O Life, O Death of Death!
Download MP3Well, friends, we have finally made it to the end of Mark's gospel. We are in Mark chapter 16 this morning. Mark chapter 16. Printed in your worship, guys, a little bit of the end of, 15, and then the the 8 verses of chapter 16. We're gonna be considering all of those different parts together, but as we begin our time, I'd like to to, for us to read from Mark chapter 16 verses 1 through 8.
Jeffrey Heine:So Mark chapter 16 verses 1 through 8, and let us listen carefully for this is God's word. When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James and Salome, brought spices so that they might go and anoint Jesus. And very early on, the 1st 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.
Jeffrey Heine: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.
Jeffrey Heine:He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going out 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.
Jeffrey Heine:And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. This is the word of the Lord. Let's pray together. Father, we are grateful for this day, this day that you have made, and for the chance to gather this morning as your children to open up the scriptures and to hear the truth of your word. Lord, we come together today, each of us walking through various challenges and seasons of life.
Jeffrey Heine:Some of us come in a season of great happiness while others in painful sorrow. For some of us, even coming into this place today has taken a great deal of effort and strength. So we ask that wherever we might find ourselves today that you would meet us by your spirit, that you would draw near to us in comfort, wisdom, and strength, and that we might be conformed all the more into the image of your son, our savior. So we ask in all humility and all boldness that you would speak, Lord, for your servants are listening. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Jeffrey Heine:Amen. Graveyards aren't the setting for happy endings. In classical stories, graveyards were the preferred setting for scenes of dread, of torment, of evil. Love, hope, and light, those things don't happen in a graveyard, especially in the dark. Graveyards are a place for mourning, for loss, of ending.
Jeffrey Heine:But as the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche once wrote, only in graveyards is there resurrection. That's because resurrection doesn't happen in sunny, happy places. Resurrection doesn't happen in pain free, sanitary, cheerful places. Resurrection only happens in places of grief and loss and most essentially death. And that's where we find ourselves in Mark 16, in a graveyard.
Jeffrey Heine:Immediately following the pronouncement of the Roman centurion that that who declared that surely this was the son of God, which we looked at last week, Mark notes the presence of a number of faithful followers of Jesus. He mentions them by name. He mentions 3 women by name, Mary Magdalene, another Mary, Mary, the mother of James the younger and of Joses. So we we had to get really specific with this Mary. She's the mother of James, not the old James, the younger James, and Joses, and then there is Salome.
Jeffrey Heine:And Mark shares that when Jesus was in Galilee, these women, they followed him and they ministered to Jesus. That's what is said here in Mark. These women, they follow Jesus. They minister to him. And here at Calvary, at the darkest hour, they bear witness to Christ's suffering and death.
Jeffrey Heine:And when the disciples abandoned Jesus to his suffering, these followers, these women who ministered to Jesus continued their faithful ministry to him, not only in bearing witness to his suffering, but also tending to his physical remains, the deceased body of Jesus. So following the crucifixion, these bold followers, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and Salome, they followed the lead of the well respected councilman named Joseph of Arimathea. They followed his lead as he went and courageously requested the body of Jesus from Pilate. Mark notes that this took courage to do. And upon receiving the body, they went to bury him in a tomb that had been cut out of a rock.
Jeffrey Heine:But because night was falling fast, and because it was the the day before the Sabbath, the day of preparation, Friday, the women did not have time to practice the burial custom of tending to the body of Jesus with oils and spices. So instead, they quickly wrapped him in linen cloth and resolved to wait until after the Sabbath day to show this one final honor to Jesus, to offer one final act of ministry to him, to give Jesus a proper Hebrew burial. And so these faithful followers of Jesus waited. And when the Sabbath had passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joses, and Salome met together and made their way in the dim light of early dawn to the graveyard. They came out of devotion.
Jeffrey Heine:They came out of respect. They came out of love for their their rabbi. And while the other followers of Christ were hiding, afraid of the Hebrew rulers, afraid of Pilate, afraid of the crowds, these women stepped forward in boldness and courage to tend to the body of Jesus. And the primary concern that they had that morning as they met up in those early hours to walk in the darkness to the graveyard was wondering who might help them roll that large stone away covering the tomb. But to their surprise, when they arrived that stone had already been moved.
Jeffrey Heine:Mark records in verse 5 that the women entered the tomb and they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe. Now, unlike the other gospel writers, Mark doesn't record a lot of divine visitation by angels in his gospel account. Other than noting that there were angels ministering to Jesus when he was tempted in the wilderness, Mark doesn't include those scenes or stories describing angels. So Mark's language in introducing this particular angel is different than the other gospel writers. But there are clear indicators that Mark is intentionally describing an angel.
