WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:09.519 I'm reading from the Gospel of Mark chapter 15 verse 42 onto chapter 16 verse 8. 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:16.519 And when evening had come, since it was the day of preparation that is, the day before 00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:23.280 the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council who was also himself 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:28.800 looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body 00:00:28.800 --> 00:00:36.079 of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died and summoning 00:00:36.079 --> 00:00:41.920 the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:47.920 centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:54.120 shroud and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that 00:00:54.119 --> 00:01:01.399 had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:09.840 Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joseph, saw where he was laid. When the Sabbath was 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:17.000 passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome, brought spices so that 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:22.439 they might go and anoint him. And very early on, the first day of the week, when the sun 00:01:22.439 --> 00:01:28.679 had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, who will roll 00:01:28.679 --> 00:01:34.640 away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? And looking up, they saw that the 00:01:34.640 --> 00:01:41.640 stone had been rolled back. It was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man 00:01:41.640 --> 00:01:48.000 sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:55.840 them, do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:04.000 He is not here. See the place where they laid him, but go. Tell his disciples and Peter 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:10.680 that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you. And 00:02:10.680 --> 00:02:16.680 they went out and fled from the tomb. For trembling and astonishment had seized them. 00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:23.680 And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. This is the word of the Lord. 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:28.319 Amen. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:34.600 Let's pray as we start to look at this passage together. Lord, we ask now that you would 00:02:34.600 --> 00:02:39.360 come and make the resurrection of Jesus Christ real and alive to us, that we would see its 00:02:39.360 --> 00:02:45.200 truth, that we would see its power. We know now that we need the Spirit to help us read 00:02:45.199 --> 00:02:49.280 the word rightly. And so we ask for that. I ask Holy Spirit, you would be present with 00:02:49.280 --> 00:02:56.159 us and give us the eyes of faith. And we pray this now in Jesus' name. Amen. 00:02:56.159 --> 00:03:00.679 We are finishing a long series now on Mark's Gospel today with this resurrection story we've 00:03:00.679 --> 00:03:05.399 just read. The resurrection of Jesus Christ is so important, it's so critical to think 00:03:05.399 --> 00:03:12.280 about, it's so paramount. And one of the reasons for that is because we're all going to die. 00:03:12.280 --> 00:03:16.240 That's the reason that the resurrection is so powerful, so important. And for most of 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:22.520 us, especially our church being on the younger side of things quite often, we think of death 00:03:22.520 --> 00:03:29.500 more in theory. Death is theoretical. And then one day that the doctor says, close the 00:03:29.500 --> 00:03:35.639 door, sit down, I've got to talk to you about something serious. And it's then that it hits 00:03:35.639 --> 00:03:41.800 us that we're going to die. And we have tragedy striking our family or near us or around us 00:03:41.800 --> 00:03:47.800 and it becomes more and more real. The Bible teaches that the resurrection is a light. 00:03:47.800 --> 00:03:53.600 It's the light. It's a light. It's a hope in the midst of darkness. When you're facing 00:03:53.600 --> 00:04:00.540 something so dark as death itself, the Bible, Christianity comes and says there is a light 00:04:00.540 --> 00:04:06.200 and it's resurrection. And J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring, the very first 00:04:06.199 --> 00:04:12.519 book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Galadriel, she's this great elf, this queen of the elves 00:04:12.519 --> 00:04:17.719 really, the lady of the wood. And she gives good gifts to all the members of the party 00:04:17.719 --> 00:04:24.759 that are traveling to Mordor. And she gives to Frodo a crystal vial. It's a crystal rock 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:30.399 and in it is captured starlight. And so it forever will emit starlight. And she says 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:37.359 to Frodo, may this be a light to you in dark places when all the other lights go out. Now 00:04:37.359 --> 00:04:42.639 that's the resurrection. The resurrection is the light when all the other lights have 00:04:42.639 --> 00:04:47.839 gone out. It's the light in the midst of the darkness. It's the light when you face not 00:04:47.839 --> 00:04:52.120 only the darkness of physical death, but the darkness of very painful circumstances, the 00:04:52.120 --> 00:04:56.879 darkness that comes emotionally and spiritually at all different times in your life. The resurrection 00:04:56.879 --> 00:05:02.560 is the light. It's a light that will never go out. That's a metaphor, light. Another 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:08.600 way to say it is it is our hope. It gives you hope in the midst of really hard things. 