"When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’" They
went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had
gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."
Good Morning my beloved,
An unresolved ending leaves questions unanswered, which can serve as a cliffhanger, creating a sense of suspense to keep the audience guessing, speculating and forming their own conclusions, reinforcing their investment in the story, while compelling them to return for the answer to the lingering question.
With only 16 chapters, Mark's Gospel is significantly shorter than the other Gospels, but even more compelling is how Mark begins his Gospel and how he ends it. As you probably noticed at the onset of our study, there is no mention of the virgin birth of Jesus or the birth of Jesus at all, in fact, Joseph, the husband of Mary, is strangely absent, he is never named. It is easy to see how Roman Catholics began
teaching of the "perpetual virginity" with no sexual experience whatsoever and therefore, the presumed assumption of "holiness" was transferred to Mary herself, however, the first official mention of the idea does not occur until 374 AD, from an early monk and bishop, Epiphanius of Salamis, which became the standard explanation by Roman Catholics. The problem is, it is simply not found anywhere in the New Testament nor is it part of the earliest Christian creeds.
Even more significant is Mark’s abrupt ending, which actually ends with verse 8, giving no account of anyone seeing Jesus following the visit of the women to the empty tomb, like the other three Gospels.
The original ending of Mark's Gospel was viewed as so grossly deficient that it apparently left later Christians with the idea that they needed to make it more complete by adding to the story, taken directly from the endings of the Gospels of Matthew, Luke, and John to be in alignment with the other accounts, however, the oldest manuscripts do not contain verses nine to twenty, which is why there will be a footnote in your Bible indicating that these were added sometime later. In fact, there are various endings depending on the translation, with the longest ending being in the King James Version, the most treasured version for the past 500 years.
Some scholars have suggested that Mark may have died or was incapable of completing his work for some other reason. While others have suggested that the cliffhanger ending of his Gospel was intentional, so that Peter and other eyewitnesses could verbally add their accounts. However, there is no evidence to suggest that is the case. I believe a far more likely reason for the abrupt ending of Mark's Gospel is to take into account what we do know of the history of Mark’s account, which is believed to have been the earliest Gospel written; that it simply began as abruptly as it ends, to provide a condensed summary to his audience of the life of Jesus, focusing on His works, His deeds and His teachings, which only appears to be abrupt when it is compared to the other more detailed Gospel accounts. The fact that Mark begins with the baptism of Jesus and ends with His resurrection is likely no coincidence, since that is the essence of where the life of every Christian begins and ends. That said, I believe this does nothing to compromise the integrity of Scripture, since all four Gospels tell the same story from differing perspectives, superintended by the Holy Spirit, without a single contradiction. I believe that's the most convincing argument as to the validity of the Gospel.
Let us pray,
Heavenly Father,
Amen
Today's Message: The Day Everything Changed
As a pastor, I have heard just about every imaginable, pathetic lie there is, I'm not sure if it its because people think their lies are that convincing or whether they think I'm that gullible. Nobody knows better than Satan, the father of lies, that the most dangerous lie is the one that’s almost true, as long as it doesn’t confront peoples sin. Before we get into our text, there is something that has been laid on my heart, something that I believe needs to be addressed; there is nothing that the modern church needs to learn more desperately than the Truth about sin and its impact in our lives, as God Himself defines it, rather the opinions of pastors, being lead by Satan to pervert and manipulate the Truth. It is the characteristic of a true believer, a regenerated, born again Christian with a new nature to love God, to love Christ and to hate sin, especially his own. In contrast, it is characteristic of one who is unregenerate, an unbelieving person, to be deceived about his true spiritual condition, to refuse to acknowledge his sin, because the truth isn’t in him. There are some people who claim to be a Christian, who know the Word of God, who claim to love God, to have fellowship with Christ but they’re insensitive to the reality of their true spiritual condition, who think they can go on sinning and walking in the darkness. Therefore, their claim to salvation is invalid, they're self-deceived, they do not practice the truth and their life fails to pass the test, because His Word is not in them. Anybody who isn’t sensitive to his sin, is deceived about his sinful condition, is unregenerate, an unbeliever. A true believer in Christ recognizes that he must walk in purity, in holiness and pursue righteous in order to have true communion with God and fellowship with Christ. And, if he does occasionally sin, and he will, because we all do, he understands his need to immediately confess it and turn away from it.
