Sermon Transcript

Good morning, Life Church. It is so good to be with you this morning. I hope you’ll grab your Bible and turn to the last pages of the gospel of Mark. Today, we’re finishing a study in this gospel that has taken us more than a calendar year. Today we’ll come to the gospel’s end. I have hoped and prayed that this study would allow us all to do just what we’ve titled the series: Behold the Servant King. We’ll be in Mark 15:40 today. May we, one final time – for now, consider who Jesus is revealed to be in this gospel.

I do need to speak to a few things as we turn to our passage this morning.

First of all, many of you know Kristen and I were away last week for a family funeral. Many of you reached out – to offer help and to let us know you were praying for us. I just want you to know how grateful I am for the expressions of love and care we received. I also want to express my gratitude to Mark Etheridge, who pinch-hit for me on short notice. I’m really grateful for Mark, for his ministry here, especially among our students in this season of transition on our staff. If you see Mark, I hope you’ll share your appreciation for the work he is doing here.

Second of all, before we study it, I need to speak to how the gospel of Mark ends in our Bibles. Today, we are going to study Mark 15:40 – 16:8. And we will stop there, because I am convinced – as are most New Testament scholars today – that Mark ended his gospel at chapter 16, verse 8. In all of the earliest manuscripts of Mark’s gospel, the story of the Servant King ended at chapter 16, verse 8. I’m persuaded that chapter 16, verse 8 is the original ending.

However, as we’ll see, that’s a pretty abrupt ending. So abrupt that some people – very early in the history of the church – became convinced that Mark couldn’t have intended to end his gospel there. He must have intended a longer ending. And so, a few ancient scribes who were entrusted with copying manuscripts of Mark’s gospel began adding what is printed in our Bibles as verses 9-20. Your Bible probably has a footnote indicating that those verses don’t appear in the earliest manuscripts of the book.

What do we make of all this? Well, it is certainly possible that verses 9-20 are true. It is even possible that they were written by Mark – perhaps later in his life. I think it is more likely that they represent stories told by others of the first disciples of Jesus. Verses 9-20 teach nothing that conflicts with the teaching of the rest of the New Testament. I think we can learn from them.

But, I would say, they should not be considered the inspired Word of God. Therefore, we shouldn’t study them in the same way that we study the rest of Scripture. That is why I won’t preach from them today. Why we won’t study them in this series.

If that troubles you, I would be so glad to discuss it with you more – so long as you are interested in a discussion and not a lecture. If you just want to yell at me about this, that’s fine, too. But I’d like to get it all over with at once. So, when the service is over today, if you want to join the mob that is going to harass me about this, I’ll be right over there.

In all seriousness: Mark 15:40 – 16:8. The ending of Mark’s gospel.

Two weeks ago, Matt Perez showed us the climax of the gospel of Mark – the crucifixion of the servant king. Jesus Christ was falsely accused and unjustly tried. He was mocked. He was spat upon. He was tortured. And then he was nailed to a Roman cross. It was the most humiliating and horrible form of execution known to the world at the time.

While most who watched Jesus crucified continued to mock him, one man looked on with a newfound sense of awe. The Roman centurion overseeing Jesus’ crucifixion said this – you can read it in Mark 15:39: “Truly this man was the Son of God” (15:39b). A careful reader of Mark will know: That is the theme of this gospel. Way back in Mark 1:1, Mark wrote: The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God (1:1). Everything Mark wrote after that has been written to persuade us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And this Roman centurion is the first human in the gospel to get it! Demons got it. But this centurion is the first human to say that Jesus is the Son of God. It is the climactic moment in Mark’s story of Jesus.

But it is not the end of Mark’s story of Jesus. Mark makes clear that, for Jesus, death does not have the last word. The cross is not the conclusion of the story of the Christ. The story of the Christ culminates not in death and defeat, but in an empty tomb. And that empty tomb changes everything for those who follow the Servant King.

