WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:15.599 Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. 00:00:15.599 --> 00:00:20.480 ! It is wonderful that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, 00:00:20.480 --> 00:00:25.679 either by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray for us 00:00:25.679 --> 00:00:32.159 that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself? 00:00:32.159 --> 00:00:37.359 The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, 00:00:37.359 --> 00:00:42.159 we really, I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:48.799 Bible, they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will do 00:00:48.799 --> 00:00:55.120 what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a non-Christian, 00:00:55.119 --> 00:01:00.320 checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't hesitate to send us 00:01:00.320 --> 00:01:05.280 questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the types of things 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:13.599 that you're really struggling with. So God bless. Let's just bow our heads in prayer. 00:01:16.959 --> 00:01:24.000 Father, we give you thanks and praise that from heaven, God, the Son of God, came to seek us, 00:01:24.000 --> 00:01:30.239 that he came to seek and save the lost. Father, we give you thanks and praise that you know our 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:35.439 frailty and our weakness, our imperfection, you know our sin, you know the good things about us 00:01:35.439 --> 00:01:41.280 and the bad things, and still Jesus came to save us. Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit would fall 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:48.480 with gentle power upon us this morning, that we might have a sure and certain hope in the resurrection 00:01:48.480 --> 00:01:56.159 of Jesus from the dead, and that we will face it. We have a heritage of eternity with you when we put 00:01:56.159 --> 00:02:01.760 our faith and trust in him. And we ask these things in Jesus' name, your Son and our Saviour. Amen. 00:02:01.760 --> 00:02:03.200 Please be seated. 00:02:07.760 --> 00:02:15.040 I've sort of been surrounded by death for the last couple of months. Some of you know that towards the 00:02:15.040 --> 00:02:20.560 end of January, early February, I had a bit of a scare. I wasn't that worried about it, but I had a bit 00:02:20.560 --> 00:02:27.680 of a scare as to whether I had a tumor growing in my lungs. Around that same time, the fellow who was 00:02:27.680 --> 00:02:35.680 the best man at my wedding came down with a very, very aggressive form of cancer suddenly, 00:02:36.640 --> 00:02:42.800 that ended up leaving him quite hospitalized, and after a short battle with cancer, about five weeks 00:02:42.800 --> 00:02:52.640 ago, he passed away. My mechanic, whom I've had for over 40 years off and on, he died suddenly at work 00:02:52.639 --> 00:02:58.239 just a couple of weeks ago. He was just a year older than me. The fellow was the best man at my 00:02:58.239 --> 00:03:04.159 wedding, the same age as me, actually. And on top of that, at one of the Starbucks that I go to, 00:03:04.159 --> 00:03:11.439 the one closest to my house, there's a young man of no... He's sort of an interesting guy. He's sort of 00:03:11.439 --> 00:03:16.560 interested in religion and Christianity, but he's definitely not a Christian, and he would say he 00:03:16.560 --> 00:03:21.439 wasn't religious, but he's been struggling with the fact that it looks like his dad is going to be 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:26.960 dying soon. And there's all sorts of issues he has around that, and he doesn't quite know how to think 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:32.560 about it. And then on top of all of that, just a week and a half ago, I preached at a funeral of 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:40.000 Marion Yearwood, who had been a long-time member of this congregation, and she died. When I get to speak 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:46.800 at a funeral, I'm very conscious of the fact that in most cases, it is probable that the majority of 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:52.639 the people in the room are not Christians like I am. And so usually, when it comes to that time when 00:03:52.639 --> 00:03:58.159 I get to say a few words, I say something along this line. I say, it is a great honour and privilege 00:03:58.159 --> 00:04:04.240 that I have an opportunity today to speak to you. And I know as I speak that there are people here who 00:04:04.240 --> 00:04:08.719 would say that they're atheists, and some who would say they're agnostics, and probably some who would 00:04:08.719 --> 00:04:15.120 say they were apatheists, some who've sort of given up on the whole project of thinking about religion, 00:04:15.120 --> 00:04:19.680 or in any form. There are some of you probably who are putting together your own type of faith 00:04:19.680 --> 00:04:24.720 and spirituality from things which are precious and important to you, and there are probably some who 00:04:24.720 --> 00:04:31.120 are part of the great religions that are on the face of the earth. But it is my humble honour this 00:04:31.120 --> 00:04:38.079 morning to stand here and share with you what my hope is as a Christian in the face of death. 00:04:39.200 --> 00:04:43.680 And then that's what I go ahead and do. I talk about what my faith is as a Christian in the face of 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:50.480 death. And usually I look at 1 Corinthians 15 or the story of the raising of Lazarus, usually 1 Corinthians 15. 00:04:51.360 --> 00:05:00.320 And that's what I'd like to do today. I have a sure and certain hope that when I die, 00:05:00.319 --> 00:05:09.199 I will be resurrected. And it's not because I'm particularly holy or particularly virtuous. It's 00:05:09.199 --> 00:05:16.079 not because I'm a presbyter. It's because I've put my faith and trust in Jesus. And I think anyone who 00:05:16.079 --> 00:05:21.120 puts their faith and trust in Jesus, it might be hard to have a sure and certain hope. But my prayer is 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:26.399 that over time, as you think and study and pray more and more, you will develop more and more a sure 00:05:26.399 --> 00:05:34.240 and certain hope in the face of death. Now, some of you would automatically just say, 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:39.600 well, George, that's very interesting that you said that on a Sunday where you read a Bible text 00:05:39.600 --> 00:05:45.840 that doesn't have the actual resurrection of Jesus. Like, that's a very odd Sunday to pick to say this. 00:05:45.839 --> 00:05:53.199 And, George, I grabbed my Bible and I see now why you said that I should pick up a Bible. Because, 00:05:53.839 --> 00:05:59.120 George, I see that just after verse 8 in chapter 16, there's these big things that say, 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:05.759 basically, the rest of this stuff shouldn't be in the Bible. And that, George, just plays to all of 00:06:05.759 --> 00:06:13.120 my views that, you know, the Bible is just not to be trusted. You can't base your life on things like 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:20.639 this. It's not to be trusted whatsoever. So, those are really, really good points. And I never want 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:25.360 to have anybody think that they can't ask good questions. And in fact, if you're outside the 00:06:25.360 --> 00:06:30.879 Christian faith watching this or you're here, one of the things I encourage Christians is to ask good 00:06:30.879 --> 00:06:36.480 questions. Because you know what? You can't grow without asking questions. It's completely impossible. 