“Fear”
[Mark 16:1-8]
April 5, 2015 Second Reformed Church
Jesus had been crucified and had
died. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus
received His body from Pilate and placed it in a new tomb and began the process
of anointing His body for burial – slathering Him with aloe and myrrh.
As it was close to the beginning of
the Sabbath, they interrupted their anointing and let the Romans seal the tomb.
And we read:
“The next day, that is, after the
day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate
and said, ‘Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, “After
three days I will rise.” Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the
third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, “He
has risen from the dead,” and the last fraud will be worse than the first.’
Pilate said to them, ‘You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as
you can.’ So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and
setting a guard” (Matthew 27:62-66, ESV).
The chief priests and the Pharisees
understood that Jesus had prophesied that He would rise from the dead, and in
order to stop the disciples from stealing His body and faking a resurrection,
they asked that the tomb be sealed – and Pilate agreed. So a large stone was rolled in front of the
tomb, and wax was poured along the place where the stone was set, and Pilate’s
seal was placed in the wax – making it illegal to be broken – and a guard of centurions
– was set – an absolute minimum for four per shift – and more likely closer to
sixty – given the nature of the Person in question.
Notice: the chief priests and Pharisees were
concerned that the disciples would fake Jesus’ Resurrection. The chief priests and the Pharisees
understood that Jesus said He was going to rise from the dead, and they believed
that humans do rise from the dead. What
the chief priests and the Pharisees did not realize is that the disciples did
not understand that Jesus was going to rise from the dead, and the men (in
particular) were all hiding.
Let us understand: Jews believe in the resurrection of the body
– just like Christians do. And Jews
believe that (usually) the bodily resurrection occurs once and at the end of
the age – as do Christians.
After the death of Lazarus, Jesus
spoke to Martha, his sister: “Jesus said
to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he
will rise again in the resurrection on the last day’” (John 11:23-24, ESV).
Biblical Jews and Christians believe
that God will raise the physical bodies of all people on the last day.
Another sign that the Jews believe
in the physical resurrection is what we are told they did with bodies: they embalmed them. And they did not embalm they like the Egyptians
who took parts out of the body or modern mortuaries, where the blood is drained,
but they anointed the bodies of the dead and then wrapped them in grave
clothes.
And someone might say, “Well, maybe
they anointed them to keep them from smelling – after all, many were buried in
tombs or caves – all above ground.”
But here’s the rub: they anointed dead bodies with aloe and myrrh
and other spices. What are aloe and
myrrh used for? Healing wounds and
infections. Why does a dead body need to
be healed of wounds and infections? It
doesn’t – unless you expect it to rise again one day.
So, we see, first, this morning,
they believed in the resurrection of the body.
(But the disciples were oblivious to what Jesus had said.)
The Sabbath passed – the first full
day of the feast of Passover ended with sunset that Saturday evening.
And we read:
“When the Sabbath was past, Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they
might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the
sun had risen, they went to the tomb.”
A group of the women – including the
three here named – went to the tomb – not expecting to find the risen Christ,
but desiring to finish the anointing of His body for the resurrection on the
last day. (The men remained in hiding.)
It wasn’t until after the
Resurrection – and specifically, after the day of Pentecost, when God the Holy
Spirit began to indwell all Christians, that they finally understood.
The women went and gathered the
anointing spices they needed to anoint Jesus’ body when it suddenly occurred to
them that there was a big rock in front of the tomb.
“And
they were saying to one another, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the
entrance of the tomb?’”
Matthew
tells us that an angel caused an earthquake and the stone rolled away.
“And
looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.”
Not
only that, but all of the Roman guards were passed out on the ground.
“And
entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a
white robe, and they were alarmed.”
They
were alarmed for two reasons: they
didn’t expect to find someone alive in the tomb, and they recognized that the
young man before them was an angel.
“And
he said to them, ‘Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was
crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But
go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There
you will see him, just as he told you.’”
Don’t
be afraid – Jesus of Nazareth – the Man – the Incarnate God and Savior – has
physically risen from the dead – now.
He’s not here in the tomb; He’s not dead any more. See – here is where He lay – here are the
cloths that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus wrapped Him in. Now go – run back to the disciples and tell
them that Jesus has physically risen from the dead – He’s alive – and He will
meet you all in Galilee – so go.
What
would your reaction have been?
During
the past week – your Rabbi – your Teacher – the One you thought was the Savior
of Israel was betrayed, tortured, crucified, died, and was buried under heavy
guard. And when you came to finish
preparing His body, the guard was out cold, the tomb was open, a supernatural
being was in the tomb, and he told you that Jesus had risen from the dead and
would meet you all in a nearby town.
“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.”
“Our
hope has been in Jesus, but now He is dead.
