He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
This is the day we have been waiting for, planning for, and anticipating since Friday, the day we saw our Messiah, God in human flesh, die on the cross. Have you ever thought about it, our God died. For a moment in time it seemed like all was lost. It seemed like evil overcame good. Certainly Satan and all his evil angels were celebrating the death of Jesus. Little did they know that He would not stay dead, but that He would rise again. Little did they know that their fiendish plot to get rid of the Savior would backfire and that instead of being rid of Jesus their plot brought about the salvation of all people of all places of all times. And that brings us to the second astounding thought, our God rose. The Christian church is very different than all other religions. All other religions worship a dead person or persons. You can find the grave of Mohammad, of Buddha, of great cult leaders. You cannot find the grave for Jesus because, well first of all His was simply a borrowed tomb that He only used for a weekend stay and because He did not stay dead but rose from the dead. The Christian church is founded not on a dead God, but on a living God, Christ, the Lord.
Our text is the Easter account. We begin with the setting. We read verses one and two (v.1-2), “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. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb” The Sabbath, the day of rest was over. They were now allowed to go back to work as it were. As you recall they were only able to make some minor preparations of Jesus’ body on Friday, as it was late in the day and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women came early on the first day of the week, Sunday morning, because they could not do anything on Saturday, the Sabbath, which was from Friday 6 pm to Saturday 6 pm. The Jewish ceremonial law forbid any work on the Sabbath.
So, the women came early to complete the preparation of Jesus body that they began on Friday. They came prepared. Perhaps they had purchased the spices on Saturday after 6 pm and were ready to go early on Sunday, even before sunrise.
They came early to the grave, as early as possible, probably right at sunrise. They came early because they knew that the body would decay quickly and they needed to hurry in order to give it proper burial. What they were intending to do was one of the deepest devotions of love a person could have for another. They intended to give their Lord, and our Lord, a very decent burial.
As they approached the tomb they had certain expectations. We read verse three (v.3), “and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?’” Their conversation shows that they did not expect Jesus to be gone. They had no expectation of a resurrection. Their concern was the fact that the grave was shut with a large stone and it would need to be removed before they could give the body a proper burial.
They may or may not have known about the guards, that there had been guards posted. Remember, the Pharisees asked Pilate to post a guard to that the disciples would not be able to steal the body and claim Jesus rose as He said He would. Perhaps if they knew about the guards they would have thought they could ask them to move the stone, of course they did not know that they would have been gone anyway.
They were too preoccupied with preparations to be concerned about any of the other events that were taking place around the crucifixion. They were not concerned about the political part of the crucifixion, only about their love for their Savior.
Our text tells us what they found. We pick up at verse four (v.4-6), “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ‘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.’”
As Mark relates the account, we are told that they found the stone, as our text meekly says, “rolled away.” I think Marks account understates the reality that is what they found was that the stone had been blown off its “hinges,” so to speak. This stone was a huge stone which probably took more than one person to move. It was probably rolled down in a little “grove” so that it would be with great difficulty to be moved, back up to its original place before being rolled down to cover the entrance to the tomb. So, when they arrived they found the stone thrown out, back away from the tomb and lying on the ground, “blown off its hinges.”
When they arrived they entered into the tomb. What they found was an empty tomb, empty with the exception of the angel. The angle was robed in white, a white of purity from sin. The angel was there to comfort them and help them understand what had taken place.
They did not find what they were coming to prepare for burial, the body of Jesus. The angel pointed out the place where Jesus was laid and then he gave them some instructions.
The angel told the women what they were told to do. We pick up at verse seven (v.7-8), “‘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.”’ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. As Mark gives his account he says that they said nothing to anyone, “because they were afraid.”
Notice that the first thing the angel tells the women was that they were not to be afraid. Here they were standing in the presence of perfection, and they in their sin and yet they are told that they are not to be afraid. They were not to be afraid because their sins had been forgiven. I hope and pray that you will notice as we move through the Easter season over the next seven weeks that when Jesus appears to show Himself alive He often speaks those same words, “Don’t be afraid.” Indeed, you might recall back in Advent when the angels were delivering God’s messages of the birth of Jesus they often began by saying, “Don’t be afraid.” Perhaps we would do well to remind ourselves to not be afraid in this world, because Christ has over come the world and has won the victory over sin, death and the devil. Indeed, there is nothing in the world for us to fear.
Then the angel tells the women to go and tell the disciples and Peter that Jesus had arisen. They were to especially to tell Peter so that he would know he was forgiven for his denial. Although Mark does not relate the telling of Peter, the other Gospel writers fill in more details about Jesus resurrection so that with all four Gospel we get a fuller witness of the events of the first Easter morning.
As the women left, notice that our text says “they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” Why Mark tells us this information can only be speculation. Perhaps they said nothing because they were in a hurry to speak to the disciples and Peter. Perhaps it was because they remembered all the times people would bear witness of their faith while Jesus was alive and how they were ridiculed by the Pharisees. Why Mark tells us this information is really not important especially since we have the accounts of the other Gospel writers.
What a wonderful experience Easter always is for us. During the season of Lent we continually reflected on our part in Jesus’ death. We realized that Jesus died for me and for you. And that if you or I were the only person on earth, Jesus still would have died for us.
Easter morning comes and reminds us that Jesus also rose for me and for you. Because Jesus rose we know that we too will rise again. Death has been defeated. Death has no power over us. The victory is our.
With excitement we raise our voices. He is risen: He is risen, indeed, Alleluia! To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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