00:06:37.280 --> 00:06:42.399 You might be indoctrinated or brainwashed, but if you actually want to grow, you've got to ask 00:06:42.399 --> 00:06:48.000 questions and wrestle with them. So, it's good to have these questions. So, before we go into, 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:52.399 I'm going to talk about the resurrection of Jesus towards the end of this, or about two-thirds of the 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:57.120 way in. But let's look a little bit, just pause for a moment about the fact that the ending of the 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:03.519 Gospels, you can go and look it up, verses in most English versions. I think every modern English 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:09.759 version will have something after verse 8 that says something to the effect that these following 00:07:09.759 --> 00:07:15.279 verses 9 to 20 shouldn't be in the Bible, because they're not part of the earliest manuscripts. 00:07:15.920 --> 00:07:20.560 And actually, rather than undermining your confidence in the Bible, this should make you 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:26.639 confident in the Bible. It doesn't prove that you shouldn't. The people who talk to me about being, 00:07:26.639 --> 00:07:31.680 the Bible being like, untrustworthy are people who don't actually even read just a normal English Bible. 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:38.319 Because what this shows is that Christians really care, and we're very open to criticism, and we 00:07:38.319 --> 00:07:44.560 really care. We want to know what the original document said. That's what we want to know. And 00:07:44.560 --> 00:07:50.319 if it turns out that over time, and by the way, the number of the ancient manuscripts of the Gospels, 00:07:50.319 --> 00:07:56.560 every decade there's more of them. They keep finding more of them. In between other things, 00:07:56.560 --> 00:08:03.920 things, you know, hidden or lost in vaults of lots and lots of other types of manuscripts, 00:08:03.920 --> 00:08:09.360 they keep finding more and more and more. And what Christians have is they have this great concern 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:15.759 to know what really happened and what really was said. And there's an actual science of textual 00:08:15.759 --> 00:08:21.439 criticism where they can take all of these. There's thousands and thousands and thousands of complete and 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:27.120 partial manuscripts. And they can, there's a science actually, not only dating the documents that they 00:08:27.120 --> 00:08:32.960 find, but also looking at how the, how it's written, the type of print, how it's written. And they can trace 00:08:32.960 --> 00:08:39.039 things back so that every decade we get more and more confident that when we read the Bible, 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:45.039 a modern English translation, that is what was originally written. And there's very, very good 00:08:45.039 --> 00:08:51.120 reasons to believe that the Gospel of Mark is an eyewitness-based history of Jesus written about 00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:58.480 12 years or so after the death and resurrection of Jesus, while lots and lots of eyewitnesses were alive. 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:04.240 So this shortened ending, rather than undermining your confidence, it's in every English version of the 00:09:04.240 --> 00:09:10.159 Bible. It's not something anybody's trying to hide. It's not like I have some secret knowledge of some 00:09:10.159 --> 00:09:16.079 secret text in the Vatican that's different. No, no. We want to know. We want to know. I want to know. 00:09:16.079 --> 00:09:21.679 You should want to know. Because you know, the fact of the matter is, and I, you know, the, the young 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:26.879 fellow who's been talking to me in the Bell's Corner Starbucks, he's just been sharing with me, 00:09:26.879 --> 00:09:32.879 he hasn't asked my opinion yet. I keep praying that it'll ask my, my opinion. But for obvious reasons 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:38.799 that this young man is now grappling with, with the imminent death, you know, over the next month or two of 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:45.839 his dad, if Jesus really rose from the dead, that has to change everything. Because everyone will die. 00:09:48.000 --> 00:09:54.479 Everyone will die. And if Jesus actually defeated death, obviously that should be one of the most 00:09:54.479 --> 00:10:01.599 important things you should ever think about. So let's look. I'm actually going to say about the 00:10:01.599 --> 00:10:06.399 resurrection, the other thing about the, the no, the no resurrected body, you know that as I've meditated 00:10:06.399 --> 00:10:11.439 and thought about this and struggled with the text throughout the entire week, I actually think now 00:10:11.439 --> 00:10:17.759 that it's actually one of the most beautiful endings in Mark. That it makes actually my hope 00:10:17.759 --> 00:10:23.039 in the resurrection of Jesus and my hope that when I put my faith in him that I will have, that I will 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:29.360 share his resurrection. My hope is stronger actually after, after looking at, at what this story 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:34.639 communicates. But let's look for ourselves. So if you have your own Bibles, if you don't have your Bibles, 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:38.559 it will be up on the screen. But if you don't have your, if you have Bibles, turn with me to Mark 00:10:38.559 --> 00:10:43.120 chapter, actually what we're going to do is we're going to start reading a few verses before Mark 16. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:50.559 And, and we're going to start reading at Mark chapter 15, verse 40. Mark chapter 15, verse 40. 