00:05:08.600 --> 00:05:16.159 And so let me just ask you today as we think about this. Is that true for you? Is the resurrection, 00:05:16.159 --> 00:05:22.040 the light of your life? Is it the vial that will never go out? You know, the light that 00:05:22.040 --> 00:05:26.960 God has given you in the midst of the darkness. Is that true for you? Is it the heartbeat 00:05:26.960 --> 00:05:33.800 of your life? Is it your North Star? Mark teaches us here that you can have hope in 00:05:33.800 --> 00:05:39.520 the resurrection. And the way he focuses us all on that today is he teaches us about hope 00:05:39.520 --> 00:05:46.680 in the historicity of the resurrection, hope in the meaning and power of the resurrection, 00:05:46.680 --> 00:05:51.840 and then lastly hope in the grace of the resurrection. So let's think about those three things together 00:05:51.839 --> 00:05:56.560 for just a few minutes. Okay. First, hope in the historicity. That's one of the big 00:05:56.560 --> 00:06:03.439 things Mark tries to focus on. So if you read the commentators on this passage, they will 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:09.039 all say the same thing, that Mark writes the story of the resurrection in a very objective 00:06:09.039 --> 00:06:14.719 way. There's a real note of objectivity here. There's a very important book written by a 00:06:14.719 --> 00:06:20.559 scholar named Richard Balkum some decade ago or so. And he says that when you read the 00:06:20.560 --> 00:06:27.519 Gospels, you really have to recover the sense that the Gospels are eyewitness testimony. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:32.399 And when you read an eyewitness testimony, the nature of an eyewitness testimony is 00:06:32.399 --> 00:06:39.000 that it's asking you to trust it. So when somebody gives a testimony, the quality of 00:06:39.000 --> 00:06:43.759 your response is completely based on whether or not you trust them. Is that testimony accurate 00:06:43.759 --> 00:06:50.120 or not? And that's really the only way you can approach a testimony. So if you observe, 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:54.959 let's say a car crash and the police come to speak to you about it, you know, there's 00:06:54.959 --> 00:07:00.199 five different observers and they want to hear your story, your testimony of what happened 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:05.079 at the car crash. You give your testimony, you give your account, you say, what do you 00:07:05.079 --> 00:07:09.040 say? You know, the guy was speeding or he went through the amber light, not the red 00:07:09.040 --> 00:07:14.439 light or whatever it may be. And the police do not turn around and say, we appreciate 00:07:14.439 --> 00:07:18.280 that you're in your testimony, you've given us a great mythological legend in order to 00:07:18.279 --> 00:07:22.839 construct a national and cultural identity. You know, that's not what they say because 00:07:22.839 --> 00:07:27.239 testimony doesn't work like that. Testimony is not there to give a mythological legend 00:07:27.239 --> 00:07:31.279 in order to construct a national and cultural identity. Now, lots of people have said that's 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:35.079 what the gospels do. They are mythological legends that are there to construct a religious 00:07:35.079 --> 00:07:39.639 identity. But that's not the category of testimony. And the historians and scholars say, you know, 00:07:39.639 --> 00:07:44.839 it just doesn't work. It doesn't fit. You can't approach it that way. And that's exactly, 00:07:44.839 --> 00:07:49.759 I think what we see when we look at the text pretty carefully, Mark is very objective. 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:54.879 And if you notice just some of the objectivity about it, let me, let me point it out to you. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:08:01.759 If you haven't noticed it yet, the time markers, the time markers and the details, he says, 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:07.959 verse 42, it's evening. It's the day of preparation. That's the day before the Passover, before 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:12.919 the Sabbath. It's the Passover day itself, this day that Jesus died. Verse two, this 00:08:12.920 --> 00:08:19.840 chapter 16, the Sabbath has now passed. They bring spices. Why? There's a detail there. 00:08:19.840 --> 00:08:25.439 Because it was so late in the evening and the Sabbath day starts at sundown on Friday 00:08:25.439 --> 00:08:29.840 that you're not allowed to anoint a dead body on the Sabbath day. There wasn't enough time. 00:08:29.840 --> 00:08:33.639 And so the women come back on the Sunday morning to anoint the body because that's the first 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:38.920 time it's not the Sabbath. They're allowed to do that in the Jewish law. Important details 00:08:38.919 --> 00:08:45.959 that Mark gives us. It's evening Friday and then it's the third day, it's sunrise on Sunday 00:08:45.959 --> 00:08:52.319 morning in verse two. Now, this is important just to say that Mark time stamps everything 00:08:52.319 --> 00:08:58.279 in this passage. Sometimes people, especially in the last two centuries have come and said, 00:08:58.279 --> 00:09:05.120 you know, the resurrection is something that's just existential. It's a feeling. It's a spirituality. 