THE WOMEN AT THE CROSS

Let’s look together at Mark 15. We’ll read a few verses at a time, and I’ll comment along the way. Let’s start in verse 40: MARK 15:40-41.

We start with women at the cross. They are looking on from a distance. Is that a comment on their spiritual state, as well as their physical state? Probably.

In their defense, these women are far nearer the cross at this moment than the other disciples. Peter and James and John and the others are nowhere to be seen. Jesus’ closest friends have abandoned him. But these women have not.

What will the empty tomb change for Mary Magdalene? For Mary the mother of James and Joses? For Salome?

We should note, here, that the presence of women at the cross is not nearly as interesting or significant as the presence of women in Mark’s narrative. The British scholar Richard Bauckham, in his landmark book on the subject, Jesus and the Eyewitnesses, argues that the presence of women in the gospel accounts is a telltale sign that the gospel accounts – especially the accounts of the empty tomb and the resurrection – that these are eyewitness accounts.

You see, women had very little legal standing in ancient societies. They were marginalized and ignored. Women couldn’t serve as witnesses in the ancient world. They lacked the legal standing to testify in court – like slaves or other second-class citizens.

Bauckham says that no one in the ancient world, writing a fictitious story about a resurrected God-man, would ever include women as witnesses to that resurrection.

In other words, if Mark or the other gospel writers had wanted to fabricate a story about Jesus rising from the grave...If they wanted to make this story up and dupe a bunch of people into believing it...They would have left the women out. They would have written in other witnesses. Witnesses who would have the legal standing necessary to testify in court.

But Mark doesn’t do that. He writes them in, because – Bauckham says – Mark is giving us eyewitness testimony. These women were really there. These things really happened.

JOSEPH OF ARIMATHEA BEFORE PILATE

The next person Mark mentions is Joseph of Arimathea. Verse 42: MARK 15:42-46.

Joseph has a problem. Jesus was crucified on Friday, the day of Preparation. Preparation for the Sabbath. Jews began observing Sabbath at sundown on Friday. Which means time is short after the death of Jesus.

Joseph wants to bury Jesus. But Jewish Law prevented one from working – even burying a

dead body – on the Sabbath. So, Joseph hurries to Pilate. 4

The gospels only tell us a few things about Joseph of Arimathea. Mark tells us that he is a member of the council – the Sanhedrin. These are the dudes who have been pulling the strings behind the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus. They are the Jewish leaders. The ones who conspired against and harassed Jesus his whole life. The ones who had him killed.

Luke tells us Joseph was “a good and righteous man.” John says he was “a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews.” Mark adds: “he was looking for the kingdom of God.”

All that means that Joseph is risking a great deal by going to Pilate. He has been following Jesus in secret. He sits on the ruling council, and if anyone finds out that he is on Jesus’ side his career is over. Maybe even his life is over. Yet he does not want Jesus’ body to hang on the cross over Sabbath.

Typically, when the Romans crucified someone, they did one of two things with the body.

Often, they would take the corpse and throw it in the garbage dump behind the city of Jerusalem – Gehenna. Jesus used Gehenna as a metaphor for hell in his teaching. This public, unmarked grave was a fitting place for rebels and insurrectionists, the Romans thought. They didn’t want to dignify such criminals with a proper burial.

If they didn’t throw the body in Gehenna, the Romans would just let it rot. They would leave it on the cross. Carrion fowl and other scavenging animals would come at pick at it. The sun and heat would bloat it. This was a sign to all who saw it: This is what happens to criminals. Don’t get any ideas.

But Joseph wants to see Jesus buried. Why, I wonder? Whatever hope he had in Jesus as Messiah is certainly now dead, along with Jesus? But Mark says he took courage. Even though it might cost him his job. His life. Joseph goes to Pilate and asks for Jesus’ body.

