“Resurrection”
Mark 16:9-20
Mark 16:9-14
[Mark 16:9-20 is not found in the most reliable early manuscripts, although it was already known in the early 2nd century. Most scholars believe it is a later addition to Mark’s gospel. This longer ending borrows heavily from the gospels of Luke & John]
1. verses 9-14 contain a summary of 3 resurrection appearances:
§ to Mary Magdalene (John 20:1-2)
§ to 2 men on road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35)
§ to the 11 disciples (Luke 24:36-43)
2. the common theme in all 3 stories is unbelief (the Bible doesn’t candy-coat things):
§ his disciples – they did not believe it (11)
§ the rest – they did not believe them either (13)
§ the 11 – their stubborn refusal to believe (14)
3. does this strike you as odd? The disciples who lived 3 years shoulder-to-shoulder with Jesus, knew him best & heard him predict his death & resurrection DID NOT BELIEVE when told Christ had risen from the dead.
4. uncertainty & unbelief have always stalked this story, right from the very beginning, right from within the circle of his closest followers, right up until today.
5. some of you are asking – is it really true? Did Christ actually rise from the dead? Some of you are besieged with doubt.
………
1. what if it’s true? What if Mary Magdalene and the two men on the road were not just seeing things but actually saw the risen Christ?
2. what if it’s true? That something unheard of, inexplicable transpired? Like the laws of nature suspended for one brief shining moment?
3. that Jesus died, rose up from the dead for you and me, for the whole world? And stood in for we all of us before God. On the cross. Carried our sin. Suffered our death. For all the bad & dark & ugly & shameful stuff of our lives – like when I…
§ lied to my parents about where I spent the night
§ slipped that 8-track tape into my coat lining
§ cheated on my physics test
§ touched what was not mine to touch
§ filed those false tax returns
§ sold drugs to high school kids
§ my adulteries
§ my lust envy jealousy anger greed
§ my abortions
§ my being proud of my pride
§ my looking down on those less fortunate than myself
§ my over-drinking
§ my racist comments at work
§ my fudging on my resume
§ my words that wounded those I love the most
§ my breaking of promises
2. if it’s true that Jesus rose from the dead, than all of it’s true. Every last bit of it:
§ the Father Son & Holy Spirit
§ creation fall salvation
§ faith hope love
§ forgiveness reconciliation freedom
§ healing deliverance wholeness
§ life eternity heaven
§ peace joy grace
§ and love love love
If Jesus rose from the death, than all of it is true!
3. and if true, then there’s rhyme & reason to this planet. A plot lurks beneath the chaos. Purpose is seeping through the fog. Light is breaking through the darkness. Sweetness, beauty galore.
4. life that doesn’t end. His life. My life. Your life. Hazel Knopp’s life. Jesse Bogue’s life. War-snatched lives in Iraq.
5. the gospel as tragedy, comedy, and fairy tale.
6. tragedy in that the world that God created beautiful and innocent became a world of darkness, emptiness, and rebellion.
7. comedy in that the unimaginable happened. Into the depths of this chaos God makes himself known in such unlikely ways as in the life of a 33 year old nobody carpenter from the backwaters of a small obscure country on the outer fringes of the Roman Empire – who would have ever thought?
8. fairy tale in that in this meeting of darkness and light the final victory is the victory of light. And that it not only happened once upon a time but has kept on happening ever since and is happening still.
9. Mary Magdalene and the two men on the road had it right!
Mark 16:15-20
1. the story of the Bible is really very simple. At the beginning there are 2 people who are in a perfect relationship to God BUT they choose to break that relationship. At the end there are millions of people in a perfect relationship to God. In between is the story of how God moves through time to get from the 2 at the beginning to the millions at the end.
2. There is no more important person in this story than Jesus.
3. Eugene Peterson writes that Jesus is our way to God but at the same time Jesus is God’s way to us. The way we come to God is the same way God comes to us.
4. Mark tells us that Jesus was…
§ 6 – crucified (offering for sin)
§ 6 – resurrected from the dead (defeat of sin & death)
§ 9, 12, 14 – he appeared to his followers (he’s alive!)
§ 15 – he commissioned his followers (job description)
§ 19 – ascended to heaven (still alive)
§ 19 – sits at right hand of God (honor, authority)
§ 20 – works in & through his followers (in our lives)
This is what Mark’s gospel gives us to work with.
5. the 2 most important events of Jesus’ life are his death & resurrection. It is preeminently through these 2 events that Jesus takes us to God and God comes to us.
6. the stakes are sky-high with Jesus. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned (16). Jesus will not save anyone against their will. Freedom to choose is a glorious & awesome responsibility.
7. more Eugene Peterson. Jesus is God in action. Jesus is God speaking words of salvation. Jesus is God touching lepers. Jesus is God forgiving a condemned and dying criminal and an adulterous woman hounded by men holding rocks and poised to kill her. Jesus is God blessing children. Jesus is God giving sight to the blind, life to Lazarus. Jesus is God calling down judgment on religious posturing. Jesus is God weeping over Jerusalem.
8. and it is in & through this same Jesus that we pray to God, come to God, believe in God, praise God, and live out our lives before God.
………
1. the resurrection accounts of Jesus show us that there are no heroes among his followers. The 12 disciples failed him miserably. Judas betrayed him & committed suicide. Peter denied him 3 times. The other 10 deserted him & fled for their lives. The last hours of his life reduced them to denial, flight, fear & silence.
2. the good news is that Jesus didn’t give up on these guys. He didn’t spend his resurrection appearances recruiting a new team of followers. He kept what he had.
3. he told them to go into all the world. To preach the good news of his life death resurrection to all creation.
4. and they did. And we are here this morning because the Presence of the living, resurrected Christ gave his defeated, despairing followers hope & power to spread the good news! The good news that has reached across 20 centuries of life to reach us.
5. get this, however imperfect our faith. However many times we deny Jesus. However many times we run from Jesus. However many times we remain silent when we should speak up. However many times we give up on Jesus…he doesn’t give up on us.
6. none of us can get so far away from Jesus that we can’t be touched by his healing, restoring, forgiving Presence.
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