In James 5:16, he says, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
I wonder how many times pastors today have told someone, "You will die in your sins." If I had to guess, I'd say not many, if at all, yet that’s exactly what Jesus said. One of the responsibilities of the pastor is trying to help people understand the truth about their spiritual condition. I assure you, there are some people in the church today who have the feeling, the damning illusion that all is well between them and God, who think they are saved, but have no right to claim salvation, because according to what Scripture teaches their lives do not demonstrate any evidence to validate their claim; a regenerate heart with new desires, is set on pursuing holiness and a longing to please God. Most likely, because the information they received about sin and salvation was not true, so they continue to live any way they want in an unbroken pattern of sin. In other words, it is a false conversion. That's why I believe it's so important to speak about sin, the matter of one's spiritual condition and self-examination often. If you want to know whether you’re a true Christian, if you are authentically saved, I encourage you to do a little inventory, to look closely at your life. When you read the Word of God, do you feel convicted, are you compelled to repent and confess your sin or do you reject the idea that your sin is an issue in your relationship with Christ, and with others? Do you defend your sin, pointing out the sins of others, to make your point that nobody's perfect, so it's not a big deal because it's covered by grace? Because true Christians don’t respond that way about their sin, they feel the enormous burden of their sin, causing them to cry out, "God, be merciful to me, I have sinned, there's been a serious defection from the Truth in my life!"
Ask yourself, are you obedient to His commandments? 1 John chapter 2, verses 3-4, "And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, I have come to know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." Do you love the world, living as though Christ isn't coming back, maybe even before this day ends or are you eagerly waiting, longing for Christ's return? 1 John 2:15, "If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Are you noticing the decreasing frequency of sin in your life, and are you deeply disturbed by your sin when you do fall short? The closer we get to Christ, the more sinful we start to feel and the more convicted we become about our sin, we can't just let go anymore. 1 John 1:5-6, "And this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not do the truth."
Because I love the Truth, I'm passionate about the Truth, therefore, I am also passionate about confronting error. I have no greater joy than to proclaim the Word of God, in Truth and I'm also compelled to call attention to sin and commanded to confront those who
participate in Satan's evil deeds, exposing those who teach his damning lies to undiscerning, gullible believers, not because I enjoy the thrill of confrontation or winning an argument, but because I genuinely love the Truth, the Word of God drives everything I say and motivates everything I do, out of my love for Christ. Personally, I believe there are too few pastors today who are willing to take a firm stand against the culture we live in and fight for the Truth. Cowardly evangelicals who refuse to stand for anything, have compromised on everything because they are afraid of the backlash of being labeled, and the result is corruption is pouring into the church on a massive scale. That is antithetical to what Jesus Himself said, that we need to be willing and prepared to give our lives for the sake of the Gospel.
I am compelled to echo the words of the apostle Paul in Romans 1:16-19,
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to
faith; as it is written, "But the righteous will live by faith. For the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God
made it evident to them."
Every Christian has a responsibility to contend for faith by proclaiming God’s truth, no matter how unpopular it becomes. It is disturbing that so many who profess to know and love Christ, have exchanged the timeless Truth of Word of God for the worlds corrupting influence and it's skewed morality, in order to justify their own sin and satisfy their lust, forfeiting the grace of salvation. Reinterpreting the Gospel to accommodate a fallen humanity presents a significant risk to the core of biblical Christianity as well as the eternal fate of those who are influenced by individuals compromising the absolute Truth. Christians have a clear responsibility to guard the Truth, protect the church against false teachers and expose them as the deceptive liars that they are. Until you understand the doctrine of sin and eternal punishment, you can’t understand the doctrine of grace, forgiveness and what it means to be set free from condemnation. Apart from the Truth, it doesn't matter what you think or feel, your faith is worthless and you are still in your sins. The test by which we can measure whether a person is a genuine Christian is their attitude toward sin. All throughout the history of mankind, he has literally done everything he can to either convince himself that his sin doesn’t exist, or claiming that someone else is responsible for it.