00:10:51.360 --> 00:10:58.960 And here's how it goes. Oh, so, but what, what this is just after Jesus has died. He's on the cross, 00:10:58.960 --> 00:11:06.480 between the two thieves, he's died. And this is sort of right after he's died. And it goes like this. 00:11:07.280 --> 00:11:13.600 There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:21.440 of James the younger, and of Joseph, and of Salome. When Jesus was in Galilee, they followed him and 00:11:21.440 --> 00:11:27.680 ministered to him. And there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. And I just 00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:33.359 sort of want to pause here for a moment. This is actually a really important detail of the story, 00:11:33.919 --> 00:11:38.559 because what it's saying is that these three women, and there's more than three, we know from the other 00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:44.879 accounts, but these three women have seen Jesus die. They've seen the soldiers start to roll everything 00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:52.240 up because Jesus has died. And, and they know what Jesus looks like. This is really important. We, 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:56.960 we sort of just take that for granted because we've had photographs for a long time. We have TV, 00:11:56.960 --> 00:12:01.840 we have Facebook and Instagram and X, and who knows all those other social media platforms. 00:12:02.399 --> 00:12:07.200 But, you know, why was it that Judas had to go with the soldiers to capture Jesus in the dark? Well, 00:12:07.200 --> 00:12:13.120 that's because they didn't have pictures. So a lot of people would never have seen Jesus before. 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:16.639 And then the soldiers could have gone and the apostles could have said, oh yeah, there's Peter, 00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:21.519 that's Jesus. And then Jesus goes away. Like, so they needed somebody who actually knew what Jesus 00:12:21.519 --> 00:12:27.439 looked like to go and capture Jesus. And so Mark is just saying this little tiny detail about the 00:12:27.439 --> 00:12:31.679 fact that not only did these three women see Jesus died, but they'd known him a long time. They know 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:36.879 what he looks like. They know how tall he is, how skinny he is, how muscular he knows, but they know what 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:42.720 he looks like. And so then the story continues and it goes like that. Verse 42. 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:50.399 And when evening had come, since it was the day of preparation, that's referring to a Jewish ceremony, 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:56.639 that is the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, 00:12:57.360 --> 00:13:03.200 that's the Jewish group that under Rome ruled Jewish affairs. So I'll read that again. Joseph of 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:09.279 Arimathea, a respected member of the council, was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, 00:13:09.279 --> 00:13:16.879 took courage, and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Now, just a couple of things 00:13:16.879 --> 00:13:23.679 about this before we go any further. One of the things that the dodges that people make is that 00:13:23.679 --> 00:13:29.679 they try to say that what's being described here is not actually history. But one of the things about 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:35.600 it is everything about Mark's gospel, none of it is once upon a time language. It's not fairy tale 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:40.560 language. And if you actually just read the gospel of Mark for yourself, you understand that Mark 00:13:40.560 --> 00:13:47.279 understood the difference between history, parable, metaphor, and prophecy. Because he includes all of 00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:53.120 these different genres in his gospel. So in this part of it, he's not writing a parable, he's not 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:58.560 writing a metaphor, he's not writing some prophetic vision of the future, because Jesus talked prophetically 00:13:58.560 --> 00:14:04.480 about the future and used prophetic imagery of the sun that darkened and the stars falling. And so 00:14:04.480 --> 00:14:09.759 Mark understands the difference between these things. He's not dumb. But in this particular 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:16.399 place, he's writing history. That's the genre. And the other thing he does is that by giving all of 00:14:16.399 --> 00:14:22.960 these names, when he says Mary Magdalene, and this other Mary, and Salome, and Joseph of Arimathea, 00:14:22.960 --> 00:14:28.960 that's the ancient equivalent of giving footnotes. If he's writing this gospel about 12 years after the 00:14:28.960 --> 00:14:34.480 death and resurrection of Jesus, based on eyewitness testimony, what he's saying is to the readers, 00:14:34.480 --> 00:14:39.360 he says, hey listen, go check it out yourself. Go to Jerusalem. Joseph of Arimathea, he was really 00:14:39.360 --> 00:14:45.120 famous. If he's not alive, just check him out and find out what he said about things and whether he 00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:52.240 became a Christian. And you can track all these people down. The names are part of his openness to 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:58.960 intellectual inquiry and wanting to know more. And the second thing about this, let's listen to that, 00:14:58.960 --> 00:15:07.360 this last bit again here, the last bit of verse 40, 43. He took courage and went to Paula and asked for 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:12.960 the body of Jesus. Now just notice what Mark is doing now next is he's going to sell the death of Jesus. 00:15:13.919 --> 00:15:19.120 Like what he wants you to know is that Jesus is dead, dead, dead, dead, dead. 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:25.840 And nobody thought he would do, nobody thought anything would happen to him other than him 00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:32.960 staying dead. Joseph doesn't go and ask for the body so he can set up a shrine and a throne so that 00:15:32.960 --> 00:15:39.919 when Jesus rises from the dead, he can sit on a throne. No, he goes and asks for the body of Jesus 00:15:39.919 --> 00:15:47.759 to prepare the body for burial and in particular so that the body will not stink. Because when bodies 00:15:47.759 --> 00:15:54.080 decompose, they have a terrible, terrible smell. That's what's going on. Listen to what happens 00:15:54.080 --> 00:16:00.639 in verses 44 and following. So that's for the body of Jesus, verse 44. Pilate was asked for the body of 00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:07.600 Jesus. Then 44, Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus should have already died. And summoning the 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:13.679 centurion, he asked him whether Jesus was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that Jesus 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:22.479 was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. All of these things emphasizing the death. And Joseph bought 00:16:22.479 --> 00:16:30.000 a linen shroud and taking Jesus down, Jesus had to be taken down because he's dead, wrapped him in a 00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:36.879 linen shroud because he's dead, and laid him in a tomb because he's dead. They've been cut out of the rock, 00:16:36.879 --> 00:16:43.840 and he rolled the stone against the entrance of the tomb to protect the body from grave robbers. