help the news spread
• No other way to explain how these few followers at first ready to hide in fear… rose up and
changed the Roman empire… and then the world.
• Nature itself…
• But also… our longings themselves… for there are no longings that don’t point to
something real. (If hunger… it’s because there really is such a thing as food.)
They saw their road of despair begin to turn into a highway of living hope.
As two who would later walk down a road with him said to one another, "Were not our hearts
burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures
to us?"
It was victory after all. The breakthrough now proved unstoppable… His resurrection was
the stake in the ground… the ‘flag that still waved.’
This then empowers us to live in the light of God at work.
Illustration:
On a balmy October afternoon in 1982, Badger Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, was
packed. More than 60,000 die-hard University of Wisconsin supporters were watching their
football team take on the Michigan State Spartans.
It soon became obvious that MSU had the better team. What seemed off, however, as
the score became more lopsided, were the bursts of applause and shouts of joy from the
Wisconsin fans. How could they cheer when their team was losing?
It turns out that 70 miles away the Milwaukee Brewers were beating the St. Louis
Cardinals in game three of the 1982 World Series. Many of the fans in the stands were
listening to portable radios--and responding to something other than their immediate
circumstances.
Paul encourages us to fix our eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen (2 Cor. 4:18).
When we do, we can rejoice even in hardships because we see Christ’s larger victory.
(Greg Asimakoupoulos, "Leadership" fall 1994)
We may be watching one game… but can live knowing the greater game is being won.
We can take hold of the victory of what Jesus established.
1. Jesus has established victory over the powers of EVIL
They had seen how the powers of this fallen world can oppress … a Roman government set on
ruling the world by force… religious leaders set on ruling by fear. Together they had killed the
Messiah.
As they met the risen Christ… they would never look at such powers the same again… and neither
should we.
As we live in a world that seems to be ruled by force and fear… and we wonder if perhaps even
God could be silenced… we can remember what Jesus said when they tried to silence the people’s
praise of Him,
"I tell you," he replied, "if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." (Luke 19:40)
The resurrection of Christ declares that the powers of this world will not silence God…will not
stop God. He will be working… worshipped…and with us.
God gets the last word.
> We can join him in a new work of justice… to begin to follow him in the way of heaven on earth.
Knowing that one a s the Bible says… ‘there will be no more sorrow… pain… or tears.’
2. Jesus has established victory over the powers of our SIN and SHAME.
Who does he return to first? > Mary Magdalene.
9 When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out
of whom he had driven seven demons.
With every leper he touched… every diseased individual he healed… every moral failure he
welcomed… hope lit up in the common man.
We can all feel it… that we’re not what we should be or could be.
Perhaps you can appreciate the prayer of one individual who said…
Dear Lord,
So far today, God, I’ve done all right. I haven’t gossiped, haven’t lost my temper,
haven’t been greedy, grumpy, nasty, selfish, or overindulgent. I’m really glad about
that. But in a few minutes, God, I’m going to get out of bed, and from then on I’m
probably going to need a lot more help. Thank you.
Amen
Who does he say he wants to see? > ‘the disciples and PETER.’ Strange… he was one of the
disciples. Why does God include a specific instruction to be sure he hears the good news? Because
he is the one most lost in his shame. He had thought he could do great hings for God… and indeed
he would… but he had just faced his own weakness… denied even knowing Christ in fear for his
life.
> We all need to be forgiven… to know that we’re forgiven.
FATHER PLACES AD TO REACH ESTRANGED SON AND 800 SHOW UP
The story is told in Spain of a father and his teenage son who had a relationship that
had become strained. So the son ran away from home. His father, however, began a
journey in search of his rebellious son. Finally, in Madrid, in a last desperate effort to
find him, the father put an ad in the newspaper. The ad read: "Dear Paco, meet me in
front of the newspaper office at noon. All is forgiven. I love you. Your father." The
next day at noon in front of the newspaper office 800 ’Pacos’ showed up. They were all
seeking forgiveness and love from their fathers.
The crucified Christ… now risen… has posted a message for us all.
Col. 2:13-14 [NLT]
“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut
away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. He canceled the
record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to
Christ’s cross.”
For Peter it was a new beginning. And it offers a new beginning for each of us.