Genesis 3:11-13, "And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?" And the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave to me from the tree, and I ate." Then Yahweh God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." By blaming others for your sin, you cannot escape the reality of your sinfulness or nor will it remove the penalty of it. If you claim to have had an encounter with Jesus, and salvation didn’t change the way you live your life, impact your desires and your attitude toward your sin, He didn’t come into your life and you're not saved. Scripture is very clear, it’s impossible to be a true Christian and have the same relationship with your sin you had before you came to Christ. That's the affirmation that you have been born again, that you have a new nature. An unbroken, habitual pattern of sin is incompatible with the new birth, the new nature and the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a true believer, evidence that you do not belong to Christ.
1 John 3, "Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God. By this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifested." You cannot be a new creation in Christ, have the mind of Christ and be comfortable with the sin in your life. That's what it means to be raised into a new life of righteousness, you hate sin. If there's anything that Christians today need to be reminded of its that salvation and exemplary godly behavior are in inseparable! We cannot have a Kingdom impact on the world unless our conduct is distinctly different from that of unbelievers! Any preacher that claims salvation does not require a dramatic change in your life is not preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ but Satan's lies that gives false assurance to damned people. The church today is divided into two classes of Christianity, those who believe the Word of God, adhere to Christ's teachings, obedient to His commands and those who play fast and loose with the Word of God, cherry picking what the believe, bowing down to sin and immorality, living in contradiction to everything Scripture teaches, obeying Satan. The latter, is the definition of a sinner, the unregenerate, an unbeliever, doing their own thing their own way. Any Christian who knows what God's Word says and does what they want anyway, is essentially doing exactly what Satan did, usurping His Authority, effectively trying to kick God off the throne.
Open your Bibles with me, if you would and turn to the Gospel of Mark chapter 16. The resurrection of Jesus Christ the most amazing event in the history of the world, it is the source of eternal life for those of us who believe, it is the key to our hope, the promise of our own literal, physical, bodily resurrection in which we will live forever. Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there would be no salvation, no forgiveness of sin and no Christianity. There is no other world religion, whether it's Animism, Spiritualism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam that can claim such a promise as we Christians have, that's what makes Christianity unique. For example, in Islam, there is no atonement for sin, no promise of forgiveness, and no assurance of eternal life apart from those who die in jihad to conquer for Allah, and to rid the land of all infidels, to please Allah.
In contemporary Christianity, we don't seem to have many who are willing to proclaim the Truth, guard the Truth, much less defend the Truth. In fact, there is a movement in the name of unity, to accept anything anybody believes from any religion as truth, a concept that doesn’t appear anywhere in Scripture! Apart from the supreme authority of Scripture, there can be no assurance of faith, no hope of heaven, and no confidence in the promises of God, I don't care what you believe, how religious or how spiritual you are, if it's not the Bible, you're headed straight to Hell. There is nothing waiting but judgment and eternal condemnation. In John 14:6, Jesus made it clear, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me." If you imagine that God's grace and forgiveness, is a license to sin then you’ve really never embraced salvation in Jesus Christ. Titus 1:15-16, "To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but by their works they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and unfit for any good work." There will be no doubt many people who will go to Hell from a pew, because of their ungodliness, turning the grace of God into licentiousness, they have resisted God's Truth and believed Satan's lies.
I invite you to follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds, and listen for the voice of our Lord with open ears and a hearing heart. Mark 16:1-8.
"When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. And
he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the
Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’" They
went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had
gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."