Jeffrey Heine:1st, Mark describes the attire of the young man as wearing a white robe. 2nd, the the woman the women there, they had the typical gospel recorded response to an angelic visitation, surprise and alarm. And 3rd, the young man in white offers words of divine revelation to the women. So let's look again. Look with me at verses 6 through the end of Mark's gospel in verse 8.
Jeffrey Heine:And he said to them, do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him.
Jeffrey Heine:But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him just as I told you. Just as he told you. They went out and they fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Jeffrey Heine:Now your Bible likely notes after verse 8 that the earliest manuscripts that we have in existence today of the gospel of Mark do not include verses 9 through 20. You might your Bible might even bracket those additional verses off somehow, some type of designation. I didn't get a chance to check every Bible. So I'm just assuming here that in your Bible, there is some kind of notation that marks that this ending, verses 9 through 20, are not in the oldest manuscripts that we have. That leads us to realize that verse 8 is an abrupt way to end the gospel.
Jeffrey Heine:And they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. It is abrupt. But then again, the start of Mark's gospel is just as abrupt. No stories of an angel visiting Mary or Joseph. No nativity scene.
Jeffrey Heine:No angels in the skies singing to the shepherds. No wise men making their way to honor the newborn king. There's a reason that we stepped away from Mark's gospel during the Christmas season. Right? Mark is abrupt.
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus comes on to the scene. But just how these additional verses, verses 9 through 20, came to to be in our scriptures has long been a question for Christians. And basically, there are 2 primary ways to consider how they came to be added. The first theory is a lost ending. This theory says that Mark originally wrote more beyond verse 8, but it was lost at some point.
Jeffrey Heine:And so a few 100 years later, a more summary ending was added to the text. And because what we do know from multiple historic accounts and eyewitnesses, that the events did not end with the women not saying anything to anyone. They said everything to everyone. Right? So it didn't end that way in history, but it concludes there in the text.
Jeffrey Heine:But just, just because we know that more occurred doesn't mean that Mark didn't intend to end with verse 8. Each gospel account has to choose to stop somewhere somehow. And, including in the acts of the apostles, the book of acts, we know that the church continues after acts 28, but it has to end somewhere. So the second theory is that verse 8 is the intended ending by Mark. Mark intentionally ended the gospel writing with verse 8.
Jeffrey Heine:And he did not write any further. So the additional text was added later to kind of clean up this intentionally, but abrupt ending, of the gospel. Now over the years and in recent days, Joel and I have discussed these theories and our different leanings on what what we believe might have occurred here. And it's probably no surprise to many of you, and it was certainly no surprise to Joel and me, we differ in our leanings. Joel leans more towards the lost ending theory.
Jeffrey Heine:And I lean more towards the theory that Mark meant to end with verse 8. You see, Joel finds that the addition of verses 9 through 20 by early church leaders, it would have been such an incredibly bold move for them to add something to the text of scripture. That to know that Mark had intended for it to be ending at verse 8, it would have been too bold, to presume that they could add on to it. So the argument is that there must have been more that they were trying to restore rather than, trying to make it better somehow. And I think that that makes a lot of sense.
Jeffrey Heine:I think that's a pretty good and reasonable argument. But my personal opinion is that Mark intended to to conclude his gospel at verse 8. And that later, scribes added the 12 extra verses for a fuller conclusion that was based on numerous existing accounts regarding the disciples and Jesus after the resurrection. I just think that the the verse 8 ending, it it kinda seems like a Mark thing to do. Right?
Jeffrey Heine:It seems consistent with the way that he has been presenting the story of Jesus for 16 chapters. Both theories, though, recognize that what follows after verse 8 was not original to Mark or original to this gospel writing. So either by intention or through a lost ending, as we find ourselves at the conclusion, at the the end with verse 8, I want us to see what emerges in this final graveyard scene. Because I believe that 2 significant and essential themes are on display for us here in verses 1 through 8. 2 essential themes for understanding what has occurred in this graveyard.
Jeffrey Heine:And those two essential themes are fear and promise. So let's consider these themes together. 1st, fear. Fear is the consistent reaction to the revelation of Jesus throughout Mark's gospel. In our study, we have seen this time and time again.