Pilate is surprised Jesus is already dead. So, he summons the centurion – yes, the same centurion – to confirm. The way Mark tells the story makes it clear that he is certifying Jesus’ death. It’s like the coroner pronouncing the man dead. The centurion is the legal witness. Pilate is the legal authority. Both declare him dead. Mark wants us to be certain – Jesus of Nazareth died upon the cross.

Pilate agrees to Joseph’s request. He gives him the corpse. Not the body. The corpse. This is a dead man, after all. And Joseph takes that lifeless mass of flesh and organs and bones and lays them in his own tomb. Then he seals the entrance to that tomb with a stone.

What will the empty tomb change for Joseph of Arimathea?

THE WOMEN AT THE TOMB

Finally, Mark pans back to the women. Verse 47: 15:47-16:3.

According to Richard Bauckham, that same biblical scholar, another reason we can have confidence that the gospel accounts represent eyewitness testimony is the fact that no one in these accounts expects a resurrection. After Jesus is crucified, everyone in the stories believes that he is really, truly dead. And that he is not coming back again.

That’s odd, because Jesus spent a lot of his ministry telling people that he was going to die and then rise again. In fact, we’ve seen it three times already in Mark.

We can go back to Mark 8:31: And he began to teach them that the Son of Man 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 (8:31).

And then again in 9:31: He was teaching his disciples, saying to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise” (9:31).

And then again in 10:33: “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise” (10:33-34).

Bauckham’s point is this: If the gospels were myths...If these were fictitious and fabricated origin stories about Jesus of Nazareth to persuade people to follow him...If they weren’t true at all...Then, when the central figure in the myth keeps saying: Guys, I’m going to die but then three days later I will rise again. If he keeps saying that, then someone in the story will believe him. Someone, on the third day, will go to the tomb to see if what he promised is true.

But nobody in these stories expects a resurrection! The Marys and Salome are going to the tomb on the third day, but not because they expect to have a conversation with the resurrected Lord! They are going to anoint him. For burial. They couldn’t on Friday, because it was almost Sabbath and anointing Jesus then would have made them unclean on the Sabbath day. So here they are on Sunday, expecting to find Jesus sealed in the tomb.

Bauckham says that no one who was making up this story would write it that way. It’s written this way because these things really happened. Because this story is true.

The women walk to the tomb, worried that they won’t be able to roll the stone away. Verse 4: MARK 16:4-8.

Isn’t that a fitting way for Mark’s story of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus to end?

Think about the number of people who have beheld the reality of Jesus in this gospel, only to respond with fear.

The disciples were afraid for their lives when a storm overtook their boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus calmed the storm with a word, and then they were even more afraid.

The woman who suffered for twelve years with a flow of blood was healed by touching Jesus’ robe – and she fell down before him in fear and trembling.

The crowds who witnessed Jesus cast a legion of demons out of a man feared a great fear in response.

When Jesus walked across the sea of Galilee to his disciples on a boat, they were terrified.

Now, Mary and Mary and Salome behold the empty tomb of the servant king. An angel is there, dressed in white. They were alarmed. Then he speaks, declaring the best news that has ever been declared: “He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him” (16:6b).

What is their response? Verse 8: And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid (16:8).

What will the empty tomb mean for these women? What will the empty tomb change for Mary and Mary and Salome? Mark doesn’t tell us – I think, because he is inviting us to ask: What does the empty tomb change for me? What does it change for us?

THE EMPTY TOMB CHANGES EVERYTHING

I think there is a chance that many of us have a good understanding of what it means to live on this side of the cross of Jesus. I think many of us comprehend what the cross changes for us. We understand that on the cross Jesus served as a substitute – our substitute, if we respond to him by repenting of our sin and trusting him in faith. We understand that on the cross Jesus paid the just penalty our sin demanded in view of the holy and righteous God of the universe. We grasp what the cross changes.