Let's look at verse 1, "When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him." In Luke's account, he adds there was a woman by the name of Joanna, the wife of Chuza, one of the Herod’s stewards and the other women with them were telling these things to the apostles. In John's Gospel he only mentions Mary Magdalene, notice, he says Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb, while it was still dark, however, he implies the other women came later by using the plural pronoun "we." When the other women arrive, the sun has already risen. They probably started together, and Mary Magdalene may have went ahead while the others went to buy spices.
Nevertheless, after resting on the Sabbath, which by the way is Saturday, in Hebrew, they didn't use days, they only used numbers as they were related to Sabbath. Luke says it was on the first day of the week, at early dawn, which is Sunday, Sunday is the first day of the week. So it's early morning on Sunday, the third day that He has been in the grave, a partial day on Friday, all day Saturday and a portion of Sunday, when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, the women who have followed Jesus since Galilee, who loved Him, served Him, watched Him die on the cross, who followed Joseph of Arimathea after he took Him off the cross and saw where Jesus was laid late on Friday, bought spices, and have come back to the tomb so that they might anoint Him. It's important to recognize, there is absolutely no indication there was any thought of a resurrection on their minds, they expected Him to be still be in the tomb because they came with spices to anoint Him.
Verse 2, "Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen." Now, the sun has risen, it's light enough to see that the stone is removed." John tells us "she ran and came to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and said to them, "They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him." She knew exactly where the tomb was, she and the other women saw that on Friday, having been firsthand witnesses of Jesus’ Crucifixion and burial. Again, there's no indication she had any thought of a resurrection, she immediately concludes that someone has stolen the body.
In verse 3, Mark tells us they were saying to one another, "Who will roll
away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" So whatever the
reason, Mary Magdalene appears to have arrived before the other women. Keep in mind, they started out in the dark, so they may have gotten separated, we can't be dogmatic, because Scripture doesn't tell us.
Verse 4, "Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large." The other women arrive, and notice the stone that had been rolled over it, has been rolled away. Remember, they were just discussing among themselves how they were going to remove it. Again, proof that none of these women expected a resurrection, it's clear they came expecting to anoint the body of Jesus. Why would they buy spices to embalm Him, if they believed that Jesus was going to rise from the grave? Why would they be wondering how they would remove the extremely large stone from the entrance of the tomb, if they expected the tomb to be empty? By the way, there is no record of anyone actually seeing Jesus coming out of the
tomb, He left in the same glorified manner that He appeared to the
apostles in the upper room with the door shut.
Matthew tells us that "Now on the next day, the day after the preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered together with Pilate, and said, "Sir, we remember that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I am to rise again.’ Therefore,
give orders for the grave to be made secure until the third day,
otherwise His disciples may come and steal Him away and say to the
people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last deception will be
worse than the first." Pilate said to them, "You have a guard; go, make it as secure as you know how." And they went and made the grave secure, and along with the guard they set a seal on the stone." Notice it's the day after the preparation, that's the Sabbath! By their own Jewish law, they are desecrating the Sabbath, defiling themselves on the Passover, by going into a Gentile place.
Matthew 28 tells us that sometime after the Sabbath ended, in early hours of Sunday morning, something very dramatic happened, something that cannot be explained as anything other than a supernatural act of God. "And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards quaked from fear of him and became like dead men." "The word "behold" indicates a surprise, a great earthquake caused by an angel of the Lord descending from heaven. By the way, the angel didn’t roll away the stone to let Jesus out; he rolled away the stone to let the unconvinced world in. There is nothing in Scripture that indicates that the angel let Jesus out of the tomb, because Jesus was already gone by the time the angel arrived, with the linen grave clothes lying exactly as they were when He was wrapped in them. The earthquake had already occurred by the time the women arrived, Matthew says the guards were so terrified, they just fell over "and became like dead men," so the angel doesn’t even need to bother with the guards. They wake up some point, with no idea what hit them, and they ran into the city to report to the Sanhedrin what had happened, just the way it happened; "there was a great earthquake, we were terrified and literally fainted in fear, when we woke up, His body was gone," they knew that no one stole His body, the disciples and they women didn’t even believe there would a resurrection. But the religious hypocrites have no interest in the Truth, they realized they've got a real problem on their hands, an empty tomb! Never once did they deny that Jesus’ tomb was empty, the truth is confirmed by the soldiers; we'll get back to this in a little bit.
