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This is the First Mustang Pulpit Podcast, a podcast of the weekly preaching and teaching at First Mustang.! Thank you for joining us.! Mark 16.
We have come to the last chapter of the Gospel of Mark. And just a little road map where we are.
We're going to look this morning in verses 1 to 8. Next Sunday, we're going to step out of Mark because of it being right before Christmas. So, we're going to consider an element of the Christmas story itself.
And then, if you're familiar with the Gospel of Mark at all, you might be wondering what happens after verse 8. What are we going to do with verses 9 through verse 20?
You'll have to come back and find that out. But this week, verses 1 to 8. When you take the four Gospel accounts of the resurrection that's recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and when you look at any one of them, as with all things with the Gospels, they're not written to give you every single detail.
They're written to give you a true and clear perspective of essential important elements that took place. But we take all four of them, put them together, as we often do when we're going to the Gospels, to get what we call a harmony of the Gospels, to be able to see exactly what took place on that resurrection Sunday.
So, what I want to do for a little bit of time this morning is just do that with you. Take Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, put them all together for you.
Because if you're just reading one specific Gospel, it can be a little confusing trying to keep track of everything that's happening because the Gospels don't all contain everything that took place.
So, let me just give you a harmony of Resurrection Sunday, and then we will look specifically at what Mark gives us in verses 1 to 8.
Joseph is a man, Joseph Hermethe, who has a tomb. He's the one that we studied recently who takes the body of Jesus, and he says Jesus can be buried in his tomb.
He wraps Jesus in linen strips. The ladies are there. They begin to anoint his body to prepare it for burial. Because it's almost a Sabbath day, sundown on Friday, they're going to have to stop and wait until Sunday morning to come back and finish that task.
Then it is a period of sadness over the weekend, questions. For the disciples, they are in fear.
For those who have believed and trusted in the Lord, they are waiting, wondering what is taking place.
What we know happens next is sometimes Sunday morning, there is another earthquake, and an angel comes and an angel comes and rolls away the stone.
The Roman guards faint in fear like dead men. And a group of women come to the tomb early on Sunday morning. Mary Magdalene, the mother of James and Salome and others, the gospel writers tell us, come to the tomb.
It appears that Mary Magdalene gets to the tomb first while it is still dark. She sees a stone rolled away, and she is in a panic, afraid that maybe someone has stolen the body.
Assuming the worst, she's going to run and tell Peter and John what has happened. The other ladies then get there just a bit later while the sun is just coming up.
When you read the different gospels, it can be confusing because some say it was dark, and some say the sun is coming up, and that's the explanation for why that's the case. Mary Magdalene gets there first.
It's dark. She leaves to tell Peter and John. The other ladies then get to the tomb. The sun is coming up. Now, the ladies, when they go to the tomb, are not expecting the stone to be rolled away.
They're not expecting the body to be missing. Remember, they're going for the purpose of completing anointing his body for burial that had begun right after the crucifixion.
Remember, they did not embalm their dead as we do in our culture today. They would take these long linen strips. They would wrap the body. They would put perfume on it to try to mask the odor and smell of decay.
They got part of that started. They had to stop early because of the Sabbath. They're going back to the tomb to finish that task. And so, the question on the ladies' lips is this.
Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? They're expecting that when they get to the tomb, the stone is there. They're going to have to figure out a way to get inside the tomb, expecting the body of Jesus for sure to still be there so they can finish anointing his body for burial.
When they get there, they find the stone rolled away. They discover the body of Jesus is gone. An angel gives the woman a message that Jesus has risen.
The angel says, Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who is crucified. He is not here, for he has risen. As he said, come, see the place where he lay.
Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead. Now, Jesus has been telling his followers about his death and resurrection. He had been speaking of this event and prophesying of this event.
Mary Magdalene runs and tells the disciples the body is gone. John 20 records, They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him. The disciples in Luke 24 are in disbelief.
This is when Peter and John take off for their foot race to get to the tomb. John gets there first, but does not go in. He sees the grave clothes lying in place there.
Peter gets there a little bit after John. And when, though John got there first, Peter gets there second, but goes into the tomb first. Mary Magdalene appears at the tomb a second time and is greeted by an angel.
Mary expresses her sadness at not knowing where the body of Jesus is. Jesus then appears to Mary Magdalene. Because of her grief and because of her tears, she does not immediately recognize him.
She'll go back to the disciples again. And while this is happening, Jesus then greets the other women who were at the tomb. And according to Matthew 28, they worshipped him.
Jesus says, Greetings, do not be afraid. And he says, Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.
All the while, the guards tell a chief priest. What has happened? And they are then given money as a bribe to say the body of Jesus was stolen.
