Introduction
A. In an old poem called “The Widow in the Bye Street,” John Masefield depicts a scene of heartbreaking agony.
1. He depicts a young man about to be executed by hanging for crimes he had committed.
2. In the crowd witnessing this fatal event was his mother.
3. As the trap door opened and the rope did its work, his mother fell to the ground lost in tears.
4. Part of the woman’s anguish, no doubt, was her memory of her past failures as a mother and her sense of shame before others.
5. But part of her anguish had to do with her future – she was now left all alone in the world – for both her husband and son were now dead.
6. As she sobbed she kept saying, “Things are broken, too broken to mend.”
B. That woman’s anguish and despair give us insight into what the disciples of Jesus must have been feeling when Jesus died that Friday afternoon.
1. When Jesus died, the hopes of so many people died with Him.
2. They had believed that He was the awaited Messiah and so they had followed and obeyed Him.
3. Just as quickly as His popularity had risen so the tide turned against Him.
4. Before they realized what was happening Rome had executed another Jewish “criminal.”
5. The Saturday after the death of Jesus must have been the darkest day the disciples had ever experienced.
6. What Rome had succeeded in breaking seemed for all the world too broken to mend.
7. But, then, as Mark tells us, the absolutely unexpected happened and one of the saddest stories turned into one with the happiest of endings.
I. The Resurrection Verified (Mark 16:1-8)
A. Mark wrote: 1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they could go and anoint him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb at sunrise. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?” 4 Looking up, they noticed that the stone—which was very large—had been rolled away.
5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side; they were alarmed. 6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there just as he told you.’”
8 They went out and ran from the tomb, because trembling and astonishment overwhelmed them. And they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid. (Mark 16:1-8)
B. Mark tells us that early on Sunday morning, a group of woman made their way to the tomb of Jesus to finish anointing His body.
1. As they went, they were worried about how to move the huge stone away from the entrance.
2. But when they arrived at the tomb, they noticed that their problem had already been solved – the stone had been moved away from the entrance.
3. They entered the tomb and found that it was empty, except for a young man dressed in white – the other Gospels identify the young man as an angel.
4. They were understandably alarmed, which is the very thing the young man told them not to be.
5. The angel explained to the women that Jesus who had been crucified was risen and that they were to go tell His disciples and Peter that Jesus would meet them at the place in Galilee where He had told them He would meet them.
6. The women immediately left the tomb and were astonished and overwhelmed by what they had learned.
7. Mark said that they said nothing to anyone since they were afraid, but I think what Mark meant is that they said nothing to anyone on the way home, because the other Gospel tells us that they went and found Peter and the apostles and told them what had happened at Jesus’ tomb.
C. Let’s pause and consider the fact that the tomb was empty that Resurrection morning.
1. There is no doubt that the tomb was empty and no one has ever been able to produce Jesus’ corpse.
2. The fact of the tomb was empty has been problematic for skeptics throughout time and many have tried to explain it away.
D. A book called “The Passover Plot” was written by Rabbi Schonfield in an attempt to deal with the empty tomb.
1. Schonfield put forth the argument that the disciples of Jesus stole the body and hid it.
2. This theory has several problems – the first being – how could the disciples have stolen the body when the tomb was guarded by soldiers?
3. But a bigger problem is: If they could have somehow stolen the body, why would they have done it?
4. It appears that the last thing the disciples were expecting was for Jesus to be resurrected.
a. When they first heard the report that Jesus had risen, they did not believe it.
5. So, why would they have stolen the body? To pretend that Jesus had arose?
6. How long would the apostles have been willing to maintain a lie? And how far would they have been willing to go to maintain something they knew was false?
7. I don’t believe they would have been willing to spend the rest of their lives proclaiming something that they knew was a lie, and they especially wouldn’t have been martyred for a lie.
8. For me, it is much easier to believe that the resurrection is true than to believe that the apostles died for something they knew was false.
E. Others have suggested that the enemies of Jesus came and removed the body of Jesus to protect it.
1. Keep in mind the last thing the enemies of Jesus wanted was for Jesus to appear to have been resurrected, so if they had the body, then all they had to do was to show the body of Jesus to the public and that would put an end to the notion that Jesus had been resurrected.
2. The fact that the enemies of Jesus didn’t produce the body of Jesus is concrete evidence that they didn’t have it.
F. There remains only one reasonable explanation for the empty tomb and it is the explanation given by the angel “He has risen. He is not here.”
1. Today, likely none of us would have never heard of Jesus of Nazareth had He not been raised from the dead.
2. Had He not risen, Jesus of Nazareth would have faded into obscurity like all the other so-called “Messiahs” that came along through history.
3. The tomb of Jesus remains empty verifying the fact that He was indeed raised from the dead.
G. Another significant thing to note from the angel’s pronouncement was the command to go tell His disciples and Peter that He was going to appear to them soon.