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:09.039 You know, it's a way of being. It's something not that happens outside of you, but something 00:09:09.039 --> 00:09:14.360 that happens in your heart. And when you read the gospels and you see the objectivity, you 00:09:14.360 --> 00:09:19.039 can't do that. Mark won't let you say that. Mark is saying, no, this was what happened 00:09:19.039 --> 00:09:24.039 on the Friday and then it was Sunday morning and he's time stamp. He's saying his claim, 00:09:24.039 --> 00:09:30.600 his testimony is that this is a space time reality, not a mere spiritual experience. 00:09:30.600 --> 00:09:34.879 There's something more going on here. He keeps going. One of the most notable features of 00:09:34.879 --> 00:09:40.159 the objectivity that everybody has pointed out that's read this gospel is that the eye 00:09:40.159 --> 00:09:46.200 witnesses, the primary eye witnesses are women. And so it features that verse 47 down and 00:09:46.200 --> 00:09:53.039 when the three women come to the empty tomb. And that's very important because typically, 00:09:53.039 --> 00:09:58.799 according to the law at the time, in most nations, in fact, women were not allowed to 00:09:58.799 --> 00:10:04.799 testify in the court of law. And it's been pointed out so many times how important it 00:10:04.799 --> 00:10:09.839 is to note that it's women that are the eye witnesses of the resurrection. And one scholar 00:10:09.839 --> 00:10:15.439 says it like this, had the early Christians sought to fabricate the resurrection story, 00:10:15.439 --> 00:10:22.839 the testimony of women in all four gospels was no way to go about it. 200 years later, 00:10:22.840 --> 00:10:28.879 two centuries later, there is a debate between a philosopher, a polytheist philosopher named 00:10:28.879 --> 00:10:34.639 Celsus, and an early Christian named Origen. And Celsus tells Origen, he won't believe 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:40.360 in the resurrection because he calls it quote, the gossip of the women about the empty tomb. 00:10:40.360 --> 00:10:45.360 So he won't listen to it because he says the gospel say it was women that saw it. And you 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:52.280 see in the midst of this culture of patriarchalism, how surprising it is if you're trying to fabricate 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:57.839 a legend in the midst of a culture that won't allow women to give testimony in court to 00:10:57.839 --> 00:11:01.120 put women as the primary eye witnesses. You know, what's the reason? It's because that's 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:06.120 exactly what happened. That's exactly what happened. And so this scholar, James Edwards, 00:11:06.120 --> 00:11:11.639 says, the testimony of the women gives the highest degree of probability of the truth 00:11:11.639 --> 00:11:18.360 of this story. Now notice, it's not all positive either. He doesn't say complete positive things 00:11:18.360 --> 00:11:22.440 about the women who saw. He says that at the cross, they were standing at a distance. They 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:27.200 were afraid. He says when the angel told them, when the angel told them, go and tell all 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:30.960 the disciples what you've seen, it says they didn't go and do it. They were too afraid to 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:35.120 do it. It's not all positive. It's not just giving you a positive account of the women. 00:11:35.120 --> 00:11:41.279 It's just telling you what happened. It's just complete objectivity. Verse five, when the 00:11:41.279 --> 00:11:46.600 women walk into the tomb looking for Jesus to put spices on his body, there's this little 00:11:46.600 --> 00:11:54.320 detail. The young man, the angel was seated on the right side. If you're writing a legend, 00:11:54.320 --> 00:11:59.159 you don't say things like that. You say, you know, behold, they went into the tomb and 00:11:59.159 --> 00:12:03.879 there was the angel glowing in light. And he was also seated on the right side, not the 00:12:03.879 --> 00:12:09.040 left side. You don't add that. You know, that's a report. That's a testimony. This is an 00:12:09.040 --> 00:12:15.680 objective account. The last thing I'll mention is just the ending here. Verse eight, Mark 00:12:15.679 --> 00:12:21.199 has been giving this account of the Son of God, King of creation, come to save the world, 00:12:21.199 --> 00:12:27.120 and how does he end his gospel? Verse eight, they went out and fled from the tomb, trembling 00:12:27.120 --> 00:12:30.719 and astonishment had seized them, and they didn't say anything to anybody because they 00:12:30.719 --> 00:12:38.319 were afraid. That's the end of the story. I'll just say a little bit. In your Bible, 00:12:38.320 --> 00:12:46.240 you might have in brackets verses nine to 20, a longer ending. So we've got over 5,000 00:12:46.240 --> 00:12:53.840 manuscripts of the Bible from the first entry till now, and we're overly certain that the 00:12:53.840 --> 00:12:58.080 text that we have is the text that was written. This is one of the only places where there's 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:02.440 a question as to whether these verses are also part of the gospel or not, verses nine 00:13:02.440 --> 00:13:08.480 to 20, if you have that in your Bible. Almost certainly they were not. They were very probably 00:13:08.480 --> 00:13:12.720 written in the second century, and so they put them in brackets there. They're not part 00:13:12.720 --> 00:13:17.880 of the earliest manuscripts that we have. I think that the reason somebody went and added 00:13:17.880 --> 