By the time the women arrive, there’s not even any evidence of soldiers there. John says "Mary was standing outside the tomb weeping, and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb, saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying." And they said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping?" She said to them, "Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him." When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus."
Verse 5, "Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed." The Greek verb Mark uses here is "ekthambéō," they were out of their senses with the outcome of fear, they were shocked and terrified. Luke says when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus, the tomb is empty. Luke adds they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing; and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground." I imagine they were trying to figure out what’s going on. Having never been in the presence of angels, encountering God's divine heavenly messengers face to face in blazing white clothing, I don't believe that we can fully comprehend what they are experiencing. Mark doesn’t actually use the word "angels," but we know they are because the other Gospel writers tell us.
Verse 6, "And the angel answered and said to the women, Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying." There's a reason why angels give the command, "Fear not" or "Do not be afraid," those are comforting, reassuring words, but let's be honest, it's much easier to say than it is to do, this was the most unbelievable thing they have ever seen. These angels speak for God, "He is not here, for He has risen," this testimony of the resurrection is from heaven, there’s no question that He was dead, everyone knew that. You would think that the empty tomb would cause the Jewish leaders to say "Wow, He really is the
Messiah!" No, instead they did everything they could to stop reports of a resurrection, to cover up the resurrection with a poorly devised plan. However, their lies were empty, just like Jesus' tomb. Matthew says the chief priests assembled with the elders and took counsel together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, and said, "You are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep.’ And if this is heard before the governor, we will win him over and keep you out of trouble." And they took the money and did as they had been instructed; and this story was widely spread among the Jews, and is to this day." The soldiers didn't really have an option, if Pilate discovered they failed to do they duty, they likely would've been killed.
Verse 7, "But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’" By the way, just in case you've missed it, "But go," is a command to tell His disciples and Peter that He was alive, not only is He alive, but they're all going to see Him in Galilee, just as He told you, He’s going to meet you there. Peter is clearly identified separately from the other disciples, I believe that's because Peter needed more encouragement because the last time he saw Jesus, he was cursing and swearing and denied Him, if you remember it was pretty ugly and Peter seeing Jesus' face ran out and cried bitterly.
So Mary and the other women come running in announcing we have seen the Lord, and He said He's going to meet you in Galilee! You would think they'd run to Galilee as fast as their legs could take them, right? Guess what, they didn't head for Galilee, Peter and John ran to the empty tomb. It's hard to imagine that these guys are at the head of class, isn't it?
That brings us to verse 8, "And they went out and
fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment were gripping them;
and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid." The rest of them didn't believe it. I love the way John remarks that he ran
faster than Peter, as if it were a competition. "So Peter and the other
disciple went forth, and they were going to the tomb. The two were running together; and the other disciple ran ahead faster than Peter and came to the tomb first; and stooping and looking in, he saw the linen wrappings lying there; but he did not go in." Of course, Peter runs right past him and goes in to see for himself that He isn’t there. Surely, they would have looked at each other and said, "It's true, He has risen just like He said He would! Let's head to Galilee!" No, they go back because they still don't believe it. If you'll remember, He appeared to them later that night in the upper room, where they were gathered together in fear, trying to figure it out. And, later that week, He appeared to two of them on the road to Emmaus. According to Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:5, He appeared to Peter privately, then later again to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep. After that, He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. It's comforting to know they finally got their act together and went to Galilee, where He restored Peter.
The evidence for the resurrection is overwhelming, the empty tomb, the
undisturbed grave clothes in the form of His body, the faithful women
who followed Him from Galilee, the testimony of angels, the Roman
guards, and hundreds of other eyewitnesses. The resurrection validates that whatever the Bible says is true. And, the resurrection proves that God being satisfied with His sacrifice, made Him both Lord and Christ, and because He lives, we will live also!
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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