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:54.720 The whole story emphasizes the deadness of Jesus. And the next little bit that I'm going to read, 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:59.200 and so if you're looking at your Bibles, you'll see there's verses which were added, numbers were added a 00:16:59.200 --> 00:17:06.799 long, long time later. But in the original language, it's very obvious in the original language that what 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:13.440 what's been happening from 42 on to chapter 16 on, it's all part of the same story. They're all linking 00:17:13.440 --> 00:17:17.839 it together. So it's not as if they tell this story, then they move to a different story. It's all the same 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:24.240 story which is being told. So listen to how these women's names are repeated again. Verse 47, 00:17:25.119 --> 00:17:32.319 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where Jesus was laid, and when the Sabbath was passed, 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:39.359 Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James in Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him. 00:17:40.319 --> 00:17:46.480 So why are they bringing spices? They aren't bringing spices so they can make some really tasty falafel, 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:52.000 hummus, and tabbouleh. They are bringing spices because they know the body is going to really 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:57.759 stink. It probably already is beginning to stink. And they want to give as much spice as possible to 00:17:57.759 --> 00:18:04.880 honor the memory of Jesus who has died by honoring how they handle his body. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:12.799 They want the final memories of Jesus to be pleasant smells, not the stench of decomposition. 00:18:12.799 --> 00:18:18.880 They go there to deal with his body. Now the next bit, here's one of the things, 00:18:18.880 --> 00:18:24.480 there's several things in this story. If you pause, it has this, these wonderful, wonderful human 00:18:24.480 --> 00:18:30.320 details, like the type of things that go on with you and me in our lives. And that's why it's such 00:18:30.320 --> 00:18:36.480 a profoundly human story that in the midst of this profoundly human story, something transcendent and 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:42.480 history changing happens. But it's a very human story. Look what happens in verses two and three. 00:18:43.280 --> 00:18:47.200 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:53.039 And they were saying to one another, who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? 00:18:54.000 --> 00:18:58.080 Now, why is that a human detail? So, you know, some of you know, most of you know that I went to Zimbabwe 00:18:58.080 --> 00:19:03.200 a couple of weeks ago. And I was really nervous about going to Zimbabwe. I was worried about malaria. 00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:08.400 I was worried about, I was only worried about poisonous snakes. And then my daughter, oldest daughter, 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:14.720 reminded me that Zimbabwe also has poisonous scorpions and spiders. I said, thank you very much. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:20.079 Now I have three things to worry about rather than just worrying about poisonous snakes. And 00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:25.039 uh, and anyway, so I go through a packing list. I go through a packing list. I have a checklist 00:19:25.039 --> 00:19:29.680 because I'm having to catch an Uber really early in the morning. And I have everything I need 00:19:30.400 --> 00:19:33.200 until I get to Zimbabwe and I don't have my toothbrush. 00:19:33.200 --> 00:19:40.400 When I did the funeral for Marian a week and a half ago, I wanted to be really good to honor her. She 00:19:40.400 --> 00:19:44.960 was a woman who always really dressed up for church. She always wore these amazing hats. It's part of her 00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:50.880 Beijing heritage. And so I, you know, I made sure I had nice shoes to wear and a jacket to wear. And at 00:19:50.880 --> 00:19:55.279 the last second, I realized I'd forgotten to have my collar to go with my clergy shirt. And I have all of 00:19:55.279 --> 00:20:00.480 these things. And I get there and I start to, you know, get my shoes on. And then I realized I took the 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:05.839 wrong prayer book. I, you just make, you know, you make plans and you make mistakes, right? That's very, 00:20:05.839 --> 00:20:11.599 very human. And that's what's so wonderful about this story. Oh, by the way, who's going to move the stone? 00:20:13.200 --> 00:20:17.599 They had all the spices and you can just imagine the type of conversation they probably had amongst 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:21.680 some of them. Like one of them is probably an optimist. The optimist won this battle, by the way, 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:24.720 and said, yeah, yeah, we'll, we'll figure it out. Let's just go. We'll figure it out. You know, 00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:28.160 some were saying, maybe we should go back and get the men. The other woman said, come on. The men are 00:20:28.160 --> 00:20:33.519 completely and utterly hopeless. They're all still hiding. They're not going to come out of hiding to 00:20:33.519 --> 00:20:37.279 help us. You know, we'll sort it out. You know, another woman might say, I don't want to walk all 00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:41.039 the way back there. These spices are heavy. I don't want to have to carry them there and back. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:46.480 But the optimist wins. We'll sort it out. And by the way, that's really interesting by what happens 00:20:46.480 --> 00:20:51.519 later is it shows that optimism isn't the same as faith and it isn't the same as Christian hope. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:20:57.279 Lots of people who aren't optimists become Christians and lots of optimists don't become 00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:04.319 Christians. Optimists think, I'll sort it out. The universe will sort it out. Faith is that God 00:21:04.319 --> 00:21:10.160 has sorted it out and God has made promises. Very different. Anyway, so they decide they're, 00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:16.079 they're, you know, they do go ahead, look at verse four. And there's another really wonderful detail here 00:21:16.079 --> 00:21:21.359 in verse four. And looking up, they go on ahead, and looking up, they saw that the stone had been 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:27.839 rolled back. It was very large. And I have a feeling that that was put in by the pessimist 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:32.879 of the three women who probably said, that stone's way bigger than we remember. And they see it, 00:21:32.879 --> 00:21:38.079 and they go, whoa, that stone's way bigger than we remember. That really would have been a big problem. 