But many of us – in my perception, as I talk to Christians and pastor Christians – many of us fail to grasp what it means to live on this side of the empty tomb. What does the resurrection of Jesus change for us?

In truth, we could point to innumerable things. Today, I’ll point to three:

1. The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of all Christian belief.

2. The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of all Christian obedience.

3. The resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of all Christian hope.

Belief. Obedience. Hope. Let’s consider each one before we conclude.

First, the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of all Christian belief.

In 1 Corinthians 15, the apostle Paul writes this: If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile...If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor 15:17a, 19).

Without the resurrection of Jesus, the things Christians believe, trust in, and think are futile, Paul says. They are worthless and empty and meaningless. Without the resurrection, Christians are the most pitiable and pitiful people imaginable.

Because of the resurrection of Jesus, the things Christians believe, trust in, and think are reasonable, on the other hand. They have a meaning and significance that is grounded in the reality of the resurrection.

What do I mean? What does the apostle Paul mean?

Well, to start, we can acknowledge that the Bible is full of things that seem absolutely unbelievable. Samuel tells us that Goliath was ten feet tall. Jonah spent three days inside a fish and survived. A man named Balaam had a conversation with his donkey.

Then you get Jesus. He walked on water. He calmed storms simply by speaking. He healed people. He cast out demons. He fed thousands from a couple of Lunchables. He opened the eyes of blind men. He opened the ears of deaf men. Men who were mute, who hadn’t spoken in years, erupted in song in response to his healing touch.

These things are, admittedly, challenging for some of us to believe. I haven’t seen anyone calm a storm with his words or bring someone back from the dead. I have certainly never seen a donkey talk. Because I haven’t seen those things, it is at times challenging for me to believe that they happened.

When we doubt, when we wrestle with the claims of the Bible, we must always bring those doubts back to the resurrection. In other words, in moments of doubt, do your business with the empty tomb. Sort out Balaam and Jonah later. The foundation of all Christian belief is the empty tomb. If Jesus is not raised from the tomb, if the tomb is not empty, then none of the other stuff matters anyway. But if Jesus is raised, if the tomb is empty, then everything else is on the table.

Others among us don’t struggle to believe the truth claims of the Bible. We don’t wrestle with God’s miracles. Instead, we wrestle with God’s promises. Life kicks us in the teeth. We endure hardship and heartache. It becomes difficult for us to believe that God is there. That God cares. That he is willing and able to do something about our problems.

We must bring those kinds of doubts to the empty tomb, too. The empty tomb is proof to us that God does see and know and care about our deepest problems. Because the empty tomb is proof that God has dealt with our sin.

In Romans 4:25, Paul writes: [Jesus] was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification (Rom 4:25). In other words, the resurrection is the proof that God accepted the payment that Jesus made on the cross for our sins.

Jesus was raised to prove that the penalty of our sin had been satisfied. The judicial sentence against us on account of our sin was an infinite sentence. Not because we were infinitely sinful, but because God is infinitely holy. But now, the infinite sentence against us had been infinitely satisfied. And so, Jesus came walking out of his grave. The resurrection was God stamping PAID IN FULL across all of history so that nobody could miss it.

Which means that the resurrection is the proof that God does see and know and care about our sorrows and our suffering. And he responds to these things. He has already responded to our biggest problem, the problem we were powerless to solve ourselves. He has dealt with our sin. Of course he sees and cares about and is dealing with our other trials. If we doubt that, we must go to the resurrection. We must look to the empty tomb. The resurrection is the foundation of all Christian belief.

The resurrection of Jesus is also the foundation of all Christian obedience. That’s the second thing the empty tomb changes for us. Our response to the moral authority of Jesus is shaped by the resurrection.

If Jesus is nothing but a good moral teacher, then you and I – we can do whatever we want. If Jesus was merely a kind person and a wise man. Even if he managed some miracles here and there. If all Jesus did was teach people how to live and show them how to live, then – frankly, you can do whatever you want to do in your life. You can have it your way and be your own boss and that’s fine.