1. This was a personal message from the risen Christ to His fallen disciples.
2. I can imagine that the disciples might have thought: “Even if Jesus was raised from the dead, He wouldn’t want anything to do with us because we failed Him.”
3. And Peter had the greatest reason to feel that way for He had denied Jesus three times – can you picture Peter beating himself up about that?
4. But then here came a message from the risen Christ and he mentioned Peter by name – and it wasn’t a word of rebuke, but an invitation to meet.
5. Have you ever felt like Peter? Have you ever wondered if God could forgive you or if God wanted to have you involved in His mission anymore because of your failures?
a. If you have ever felt that way or if you feel that way now, then insert your name in the place of Peter’s and know that Jesus is calling for you – no matter what you have done, Jesus wants to forgive you and wants you to be part of His mission.
6. Of all the proofs of the resurrection, perhaps this one is the most powerful – these men accepted the forgiveness from Jesus and it made all the difference in their lives and in the world.
II. The Resurrection Personified (Mark 16:9-14)
A. Before we look at what Mark wrote in the rest of this chapter, let me address the fact that most English translations of the Bible do something to separate the last 12 verses of Mark (vs. 9-20) from the rest of the text of Mark.
1. The publisher might do it with a space or a line, and a few do it by putting the whole section in the footnotes.
2. Many Bible scholars question whether the last 12 verses of Mark were part of his original book.
3. Two of the best of our oldest Greek manuscripts do not contain the last twelve verses.
a. Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus both do not contain the long ending of Mark, but both date back only to the 4th century.
4. It is also true that the majority of Greek manuscripts do contain these verses.
5. And two of the earliest Church Fathers, who wrote early in the 2nd century, made references to these verses in their writings.
6. So, we know that at the beginning of the 2nd century, these verses were accepted as part of Mark’s Gospel and we can therefore accept them as the word of God.
7. It also doesn’t make sense that a Gospel about Jesus, our risen Lord, would end with a statement: “and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” – that’s not a great way to end the story of Jesus.
B. Now that we have addressed the concerns that some might have about these verses and their inclusion in the Bible, let’s look at what Mark reported in these verses.
1. Mark tells us about three of the many appearances of Jesus after His resurrection.
2. As you would expect, Mark’s description of each of the appearances is brief, but the other Gospel writers tell of each of those appearances in greater detail.
C. First, Mark reports that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdelene.
1. Mark wrote: 9 Early on the first day of the week, after he had risen, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. 10 She went and reported to those who had been with him, as they were mourning and weeping. 11 Yet, when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it. (Mk. 16:9-11)
2. A few verses earlier, Mark had told how the women, including Mary Magdelene, had come to the tomb and had found the stone rolled away, and then heard a message from the angel.
3. According to John’s Gospel, when Mary saw the empty tomb, she immediately left and told Peter and John that Jesus was missing and they all ran back to the tomb.
4. After Peter and John saw the tomb they left and Mary remained, and John’s Gospel tells us that that is when Jesus appeared to Mary.
5. I find it significant that the first person the risen Christ appeared to was Mary Magdelene.
a. Mary had been possessed by demons and had lived a sinful life, but she had been cleansed and transformed by Jesus.
b. This confirms the very purpose of Jesus’ stated mission: “It is the sick who need a doctor, I did not come to call the righteous, but the sinners.” (Mk. 2:17)
c. Mary had been a great sinner, but she had found a Savior and had developed a deep love for God.
6. Mary tried to tell others that Jesus was risen and alive again, but they didn’t believe her.
D. Second, Mark reports that Jesus appeared to two unnamed disciples.
1. Mark wrote: 12 After this, he appeared in a different form to two of them walking on their way into the country. 13 And they went and reported it to the rest, who did not believe them either. (Mk. 16:12-13)
2. It appears that these two disciples had given up hope and were heading back to their home in Emmaus and so Jesus revealed Himself to them to restore their faith and confidence in Him.
3. Luke gives a lot more of the details of this appearance in Luke 24.
4. These two disciples returned to Jerusalem immediately and told the apostles, but they didn’t believe them either.
E. The third recorded appearance of Jesus in Mark’s Gospel was to the eleven apostles.
1. Mark wrote: 14 Later he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen. 15 Then he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will get well.” (Mk. 16:14-18)
2. Other Gospels tell of Jesus’ appearance to 10 of the apostles minus Thomas and Judas on the evening of resurrection Sunday and then tell about His appearance to the 11 (now including Thomas) a week later.
3. This reported appearance to the 11 apostles must be the appearance a week after the resurrection.
4. Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief and the hardness of their hearts as they refused to believe the reports of those who had seen the risen Christ – they had refused Mary’s testimony and they had refused the testimony of the two on the road to Emmaus, and then Thomas had refused to believe even 10 of the apostles who had seen Jesus when he wasn’t present.
5. After rebuking them, Jesus went directly into the purpose of His appearance – He wanted to review and renew their commission.
