5ive2wo

HE HAS RISEN

Mark 16:1-20

Key verse: 16:6 “‘Don't be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.’”

Happy Easter! We celebrate and rejoice because Jesus rose again from the dead. As we know well, the climax of the gospel is the Resurrection of Jesus. Without it the suffering and death of Jesus are nothing but unfortunate tragic events. With it Jesus is declared to be the Son of God. With it the disciples were transformed from lazy and defeated followers into the flaming and passionate witnesses of the Risen Jesus. Jesus defeated sin, death, by his resurrection. May we accept the Risen Christ into our hearts and become his witnesses.

I. He has Risen (1-6)

Look at verse 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.” The author Mark begins the story of Jesus’ resurrection by introducing three women—Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Who were these women? They loved Jesus dearly, followed him and cared for him. They loved Jesus and served his disciples with delicious food and prayers. They were like many of our women missionaries who follow Jesus faithfully and serve his work sacrificially. They witnessed everything that happened to him as they watched Jesus’ unbearable sufferings and cruel death beneath the cross. They must have been traumatized and filled with grief. They followed Joseph of Arimathea who carried Jesus’ body and laid it in a tomb cut out of rock. They saw where Jesus was laid.

Jesus died for our sins on the cross on Friday. So we call it Good Friday. This day was the darkest day for these women. They remembered all the beautiful memories of Jesus. Jesus was their source of joy, light, hope, meaning and happiness. But now he was gone forever. They saw his death and his burial with their own eyes. When Jesus died, their hope in Jesus died together with him. Right after the Sabbath was over, that Saturday evening, they bought spices to anoint Jesus’ body. They waited for Sunday morning to visit the tomb. These women’s love for Jesus was truly beautiful. Although all the disciples ran away and hid themselves somewhere very secretly, these women loved Jesus openly and faithfully. Now they wanted to anoint Jesus’ body as their last tribute and love to Jesus. Their faithfulness and genuine love for Jesus enabled them to know the resurrection of Jesus first hand. I pray that God may raise many women with genuine love for Jesus among Canadian girls. I know that women are truly beautiful and pure when they love Jesus faithfully, no matter what.

Verse 2-3 states, “Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"” The stone that was covering the entrance was large and heavy to prevent thieves from breaking in. These women knew they would have trouble moving the heavy stone, but they went anyways. When they arrived there, the stone was already rolled back and the tomb was open. There were also no guards keeping watch over the tomb. What happened? Look at verses 4 to 6, “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.”. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.” These women were looking for Jesus of the past and wanted to anoint his body and say, “good-bye” forever. The messenger knew why they had come. They had come looking for Jesus. Then the messenger gave them the three greatest words spoken in history, “He has risen!” It meant, “Jesus Christ is no longer dead. He rose from the grave! Crushing the power of death once and for all, Christ lives!” Jesus Christ wins! This is greater than any sports victory. It is greater than the FIFA world cup or the Stanley cup. This is greater than any battle victory. This is the greatest news the world has ever heard because Jesus Christ our Lord triumphed over the grave. By rising from the dead, Jesus opened the door of eternal life and demonstrated God’s victory and completed God’s world salvation work.

What does this mean to us? First, it means we have indeed been forgiven of our sins. Jesus gave his life to save sinners, but if he remained a dead corpse man’s sin problem remained unsolved, because the wages of sin is death (Ro 6:23) So St. Paul says in1 Corinthians 15:17, “And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.” But Jesus rose again from the dead and man’s sin problem was solved completely. In history, Jesus is the only one to rise from the dead. All other religious figures such as buddah, Mohamed and Confucius are still in their grave, but only Jesus our Lord and King has conquered the grave and rose again! This is why we can be sure that our sins are truly forgiven. This is why we know Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. Jesus is the only who can solve our fundamental sin problem. We thank Jesus who broke the shackles of sin and death.

Second, Jesus’ resurrection gives us a living hope in the Kingdom of God. The resurrection of Jesus is amazing news, because the risen Jesus conquered the power of death. As we know well, death had wielded its power over all people in history. No one could defeat death. Everyone knelt down before death helplessly. Modern science is trying hard to prolong life and advert death but still, death is standing at the end of the road. Every single person dies, whether he is handsome or not handsome, rich or poor, brilliant or less brilliant. Death has power to make a person very fearful, sorrowful, hopeless and meaningless. Death snatches away our beloved ones one by one and finally our own life. So the Bible says that the last enemy of man is death (1 Cor 15:26). I am relatively young and in good health. I’m still in my 3rd year of University. Therefore the thought of death never occurred to me. I said to myself, “Meh, I’ll worry about death when I’m like my father’s age. I’m still too young.” We prepare for many things in life. For me I prepare for my exams and papers in order to pass the course and graduate with a degree. I prepare for my dream car and my home and my future career and wedding. However I rarely prepare for my death. In other words, I rarely prepare for my eternal life in the kingdom of God. But we must remember that we never know when it will be our turn to be lowered 6 feet under.

