Trinity Baptist Church

The Book of Mark

Amazement at the Empty Tomb

Mark 16:1-8

 

Well, we’ve been a long time getting here, but we have finally made our way to the last chapter of the book of Mark and it is there we encounter the cornerstone of the gospel. I say that because the resurrection is not simply a part of the gospel or merely a feature of the gospel, it is the main event.

 

In fact, it is the greatest event, the greatest miracle, in the life of our Lord Jesus. And since His life is the greatest life that was ever lived, it is the greatest event in all of human history. And it is source of eternal life for us who believe.

 

In fact, without the resurrection, the cross would mean nothing. The teaching of Jesus would mean nothing. The works of Jesus would mean nothing. Without the resurrection, there would be no salvation. So what we read and study here in chapter 16 is not just the climax of the book, it is the focus of all of Scripture. 

 

So important is it that the church has now, for more than two thousand years, gathered primarily on Sunday.  As important as the cross is, the church never gathered on crucifixion day, but on resurrection day.  We never gathered to celebrate the fact that He died, but that He rose again.   

 

All four of the gospels tell the story of the resurrection with each of the writers including unique elements and features that together tell us the story of the resurrection of our Savior.

Mark’s account is the most brief, but we’re used to that with Mark, aren’t we? He seems in a hurry. HE wastes no words in sharing his account. 

 

Mark 16:1-8

 

With the earliest and most reliable manuscripts end the book of Mark at this point.  Many scholars believe verses 9-20 were added later and were not authored by Mark.  We’ll look at those next time, but for now, just think about the fact that if verse 8 is , in fact, the end of the book of Mark, he ends his gospel with a blazing reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, gripping the souls of these women with wonder and astonishment.

 

And while it is good to look at the others and see the complete story, keep in mind Mark’s goal is simply to give testimony that Jesus arose from the dead. That’s very important because early in His ministry He said that would happen. 

 

So if Jesus is Who He claimed to be, then it should come as no surprise to pick up the gospel of Mark and see that He did exactly what He said He would do. 

 

Now as we step into this incredible experience, we hear testimony from three sources regarding the resurrection.  We hear the testimony of the empty tomb, the testimony of the heavenly angels, and the testimony of the eyewitnesses. Or, to put it another way, we have testimony from historical fact, testimony from heavenly revelation, and testimony from personal eyewitnesses. And Mark does all that in only eight verses.

 

No doubt Jesus said He would rise and that it would happen on the third day, so all Mark has to show is that He did and present the  evidence. So let’s begin with

 

 

Mark 16:1

 

“When the Sabbath was over…”

 

So what day of the week was the Sabbath?  This is a reference to the weekly Sabbath which always fell on Saturday.  My personal conviction is it was the third of three Sabbaths in a row that year, which places the crucifixion on Wednesday, with Jesus in the grave before 6.  That allows a literal fulfillment of the prophecy of Jesus which said He would be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights, just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale.

 

There are other reasons I believe the three Sabbath idea, including the dating of Passover and we’ll look at those sometime.  But for this discussion, Thursday, beginning at 6 on Wednesday until Saturday around 6 in the evening when the Sabbath would end would accomplish three 24 hour periods.  Jesus is out of the grave before the women show up early on Sunday morning. 

 

And with that one morning and the empty tomb, everything changed.  The most important day for the people of God up till this weekend was always Saturday, the most important day of the week from this weekend on has always been Sunday. This is a dramatic change.

 

Since that weekend, no Sabbath has been necessary. Since that weekend, no Sabbath has been required. I’ll go further. Since that weekend, no Sabbath is even legitimate. It’s the same thing as the Passover. The last Passover happened at the end of that week and Jesus instituted the Lord’s supper as the new memorial feast commemorating His death. And there has never been a legitimate Passover since then.

 

And there has never been a legitimate Sabbath since that weekend either. There’s not been any need for a priest or a temple since the crucifixion.  Everything changed on the first day of that week. And that is why the church met that day.

 

So it is on the first day of the week when these women we read about in verse 1 showed up at the tomb. These are the same women who’ve been there all along.  They were there in Galilee, they were there at the cross, they were there when Joseph and Nicodemus buried Jesus, and now they are there at the tomb. 

 

Now this Sunday morning is different because for three years, they’ve been worshipping and following and ministering to the life of Jesus.  Now they come to anoint a dead body.  And what they must have been experiencing is inconceivable. 

 

Jesus isn’t just a friend.  They believed Him to be the Messiah.  He was the One in whom they believed their salvation rested. He was the source of their hope and deliverance.  So it is hard to imagine what kind of agonies and questions and doubts and fears they are having. 