00:13:22.320 verses nine to 20 is because they thought there's no way verse eight could be the ending. There 00:13:22.320 --> 00:13:27.560 has to be some more wrapping things up, drawing things to a conclusion, but it makes sense 00:13:27.559 --> 00:13:34.599 that it's the ending if you realize this is reporter testimony. He's ending with the last 00:13:34.599 --> 00:13:41.599 thing he was given by these women that were there. It's objective. Now, let me just say 00:13:41.599 --> 00:13:46.159 one more thing, and that's that it could be the case that you say, okay, okay, objective 00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:51.000 eyewitness testimony, but that's not my problem. The thing I struggle with, the thing we might 00:13:51.000 --> 00:13:57.079 struggle with as modern people is science. It doesn't really matter to me to what degree 00:13:57.080 --> 00:14:02.080 it's eyewitness testimony because I know, because of the enlightenment, because of the 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:06.840 scientific method, because of the objectivity of science. David Hume right out here on the 00:14:06.840 --> 00:14:11.320 Royal Mile, and Charles Darwin who studied here for a time, and all the way to Richard 00:14:11.320 --> 00:14:17.280 Dawkins. All these people have come and they've helped us see what? They've helped us see 00:14:17.280 --> 00:14:25.160 that dead bodies do not come back to life. Let me just say that the people in the first 00:14:25.159 --> 00:14:30.639 century understood pretty well before the enlightenment that dead bodies do not come 00:14:30.639 --> 00:14:36.199 back to life. We did, you know, the scientific method has not taken us very much further 00:14:36.199 --> 00:14:43.639 in knowing that dead people don't come back to life. Right? Exactly. Eureka, the point. 00:14:43.639 --> 00:14:48.199 Right? That's the point. That's why this was written about, because everybody already 00:14:48.199 --> 00:14:53.679 knew dead bodies don't come back to life. So let me just ask you today, will you find 00:14:53.679 --> 00:15:00.159 hope today? Will you find light? Not just in a feeling, not just in a spirituality, 00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:06.479 but in the fact that this man rose from the dead in space and time. You know, one day, 00:15:06.479 --> 00:15:13.159 someday in our lives, all the lights are going to go out. Yeah? And we will face the circumstances 00:15:13.159 --> 00:15:19.240 of emotional darkness, spiritual darkness, maybe at times, physical darkness for sure. 00:15:19.240 --> 00:15:27.200 We need a historical savior, not just a feeling. And that's exactly what we have here. Secondly, 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:32.519 but what does it mean? Okay, it happened in history, yes. What does it mean for you today? 00:15:32.519 --> 00:15:37.560 What is the power? There's real hope when you just look at what the resurrection means. 00:15:37.560 --> 00:15:42.240 Now let me say that if we were to try to say what does the resurrection mean, it would 00:15:42.240 --> 00:15:48.560 be a very long list. We'd be here all day together. And there are depths, you know, there are 00:15:48.559 --> 00:15:53.159 depths about the meaning of the resurrection that I do not know. I don't think we know. 00:15:53.159 --> 00:15:59.119 Depths that we will only find out in the next life. But let me just give you two that do 00:15:59.119 --> 00:16:03.559 show up right in Mark's language here, this report that we're given. The first one is 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:09.919 in verse six. It's from the mouth of the angel. The angel says, you seek Jesus of Nazareth 00:16:09.919 --> 00:16:16.879 who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Now that's the first thing. The first 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:23.159 thing to say is that the angel says he has risen. He is not here. Actually, the Greek 00:16:23.159 --> 00:16:29.439 text is a little more precise. It's a passive tense. So it very literally says he was raised. 00:16:29.439 --> 00:16:35.439 He is not here. Now this is a very important moment because this moment is the first announcement 00:16:35.439 --> 00:16:40.519 in human history of the gospel after it has been fully accomplished. This is the first 00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:46.740 moment where somebody pronounces the gospel, the gospel finish, the gospel complete redemption 00:16:46.740 --> 00:16:52.480 accomplished as we often say. He says, you know, you, the three women that came, the 00:16:52.480 --> 00:16:59.159 three Mary's, you came to find him and you came to find him dead. You came to find him 00:16:59.159 --> 00:17:07.039 to put spices on his dead body. But I'm here to say he was raised by God from the dead. 00:17:07.039 --> 00:17:13.000 And the reason that's so important is because that is the gospel. What is the gospel? The 00:17:13.000 --> 00:17:21.480 Christian gospel, unlike any other message in world history, is good news, not good advice. 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:28.779 The gospel is a pronouncement. The gospel is an exclamation of what's happened already. 00:17:28.779 --> 00:17:35.759 The gospel is saying this is what God did for you, not this is what you can do for him. 00:17:35.759 --> 00:17:40.920 The gospel never calls you to say perform and maybe I'll let you into the kingdom. The 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:46.880 gospel, the Christian gospel says God came ever before you thought about it and did something. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:52.000 Here we have it. The first pronouncement of the gospel. He was raised. God did it all. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:59.080 He did it. And it's more like, we might say it's the gospel is more like reading the newspaper 00:17:59.080 --> 00:18:06.320 than reading atomic habits or 12 rules for life or deep work or something like that. 00:18:06.320 --> 00:18:09.600 The great productivity books of our time. You know, it's not a self-help book. It's 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:14.839 not a way to become better. The gospel is more like opening the newspaper and just saying, 00:18:14.839 --> 00:18:20.439 look what God did. He's already done it. He did it for you. It means that the Christian 00:18:20.439 --> 00:18:24.839 gospel is not based on your performance. Now, what that says to you today is first, when 00:18:24.839 --> 00:18:30.919 you encounter the resurrection, there's really an invitation just to start by being silent 00:18:30.919 --> 00:18:39.279 and listening and just hear the pronouncement. He was raised. God did it. It's done. It's 00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:45.639 for you. And the other thing that that means is the gospel, the resurrection, all that 00:18:45.639 --> 00:18:50.720 it means doesn't actually first depend on the way we feel about it. So the gospel's 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:55.000 power is not found in the way we feel about it. The gospel's power is found in what God 00:18:55.000 --> 00:19:02.160 has already done in history. And so we come to the light of the resurrection and we say 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:08.279 it is the gospel, the good news salvation is not dependent on me. That's the first word 00:19:08.279 --> 00:19:14.599 of the gospel and I can rest in that. Now secondly, how so? What exactly does it mean 00:19:14.599 --> 00:19:19.079 that God has acted in history for you? What exactly? And we get this from the second word 00:19:19.079 --> 00:19:26.599 that the angel says. He says, verse seven, Jesus is going before you and you will see 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:31.799 him. Now, what is that kind of language? It's the language of the meaning of the gospel, 00:19:31.799 --> 00:19:36.599 the meaning of the good news. What does he say? He is going before you. He's traveling 00:19:36.599 --> 00:19:44.199 before you. This is the language of forging a path, of making a road away. He has gone 00:19:44.199 --> 00:19:49.480 before you and he's made a road for you. That's the meaning of the gospel. I don't know. I 00:19:49.480 --> 00:19:55.879 grew up in the southern U.S. in Mississippi and there I spent a lot of time in the woods, 00:19:55.879 --> 00:20:00.799 a lot of time in the forest. And when I was small, I remember maybe you've had this experience 00:20:00.799 --> 00:20:07.799 that we would be deep, deep in the back country, if you might say. And we would come upon a 00:20:07.799 --> 00:20:15.359 thicket, thorns, thistles, brambles. We'd come upon a big patch of bamboo and my dad 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:21.599 would be there and my dad would, I mean, he would trailblaze the bamboo. He would just 00:20:21.599 --> 00:20:29.159 push it over and it was so that my little self could pass behind him. And this is exactly 00:20:29.160 --> 00:20:33.320 what the angel is saying. He's saying, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is 00:20:33.320 --> 00:20:39.000 a path, a road that's been paved for you and you follow right behind him. It's a road of 00:20:39.000 --> 00:20:47.560 redemption. What's the road? The road is movement from slavery to emancipation. It's a movement 00:20:47.560 --> 00:20:54.920 from debt to freedom. That's the road that he's paved for us. And here's the big idea. 00:20:54.920 --> 00:21:00.720 Notice how to explain it. When you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you are united 00:21:00.720 --> 00:21:09.080 to him all the way. Meaning that when he died, it's as if you died. And when he was 00:21:09.080 --> 00:21:14.080 raised from the dead, it's as if you already have been raised from the dead. He's made 00:21:14.080 --> 00:21:18.920 a road for you. You're walking down the road. He's already walked down. He died, you died. 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:24.759 He was raised, you're raised. He got what you deserve, so you get what he deserves. He got 00:21:24.759 --> 00:21:29.720 your sin and death, you get his life and light. That's the road that you're walking down. 00:21:29.720 --> 00:21:35.079 That's the road that he's pushed over for you in the middle of the forest. He took your 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:41.559 debt, you get his life. It's called the Great Exchange. It doesn't just work in the cross. 00:21:41.559 --> 00:21:46.480 It's also fundamental to the resurrection. In other words, without the resurrection, 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:52.879 there is no gospel. Because in the resurrection, it's not just that he's taken away your sin, 00:21:52.880 --> 00:21:57.920 it's that he gives you his life. That's what takes place in his resurrection life. Now, 00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:01.920 let me try to explain that a little more. The best illustration I've ever heard for 00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:06.920 this, and no illustration, by the way, is perfect. And this one's sure not, but it's 00:22:06.920 --> 00:22:11.720 helpful, I think. If you're married, if you get married, sometimes what happens is you 00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:19.600 get a joint credit card together. You have a credit card. You shared the account. And 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:27.000 maybe you have all your financial stuff now in this 2024 that we live in on your phone. 