Jeffrey Heine:Think back with me. In Mark chapter 4, we read, and they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? In Mark 5 15, and they came to Jesus and saw the demon possessed man who had the legion sitting there clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Mark 533, But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before Jesus and told him the whole truth. In Mark chapter 5:36, But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the rulers of the synagogue, do not fear, only believe.
Jeffrey Heine:In Mark chapter 6 verse 50, for they all saw Jesus and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid. And in Mark chapter 9 verse 6, it says, for they did not know what to say, for they were terrified. And in Mark chapter 9 verse 32, but the disciples did not understand what Jesus was saying, and they were afraid to ask Him.
Jeffrey Heine:Fear is a consistent response to the revealing of Jesus as the Son of God. And when the women see the empty tomb firsthand and hear this declaration from the angel that Jesus is alive, they are astonished and afraid. The biblical scholar William Lane said this, quote, astonishment and fear qualify the events of the life of Jesus. The gospel of Jesus, the Messiah, is an an event beyond human comprehension, and therefore awesome and frightening, for they were afraid. The ending of Mark leaves the reader confronted by the witness of the empty tomb interpreted by the word of revelation, end quote.
Jeffrey Heine:We've mentioned many times throughout our study of Mark's gospel that Mark often used what has become known as Markin's sandwiches. It's the literary device, where there is a scene presented. We call that scene a. A second scene is brought in. That's scene b.
Jeffrey Heine:And then another scene, a third scene is brought up that connects back to that first scene, a. So a 1, b, a 2. And I believe that here at the end of Mark's gospel, we find the final Markan sandwich. And the bread of that sandwich are the emotions and reactions of the followers of Jesus. Specifically, the reaction and emotion of courage displayed in the requesting of the body of Jesus for the burial, and the emotions of astonishment and fear in that final scene.
Jeffrey Heine:In the first scene, in the burial of Jesus, Joseph of Arimathea leads the women in displaying boldness and courage, going to Pilate, requesting the body of Jesus. And Mark specifically notes this bold and faithful task of burying Jesus. And in their courage, they risked being identified with Jesus who was just the crowds had just called out, give us Barabbas. Barabbas, crucify him. The crowds were after Jesus.
Jeffrey Heine:The leaders were after Jesus. The rulers were after Jesus. And they seek to identify with him by tending to his burial, this man who was just executed for blasphemy. Next, Mark describes a scene of the empty tomb with the angelic revelation of Jesus' resurrection. And then Mark returns to the emotions and reactions displayed by these followers of Jesus, these faithful followers.
Jeffrey Heine:They are astonished and afraid. But why? Why were they afraid? They'd already participated in requesting the body of Jesus, that courage to Pilate. So they weren't afraid of Pilate.
Jeffrey Heine:They weren't afraid of the Roman soldiers. They weren't afraid of the rulers, the chief priests, the elders, the scribes. They weren't afraid of the crowds. So why were these followers of Jesus so afraid? What caused this tremendous astonishment and fear?
Jeffrey Heine:These courageous women were trembling at their core because they were just confronted with the revelation that Jesus, this rabbi that they loved, that they followed, that they ministered to is far more powerful, far more supreme, and far more glorious than they had ever dared to believe. The women trembled at the divine revelation regarding Jesus, whom they not only saw die with their own eyes, but saw him buried. Jesus' physical corporeal body, Jesus' dead body carefully, tenderly, mournfully wrapped in linen and laid motionless in the tomb. And now that body breathes again with everlasting life. That body walked out of the tomb where they themselves have seen him placed, and they trembled at the thought of such power.
Jeffrey Heine:The question that Mark has brought to us time and again throughout his gospel is who is Jesus? We've said that countless times. And in the pronouncement of the resurrection, Mark confronts us with the reality shifting revelation of the greatness and the glory and the power of Jesus. And the resulting question comes to each of us, will you tremble at such glory also? The ending of this gospel in this abrupt way, Mark leaves us with that final question.
Jeffrey Heine:Will you, like these faithful followers of Jesus, tremble at his power? Does the glorious reality of Christ's victory over sin and death and the grave, does that lead you to tremble in astonishment and holy fear? This is not simply a fear that leaves one scared. It's a fear that is rightfully in awe of the power and the strength and the glory of Jesus. It's a fear referenced in Proverbs 9 that says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.
Jeffrey Heine:It's a reverent, holy fear that humbly acknowledges that Jesus is greater than we ever dared imagined. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are greater than our thoughts. It is a fear rooted not in punishment, but rooted in love and wonder. And that is where the gospel of Mark ends.