All this happening in the very early morning hours of that very first Resurrection Sunday. That's why we call it the Lord's Day.
It's the day on which Christ was resurrected. That's why believers went from gathering for worship on the Sabbath, our Saturday. And now we gather on Sunday, the Lord's Day, because of the resurrection.
With that as a background, we pick up in Mark 16. It says, when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him.
And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb, and they were saying to one another, who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? And looking up, they saw the stone had been rolled back.
It was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, do not be alarmed.
You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee.
And there you will see him just as he told you. And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
I want to show you three observations from this text that will both serve to walk us through the text, and also, I pray, serve as an encouragement and application for us from this account.
Number one, verses one to six, we see this truth that God uses unlikely people. God uses unlikely people.
It tells us that it was early in the morning when these ladies got up to go to the tomb. One Scottish preacher has been quoted as saying, sorrow awakens early.
Some of you can identify with that. Broken hearts wake up early. Anxious minds tend to wake up early.
The ladies are up early. There's a number of women who were there. At least five, when you put all the accounts together, are a part of this. They're going to the tomb again, not anticipating resurrection.
They're not up early because they can't wait to find the empty tomb. That's not what they're doing. It's not Christmas morning where you just can't wait to wake up because of all the joy and the excitement.
This isn't Christmas Eve when as a child you can barely go to sleep and you want to go to sleep because you want the next 10 hours to pass quickly so when you wake up you can open your gifts.
This is not Christmas Eve where they go to sleep with this eager excitement and anticipation of joy of what's going to happen in the morning. This is not Christmas Eve night. These are ladies who have trusted the Lord, ministered to the Lord, and have seen Him die.
A violent, gruesome, gory death. They've seen Him laid in the tomb because it was late in the day.
They weren't able to finish the preparation for burial. They're going to the tomb to do the work of an undertaker.
They're going to finish wrapping a dead body. This is anything but exciting for them.
This is heartbreaking. Verse 2 again, the very first day of the week, the sun had arisen, they went to the tomb. Mark tells us, ironically, that the sun had risen when they get there and the real news is the play on words here that yes, the sun had come up, but the truth is, deeper than that, it's that the sun of God has risen.
That's the real story of the day. And we know today that the ladies going to the tomb and finding the tomb empty, we know today this is good news.
They will very soon figure out and be told by the angel this is good news, but when they get there early that morning, this is not the news they were expecting.
Fear of grave robbers come to mind. Fear of something that's taken place that was not to happen comes to mind. And they are greeted with the words, do not be alarmed, verse 6, you seek Jesus of Nazareth, he was crucified.
By the way, this is the most common command in your Bible, do not be afraid. If you read the entirety of Scripture and said, what is the command in the Bible that is given to us as readers more than any other command, this is the command, do not be afraid.
And the Lord is using here unlikely people, unlikely because as we've looked at before, in this culture of which we are taken back in time to, in that culture, ladies are not esteemed as they should have been.
They are not viewed as equals to men. And so because of that, if you are going to concoct a story, if you're going to make something up, you're not going to include ladies as your key witnesses.
Now to our ears today, that sounds a bit offensive because of our culture, but just understand, this takes place 2,000 years ago in this land, in this culture, and that's just the way that it was.
In the same way, as we've looked at before, in that culture, shepherds were not in any way respected. The last people you would have ever expected, the angelic announcement of the birth of Christ to come to would be shepherds.
Now again, we may feel bad for the shepherds and say, well, that sounds kind of mean and cruel, and they're just doing their job. But in that culture, shepherds were considered unclean, and they would have been the last ones you would think you would make up a story to say they were invited.
But this is what God always does. He uses unlikely people. And if you want updated evidence of that, isn't that your story today?
I mean, any among us here that are the absolute elite of the elite in our world? Were there any paparazzi on the parking lot just trying to get a glimpse of you coming into church this morning?
Me neither. Aren't you glad? Anybody here being hounded by media just dying for your take on what's going on with these drones on the East Coast?
We talked about it in prayer time before we prayed as our deacons and staff. We don't have it figured out. But you know what? The world doesn't care about our opinion. You know why? Because we're nobodies. Isn't that your story?
Just common people? This is who the Lord uses. I mean, before David became King David, David was just a young boy who had trust in his God and he slays the giant.
This is who God uses. The Lord delights in taking people that the world has overlooked and forgotten or pushed aside and said, as long as they have faith in me, that's exactly the person I will use.
And this should be great encouragement to us because I know it's tempting at times when somebody maybe talks to you about a ministry opportunity and your first thought is, well, there's got to be somebody better than me to do this.
