3/31 Sermon - A New Reality

He Has Risen

Mark 16:1-8

How do you remind yourself of a lost loved one? A father or mother, a husband or wife, a brother or sister, a son or daughter? We all have mementos to remind ourselves, right? Pictures on the wall. Memories cherished in our hearts. Tombstones in the ground.

-          But the pain does not go away, right? 1 day. 1 year. 10 years. The pain is still there.

-          Death is so terrifying because death is permanent. Death always wins. It doesn’t matter how strong or powerful we are. Death wins.

-          We’re scared of death. We’re scared at the thought of others dying. How are we supposed to cope with someone being gone forever?

-          Death is our reality.

That’s where the women were too, on that Sunday morning. 1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

-       For these women, death had won. Jesus was gone. Look at the details.

-       They brought spices for Jesus’ dead body. This is a little funny, actually. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus buried Jesus on Good Friday in the tomb. They put plenty of spices in his tomb. Do you know how much? 75 lbs.! As much as a large dog worth of spices. But these women said, “Nah, that is not good enough. We can do better.” So they brought more, different spices. But you bring spices for a dead body, to cover the smell.

-       The woke up super early, just dawn, to do this. They were on the road already when the sun rose. They loved Jesus. But Jesus was dead. They wanted to do everything in their power to show respect for his dead body.

-       Finally, they wondered, “Who will roll the stone away?” The stone that covered the tomb door probably weighed upwards of 4,000 lbs., as much as a small car. Jesus’ dead body was trapped in the ground, behind a massive stone door.

-       These women loved Jesus, they wanted to respect Jesus, but their reality was that Jesus was dead.

But then, reality changed. 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

-       The massive, 4k lbs. stone door, that one it would take a team of men to do, had been rolled away.

-       What were they thinking? “Something has happened. Something is happening. Something is different. Who has the strength to roll away a massive stone door?”

-       They entered the tomb, a person in white stood there, off to the left. A young man. They looked around in amazement.

-       What were they thinking? “Is this the wrong tomb? Did someone steal the body? Where is Jesus? What is happening?”

-       Have you ever been overcome with emotion? So overwhelmed you can’t talk, can barely even think? Family surprise you with a visit. Friends give an unexpected gift. The job offer or promotion actually comes. You win a raffle.

-       The women were overwhelmed with emotions and surprise. Why? Their reality changed.

Then the angel spoke. “Don’t be alarmed.”

-       The women were overwhelmed. The reality WAS that Jesus had died, But that reality was changing. Don’t be alarmed, the angel said.

-       We can get overwhelmed by death. But God says the same thing to you this this Sunday. Don’t be alarmed. Listen. See what is right in front of you.

“You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.”

-       People deny Jesus’ resurrection. They say the body was swapped. The women found the wrong tomb. The body was stolen. That’s just garbage. That’s not reality.

-       Some Christians deny Jesus actually rose. They say he spiritually or figuratively rose, that it’s just a metaphor for us. That’s garbage. That’s not reality.

-       This is reality: Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, God incarnate, was crucified, died, and was buried in the that same tomb the women were in.

But reality changed. A new reality: “He is not here. He has risen.”

-       The women were so concerned about Jesus’ dead body: the spices to put on it, the tomb door that held him in the ground.

-       Death is our reality, it was. But not for Jesus. He punched death right through the chest, he shattered the chains that held in in the ground, he flung back the stone door that trapped him in the grave.

-       Three simple words. He has risen. This is the battle cry of the Christian church. This is our hope. This is the content of our preaching and teaching: Jesus has risen from the dead.

What does that mean for us? How does new reality affect me?

-       It can be easy for us to take this for granted, right? To treat is as ordinary. We so quickly forget the reality of Easter morning, our new reality.

-       Let’s not forget the amazement, the comfort, the joy that Easter brings to us.

-       1 Corinthians 15:20 calls Jesus the ‘first fruits’ of believers. PICTURE: When we have vegetable or fruit gardens, the first fruits are delicious, joyful… but just a foretaste of what is coming. What happened to Jesus WILL happen to us! We will rise. All who die in Christ will rise.

-       In chapter 19 Job confesses that someday, he will see God, his redeemer, with his own eyes. His real, physical eyes. We have that same promise. The resurrection isn’t a dream. It’s not a myth. It’s reality. We die and our soul goes to heaven. But Jesus will resurrect our bodies as well. We will see God, we will see our loved ones with our own eyes, we’ll hug them. We’ll live forever in paradise. That’s our reality.

Now, our reality is changed, so our lives are different.

-       PICTURE: a fish doesn’t realize they swim in water. I don’t think about the air that I breathe. But you switch us around, both the fish and I will notice!

-       As Christians, it’s like the air we breathe has changed.  Everything has changed, even if we don’t notice it right away. Here are a few ways.

-       1) Death: Death is horrible. Like I said at the beginning, we can’t escape the reality of death. But for us, the reality is different. Of course, death is still painful. When those we love pass away, it’s painful. We still fear our own death. But what death actually is, has changed. Death is not a defeat, but a victory. It’s not a funeral, but a celebration. The tears will turn to joy. By our death, we enter into paradise. Death is NOT goodbye, but ‘see you soon.’ Death no longer means the laughter, the memories, the hugs are gone, but that they’ll last forever in heaven. Our reality has changed: He has risen.

-       2) Our daily life has changed. Life is full of so many inconsistencies, right? So much can cause us stress and worry. Politics, inflation, bills, jobs, family, health. Life is full of so much change. It seems like a storm is raging around us. But for us there is a new reality: He has risen. This gives us peace. A storm can rage outside with wind that whips and thunder that crashes, but in our house, it can be calm, dry, and peaceful. That’s our reality. We stand on firm ground. Sure, plenty of storms rage in this world, but he has risen. Our sin is gone. Death is gone. God promises us eternal life. Things just don’t shake us up. Politics, wars, health problems, money issues. Those are on our mind. They unsettle us sometimes. But our foundation is on the resurrection of Jesus.

3) this new reality changes our purpose in life. “Go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee.’”

-       There is a mission part of our reality. This is one of our purposes is life, “Go and tell others.”

-       It’s that simple. It’s not rocket science. It’s not a riddle. It’s not a puzzle. It’s simple. What is one of our main purposes in life? To tell others, invite them to come and see.

Mark ends on kind of weird note, doesn’t he? 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

-       Why does Mark end with the women trembling, bewildered, afraid, and running away?

-       Just a quick note, Mark is just giving us a snapshot of their initial reaction. We read from other Gospels what happened after they ran away.

-       Still, the question stands: Why end like this? I think to show us three things.

-       One: Reality had changed. Death was destroyed. “He has risen,” and this is amazing. So amazing it caused the women to be bewildered and terrified. And it’s still amazing for us today, right now. He is risen, drath is gone.

-       Two: Life still overwhelms us sometimes, right? Death is still scary. We still cry, and we still get terrified. It didn’t matter if women were bewildered or not, their reality was built on Jesus. He still rose. We have that same comfort. We get overwhelmed so often. But Jesus still rose. The promise of life is not based on our current state of mind.

-       Three: Challenge. How will we respond to this wonderful news?

-       Easter morning changed everything. Easter morning destroyed death, sin, Satan. Easter morning is the most important day in all of history. Easter morning gives us hope. That’s our reality: He has risen, and so will we.