00:21:38.079 --> 00:21:44.319 But the stone is rolled away. And so then they decide, well, what are they going to do? They go in, 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:49.359 and look at what happens in verse five. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:54.319 side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. Just sort of pause. This is just such another human 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:59.599 thing. So I don't know if I told people this, but when I was in my hotel room in Zimbabwe, there was a sign 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:05.359 on the door before you went out, keep all the windows and doors closed so monkeys don't get into your room. 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:12.559 And there were lots of monkeys, especially just behind. If I looked out my back window, I could 00:22:12.559 --> 00:22:17.919 see lots and lots of monkeys. And Steve Griffin, he thought that just meant monkeys will come in if 00:22:17.919 --> 00:22:22.959 you leave with the windows open. But he was sitting working, and he heard a rustling noise, and there 00:22:22.959 --> 00:22:31.759 was a monkey in his room. And both the monkey and him made a loud squealing type noise. And fortunately, 00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:36.240 the monkey left. He didn't have to try to deal with the monkey in the room, right? Because, I mean, 00:22:36.240 --> 00:22:40.640 I wouldn't have the vaguest idea. Anyway, so they go in. They're expecting it to be empty, like, 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:44.480 just the body there. And there's a young man, so they're alarmed. That's exactly what happened to 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:50.079 any of us. And then what happens? Do they run out? Well, actually, the young man speaks before they can 00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:56.640 do anything. And this is what we see in verse six and seven. And he, that is the young man. And by the 00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:02.480 way, in the context, it's obvious that the young man is an angel. Okay, in the context. You can ask 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:08.640 me about it more over coffee. But in the context, it's an angel appearing as a young man. And so the 00:23:08.640 --> 00:23:15.520 angel says to them, do not be alarmed. Now, by the way, the Bible knows that you can't just say 00:23:15.520 --> 00:23:20.160 something like that. You can't just say something that affects how you feel, right? But what would you 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:25.120 rather he says? Yeah, you should be alarmed. Or, boy, are you guys ever in trouble? You don't even 00:23:25.119 --> 00:23:29.919 believe Jesus rose from the dead. Like, it might not have comforted them at first, but it would 00:23:29.919 --> 00:23:35.759 comfort them later. That the opening words acknowledging their alarm, their fear, and 00:23:35.759 --> 00:23:41.679 saying, don't be alarmed. Act of grace. And then he continues. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, 00:23:41.679 --> 00:23:46.479 who was crucified. This is emphasizing Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus from nowhere's 00:23:46.479 --> 00:23:52.799 will, who was dead, this fully human Jesus. He was crucified. And then it says here, he has risen. 00:23:52.799 --> 00:23:59.599 He is not here. Now, in the original language, you can sort of get it with he has risen. But in the 00:23:59.599 --> 00:24:07.919 original language, it's far clearer that it's a passive, that Jesus was raised. It's not Jesus 00:24:07.919 --> 00:24:15.519 resurrecting himself, but God does it. God does it. And so this is really important because it's showing 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:21.680 that Jesus is completely and utterly vindicated. His death on the cross, his time in the death, 00:24:21.680 --> 00:24:27.279 all of his teaching, he's completely and utterly vindicated. God the Father in the power of the Holy 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:36.320 Spirit raises God, the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, from the grave. He was raised. He is risen. 00:24:37.120 --> 00:24:44.160 He was raised by God. I'll read this again. He is risen. He was raised. He was resurrected. He is not 00:24:44.160 --> 00:24:49.740 here. See the place where they laid him. And that's, once again, really one of the things which is so 00:24:49.740 --> 00:24:56.380 wonderful about this text is it doesn't say, which is what the normal view is, and for many religions 00:24:56.380 --> 00:25:03.099 in the world and many spiritualities, they have this subtext. They say, take off your shoes because 00:25:03.099 --> 00:25:08.299 you're in a holy place. And when you're taking off your shoes to enter this holy place, leave your mind 00:25:08.299 --> 00:25:16.940 outside with your shoes. Leave your brain with your shoes. But that's not what the angel says. The angel 00:25:16.940 --> 00:25:24.220 doesn't say, by the way, this is a holy place. Go back out. Take off your shoes. Plant your brain there 00:25:24.220 --> 00:25:30.379 and come back in to have a mystical experience. That's not what he says. See where they laid him. 00:25:30.380 --> 00:25:39.500 See where they laid him. Look for yourself. You see, when I give my life to Christ, he takes all of me. 00:25:40.220 --> 00:25:45.900 It might be an emotional moment. It might be an intellectual moment. It might be, you know, 00:25:45.960 --> 00:25:50.760 some weird mix of yearnings and longings. Or, you know, who knows what. It's different for every person, 00:25:50.840 --> 00:25:55.440 either when you become a Christian or you realize that somewhere along the way you've become a Christian 00:25:55.440 --> 00:26:02.080 without realizing it. But the fact is that when you give your life to Christ, he takes all of you. 00:26:03.600 --> 00:26:11.100 Takes your mind, your imagination, your will, your affections, your power to accomplish things, 00:26:11.100 --> 00:26:20.539 your sexuality, your identity. Everything that makes you you is taken by him. Everything that makes you you 00:26:20.539 --> 00:26:26.720 is redeemed. Everything that makes you you, except your sin, will be resurrected. 00:26:28.460 --> 00:26:32.859 And he doesn't change you into an angel. He doesn't change you into a different person. 00:26:33.259 --> 00:26:40.220 He takes you with your frailty, your strengths, your weaknesses, your sins, your history, all of those 00:26:40.220 --> 00:26:49.819 things. He takes you and redeems you. And so your mind matters. And real Christians always 00:26:49.819 --> 00:26:55.779 understand that your mind matters. I had lots of things about the church that I grew up that were 00:26:55.779 --> 00:27:00.700 very good. But one problem I had in that church, and then the group of Christians that led, that were 00:27:00.700 --> 00:27:05.579 responsible, humanly speaking, for you to become Christian, is that when I had problems, they said, 00:27:05.659 --> 00:27:12.159 you just got to pray. No, brothers and sisters, that's not the right answer. