Easter Day - The Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord Service
St. Mark 16:1–8
Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said to themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go and tell His disciples— and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” And they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Dear Worshippers having come on this Resurrection Day to behold the risen Christ:
A young man in Jesus’ tomb says to the women who’ve come there to finish anointing His body: You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. And then He says something even more important after that. We’re going to talk about
What the women had been hoping to see
What they saw
Why it’s good that they saw what they saw
What the women had been hoping to see
Occupied is what they’d been hoping to see. Strange as that may seem, that’s what Mary, Mary, and Salome had been hoping to see—Jesus’ tomb occupied. They had a job to do. It was a task of devotion. Three days before, they’d seen the head wagging, heard the mocking of passers-by. They’d beheld for themselves the three hours of mid-day darkness (these things that happened when Jesus was crucified). They’d heard Jesus’ cry, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? —(and the one He did as He breathed His last—Mark 15:34). They’d heard the moved centurion’s words: Truly this man was the Son of God (Mark 15:39)!”
We know they’d seen and heard it all, because Mark tells us that in His Gospel account (15:40,41). These women who had followed Him (along with many other women) and provided valued service to Him had seen the end that even most of his closest disciples didn’t see because they’d fled in fear (as prophecy had foretold they would—Zechariah 13:7; Psalm 38:11).
St. Mark carefully tells us that the women had seen Jesus’ life’s end, and then also, that they were there to see what happened with His body. They’d seen Joseph of Arimathea transport Jesus’ corpse to a tomb, against which he had rolled a stone across the entrance. The women had seen enough to know what still needed to be done with Jesus’ body according to customs (there hadn’t been adequate time as the Sabbath approached). They only wondered, now, as they walked along the road, on this third day after His death, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”
Consider the profound sadness in their hoping to see an occupied tomb (they hoped the body would be there!).
It isn’t that they’d hoped He’d die, of course. What one of the disciples said later, sums up what these women were thinking too: We had hoped that He was the one to redeem Israel (24:21). They’d hoped beyond hope that He’d live. They’d hoped none of the things they’d seen happen would happen—Him arrested, beaten, mocked, falsely accused and condemned, crucified, buried. But it had happened. And now, these women had a job to do, a task of devotion. In order to carry it out, occupied is what they were hoping to see—Jesus’ body there in the tomb. They would do it, and then get on with their lives.
What they saw
Unoccupied is what they saw. Imagine yourself standing on the road with them. You’ve just been discussing the large stone that covers and seals the entrance to the tomb. That wasn’t nothing. Really; How were they going to remove it? Somehow they’d get it open. But you’re with them. And you look up, and…it’s gone.
It’s what they’d wanted (for the stone to be removed so they could do their job), and now also, considering what they were hoping to find, we might imagine that it’s the source (at least for a moment) of an anxious, sinking feeling. But one might ask them: could things really be any worse than what they’d left a few days before, and what they’d been hoping to find now? Could whatever it meant that the stone was removed be worse than this One they’d hoped would redeem Israel being dead? It just underscores the dismay, the sadness in this whole thing, doesn’t it?
So, you’re with them. You’ve seen that the sealed stone over the entrance of the tomb has been removed. You go in with them. And it’s evident from the Gospel accounts, that even now, what the women wanted to find there was Jesus’…body. St. John records that Mary Magdalene said to someone she thought was the Gardiner, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.”(20:15).
It’s hard to imagine what they were thinking, isn’t it? They were still so devoted to Jesus. They never devolved into skepticism, concluding Him to be a fraud like the Chief Priests and elders had said (at least we don’t see it). Here’s a stunning thought: Did they think there was certain evil in this world that even God can’t overcome, before which even His anointed one was helpless? Jesus had told a parable about wicked servants killing the son (the heir) so that they could have his inheritance (Matt 21:38). Could it really be true that that could happen, without God being able to do anything about it (imagine the hopelessness in that thought!)? With that in mind, what sadness even in seeing the tomb unoccupied. Whoever had removed the stone, and whatever had happened to the body; it was still just that—the dead body of their Lord.
Occupied is what they’d been hoping to see—the body there, for them to fulfill their task of devotion. Unoccupied is what they saw—the body missing (and even that to their dismay).
Why it’s good that they saw what they saw
Glorified is what the Easter morning sight means. You continue into the tomb with the women, and you see a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side. They were alarmed. We can understand that, can’t we? St. Matthew says that this one’s appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. The guards trembled like dead men in his presence. He calls him an angel (28:3-5).
So you, along with these women look to the angel; and he says to you, You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. Well, he was right about that. Everything they’d done and said up to this point indicated that. And what they had in that—in seeking Jesus, who was crucified—was sadness and fear.
How could He really have been who John the Baptist said He was if He isn’t alive; how could He be the one Who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29)? How could He have been who He had said He was if He isn’t alive; how could He be the light of the world who leads His followers to have the light of life (John 8:12)? If He isn’t alive, how could He be the Christ, who proclaims of Himself, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven (Matthew 26:64).” If He isn’t alive those words are every bit as fraudulent and offensive as the High Priest and his court considered them to be.
One who can’t defeat death for himself can’t defeat it for you. If that’s the case, then, as St. Paul writes: Your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins (1 Corinthians 15:17).
The women had been seeking Jesus apart from His Words that He’d said. He hadn’t said it would be important to make sure His body was properly prepared for burial; but
He had said that He must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again (Mark 8:31).
Even one among the Chief Priests and Pharisees—when urging Pilate to place a guard at the tomb and seal it, said: “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise’ (Matt. 27:63).
He’d said the Son of Man would be three days in the heart of the earth just as Jonah was three days in the belly of the great fish (Matthew 12:40).
He had said one time: I lay down my life that I may take it up again (John 10:17).
According to His Words, the women (and the disciples) should have been seeking more that one Who was crucified.
They should have been seeking One Who is risen.
That’s the next thing the angel told the alarmed women in the tomb: He is risen! He is not here.
Everything changes with that news, doesn’t it? God is no longer dead. That dread in the thought that perhaps there is evil that even God can’t overcome, before which even His anointed one is helpless, that the Son could be helplessly killed for His inheritance; it isn’t true! Not even the grave that comes to us as sinners can overcome Him. He has authority to lay down His life, and authority to take it up again (John 10:18).
Luke tells us the angel said to women: “Why do you seek the living among the dead (24:5)? It was as if to say, Don’t you know who this is that you are seeking?
He is the one who defeats sin by taking your guilt upon Himself.
He is the one who defeats the death that your sin has brought, by taking that death upon Himself.
He is the one who defeats the grave that follows death, making it a transition to eternal life.
There isn’t any more need for sadness or fear, is there? Christ is risen! Your sins are removed.
There isn’t any hope or any joy in a crucified Lord who isn’t risen. He doesn’t demonstrate anything by dying. All of us will do that. We’ll do it because the wages of our sin is death (Romans 6:23). He demonstrates something very important by rising, though. His death goes in a different direction. It doesn’t end in defeat; it ends in victory.
And that victory isn’t just His; it’s yours too. Your death will go in this same direction because through faith you are connected to Him. He has removed for you the curse of death. You will rise to follow Him. Your faith isn’t in someone who’s dead; it’s in the One Who was dead and is alive again.
HE IS RISEN!
[HE IS RISEN INDEED!]
ALLELUIA!
Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto everlasting life. Amen.