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:34.839 And every time your spouse purchases something, it dings on your phone, right? And so you're 00:22:34.839 --> 00:22:41.159 there. This could be a man. This could be a woman. It works in every direction. You see, 00:22:41.159 --> 00:22:48.439 ding, Amazon, Amazon, Amazon. And maybe this happens for a long time and you don't have 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:52.360 the money to pay the credit card off. And eventually the debt collector comes to your 00:22:52.360 --> 00:23:00.880 house and says, you owe a lot of money. And what do you say? You say, I never spent a 00:23:00.880 --> 00:23:07.000 penny of that. I haven't purchased a single thing. And what is the debt collector going 00:23:07.000 --> 00:23:16.640 to say? It doesn't matter. You are so legally connected. You are so legally bonded together 00:23:16.640 --> 00:23:23.320 like you're in covenant. You are. That everything that the one does applies to you. And everything 00:23:23.320 --> 00:23:29.400 that you do applies to the other. And that's exactly what's taking place in the gospel. 00:23:29.400 --> 00:23:33.160 When Jesus Christ goes to the cross, God the Father says, you are so legally connected 00:23:33.160 --> 00:23:38.240 to Christ, covenantally connected to Christ. We call that forensic connection. You're so 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:42.720 connected that everything that's true of you becomes true of him on the cross. That's 00:23:42.720 --> 00:23:47.480 the darkness of Good Friday. And everything that's true of him becomes the light of resurrection 00:23:47.480 --> 00:23:54.360 Sunday for you. You see, why was Jesus raised from the dead? Why? And the answer is because 00:23:54.360 --> 00:23:59.680 he deserved to be. You see, when he took on our sin at the cross and he went down into 00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:04.880 the depths of darkness, because he is God, because he is righteous, he actually did pay 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:12.920 for human sin. Justice was satisfied. You know, if you go to prison and you've done 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:17.440 your whole sentence, they release you, don't they? Because you have paid the debt. The 00:24:17.440 --> 00:24:21.600 justice has been fulfilled. Jesus Christ went to the cross on our behalf and really did 00:24:21.600 --> 00:24:26.640 fulfill the justice that we deserve. And so on the third day when he's raised from the 00:24:26.640 --> 00:24:32.560 dead, it is because he deserves it. He deserves it. He's righteous. He's good. He's God himself. 00:24:32.559 --> 00:24:36.599 He doesn't deserve to be dead. He deserves to be alive. You see, when he goes to the 00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:44.399 cross, he takes what you deserve, death and justice. And because he satisfies that, on 00:24:44.399 --> 00:24:49.679 the third day, he's raised from the dead. The punishment's over. He deserves to be alive. 00:24:49.679 --> 00:24:55.799 He's righteous. He's good. And in that moment, you get what he deserves. He gets what you 00:24:55.799 --> 00:25:02.039 deserve at the cross. You get what he deserves in the resurrection. Let me say it like this. 00:25:02.039 --> 00:25:12.200 You know, the angel says here, you will see him. He's trying to help you to see the positive, 00:25:12.200 --> 00:25:20.440 the great blessing of the resurrection. The gospel is not just you're a sinner and Jesus 00:25:20.440 --> 00:25:26.799 Christ has died for your sins. No. That's the starting point. But it keeps going. It 00:25:26.799 --> 00:25:34.319 doesn't stop there. That is good news. Jesus Christ has paid for all of our injustices. 00:25:34.319 --> 00:25:41.839 And let me say it like this. Imagine you are the one that goes to prison. And you had a 00:25:41.839 --> 00:25:45.839 big charge against you. You're going to be there a long time. But then all of a sudden, 00:25:45.839 --> 00:25:50.799 they come in and the judge releases you and they tell you, somebody else has taken your 00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:56.480 punishment. Somebody else wanted to satisfy the just requirement of the court for you. 00:25:56.480 --> 00:26:03.799 And so you've been released. Okay, that's good news. That's good news. Your big problem 00:26:03.799 --> 00:26:11.240 is dealt with except the gospel says a lot more than that. The gospel says, and we want 00:26:11.240 --> 00:26:15.920 to give you, you know, in the States, we want to lay on your neck the congressional medal 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:22.440 of honor. We want to give you the George Cross medallion. We want to give you the Nobel Peace 00:26:22.440 --> 00:26:26.960 Prize. It'd be more like that. That's the gospel. It's yet you've been released from 00:26:26.960 --> 00:26:32.519 your debt from your sin. And now God wants to put over your neck the Nobel Peace Prize. 00:26:32.519 --> 00:26:39.960 He wants to lavish you lavish you with a gift that you don't deserve. And the gift you don't 00:26:39.960 --> 00:26:47.680 deserve is the very life of Jesus Christ that he deserves. It's more than just being forgiven. 