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:21.180 Don't act to me as if the angel said to the woman, go back outside. It's a holy place. Leave your shoes 00:27:21.180 --> 00:27:27.120 and your mind behind. Don't talk like that. Come look where he was laid. 00:27:27.119 --> 00:27:37.199 Very, very precious. And then he says, I'll finish reading the thing. We'll read verse six again. He 00:27:37.199 --> 00:27:43.459 said to them, do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen. He is not 00:27:43.459 --> 00:27:50.299 here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before 00:27:50.299 --> 00:27:59.419 you to Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you. Mark's gospel, four times Jesus predicts 00:27:59.419 --> 00:28:04.259 that he will die by crucifixion and rise from the dead. Well, not all three of them, he, crucifixion, 00:28:04.339 --> 00:28:10.139 four times he predicts that he will die. But it's also a bigger thing. If you could put up the first 00:28:10.139 --> 00:28:17.579 point, Claire, that would be really helpful. The corpse of Jesus of Nazareth was gone from the tomb 00:28:17.579 --> 00:28:23.399 because God resurrected him. That's the message of this text. I'll talk about the women fleeing in a 00:28:23.399 --> 00:28:28.980 moment, but that's the message of the text. That's the message of the angel. The angel explains what 00:28:28.980 --> 00:28:33.740 has happened. And the angel says, by the way, I am just, because you see, the angel is just an angel. 00:28:33.939 --> 00:28:40.799 Jesus is God, the son of God, the second person of the Trinity. And so the angel points to Jesus and 00:28:40.799 --> 00:28:48.639 said, just as he said, just as he said, I'm just the mouth of God. I am the mouth. That's the one 00:28:48.639 --> 00:28:57.379 actually speaking. And so the corpse of Jesus of Nazareth was gone from the tomb because God 00:28:57.379 --> 00:29:03.740 resurrected him. And so your mind matters, evidence matters. It shows that it's not as if Jesus does 00:29:03.740 --> 00:29:08.559 something against the father, but that the father, the son, and the Holy Spirit, they're all working 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:15.059 together. And Jesus is completely and utterly vindicated. What he taught is vindicated. You know, 00:29:15.399 --> 00:29:21.700 I mean, this is just an indirect thing about how to answer the question about the, you know, the 00:29:21.700 --> 00:29:26.319 lack of the resurrection appearance. But it's something that I, over time, it's become more and 00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:31.139 more clear to me when I deal with how different scholars deal with issues. At the end of the day, 00:29:31.139 --> 00:29:37.000 I say to myself, who would I rather believe? Somebody with a PhD for Oxford or somebody who rose from the dead? 00:29:38.559 --> 00:29:41.899 That's not being anti-intellectual. It's actually thinking. 00:29:44.899 --> 00:29:52.819 Who would I rather believe? Somebody who rose from the dead? If you're curious, the Easter letter 00:29:52.819 --> 00:29:58.879 that I wrote got turned in, I turned it into a blog. I've made it about 75% longer, turned it into a blog. 00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:03.560 It's actually the featured blog on the Gospel Coalition Canada website today, and it's that the 00:30:03.560 --> 00:30:09.440 resurrection changes everything. The resurrection changes everything. It really does. If it really 00:30:09.440 --> 00:30:15.040 happened, it completely and utterly changes everything. Well, some of you, okay, say, George, 00:30:15.100 --> 00:30:18.640 you've said you're going to talk about the resurrection and the fact that there's, 00:30:19.800 --> 00:30:24.720 Jesus doesn't appear and the women and how they, well, let's look at how the women actually act. 00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:29.519 So what happens after the angel has said these things to them? Verse 8, and they, that's the 00:30:29.519 --> 00:30:35.799 three women, went out and fled from the tomb. So remember, the angel says, you know, just as he said, 00:30:36.200 --> 00:30:40.880 that there's no body here. The corpse is gone. He's risen from the dead. He was resurrected. 00:30:41.539 --> 00:30:46.900 Go and tell people about this and go to Galilee where you're going to actually see him for yourself. 00:30:47.400 --> 00:30:52.480 And then the women respond, verse 8, and they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and 00:30:52.480 --> 00:30:56.799 astonishment had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. 00:30:59.360 --> 00:31:03.440 I'll read it again. And they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:07.599 seized them. And they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. 00:31:10.360 --> 00:31:15.420 Well, a couple of things. The first, I just want to get a detail out of the way. I should have said 00:31:15.420 --> 00:31:19.200 this earlier. I got it out of order. If you could put up the second point, that would be really, 00:31:19.200 --> 00:31:26.539 really helpful. And that's this. Jesus interprets Jesus, and he interprets you. 00:31:28.340 --> 00:31:36.559 Jesus interprets Jesus, and he interprets you. That's that phrase where he says, just as he said. 00:31:37.140 --> 00:31:43.200 You want to understand what has just happened? What did Jesus say? What did Jesus say? If you go back 00:31:43.200 --> 00:31:49.460 and look at how Jesus announces his ministry, he says the time is fulfilled, and the word there is 00:31:49.460 --> 00:31:55.779 that the telos has come. That's the actual thing, that the end has come. The time is fulfilled. God 00:31:55.779 --> 00:32:01.440 has kept his promises. The kingdom of God has come. Repent and believe the gospel. That's how Jesus 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:08.200 launches the book of Mark. He launches his ministry. The time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God has come. 00:32:08.200 --> 00:32:15.000 Repent and believe the gospel. Believe the good news. And what is the message? The king who makes 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:21.299 the kingdom has come. The king who creates a kingdom by his death and resurrection has come. 00:32:21.480 --> 00:32:26.900 With the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection, the kingdom has come. There is a 00:32:26.900 --> 00:32:32.380 new covenant. And what does Jesus say in Mark chapter 10 45? It's one of those purpose verses 00:32:32.380 --> 00:32:39.900 for the entire book. And he says, I did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life as a 00:32:39.900 --> 00:32:45.700 ransom for many. In other words, he perceives people as we are under different types of bondages, 00:32:46.140 --> 00:32:52.600 bondages to alcohol, literal bondage in the case of slaves or women who are oppressed and conquered 00:32:52.600 --> 00:32:58.700 people like the Jews. And we're in bondage to sin and we're in bondage to the fear of death. 