Jeffrey Heine:And where the gospel of Mark ends, our response begins. Will you, like the women at the empty tomb of Jesus, marvel at the power of the risen Lord? Will you tremble at the glory of the one who has defeated the enemies of sin and the grave? Will you, like Saint Augustine, consider the empty tomb and declare, Oh, life, oh, death of death. Will you stand in the presence of Jesus the Nazarene and wonder how he could love you, a sinner condemned unclean?
Jeffrey Heine:The gospel of Mark doesn't simply end in astonishment. It solicits it from us. It demands astonishment from you and me. And that's the first essential element, fear. The second theme in this abrupt ending of Mark's gospel I want us to consider is promise.
Jeffrey Heine:The angel sitting inside the previously empty, but now getting rather crowded tomb reveals manifold truths to these women. And I'd like to look at each line that the angel speaks to them and ultimately speaks to us today through the word. So first, the angel says to the women, do not be alarmed. Throughout the Gospels and moments of divine revelation, we read of angels offering these commanding yet comforting words, do not be afraid, because divine revelation reasonably causes alarm. And so the angel tells them to not be scared of his presence.
Jeffrey Heine:And to further comfort these women, he tells them that he knows why they are there, saying, you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. The angel leaves no room for misunderstanding. They aren't in the wrong tomb. They didn't get mixed up on where Jesus was laid. They nor were they misremembering what they had seen with their own eyes of what happened to Jesus just 2 days before.
Jeffrey Heine:He was crucified. He died. What they saw with their own eyes had truly occurred. And the angel confirms this by saying, I know who you are looking for, Jesus of Nazareth, the one who was crucified. But the angel goes on to declare the words of revelation.
Jeffrey Heine:He is risen. He is not here. This is the first announcement, the first proclamation of the good news, the gospel. The angel reveals to these faithful followers the good news of the resurrection of Jesus. He has risen.
Jeffrey Heine:And not only is he alive, he's not here in the tomb. The body that they carried into the tomb wrapped in linen, that body walked out of the tomb and is no longer there. The angel continues, see the place where they laid him. The angel invites them to behold, look around, he says. See where you laid him.
Jeffrey Heine:The angel reminds them of where only some 36 hours ago, the wrapped body of Jesus in linen was laid in that very tomb. This was not a figment of their imaginations. It's not a false memory. They are not mistaken. The angel invites them to look, to behold the empty tomb.
Jeffrey Heine:Lastly, the angel gives the women a mission, a directive of what they are to do next. Verse 7. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you. There's so much to unpack in this statement.
Jeffrey Heine:We will only have the time to scratch the surface of it. I want to make sure that you get to Olive Garden on time. Okay? You came to the 11:15, you're going to be a little bit late. It's going to be fine.
Jeffrey Heine:Remember the last time we saw Peter. Think back. The last time we saw Peter, he had just denied Jesus three times, and he was running into the streets of Jerusalem crying, weeping bitterly. And this failure happened exactly as Jesus had told Peter it would. And now these women, these first witnesses and soon to be the first heralds of the resurrection of Jesus, they are told to go now and to tell the disciples and Peter what they have seen and what they have heard, to let the disciples, including Peter, know that Jesus is going before them to Galilee.
Jeffrey Heine:And then the angel says there, meaning in Galilee, there they will see Jesus again. And the angel concludes his divine revelation by saying, just as he told you. Now, if you've been journeying with us in this series through the gospel of Mark, I sincerely hope that when we get to this angel and what he's talking about here, that you feel the weight of it. We have spent 50 Sundays in the gospel of Mark. We began this journey 1 year 4 months ago.
Jeffrey Heine:And let me tell you that when the angel says this to the women, just as he told you, that should hit us like a brilliant blinding light. When you hear those words just as he told you, that should cause your mind to race back to all those things that Jesus has said to his disciples. All those words of foretelling his mission, all those times that his disciples didn't wanna hear him talking about rejection or suffering or death. But all those things are finally coming true, finally coming into fruition for the followers of Jesus. So what has he told them?
Jeffrey Heine:Well, 3 to highlight. Mark 8 reads, and Jesus began to teach them that the son of man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after 3 days, rise again. And he said this plainly. Then in Mark 9, they, the disciples, went from there and passed through Galilee. And Jesus did not want anyone to know, for he was teaching his disciples, saying to them, the son of man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him.
Jeffrey Heine:And when he is killed after 3 days, he will rise. They did not understand the saying, and they were afraid to ask him. And then again in Mark 14. And Jesus said to them, you will all fall away. For it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.