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:52.960 It's that God wants to throw around your neck a garnish. He wants to crown you. He wants 00:26:52.960 --> 00:27:00.200 to give you a home, a feast and a family. That's resurrection life. It's exactly what 00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:05.120 Jesus deserves. You don't deserve it, but you get it as a gift. That's the message of 00:27:05.120 --> 00:27:09.039 the gospel. That's the good news. It's the hope, ultimately, if we could say it one 00:27:09.039 --> 00:27:17.160 word of joy. Now lastly, that leads us then to say, okay, what can I do with this today? 00:27:17.160 --> 00:27:22.880 There's hope in the resurrection and the grace of discipleship that's being offered. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:27.000 There's a call here, an invitation in Mark's gospel at the very end just to follow Jesus 00:27:27.000 --> 00:27:34.600 and to receive this blessing, forgiveness and life. And the real focus of how Mark 00:27:34.600 --> 00:27:40.920 tries to get us to see that and do that is by looking at these women. Very important. 00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:45.640 Mark's focus is that we would learn from the discipleship the way these women follow Jesus 00:27:45.640 --> 00:27:51.720 here at the very end of the passage. There are three Marys, Mary the mother of Jesus, 00:27:51.720 --> 00:27:59.960 Mary Salome, very likely the sister of Mary the mother of Jesus, and Mary Magdalene. And 00:27:59.960 --> 00:28:05.240 we're told here that they were at the cross to the bitter end, but they also stood a 00:28:05.240 --> 00:28:11.720 distance away. They followed Jesus all the way and yet they were very afraid of the moment. 00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:17.240 Very fearful, they didn't understand it. And then it says that they're the first people 00:28:17.240 --> 00:28:21.400 to come to the tomb on Sunday morning. Now Mark, if you've been with us the past year 00:28:21.400 --> 00:28:27.400 and a half really through Mark's gospel, you'll remember that one of Mark's most important 00:28:27.400 --> 00:28:33.400 focuses is on unnamed women all throughout the gospel. Almost always when Mark mentions 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:38.279 women, he does not name them. And the big emphasis he gives on these unnamed women throughout 00:28:38.279 --> 00:28:44.440 the gospel is that they are the model of discipleship in Mark's gospel. And so you might remember 00:28:44.440 --> 00:28:50.599 the unnamed woman that pours wildly expensive oil on Jesus' body to anoint him in Bethany. 00:28:50.599 --> 00:28:55.879 You might remember the poor widow unnamed that gives her very last penny to serve the Lord. 00:28:55.879 --> 00:29:00.839 And Jesus says, look at her, that's faith, that's discipleship. You might remember the 00:29:00.839 --> 00:29:06.599 woman with the hemorrhage of blood who teaches the local head of the synagogue, gyrus, what 00:29:06.599 --> 00:29:12.279 it means to have faith. You might remember the Syrophoenician woman who grabs the robe of Jesus 00:29:12.279 --> 00:29:17.879 and falls at his feet. She was a polytheist before, but she sees him and she says, you 00:29:17.879 --> 00:29:22.679 can heal my little girl that's dying. And every single time Mark goes out of his way to say, 00:29:22.679 --> 00:29:28.439 that's faith, that's discipleship. At the bitter end, it's the women that are there. 00:29:29.159 --> 00:29:35.079 They're afraid. They don't exactly know what to think. They're bewildered, but they're there. 00:29:35.079 --> 00:29:40.119 And Mark points us to that. Now, it's very clear that Mark is trying to point to us. 00:29:40.919 --> 00:29:47.720 The men who would become apostles ran away, except for John, we learn in the other gospel, 00:29:48.519 --> 00:29:55.319 and the women stayed. They stuck by his side. The men were hiding, and the women were right here. 00:29:56.839 --> 00:30:01.319 But look, let me just draw out a few things he's teaching us about discipleship and we'll finish. 00:30:01.319 --> 00:30:06.919 The call of the resurrection, the fact of the resurrection is the call to follow Jesus, 00:30:08.039 --> 00:30:12.599 to receive justification, forgiveness of sin, to receive the blessing of his light, 00:30:12.599 --> 00:30:17.639 his life in every way. And how does it come to us in Mark? It comes to us through these women, 00:30:17.639 --> 00:30:24.599 and we're told first, they had lots of fear here. That's really highlighted. They were very afraid. 00:30:24.599 --> 00:30:29.319 They stood at a distance from the cross. When the angel says, go and tell the gospel, 00:30:29.319 --> 00:30:33.159 it says that they were too afraid to speak. They were silent at the very end. 00:30:34.119 --> 00:30:37.799 And I think the first thing that Mark's trying to get us to see again is this. 00:30:38.759 --> 00:30:42.919 If you want to come and follow Jesus Christ today, the King of heaven and earth, the Lord of the 00:30:42.919 --> 00:30:50.279 resurrection, you've got to see that the resurrection is really very objective. It says, you are saved, 00:30:51.079 --> 00:30:57.799 you are saved today, not by the quality of your faith. You might have a very fearful faith. 00:30:57.799 --> 00:31:02.680 You are not saved by the quality of your faith. No, no, you are saved by the object 00:31:03.480 --> 00:31:07.480 of your faith, the man himself, Jesus Christ, the God of the resurrection. 00:31:09.079 --> 00:31:15.159 And when you see that, that it's not your performance, the very next step that happens 00:31:15.159 --> 00:31:21.399 is you start to move in your Christian life from fearfulness to fearlessness. 00:31:22.680 --> 00:31:27.399 You start to take steps of growth. Ephesians 4 says, because of the resurrection, 00:31:27.400 --> 00:31:33.720 you can actually grow in spiritual maturity. And you know that we know by tradition and by the 00:31:33.720 --> 00:31:39.400 rest of the New Testament that these women that were afraid became fearless. 