If you were told that you had exactly 1 week to live, what would you do? Most people would probably scramble to make a checklist of all the things they want to do or experience before they die, like Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson in the movie, “The Bucket List.” It is because they have no hope left and they want to accomplish everything in the given time that they have. They have no hope after death.

But Jesus rose again from the dead, conquering the power of death. Jesus’ resurrection reveals the far more amazing truth for all of us. The Bible proclaims that the risen Jesus is the firstfruits of the resurrection (1 Cor 15:23). He became the guarantee of the resurrection of all of God’s redeemed people. God’s people will be clothed with the imperishable and glorious body. Through Jesus' resurrection, we now have a living hope of our own resurrection (1Pe 1:3-4). Simply put, death can no longer wield its power over us. Of course, we will die one day. But our life will not end in the tomb. After death, there is glorious resurrection. Therefore, Christians can overcome difficulties and hardships joyfully. We can serve God joyfully today and participate in resurrection glory tomorrow. We can suffer for Christ today; we will receive resurrection tomorrow. This is resurrection faith. Resurrection faith is not theory. With resurrection faith we can challenge difficult things and conquer it. That is why St. Paul says, “I die everyday.” (1 Cor 15:31) He meant that he served God up to the point of death, because he knew that if he died while serving god’s work, there will be glorious resurrection. With this resurrection faith, M. David Kim of Toronto UBF challenged his school study in Western attending every Sunday worship service in Toronto for the last 3 and half years. At times, he felt that he was dying, but his resurrection faith compelled him to go forward and he passed his theses recently. Because of the resurrection of Jesus, human life is truly meaningful and hopeful. In short, the resurrection gives complete and eternal victory to us. We praise Jesus who rose again from the dead. May we accept the risen Jesus into our hearts so that all the elements of death such as fatalism, despair, sorrow and meaninglessness may be driven out of our hearts today and the light of resurrection may shine in us. May we challenge life’s problems with resurrection faith and experience many victories.

II. The witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection (7-14)

What happened with the disciples? We know that all of Jesus’ disciples fled when Jesus needed them the most. After then, they fell into utter despair and guilt and could not recover from their failure. Jesus understood them well and sent his personal message to Peter. It gave Peter and the disciples the assurance that Jesus still loved them. Jesus restored their failure. Jesus understands each of us very well. His love for each of us is unchanging.

Later, The Risen Christ visited his disciples and rebuked them for their lack of faith. Actually, Jesus sent witnesses of his resurrection twice before showing himself to his disciples so that they could have resurrection faith. But they all doubted it. One of the doubtful was Thomas. Jesus showed himself to Thomas and told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Jesus sent his resurrection witnesses to his disciples beforehand so that they might believe his resurrection by faith. Jesus wants our faith to be based on the Word of God, not on physical evidence. Let us accept the risen Jesus right now and overcome all things with resurrection faith.

When we put our hope in the Risen Jesus, our lives are fundamentally changed. The women who came to anoint Jesus’ body were filled with grief, agony and pain but when the risen Jesus met them, they were changed! They witnessed Jesus’ glorious resurrection with their own eyes and their hearts were filled with eternal hope and heavenly peace and joy. The disciples were cowering in fear and hid secretly but when the risen Jesus met them, they were changed from fearful, unreliable and weak men into courageous and passionate witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection.

In the past, just like the disciples I was very doubtful and could not truly accept the resurrection of Jesus. I heard and learned of Jesus’ death and resurrection countless times. Every Easter, I’ve heard this story of Jesus who was crucified, buried and raised from the dead. So what’s the big deal? Jesus’ resurrection is very different from the concept of resurrection we have these days which is tainted by movies such as “dawn of the dead” and “resident evil.” Jesus was not a zombie; he rose from the dead in glory and splendour. I was very sceptical and afraid of committing my life fully to Jesus because I did not have this reassurance of the resurrection in my heart. However Jesus visited me very personally one day exactly 6 years ago, at the 2003 Easter Bible Conference. The risen Jesus changed my life around fundamentally from a deviant trouble maker and a gangster wannabe into a bible teacher and a messenger of God’s words! Only the risen Jesus has the power to change lives! Praise Jesus who was raised on the third day!

Today we heard the angel’s Easter message: “He has risen!” May we accept the risen Jesus into our heart and live a life with a living hope in the kingdom of God. I sincerely pray that we may grow as living witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection for many people who are wandering aimlessly and passing their life without hope. We praise Jesus who shattered the power of death and gives us the living hope in the kingdom of God. Let us accept the risen Jesus into our hearts right now and live with resurrection faith!