00:32:58.700 --> 00:33:05.220 And we are in bondage. And he has come to be the price that was paid that we might be delivered 00:33:05.220 --> 00:33:12.120 from bondage into freedom in the kingdom of love and freedom. And that's what he was accomplishing 00:33:12.120 --> 00:33:18.440 on the cross. And in Mark chapter 14, when he's at verse 36, when he's drinking the cup, doesn't want 00:33:18.440 --> 00:33:25.120 to drink the cup on the cross, the wrath of God, the judgment of God, the punishment of God that you and 00:33:25.119 --> 00:33:32.779 I deserve falls on him. That's the cup he drinks. That's what he has done. He interprets him. 00:33:37.099 --> 00:33:41.199 The primate of the Anglican Church of Canada wrote his Easter letter. He doesn't believe in the 00:33:41.199 --> 00:33:50.119 resurrection. What a sad man. Go look it out. Doesn't read the... And his Easter letter is all about 00:33:50.119 --> 00:33:56.339 Gaza because he doesn't believe in the resurrection. Woe on me if I talk like that. 00:33:57.599 --> 00:34:01.899 I can tell you right now, if I come to the conclusion Jesus didn't rise from the dead, 00:34:01.979 --> 00:34:07.819 I would definitely stop being your presbyter. And I can tell you what I would be doing this morning. 00:34:08.359 --> 00:34:15.119 I would be home having a second coffee, reading a novel. That's what I would be doing. 00:34:15.119 --> 00:34:21.139 And if he didn't rise from the dead, that's what you should be doing. But I'm glad you're here because 00:34:21.139 --> 00:34:27.579 he rose from the dead. He rose from the dead. And Jesus interprets Jesus and he interprets you. 00:34:27.799 --> 00:34:32.299 Interprets means he's the one who will reveal to you the meaning of your life, that your life will 00:34:32.299 --> 00:34:36.400 have meaning. You know, one of the things I was sharing with somebody who was just telling me a 00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:40.579 little while ago, and I mean, they have had a really, really, really, really, really hard time. 00:34:40.579 --> 00:34:47.420 They've had lots of things go against them. Betrayed by, you know, a fiancee at one point in time, 00:34:47.559 --> 00:34:55.000 betrayed by parents and siblings, and it's really, really hard. And I finally was able to say to her, 00:34:55.639 --> 00:34:58.139 the end of your story changes your story. 00:35:01.440 --> 00:35:05.699 Isn't it you go back in time and all those things will be different, but the end of your story 00:35:05.699 --> 00:35:12.899 changes your story. When Frodo destroys the ring in Mount Doom, obviously with Gollum's help, 00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:20.579 that changes the whole story and everything he suffered. But if he had died at that last second, 00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:26.379 nobody would read The Lord of the Rings other than a couple of PhD students, because it would be the 00:35:26.379 --> 00:35:32.960 most depressing book in the history of literature. The end of the story changes the story. 00:35:32.960 --> 00:35:38.559 What about the women? I love the women now that I've thought about it lots and lots and lots. 00:35:41.300 --> 00:35:46.639 Oh, sorry, I'm still out of order. If you go to the third point, that would be very, very helpful. 00:35:48.579 --> 00:35:51.920 Here's the thing I love. We're getting into what's so neat about this whole thing, 00:35:52.099 --> 00:35:57.099 is that in verse, the third point is that God proclaims what he has done to save all who are far 00:35:57.099 --> 00:36:05.900 from him. God proclaims what he has done to save all who are far from him. You know, the big problem 00:36:05.900 --> 00:36:11.599 that skeptics have about the historical evidence for the resurrection is how on earth do they account 00:36:11.599 --> 00:36:17.019 for the explosive growth of Christianity? Like, how on earth do they account for it? And on one level, 00:36:17.199 --> 00:36:23.860 I have, how do we account for it? You know, it's the case that in the case of Islam, Islam spread 00:36:23.860 --> 00:36:30.140 through conquest. But Christianity did not spread through conquest. They were not even an official 00:36:30.140 --> 00:36:37.579 religion for 300 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus. And they faced persecution. 00:36:38.539 --> 00:36:43.620 To become a Christian meant that you had to break from the whole social fabric where you were in. 00:36:43.700 --> 00:36:50.000 There were costs that had to be paid. What explains the growth of Christianity? And I think what 00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:56.500 explains the growth of it is seen here in Mark. Out of all the Gospels, it's seen most clearly in Mark. 00:36:57.199 --> 00:37:02.480 You know, scientists now say that the Big Bang accounts for how the whole universe began. You 00:37:02.480 --> 00:37:08.579 can't even say began because there was no time before the Big Bang. And so I said something like 00:37:08.579 --> 00:37:14.039 this in a clip once, and I had dumb people making comments about it. And anyway, there you go. 00:37:14.039 --> 00:37:21.360 I understand all those things, but we still use words like began, okay? Like, don't be nitpickers who 00:37:21.360 --> 00:37:29.480 don't understand nits or how to pick. But, you know, they think the Big Bang, you know, everything at 00:37:29.480 --> 00:37:33.599 one time was like a tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny, tiny thing. And there's just like bang and 00:37:33.599 --> 00:37:39.059 everything expands from that. And the universe is still moving apart. And that explains life and 00:37:39.059 --> 00:37:45.840 everything like that and how it began. But what I think we have to understand about Christianity is, 00:37:45.960 --> 00:37:54.579 in a sense, there's the Christian Big Bang. And the Christian Big Bang is from this unlikely moment 00:37:54.579 --> 00:38:03.440 of the women running away terrified. Somehow or another, the Gospel has spread to be the biggest 00:38:03.440 --> 00:38:09.679 religion on the planet. Mark is writing this 12 years or 13 years after the death and resurrection 00:38:09.679 --> 00:38:14.599 of Jesus. And he shows what happens. And he says, we're still here and there's more of us. 00:38:14.860 --> 00:38:23.200 And here we are in Ottawa in 2026, and there's Christians still. And what accounts, what accounts 00:38:23.200 --> 00:38:30.659 for this huge explosion? And I think what accounts for it is, well, we're going through the Book of 00:38:30.659 --> 00:38:35.559 Romans. And all the time I say in the Book of Romans, all of Romans is centered around explaining Romans 1, 00:38:35.619 --> 00:38:43.039 verses 16 and 17, which begins, for I'm not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation 00:38:43.039 --> 00:38:55.839 to all who believe. In the angel's proclamation, it is God proclaiming this. Nothing personal, Jono. 00:38:55.840 --> 00:39:02.920 If God depended upon you and me and Josiah for our power and Emma, the best of the three of us, 00:39:03.600 --> 00:39:06.320 that would be a terrible plan. 00:39:08.720 --> 00:39:09.780 We're hopeless. 00:39:11.240 --> 00:39:12.480 We really are. 00:39:13.680 --> 00:39:14.700 We're hopeless. 00:39:15.420 --> 00:39:16.660 Where does the power come? 00:39:16.760 --> 00:39:21.600 Why is it that faltering people like Jono tries to get up and sing and I try to speak and 00:39:21.599 --> 00:39:26.980 and the Gospel goes forth? It's because the angel, God, is proclaiming this. 00:39:28.900 --> 00:39:32.259 In Zimbabwe, I'd say, hallelujah, and everybody would yell amen. 00:39:33.259 --> 00:39:35.679 But that's the only explanation. 