And the Romans are out cold. And
the stone has been rolled away. And the
tomb is empty – Jesus’ body is gone. And
there is an angel. And he says that
Jesus has physically risen from the dead, and we should tell His disciples and meet
Him in Galilee. AAAAHHHHH!”
The
words that Mark uses – “trembling,” “astonishment,” “afraid,” – are powerful
words: The women were shaken to their
core and in awe of what happened. They
had entered an abnormal state of mind – their minds had been blow. They were filled with fear.
Are
you afraid this morning?
I
hope you’re afraid.
Let
me tell you about two times that Jesus caused people to fear Him and how they
responded:
“And when he came to the other side,
to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of
the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried
out, ‘What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment
us before the time?’ Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from
them. And the demons begged him, saying, ‘If you cast us out, send us away into
the herd of pigs.’ And he said to them, ‘Go.’ So they came out and went into
the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea
and drowned in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told
everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And
behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged
him to leave their region” (Matthew 8:28-34, ESV).
Jesus delivered two men from
demon-possession. And He granted the demons’
request to enter a herd of pigs, who committed suicide after becoming
possessed. The herdsmen fled in fear to
the town and told them what happened.
And the town went after Jesus and begged Him to leave.
Jesus came bringing with Him
deliverance from demons and salvation from the Wrath of God and the town’s response
was to gather against Him: “You’re going
to ruin our economy – please get out of here!”
Another time we read:
“On that day, when evening had come,
[Jesus] said to them, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’ And leaving the
crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats
were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into
the boat, so that the boat was already filling. But he was in the stern, asleep
on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care
that we are perishing?’ And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Peace!
Be still!’ And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, ‘Why
are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ And they were filled with great
fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea
obey him?’” (Mark 4:35-41, ESV).
Jesus and the disciples were
crossing the Sea of Galilee, and suddenly, a super storm broke out on the sea –
this was not a normal storm – Mark indicates that this was a ship-smashing,
ship-sinking, fisherman-killing, super storm.
The disciples ran around the ship,
trying to bail out water to keep them from sinking – and then they noticed that
Jesus was asleep. And they woke Him up
and asked Him how He could be as uncaring as not to help them during this storm
– and Jesus commanded the wind and the waves to be quiet. And there was – as Mark explains it – not
just calm – but super calm.
And the disciples were terrified and
talked among themselves, trying to understand Who this Man is Who is Sovereign
over the Creation. And they continued to
follow Him.
You see, there are only two
responses to encountering Jesus: our
response is either, “AaaHhhh – get out of here – You’re going to ruin my
life!” or “AaaHhhh – I can’t quite wrap
my head around everything about You, Jesus, but I know who I am, and I know
that I need You – please receive me into Your Kingdom!”
The women who arrived at the tomb,
found the tomb open, the guards disabled, Jesus’ body gone, and an angel that
told them He had physically risen from the dead and would meet them in Galilee.
“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.”
The women were afraid – they had
seen unexplainable things – Jesus’ body was gone – physically resurrected
according to the angel – an angel!
And they ran from the tomb in
fear: “Whoa!”
And Mark tells us that they told no
one.
Then how did we get here?
They told no one as they were
running to tell the disciples.
John records: “So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the
other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken
the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ So
Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.
Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and
reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying
there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went
into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which
had been on Jesus' head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a
place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also
went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the
Scripture, that he must rise from the dead” (John 20:2-9, ESV).
Over the next few days, the
disciples hid and wondered what was going on.
They were afraid – they didn’t understand – but they had gotten the
message: Jesus had physically risen from
the dead – He was alive and would see them soon.
Over the next forty days, over five
hundred of Jesus’ disciples met with Him and touched Him and ate with Him and
saw that He was really alive – but they still didn’t really get it.
But on the day of Pentecost, Peter
preached:
“Brothers, I may say to you with
confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his
tomb is with us to this day. Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God
had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his
throne, he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was
not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised
up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand
of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he
has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did
not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,
“‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
until I make your
enemies your footstool.”’
“Let
all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both
Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”
“Now when they heard this they were
cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers,
what shall we do?’ And Peter said to them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit’” (Acts 2:29-38, ESV).
What about you?
Do you fear that Jesus will take
over your life and change you? He will.
Do you fear that you won’t
understand everything about Jesus? You
won’t.
Still, it is put to each of us: fear God and believe that God the Son came to
earth in the person of Jesus, lived a perfect life under God’s Law, died for
the sins of all those who will ever believe, and physically rose from the dead,
and ascended back to His throne.
Or, tell Him to go away, and fear
God’s Wrath for your sins.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, we thank You for the Gift
of Your Son and the salvation He merited for us. We ask that You would help each of us to know
where we stand before You this morning, and we ask that those who have not yet
believed will be stricken with fear that they might be drawn to You, and we ask
that we who do believe will have a fear that makes us continually run to You as
our only Hope and Salvation. For it is
in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
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