And the answer is, our church is a whole lot of somebodies just like you. Or you think, you know, somebody asks you to do a certain ministry task and you say, well, surely there's people far more qualified than me.
And the answer is, nope, this is really all we got to work with. Just you, me, and a lot of people just like us. And that's good news because these are the people that God uses.
Unlikely people. If you were, if you just read the Old Testament and that's all you knew, and you knew a Messiah was coming, a Savior, a Deliverer, a Redeemer was coming, and then you were told that that Redeemer was here.
And you were to be asked, if it was, if you've never read the Scripture, who do you think, who do you think would be invited to be the first to greet the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords?
I assure you, none of us, if we understood the culture, none of us would have said, it's shepherds, isn't it? I bet it's the shepherds. No. No. And the disciples?
I mean, who are these guys? Fishermen? Tax collectors that were hated by their own countrymen? In fact, Jesus has 12 disciples.
A few of them we know something about. Even of the 12 that would travel with Him for three and a half years in ministry, even of the 12, a number of them we know very little about.
And the ones we do know about are falling asleep when they're supposed to be praying are denying that they even know who Jesus is are accepting cash payments to be able to betray Him.
I mean, if you don't know anything else and you just look at who the men are Jesus chose as His disciples, you would think to yourself, couldn't He do better than that?
And now at the tomb, it's a group of ladies, not powerful, not elite, one of them known for being possessed by a demon.
This is who God uses. Unlikely people. And I see this as such great encouragement for us.
Because the truth is, the power is through the Holy Spirit in the proclamation of His Word, not the strength of the servant. Aren't you glad?
This is why you can open your mouth and share the gospel. Because the power is in the truth. It's not about you. This is why you can teach the Bible study because the power is in the truth, not you.
You are the very kind of person that the Lord has always used. Psalm 103, the Lord knows our frame.
He knows we are just merely made of dust. We are not exceptional. We are just normal, common people.
And it's through normal, common people the Lord does His work. Think of who the Lord could have and the world may have thought He should have had as the eyewitnesses of the tomb.
Maybe He could have had successful businessmen that carried much more influence in the community or maybe He could have had highly educated religious leaders who would have had much more sway over the people or He could have chosen political leaders that others would have been afraid to oppose.
But no, He chooses the unlikely. He's always used the unlikely. And even in our world today, in this very church, He continues to use common, ordinary people to accomplish His work.
and I'm thankful for that. There's a second thing I want you to see. It comes from verse 7 and that is that God forgives undeserving people.
God forgives undeserving people. Verse 7, but go and tell His disciples. The ladies are at the tomb.
That's unlikely. And now, the angel says, make sure and go and tell His disciples, these undeserving men. Why do I say undeserving? Because where have these guys been?
Hiding. Why is it, the angel says, do not be afraid? Because they're in fear. Why is it that the most frequently used command in the Bible is do not fear?
Because we're so prone to do so. I mean, of these disciples, this is Sunday morning.
It was just a few days ago that three times Peter would say, I don't even know what you're talking about. I don't even know who He is. The other disciples are hiding in fear.
They're fleeing. They're running away. These are the same disciples who in the, right after Jesus speaks about His coming death and giving His life as a ransom, an argument breaks out among the disciples and their argument is, which of us is the greatest?
Christ, we just read that and kind of scratch our heads and think, what's wrong with these guys? But the message of the resurrection is that He has risen.
Make sure these brothers know. If not given up on them. John 20 refers to the disciples as His brothers.
That's really fascinating to me because there's a lot of names that could have been used there. The Lord could have said, make sure and go tell these failures of mine that I'm alive.
He could have said, hey, would you go let the cowards know that they don't have to be in fear? I'm alive. It's not the way He speaks of them.
He says, go tell my brothers. These are my guys. They're a part of my family.
And that's really staggering to me because if you're one of the disciples and you're there gathered in fear and the ladies show up and tell you that the tomb is empty and the angel has told us He has risen and they say, we've seen Him and He spoke about you.
I mean, you would have to be petrified thinking, well, what did He say? remember when Christ was crucified on that Friday morning, John is there at a distance with Mary.
Judas has hung himself. The other ten, nowhere to be found. They're not there at the foot of the cross clinging to Christ and His last breath defending Him and honoring Him and worshiping Him and saying, we're here with you until the very end.
Remember, earlier when Jesus says, we're going to go to Jerusalem and I'm going to die, well, Peter says, we're not letting that happen.
We'll never let that happen. But where are they at the crucifixion? And when they're told that Jesus is risen, that's great news, but now they're told Jesus actually said something about you, they've got to be petrified.