But if Jesus is a resurrected King...If he defeated death and sin and Satan and rose from the grave...Then we must deal with everything he taught and everything he commanded. In fact, we must submit every square inch of our lives to his authority.

In the years that followed the death of Jesus, there were dozens of messianic movements that emerged in Israel. In each of those movements, someone came forward and claimed to be messiah. They started rebellions. They gathered followers.

And the Roman empire crucified every one of those leaders. They crucified every one of those would-be messiahs. Do you know what happened to those movements? After their leaders died? Nothing. Everyone went home. They were done. That was it.

Of all those messianic uprisings, there was one – and only one – that didn’t collapse after its leader died. In fact, not only did it not collapse, it exploded. Within 300 years, it had spread throughout the entire Roman empire. Today, it has spread through the entire world.

All because those closest to the crucified leader – though they denied him and abandoned him in the hours leading up to his death. Once they witnessed the resurrection, it changed everything for them. Those who ran from the crowds in fear around the cross became supermen on the other side of the resurrection. They charged ahead with the message of the empty tomb. They went to their own deaths, many of them, because of the empty tomb.

If Jesus is nothing but a good man, a good teacher, a good example...Then who cares what he said or did? Then who cares about your sin? If you don’t like what the Bible says about sexuality, who cares? If you don’t like what the Bible says about money, who cares? If you don’t really want to love your neighbor as yourself, who cares?

But if Jesus is a risen, resurrected King...If all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him...Because he broke the power of death and conquered evil once and for all...How can you not submit to his will for your life?

If Christ is in the grave: “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die.” But if Christ is risen: Let us bow before the risen king in submission to his Word and his authority! The resurrection is the foundation for all Christian obedience.

Finally, the resurrection of Jesus is the foundation for Christian hope. Hope in this life is a fickle thing.

You can hope in money, and the economy might collapse tomorrow. You can hope in your relationships, only for your marriage to implode. You can hope in your body, and cancer can blindside you. Hope in the things of this world is always fickle. Always fragile. And every worldly hope will fail you in the end, if not long before.

But because of the resurrection, we have an ultimate hope. A hope that is secure. A hope that will never perish or spoil or fade.

If you are in Christ, the resurrection means that glory is always on your horizon. Your body might fail you. Your relationships might fail you. Everything in this life will eventually perish or spoil or fade. Literally, your life will fall apart.

But because of the resurrection, the life to come is real. Glory is on the horizon. A new day has dawned. And though now we see only the rays of sunlight peeking over the horizon, there will be a day when we are blinded by the full-on sunlight of the resurrection.

Last weekend, Kristen and I gathered with the family and friends of Billie Gilbert – a woman who had been like a mother to us in our early years of marriage, and like a grandmother to our kids in their youngest years. Billie and her husband Jere didn’t adopt us because we were special. That is just the kind of thing they did. They were the kind of people who saw others in need, especially in their church, and welcomed them into their lives. They were so kind to us.

We gathered last weekend with Billie’s family and friends to celebrate her life after she died two weeks ago. Billie’s final years were years marked by a struggle with Alzheimer’s and all that entails. Even in the photos of her last years, you can see in her eyes that Billie was there, but not there. Something was gone. She was gone. Present in body, but in body only. In the end, this woman who had been a force of nature her entire life was reduced to a mumbling, shuffling shadow of her former self. And then she died.

But friends, there will be a day. A day when the trumpet sounds and the risen, resurrected Christ returns in glory. A day when he calls his people by name and those who are in him rise from the grave. A day when the people of God are summoned to their resurrected King to worship him for eternity.

Paul says that on that day every affliction in this life, every sorrow, every grief – these things will not even be worth comparing to the weight of glory that will be ours in the presence of our King. The resurrected Jesus – he is the object of all our hope. His resurrection is the foundation of all our hope.