00:31:41.400 --> 00:31:46.759 In so many ways, we know that the apostles that were hiding away would later give their lives 00:31:47.480 --> 00:31:54.280 for the one that gave his life for them. In other words, the resurrection actually has 00:31:54.279 --> 00:31:58.440 the power to change your life right now. You know, you might come today and say, 00:31:59.639 --> 00:32:08.119 I'm afraid of physical death. Yeah? Are you afraid to die? And the resurrection says that you can 00:32:08.119 --> 00:32:13.160 face that fear and grow in confidence that God really will raise your body from the dead and you 00:32:13.160 --> 00:32:18.920 will live. And you might come today and say, you know, I'm afraid, I'm not afraid of the things 00:32:18.920 --> 00:32:25.480 of the body, I'm afraid of the failures of my past. I'm afraid to follow Jesus because I'm afraid 00:32:25.480 --> 00:32:30.600 of being exposed deep down to really look and say, I know I've got guilt, I've got shame, 00:32:30.600 --> 00:32:35.160 I've got things in my past I don't know I can be forgiven for. And do you know what? When Jesus 00:32:35.160 --> 00:32:41.880 walked out of the tomb, the light of life pronounces over you that you get everything he is. 00:32:42.600 --> 00:32:46.759 Meaning you're clean, you're washed, you're not in the darkness, you're in the light. It doesn't 00:32:46.759 --> 00:32:52.839 matter what people around you say, you're forgiven, fully and forever. Are you afraid today? You might 00:32:52.839 --> 00:32:56.920 be afraid today of circumstances of loss, circumstances of disappointment, circumstances 00:32:56.920 --> 00:33:02.680 of not ever achieving the things you want from this life. And do you know that the resurrection 00:33:02.680 --> 00:33:06.200 power is to come to you and say, you know, you're going to get the Nobel Peace Prize. 00:33:07.319 --> 00:33:12.599 You know, God's going to come and lavish you with every fulfillment you've ever longed for. 00:33:12.599 --> 00:33:18.359 That's the promise of the resurrection. And so I just want to close with this. This is striking, 00:33:18.359 --> 00:33:24.839 the very last thing. This little word rocks me at the end of this passage. I hope you'll find 00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:36.279 help in it. At the very end, the angel says to the women, but go, tell the disciples, and then 00:33:36.279 --> 00:33:43.240 there's that one word, and Peter. Now, Peter was the primary eye witness for Mark's gospel. 00:33:44.599 --> 00:33:52.039 And at the very end, the angel says very specifically, go, tell the disciples who are all 00:33:52.039 --> 00:33:57.720 hiding away, scared. He has risen and he's made the way for you in the midst of your fear. 00:33:57.720 --> 00:34:07.240 And tell Peter too. Why? Why does he point out Peter? You know, what he's saying is, you know, 00:34:07.240 --> 00:34:15.000 Peter, this chairman in a way of the disciples, he betrayed, he was the traitor. He committed 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:22.360 treason. You know, these women are a model of faithful discipleship. Peter isn't. And the angel 00:34:22.360 --> 00:34:31.079 goes out of his way to say, the gospel is for him too. It's for the traitor. It's for the one who 00:34:31.079 --> 00:34:36.680 left Jesus to die by himself. He goes out of his way to say, the final word, Peter, that you will 00:34:36.680 --> 00:34:41.960 hear in this life is not, you are a man of shame. The final word you're going to hear, because of 00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:48.760 the resurrection, is come and eat with me. And so at the very end of the gospel, Jesus invites 00:34:48.760 --> 00:34:54.600 Peter to eat with him. You could be a very faithful disciple. You could be a very poor disciple. 00:34:55.400 --> 00:35:00.440 It's not the quality of your faith that saves you. It's the object. It's the gospel. It's the 00:35:00.440 --> 00:35:05.000 grace of discipleship. It's the good news. And so let me say that the word of the resurrection 00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:12.680 today, the last sentence, is not shame upon you. No, Peter, no friend. Instead, the word of the 00:35:12.680 --> 00:35:18.360 gospel, the word of the resurrection is, God says today, come and eat with me. Come and eat with 00:35:18.360 --> 00:35:26.440 me, no matter what. Let's do that. Let's pray together. Lord, we come to dine with you now 00:35:26.440 --> 00:35:33.320 at the Lord's table. And we thank you. We thank you for the power of the gospel. We thank you that 00:35:33.320 --> 00:35:39.480 the gospel of grace is for big sinners like us. And we ask now that you would help us to see it, 00:35:40.519 --> 00:35:43.640 that we would really know the depths of our heart, the condition of our soul, 00:35:43.639 --> 00:35:49.639 that we have committed so many injustices in this world, small and big, and we're in need 00:35:50.519 --> 00:35:55.879 of redemption. So we thank you for Redemption Road, for the road of Christ, for the one who 00:35:55.879 --> 00:36:01.799 stood in our place. I just pray now that somebody today here would be moved to see the power of 00:36:01.799 --> 00:36:06.519 the resurrection for the first time and believe it and take up the call to discipleship. I pray 00:36:06.519 --> 00:36:14.840 that many would have their path in following you down that red strength and strength and this morning, 00:36:14.840 --> 00:36:38.920 Lord, by the light of the resurrection. So we pray that now and we pray it in Christ's name. Amen.