What does He think of us? How much judgment is coming? Was His message a message of wrath, of condemnation? What did He call us?
Is He ashamed of us? Turn His back on us because of our failures? And the report is no.
He called you His brothers. You're still His guys. You're still a part of His family.
And with this one word, go tell my brothers, they know everything they need to know.
That the Lord forgives undeserving people. And I can't help but wonder if there's people even in the sanctuary this very morning, and as you hear the gospel message, your thought is that it makes sense to you that maybe God would forgive some, but surely not you.
I mean, after all, you know how sinful your heart can be. And the question that you may be asking is, could Jesus really forgive me because I am thoroughly undeserving of forgiveness, to which I say that's the only kind of person He forgives.
He uses common people, and He forgives undeserving people. If you're a Christian, you're redeemed by God's grace, but you feel a little too ordinary, you're the exact person God uses.
And if you are not a Christian, but you recognize you are a sinner, and you are aware of your need for a Savior, and you feel undeserving, the good news of the gospel is that God forgives undeserving people.
There is one more thing I want to show you. It's just really two words here in verse 7. In Mark's gospel, he says, go and tell his disciples.
Other gospels records that he also refers to them as brothers, as I mentioned. But let's look back at verse 7. Go, tell his disciples and Peter.
Don't leave out Peter. When you go make the announcement to the disciples that Christ is risen, when you go tell the disciples that they are still his brothers, whatever you do, make sure Peter knows he's not excluded.
This is fascinating to me because of all the disciples who had the most reason to fear, it's absolutely Peter. It was just a couple of days ago when a young girl said to Peter, hey, you're one of Jesus' guys, aren't you?
And he said, I don't know what you're talking about. And they said, well, you sound just like someone who was with him.
We recognize you. In fact, there was somebody there who saw you take your sword out and swing for Malchus' head. You're one of his guys.
And Peter said, I don't even know the man. What are you talking about? And a third time, they said, well, you're one of his followers.
And calling down curses on himself from heaven, he says, may God kill me, essentially, if I'm lying while he's lying. Three times, he says, I don't even know him.
And remember the text, we looked at this several weeks ago, and the text says that Jesus turned and looked at Peter. Their eyes met. Peter's last words that Scripture records for us Jesus heard him say was I don't even know the man.
And at the crucifixion, we don't find him. If anybody had reason to fear, it's Peter.
But the message of the angel from heaven conveying the word of God is go tell his disciples and Peter.
Make sure he hears this because God seeks unworthy people. It's one thing to be undeserving.
Peter. Peter is utterly unworthy. He doesn't deserve forgiveness. But can I remind you, dear friends, neither do you.
Sometimes we think of salvation as that which we were just smart enough to take hold of or that which we were just strong enough to grab.
Please understand, in a biblical perspective, all of us are sinners. All of us are unworthy. And apart from the sovereign work of God, none of us would be saved.
None. God uses unlikely people and he forgives undeserving people and he seeks unworthy people. And when you look at the resurrection story, this is the absolute amen from heaven that the payment of Christ for our sin has been accepted.
He is resurrected. He is resurrected just as he had promised. And now the world sees that there is nothing that can stop the power of God.
They crucified Christ. They laid him in a tomb. And the grave could not contain him. Verse 8, they went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had seized them and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid.
One thing that's interesting to me is at the end of the Gospel of Matthew, what we know as the Great Commission, this triumphant admonition the Lord gives to his people.
You're familiar with it. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded to you and behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.
It's the marching orders for the church. But turn back with me to Matthew 28. I want to show you something right before those words are spoken.
This is after the resurrection. So you've got in Matthew's Gospel, everything pointing toward the resurrection, the empty tomb.
Matthew 28, 1 through 10 records the account of the resurrection. And then at the very end of the Gospel of Matthew, you get the recording of the Great Commission, these high-water words that the Lord gives to his people.
What are we to do? We're to go. We're to make disciples. We're to baptize. We're to teach. And we're to teach all of God's word because verse 20 says, teach them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And we're reminded of the power and the presence of the Lord who will be with us always, even to the end of the age. But after the glory of the resurrection and just before the glory of the Great Commission, tucked away right in between there, look at verse 16.
Now the 11 disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them, verse 17. And when they saw him, they worshiped him, but some doubted.
The disciples were there. There were other followers that are there. And some in that crowd worshiped. And some in that crowd doubted.
Now you might wonder, why would the Bible include that? I mean, just understand what's happening in the gospel accounts. You've got all the failures of the disciples.
You've got the failure of Peter. You've got the failure of Judas. You've got the death of Jesus. But finally in Matthew, in chapter 28, you get the glory of the resurrection.
