Pastor Jonah Sage preached from Mark 16:1-8 in our “Finished” series. He said that the resurrection means the promises are true. Lector: Emily Dippie
Pastor Jonah Sage preached from Mark 16:1-8 in our “Finished” series. He said that the resurrection means the promises are true.
Lector: Emily Dippie
"Who will roll the stone away for us?" Have you ever asked that?
We've all asked some version of it...assuming you've ever been really stuck.
The pain was overwhelming...have you been there?
The way forward seemed impossible...have you been there?
The odds were all against you, there was no way out. Have you been there?
Have you ever seen yourself so clearly, and your circumstances so clearly, seen your mistakes and your pain so clearly, that you knew deep down that there was no way out?
Have you felt your dreams come crashing down? Can you remember the day you realized your life would not be what you thought it would be?
"Who will roll away the stone for us" is really just one way of asking "how can we do the impossible?"
Mary Magdalene, Mama Mary, and Salome head to the tomb of Jesus to mourn
These three women wanted to give Jesus some kind of dignity in death.
He died naked, disfigured, mocked. Died an inch at a time by suffocation.
It must have been a horrific site. He must have looked so pathetic, so defeated and lifeless, when they brought his body down from the cross.
Have you ever felt a dream die? Ever watched it slip through your fingers?
And maybe after you tried to do something to keep just a piece of it.
His mama wanted to take of her boy...can you imagine the grief?
She wanted to wipe his wounds, clean his body, and give him a proper burial.
The boys are all hiding in their pain, dreams crushed, wracked with shame and fear.
The women are trying to ease their pain, anointing and cleaning an already dead body
They're all facing an impossible situation. They've watched a dream die.
And, for these women, there's a literal stone in the way.
The Roman soldiers sealed Jesus' tomb with a huge round stone.
Likely 6' wide, thick, heavy stone. Probably weighed around 4,000 lbs.
Took several professional soldiers to move it...now you have an elderly and middle aged woman looking at each wondering...
Who will roll away the stone for us...?
-Mark 16:3
This was more than a stone, wasn't it?
Just like it was more than a diagnosis, or more than a bad day.
The stone had to have felt like so much more. Something impossible. Something keeping them from the place they longed to be.
And nothing these three ladies could have do would make any difference.
They could pull and fuss and shove but these three would not have been able to do a thing about it.
I'm trying to help you see that the Bible is a story of helpless people facing impossible tasks.
Every part of this scene is somewhere between heartbreaking and silly.
How sad to try and break into the morgue to clean up a body
How embarrassing to hide after betraying your best friend and watching him die
How terrifying to be this stuck, this disappointed, this disillusioned.
I'm trying to help you see that the Bible is a story filled with people like you and me.
People facing impossible circumstances with little power to change any of it.
We have to see this is us.
We have to see that what we long to do, we cannot do.
We cannot make a way for ourselves, we cannot moves this rock.
If you want to heal, if you want to find Jesus, you have to ask that first question...who will roll the stone away for us?
If you are needy, weak, wounded, sick and sore...there is room for you here.
There is room for you in this story and in this church.
As they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.
-Mark 16:4
They arrive to find their problem is already resolved.
They don't know how, don't know by who, but someone did it.
Isn't that wonderful? Can you feel the promise hidden here?
The stone was rolled away. Mary and Mary didn't do it. Salome didn't do it.
But someone did it.
When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked.
-Mark 16:5
Surely THIS KID didn't do it! But who is he? What's he doing in?
One day church, we're going to wake up shocked.
How did this happen? Who is that there? Don't know how but he did it.
This word "shocked" here means a state of intense emotional excitement, great surprise.
This is a positive word here. Their hearts are lifted. They're probably smiling, looking around, heart racing.
Hilariously, the angel says to them:
Don't be alarmed
-Mark 16:6
That's the same word translated "shocked" right before.
They're shocked. He says "don't be shocked."
They're surprised. He says "don't be surprised."
Why can he say that?
In Mark, Jesus predicted his death explicitly at least 3 times that we have recorded.
How many other times do you think he said that with his friends?
John's gospel records even more.
This angel is telling the women not to be surprised BECAUSE JESUS SAID THIS WOULD HAPPEN.
He said he would die, and he told them what would happen next:
You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn't here! He is risen from the dead!
-Mark 16:6
Can you see the angel chuckling? He tried to tell you guys! He's ALIVE!
The angel even gives them a little nudge, too:
Go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.
-Mark 16:7
Just as he told you before he died.
So here's really all I want to say this morning:
The resurrection means all of Jesus' promises are true.
He told them it would happen. But they didn't believe it, did they?
The stone was too large. Who will roll away the stone for us?
Roman oppression was too great. Who will roll away the stone for us?
Society was filled with inequality, disease, violence, war...who will roll away the stone for us?
Sin...it marred the soul, leading friends to betray even the ones they loved, dividing hearts from God and each other.
And Oh God had seemed to go silent, hadn't he? Where was that God of Exodus?
Where was the God that promised liberation, healing, and salvation?
How could they believe with all of that? They didn't understand. They couldn't see.
So Jesus bled for them, suffered for them, died for them...and then he raised for them.
The resurrection means all of Jesus' promises are true.
Do you know there is only one thing that shows up in every single sermon in Acts?
You might be tempted to say the Cross. But it's not.
When the apostles went and preached, the only thing they made sure to say every. Single. Time. Was that Jesus rose from the dead.
Because the resurrection means all of Jesus' promises are true.
And did you know every one of those disciples, those fearful, ashamed, embrassed, hiding-in-the-closet disciples...did you know that every one of them died an unnatural death, some form of execution or murder, for claiming Jesus rose from the dead?
How could they do that?
Because the resurrection means all of Jesus' promises are true.
I know it doesn't make sense to you. It doesn't make sense to me either.
But Jesus said he was going to prepare a place for us.
Jesus said he would raise us from the dead, too.
Jesus said he would give us new bodies, a new home, a new city.
Jesus said he would wipe our tears away.
Let me give you just a few promises here:
Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.
-John 6:37
Whatever you've done, it's not enough for Jesus to break this promise.
Did you catch the Angel's little aside to the ladies? "Tell the disciples, AND PETER..."
Why? Make sure Peter knows he's still welcome.
If you come to him, he will receive you.
Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men
-Matthew 4:19
However incompetent you think you are, it's not enough for Jesus to break his promise
HE will make YOU...do you see?
"Oh I'm so bad at praying, so bad at this or that...I could never."
The resurrection means Jesus' promises are true, including his promise to use you
If you come to him, he will use you.
When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.
-John 16:13
However lost you think you are, it's not enough for Jesus to break his promise.
When you say, "who will roll away the stone for us", Jesus says "I will. Follow me."
The resurrection means Jesus' promises are true, including his promise to lead you.
If you come to him, he will lead you.
Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
-Matthew 11:28
The work is finished. Rest of soul, rest of mind, is available to you.
I know you think you've failed, and you have so much work to do...but Jesus has promised you rest. He has said the work is finished.
You have nothing to prove and no one to impress.
If you come to him, he will give you rest.
When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.
-John 14:3
Jesus has made an eternal home for you. Hear the tenderness of those words!
I will come and get you. Like a dad picking up a child with a scraped knee...
I. Will. Come. And. Get. YOU.
Why? So you will always be with me.
These are promises to build a life on and to put your hope in...and there are more.
The work is finished church. Hear the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ:
He is risen from the dead! Your sins are forgiven, you are united with Christ, you are eternally adopted into the family of God.
The resurrection means all the promises of Jesus are true.
Let's pray.