F. Let’s notice three elements of the commission.
1. First, there is the command to go and preach the Gospel – the good news of Jesus.
a. Notice that the commission is to go into the world and preach to all creation – God is interested in saving people of all nations.
b. A literal translation says, “As you are going into all the world preach the Gospel.”
b. This is still our commission – as we are going into our world – in our families, in our neighborhoods, work places, schools – wherever we go – we are to share the good news.
2. Second, there is a specific way to receive the Gospel.
a. The way of salvation has to be received by each person individually through a specific response – Jesus said: “whoever believes and is baptized will be saved.”
b. That isn’t my option or my interpretation, rather those are Jesus’ words.
c. Jesus emphasized the importance of faith when He added, “whoever does not believe will be condemned” – without faith, baptism is meaningless, but with faith baptism unites us with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus (Rom. 6:4)
3. The third element of the commission was confirming power.
a. Jesus told His apostles that certain signs would confirm their words and protect them from harm – for instance, the apostle Paul was able to perform miracles and he didn’t die when he was bitten by the poisonous snake (Acts 28:3).
b. Those men were going out into an unbelieving and hostile world, and so they needed some protecting power and some confirming signs.
c. They needed to be able to prove that they were God’s authorized spokespersons and the miracles that accompanied them provided that proof.
d. Because we now have the written and completed Word of God, we no longer need other proofs, but can simply point people to God’s written word.
4. We are charged to continue what those apostles began – to take the good news to all creation, those who want to be saved should be told to believe and be baptized, and we should depend on God’s power to carry out God’s work.
III. The Resurrection Ratified (Mk. 16:19-20)
A. The resurrection of Jesus is a revealed fact that stands alone and needs no human action as its proof.
1. At the same time, if the resurrection is true, then it will be ratified by the proof of the effect it has on human lives.
2. Very appropriately, then, the Gospel of Mark concludes with this follow-up report: 19 So the Lord Jesus, after speaking to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word by the accompanying signs. (Mk. 16:19-20)
B. Jesus’ ascension into heaven is the culmination of His Gospel mission.
1. His redemption mission was complete, His full glory was restored, and His position at the right hand of God assures His power and authority.
2. Mark’s case to prove that Jesus Christ is the Son of God was now almost complete.
C. Mark ended with a snapshot of the rest of the story that shows the power of the resurrected Savior at work in His followers.
1. The disciples accepted His commission and went out and preached the good news everywhere.
2. And true to His Word, Jesus continued to work with them and through them, and He continues to be faithful to work in us and through us today.
Conclusion:
A. We live in one of the first eras of history in which it is widely believed that a happy ending is the mark of inferior art.
1. Many people are certain that life is ultimately meaningless and that happy endings are misleading at best.
2. To them, happy endings are all right for children’s stories, but not for thinking adults.
B. In a famous article, theologian Robert W. Jenson argued that our culture is in a crisis because the modern world “has lost its story.” (“How the World Lost Its Story”, First Things, Oct. 1993)
1. People once thought that life had a purpose, that there was something to live for, and that there was hope for a resolution to the sufferings of the world.
2. Now, many people say that none of those things are true.
C. However, Mark has given us the story of Jesus and has declared that this is actually the world’s true story as well.
1. Jesus, the King, created all things in love.
2. Jesus has the power and the beauty to see His vision for the world through to its glorious end, to undo everything we have been able to do to harm and undo it.
3. To accomplish that, Jesus the King had to come and die for us.
4. Three days later, He rose again; and one day He will come back again to usher in a new heaven and earth.
D. We have spent the last 9 months immersed in the wonderful story of Jesus and it’s a little sad that we’ve come to the end of the story today.
1. But the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the ultimate tragic story with the happiest of endings.
2. It’s the story of victory coming out of defeat, strength coming out of weakness, and life coming out of death.
3. And because it is a true story, it gives us hope because we know life is really like that.
4. Jesus’ story can be our story as well.
a. Jesus made us to love Him supremely, but He lost us to the love of sin and the world.
b. Jesus returned to get us back, but it took the cross to do it.
c. Jesus absorbed our darkness so that one day we can finally and dazzlingly be transformed into His resurrected likeness and take our seat at His eternal feast where we will live happily ever after.
5. Don’t you want your story to have the happiest of endings?
a. For that to be the case, then you have to believe the good news story of Jesus and be born again into that story through baptism into Jesus.
b. And then once our story has been united into Jesus’ story, then we must continue to embrace Him and His story and live a live faithfully connected to Jesus; carrying out His commands and mission.
c. There is no greater joy and peace and purpose than living in God’s good news story.
d. And the church said, “Amen!”
Resources:
• Truth for Today Commentary: Mark 1-8 and 9-16, Martel Pace, Resources Communications.
• The Tomb is Still Empty, Sermon by David Owens
• Mark, The Communicator’s Commentary, David McKenna
• Jesus the King, by Timothy Keller, Riverhead Books, 2011