Jeffrey Heine:But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee. So what has he told us? What has he told his disciples? Jesus told his followers that he must suffer these things. He must be rejected by the rulers.
Jeffrey Heine:He must be crucified. And after 3 days, he would rise again. And the Greek word that's translated as must, it it bears with it the meaning of absolute necessity. It had to happen this way. But why?
Jeffrey Heine:Why did it have to happen this way? Because only through the death of Christ could we be forgiven, And only through Christ's resurrection could we be given life. For you to be reconciled, for you to be made righteous, for you to be restored, it was necessary, absolutely necessary for the son of man to suffer all these things, for the father to crush him. But not only that, for the father to raise him up. And why?
Jeffrey Heine:Because of the father's love for you. Because of that love, for that joy set before him, Christ would endure that cross. And that joy is rooted in the father's love for you, for his children. And that is precisely what Jesus told his disciples. Everything that he promised, he accomplished.
Jeffrey Heine:In Luke's account of the resurrection, the angel is recording to saying to Mary Magdalene, remember how he told you. Remember. And that's the same call to us today. Remember what He has promised. Remember today so that you might join these women and rejoice in astonishment and in awe and in fear that Jesus has fulfilled every word.
Jeffrey Heine:Fear and promise. That's what we find here at the end of Mark's gospel. In her book, The Crucifixion, the theologian Fleming Rutledge wrote these words. The son of God did not come to make good people better, but to give life to the dead. Jesus came to give life to the dead.
Jeffrey Heine:Jesus did not come to give you a second chance to do better, to give you another shot. He didn't put an extra quarter in the arcade game of life to give you a second chance to get to the next level. Jesus was put to death for your sins, and he was raised for your justification to give you life in him. He came to give life to those who were dead in sin. And the dead, well, dead people are in graveyards.
Jeffrey Heine:And as Nietzsche said, resurrection only happens in graveyards. And apart from Christ, that's exactly where we find ourselves. Jesus did not come for the well, those who have it all together, those who have all the answers, all the success, all the power. He came for the sick and the broken and the dead in sin. We are born into the graveyard of a broken world, dead in our sins and our trespasses by nature, children of wrath and anger and hatred.
Jeffrey Heine:And we live our lives in the graveyard until, like Lazarus, we hear our name called out from the beyond the tomb walls, called out by our Redeemer, and awaken to new life. We breathe the breath of eternal life through the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit, and we believe in him who has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Like the devoted women who first beheld the empty tomb, who first heard the gospel message of the victory of Christ, and who become the first heralds of that gospel news. We are called to fix our trembling hearts on the glory of Jesus' resurrection. As Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, faith is annulled and the gospel is empty and deceiving if Christ's resurrection is not fixed in our hearts.
Jeffrey Heine:Because if he was not raised, then we would still be in our sin. We would still live our lives in the graveyard without hope. As we close, I want you to hear a few words that were written by John Calvin 500 years ago in the Institutes regarding the accomplishment of Jesus' resurrection for us. So hear these words. We have in Christ's death the complete fulfillment of salvation, For through it, we are reconciled to God.
Jeffrey Heine:His righteous judgment is satisfied. The curse is removed. The penalty is paid in full. For as Jesus in rising again came forth victor over death, so the victory of our faith over death lies in his resurrection alone. Sin was taken away by his death.
Jeffrey Heine:Righteousness was revived by His resurrection. Christ came to give life to the dead. He entered the graveyard of our broken and sin sick world, defeated the darkness, put death to death, and called us into His marvelous light. We've spent almost a year and a half in Mark's gospel together. We have seen what Christ has done.
Jeffrey Heine:We have heard his words. So what has he told you in this time? What has the spirit impressed upon your heart? What promises of Christ? What things has he told you that you need to remember today so you can recall it tomorrow, whatever may come?
Jeffrey Heine:What solicits that response of genuine awe and astonishment at the glory of Christ? Because if we do not tremble and I confess I do not tremble enough. But if we do not tremble, perhaps we need to listen again, maybe for the first time, to the angel's words of promise. He is not here. He is alive just as he told you.
Jeffrey Heine:Let's go to him now in prayer. Oh, father, by the spirit, would you help us to behold Jesus, to look on the lamb who was slain, who is victorious over the grave? Help us to see him. That a holy fear rooted in the promises of God would take root in our heart. We pray this in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit.
Jeffrey Heine:Amen.