“Easter is the New Year’s Day of the soul.” (A. B. Simpson)
The power of sin and shame is defeated.
As friends of Christ… they were friends of God… we can be friends with God. That’s a part
of the transforming reality of the risen Christ.
3. Jesus has established victory over the powers of DEATH.
Death defines our condition… that of futility and as such we naturally fear it.
The transforming reality of the risen Christ… is the revelation that death has indeed been
conquered.
1 Cor 15 - Paul is speaking at length about the resurrection of Christ, and refers to death as
“the last enemy to be destroyed” (v. 26).
> “Enemy” = not a part of God’s original plan and desire for us.
We were never meant to know death.
I remember being on a caterpillar expedition with my son Travis when he was just four years old
during which at one point he reminded me, “We can’t keep butterflies… they were meant to
fly.”
Easter proclaims the reality that your very life was meant to fly.
John 11:25-26
Jesus said …"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even
though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."
How do we receive the reality of the risen Christ?
Philip. 3:10 [NIV]
“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in
his sufferings, becoming like him in his death…”
If I accept this better life. If I step up from the good life to the better life what do I do with the
old life – the exhausted, empty, enslaved life?
Jesus gave a symbol for this. It’s called baptism.
> We give God our lives… die to ourselves as Christ did… and receive the life of Christ which
lives for God.
< Testimonies of baptisms >
They are saying yes to the one who beckons them… and stating their side of the relationship.
vv. 15, 19-20
15 He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.
19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right
hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with
them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
John 14:20
“ When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am
in you.”
Matthew 28:20
“ be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
It was probably best summed up …
1 Peter 1:3-4 (Mes)
“Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have
everything to live for, including a future in heaven – and the future starts now!”
Better than just the good life, whatever that is.
Notice the better life is not just an addition to your old life, something you just tack on. It’s a
whole new deal. It’s brand new. God wants to give you a brand new life. Have you noticed how
many packages say “New and Improved”? What that means is “Same old junk with a new title.”
There’s very little new in this world. It’s all just repackaged, repositioned, relabeled, retitled.
There’s very little that’s actually new in the world. But God says I want to give you a brand new
life. I want to give you a chance to start over. I want to give you a chance to begin again. That’s
the starting point of a better life. (Rick Warren)
And it starts NOW. Eternity isn’t ahead of us… it’s parallel… has always existed. Jesus has
opened the door to begin to live with a window into it’s reality… to live out our lives
connected to eternity… to heaven… as he did.
I want to close with one of the best descriptions I’ve heard of this new life… and the invitation that
Easter offers us:
N.T. Wright
“With Jesus, God’s rescue operation has been put into effect once and for all. A great door has
swung open in the cosmos which can never again be shut. It’s the door to the prison where we’ve
been kept chained up. We are offered freedom: freedom to experience God’s rescue for ourselves, to
go through the open door and explore the new world to which we now have access. In particular, we
are all invited-summoned, actually-to discover, through following Jesus, that this new world is
indeed a place of justice, spirituality, relationship, and beauty, and that we are not only to enjoy it as
such but to work at bringing it to birth on earth as in heaven. In listening to Jesus, we discover
whose voice it is that has echoed around the hearts and minds of the human race all along.
It is not about trying to obey dusty rulebooks from long ago or far away. It is about
practicing, in the present, the tunes we shall sing in God’s new world.
When you see the dawn breaking, you think back to the darkness in a new way. We are called to
become people who can speak and live and paint and sing that word so that those who have heard
its echoes can come and lend a hand in the larger project. It is about growing up and grasping
something even better.
Made for spirituality, we wallow in introspection. Made for joy, we settle for pleasure. Made
for justice, we clamor for vengeance. Made for relationship, we insist on our own way. Made for
beauty, we are satisfied with sentiment. But new creation has already begun. The sun has begun to
rise. Christians are called to leave behind, in the tomb of Jesus Christ, all that belongs to the
brokenness and incompleteness of the present world. It is time, in the power of the Spirit, to take up
our proper role, our fully human role, as agents, heralds, and stewards of the new day that is
dawning. That, quite simply, is what it means to be Christian: to follow Jesus Christ into the new
world, God’s new world, which he has thrown open before us.”
- Simply Christian by N.T. Wright, pp. 91-92, 220-222, 224-225, 236-237