 

But in spite of that, they haven’t lost their sense of affection. They haven’t lost their love. And they’re going to go back and they’re going to do what loving families would always do, and they were His family, they were going to put the spices on His body.  And in verse 2 we read that they arrived at the tomb about the time the sun came up

 

verses 3-4

 

That must have been a shock, but with everything else that has happened, this is just another unusual occurrence, and we discover from the other gospel that resurrection never crossed their minds.  They thought in terms of the body having been stolen. 

 

In fact, the farthest thing from their mind was a resurrection.  Nobody expected it.  How do you know?  I read it in verse 1.  They brought spices to anoint a dead body. If they were convinced there would be a resurrection that day, why spend the money and waste the time?

 

But wonder of wonders, when they get there, there is no body.  There are no soldiers. And when they look in the tomb, it is empty.  

 

verse 5

 

Let’s just stop right there for a moment and make sure we don’t miss the main point Mark is making.  Everything we read up to this point is to underline one primary thing and that is, the tomb is empty. 

 

 

 

If this were our first time to read anything about the resurrection of Jesus, at this point we wouldn’t know a whole of the details, but we would know we’ve got an empty tomb.  A body had been placed in that tomb three days earlier and now it’s gone.

 

And it’s interesting to note, that of all the people we cross paths with following the resurrection, no one ever denies that the tomb is empty.  The women knew the tomb was empty. The disciples knew the tomb was empty. The guards knew the tomb was empty. The Sanhedrin knew the tomb was empty.   That’s the testimony, the first line of testimony. No one ever denied that Jesus’ tomb was empty.

 

Well the women are now in shock. And the shock escalates in the second line of testimony which is

 

 

Verse 5

 

I don’t know if you’ve ever tried to process what it would be like to show up out in the cemetery to anoint a dead body with spices and finding the body is gone and at the same time stepping into the presence of an angel for the very first time, but I would guess your reaction and mine would be very similar to what we read about these women. 

 

“they were alarmed”.  The word actually means to be terrified.  Terrified, not in the sense that you fear for your life, but that there’s something around that cannot be rationally comprehended. You can’t get it.  You can’t grasp it.  It defies human logic.  Bewilderment might be a good word to use. 

In fact, Luke says they were terrified and they literally fell with their faces toward the ground.

 

And in verse 6, the angel speaks. 

 

verse 6

 

“Do not be alarmed.” Easy for you to say, sir. “Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  And then we hear the first vocal testimony of the resurrection:  “He has risen.  He is not here.”

 

A literal translation is “He has been raised”.  It must have been a surreal experience for these women to stand there listen to and dialoguing with these angels in a very natural way! 

 

Even as they tried to comprehend the shockwaves of what is happening, beginning with the stone and the empty tomb and angels, they hear this message of a resurrection. 

 

So we have testimony from earth in an empty tomb. Now we hear testimony from heaven, heavenly angels vocally, reasonably, visibly bearing witness to the resurrection. 

 

To deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is to deny the historical realities of the empty tomb, and it is to deny the historic revelation of heavenly angels. After all, they speak for God. 

 

Then comes the third line of testimony to prove the resurrection and that is

 

 

 

verses 7 and 8

 

It’s interesting, isn’t it, that the very first thing anyone is told to do after the resurrection is to go tell someone else? And it’s worth noting that it is voiced as a command.  

 

“Go, tell His disciples and Peter. . .” So why does he throw Peter in there? Because Peter needed a little personal touch of love and recovery because the last scene with Peter in it was really pretty ugly. His denials. “Tell Peter and the rest that He’s going ahead of you to Galilee, there you will see Him just as He told you.”

 

Ladies when you leave, go to the Apostles and tell them to go to Galilee because Jesus is going to meet them there just like He said He would.

 

And guess what? They didn’t go to Galilee. When the women arrived, they said, “No, this can’t be true.”

 

In the meantime, Peter and John take off to the tomb.  The rest of them didn’t believe it either and they didn’t go to Galilee.  SO instead, Jesus shows up where they are huddled awy in hiding. 

 

During that week He appeared to two of them on the road to Emmaus. During that week He had a private appearance to Peter, referenced in 1 Corinthians 15, and a private appearance with James as well. 

 

And the next week, eight days after the first appearance, He appeared to them again and all of those appearances were in Jerusalem all because they didn’t go to Galilee. They’re just huddled around trying to figure out what they should do. 

 

Let me tell you what we should do!  We should do what Jesus tells us to do.  Did you ever think about the fact that they would have seen Jesus a whole lot faster if they’d just been obedient?  There’s a good lesson in that for us! 

 

They finally got their act together and went to Galilee and John 21 records the appearances of Jesus in Galilee, and where He appeared to 500 people at one time

 

And ironically, verse 8 tells us the women said nothing to anyone because they were afraid. 

 

And that’s the end of Mark. Three distinct testimonies that reach from heaven to earth to human experience and to deny the resurrection is to deny the testimony of the facts, the testimony of the angels, the testimony of the eyewitnesses, the testimony of Scripture, and the truth of God.

 

Let’s pray