Why include in verse 17, right before the Great Commission, that while some worshipped, some doubted?
And the answer is, of course, because the Bible is true. The Bible records what is true. The Bible doesn't try to clean up the flaws of its people.
And even after the resurrection, when Jesus is here with this group of people, there are some that struggle with doubts.
In fact, this is really in verse 17, a picture of humanity. There's worship and there's doubt. I would go so far as to say, in this sanctuary this morning, some have worshipped while others have struggled with doubts.
This is a picture of humanity. And sometimes the very people who are worshipping are the very people who struggle with doubts.
Remember in Mark's gospel when the father said, I believe, but help my unbelief. Lord, I'm trusting in you, but there's a part of me that's not trusting.
I believe in you, but there's a part of me that still struggles with doubts. Lord, I'm yours. I'm sold out to you, but there's a part of me that still clings to the world. Can you relate to that?
Lord, we're here at church on the Lord's Day because we want to be here, because we love you, because we love your word, because we believe your word, and we trust your word, and we love your people.
But Lord, there is that nagging part of me where I still sometimes struggle with doubts. Lord, I believe that you're powerful, and I can trust you, but sometimes I'm still afraid.
Lord, I believe your Holy Spirit is always with us, but sometimes I still feel lonely. Lord, I believe you're working all things together for good, but sometimes I still wonder, what are you doing with this situation in my life?
Lord, I believe you can do anything. I believe you can provide, but Lord, I don't really understand what's going on here. Right after the resurrection, right before the Great Commission, the people there, some worshipped and some doubted.
What I want to say to you today, if you're a Christian and struggling with fear and doubt, is you keep clinging to what you know is true.
This is Habakkuk in the Old Testament. Habakkuk, this little short three-chapter book, this prophecy right before the Babylonian invasion of Judah, Habakkuk says, Lord, I'm so frustrated because you don't even listen.
And yet, what is Habakkuk doing? He's praying to God. But why are you praying to God if you think God doesn't listen? Well, because he knows in his heart of hearts God does listen, but his circumstances just feel different than that.
So what does Habakkuk do? He keeps crying out to the Lord. Now, Habakkuk does some things and says some things in chapter one that aren't good, that aren't right, that I can't condone.
But here's what Habakkuk still does, though. He keeps wrestling and seeking the Lord. And some of you may be at a place in your life where if you were honest, you would say, I do believe.
I do. But I doubt a little bit. I do trust. I really do. But some days my faith is really shaky.
And the truth is that our salvation is secured not so much by the strength of our faith as it is the object of our faith.
imperfect faith in a perfect Savior. My assurance of salvation is not in the strength of my faith.
My assurance of salvation is in the object of my faith, the Lord Jesus Christ. So maybe even some of you this morning are saying, I believe, but Lord, help my unbelief.
the resurrection changed the brothers of Jesus. Isn't it interesting that before the resurrection, his own brothers didn't believe in who he was?
The resurrection changed that. And yet there are still some who struggle with doubts. My friends, what I want to leave you with this morning is take everything of who you are to Jesus.
Your sin, confess it to Jesus. Your doubts, take them to Jesus. Your insecurities, take them to Jesus.
Your feelings of being unworthy or undeserving or unqualified, take them to Jesus. Your frustration at how often you sin, take it to him.
and understand that the empty grave, as the hymn writer said, is there to prove my Savior lives.
And because he lives, we have assurance that all who belong to him will forever be his.
And I don't think it is doing injustice to the text to say, go and tell his disciples, and you can insert your name, the text says, and Peter, because Peter had fell so hard.
But the message was that those who are his, he will never lose them. Go and tell his brothers, and if you're a believer, and you, and you, and you, that he lives.
You are saved by his grace, and you are kept saved by his grace. And one day, when you get to heaven, more than ever before, you will understand everything about everything about your redemption was all about Jesus.
And until that day, we worship, and we believe, and we who are undeserving, unlikely, and unworthy people can stand up and with boldness approach the throne of grace because Christ conquered the grave.
Lord, your word today does give us hope, and I pray that even this morning you would use it to strengthen your people.
We do thank you, Lord, for the work of the cross in the empty tomb. Lord, may we not be impressed with ourselves, but may we forever be amazed at the thoroughness of your grace.
Truly, your grace is enough. We love you and praise you for the work of your salvation. Through the work of your son, the Lord Jesus.
In his name we pray. Amen. I love you, church family. Next Sunday, December 22nd, two services, 9 and 1030.
Sunday school for preschoolers in that first hour. Come to either service. God bless you. You're dismissed. God bless you.
God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you.
God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. God bless you. fathers You God bless you. Thank you.