00:39:36.819 --> 00:39:40.500 And that's what's so wonderful about the last minute, if you could put up the fourth point. 00:39:40.900 --> 00:39:41.659 Here's the thing. 00:39:42.079 --> 00:39:46.000 See, because you see, you look at, like, in a sense, what Mark is saying is, 00:39:46.000 --> 00:39:48.159 look what God has to work with. 00:39:50.679 --> 00:39:53.900 And if you want to find yourself in the story, you're not the angel. 00:39:55.320 --> 00:39:56.340 You're the women. 00:39:57.519 --> 00:39:58.039 Running. 00:39:58.800 --> 00:39:59.320 Terrified. 00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:03.559 Not doing anything that God actually told you to do. 00:40:04.760 --> 00:40:06.980 And just because God didn't, I should read it. 00:40:07.199 --> 00:40:09.400 You are frail, inadequate, and sainful. 00:40:09.739 --> 00:40:12.019 So, go and tell what he has told you. 00:40:12.019 --> 00:40:18.500 Now, you see, we Christians, a lot of Christians love the story of Thomas the Doubter. 00:40:19.679 --> 00:40:20.840 I'm going to coin a phrase. 00:40:21.719 --> 00:40:25.739 If I was an American, I'd get this 1-800 number and a web page, 00:40:25.800 --> 00:40:28.780 and I'd write 23 books, all variations of the same theme. 00:40:29.199 --> 00:40:31.400 That's how you make money in Christian circles. 00:40:31.860 --> 00:40:36.440 And I'd say, you have doubting Thomas and the gobsmacked women. 00:40:38.119 --> 00:40:40.840 And the gobsmacked women should be honored. 00:40:40.840 --> 00:40:45.480 Because the fact of the matter is, they express something very real. 00:40:46.120 --> 00:40:48.680 When I was coming close to becoming a Christian, 00:40:48.920 --> 00:40:52.900 I was afraid that it might be true. 00:40:55.260 --> 00:40:57.720 If you're on the outside of the Christian faith looking in, 00:40:57.780 --> 00:40:59.300 and you're afraid that it might be true, 00:41:00.120 --> 00:41:00.980 you are the women. 00:41:01.500 --> 00:41:02.720 You're like many people. 00:41:03.680 --> 00:41:05.079 The women are gobsmacked. 00:41:05.200 --> 00:41:05.840 It breaks their criteria. 00:41:06.680 --> 00:41:07.780 It breaks their categories. 00:41:07.780 --> 00:41:10.519 It breaks how they were going to spend the rest of the day, 00:41:10.700 --> 00:41:12.519 how they're going to spend the rest of their life. 00:41:13.200 --> 00:41:15.420 And here's what's so wonderful about things. 00:41:15.880 --> 00:41:17.600 It's, okay, so they didn't tell Peter. 00:41:17.720 --> 00:41:19.519 God shows up and tells Peter himself. 00:41:19.800 --> 00:41:21.120 They don't go to Galilee. 00:41:21.220 --> 00:41:22.260 He has to come to Jerusalem. 00:41:22.620 --> 00:41:24.100 Like, okay, that's why? 00:41:24.260 --> 00:41:26.880 It's because God's the power behind this. 00:41:26.880 --> 00:41:37.539 And he takes faltering, humble, not humble, proud, arrogant, foolish, misguided, inadequate people like you and me 00:41:37.539 --> 00:41:42.740 to try to get up on our hind legs and say to some person about Jesus died, 00:41:42.860 --> 00:41:46.059 and the end of your story changes your story, and God does the work. 00:41:47.240 --> 00:41:48.539 God does the work. 00:41:48.539 --> 00:41:48.539 00:41:50.119 --> 00:41:51.539 That's what Mark's telling us. 00:41:51.619 --> 00:41:53.779 That's what Romans 1 16 is, the power of God. 00:41:55.119 --> 00:41:56.300 Salvation for all who believe. 00:41:56.360 --> 00:41:58.279 It's a power that comes from God. 00:41:58.960 --> 00:41:59.860 We announce it. 00:42:00.019 --> 00:42:00.880 He does all the work. 00:42:01.820 --> 00:42:02.699 We announce it. 00:42:03.599 --> 00:42:04.500 What do we do? 00:42:05.259 --> 00:42:07.320 We tell what he has told you and me. 00:42:08.579 --> 00:42:10.960 That, friends, brothers and sisters, 00:42:12.579 --> 00:42:14.360 Jesus really did defeat death. 00:42:14.860 --> 00:42:17.659 He really did defeat that which causes death. 00:42:17.659 --> 00:42:20.099 And he really wants us to be included. 00:42:20.639 --> 00:42:26.039 He explained what he did in the beginning and towards the end and even in the garden. 00:42:26.359 --> 00:42:27.579 He explains it. 00:42:27.940 --> 00:42:28.899 And he died. 00:42:29.079 --> 00:42:31.259 And he defeated that which caused death. 00:42:31.379 --> 00:42:33.039 And he defeated death itself. 00:42:33.319 --> 00:42:36.139 And he did that to include you. 00:42:37.179 --> 00:42:42.639 And the more you study and the more you read and the more you think and the more you imagine, 00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:52.139 my hope and prayer is that you too, day by day, will grow into a sure and certain hope in the resurrection of the dead. 00:42:53.980 --> 00:42:55.039 Invite you to stand. 00:42:55.039 --> 00:43:06.860 Another way for me to put my sermon is that God proclaims the tomb is empty. 00:43:07.039 --> 00:43:08.119 Jesus has been raised. 00:43:08.199 --> 00:43:10.079 Just as he said, go and tell. 00:43:11.420 --> 00:43:13.719 God proclaims the tomb is empty. 00:43:14.159 --> 00:43:15.219 Jesus has been raised. 00:43:15.480 --> 00:43:18.139 Just as Jesus said, go and tell. 00:43:18.139 --> 00:43:19.679 Well, let's pray. 00:43:20.900 --> 00:43:26.519 Father, we thank you for these historical accounts of what you did for us in the person of Jesus, 00:43:26.759 --> 00:43:32.319 God, the Son of God, fully God and fully man, one person, Jesus Christ. 00:43:32.440 --> 00:43:34.639 We thank you for his great victory over death. 00:43:34.739 --> 00:43:36.199 We thank you for his vindication. 00:43:36.939 --> 00:43:39.980 Father, we thank and praise you that you know we have doubts. 00:43:40.119 --> 00:43:40.919 We have questions. 00:43:41.139 --> 00:43:42.299 We have insecurities. 00:43:43.259 --> 00:43:45.799 We get hesitant. 00:43:46.159 --> 00:43:48.319 We get worried about what people will think. 00:43:48.939 --> 00:43:50.059 We have all these things. 00:43:50.159 --> 00:43:52.659 Father, we give you thanks and praise that you know these things, 00:43:52.739 --> 00:43:55.579 that you're patient with us, that you're kind to us, 00:43:57.159 --> 00:44:01.439 and that still you call us to believe in Jesus and then walk with us, 00:44:01.460 --> 00:44:03.039 even as we deal with these things. 00:44:03.039 --> 00:44:07.440 We ask, Father, that your Holy Spirit would help us to ask good questions, 00:44:07.940 --> 00:44:12.039 that your Holy Spirit would help us to have the courage to take good answers, 00:44:12.480 --> 00:44:17.199 and that day by day we would come to a deeper and deeper trust in the gospel 00:44:17.199 --> 00:44:22.420 and have a deeper and deeper sure confidence in the face of death 00:44:22.420 --> 00:44:28.219 that we will live with you in resurrected bodies for all eternity 00:44:28.219 --> 00:44:31.460 by grace alone, through faith in Christ alone, 00:44:31.460 --> 00:44:32.699 for your glory alone. 00:44:33.039 --> 00:44:36.059 And we ask and thank all these things in the name of Jesus, 00:44:36.239 --> 00:44:37.519 your Son and our Savior. 00:44:38.320 --> 00:44:38.679 Amen.