Mark 16: 1-20
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The New
Testament Witness of the Apostle
Peter |
The Pulpit at Pilgrim's Rest Christ Covenant Reformed (PCA) |
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In this last chapter of Mark we come to a turning point in human history. So profound was the reality of this turning point that we date our entire history around the birth of Jesus Christ. Lives and whole cultures have been changed. But as we look at the brief passage before us, there is little indication of everything that is to happen in Christ's Name since that first Resurrection Sunday so many centuries ago.
Look here at the common followers of Jesus Christ on that first day of the new week following the horrible execution of their Messiah. Look here and see ourselves pictured in our own weakness. Mark reports that several of the women who followed Jesus decided to go early in the morning to prepare the body for proper burial. In the excitement of their commitment they rushed off without thinking about how they would gain access to the tomb. How many times since have sincere Christians planned and prepared to do something for the Lord without thinking things through carefully. Sometimes the more emotional we are about doing things, the less careful we are in planning.
I well remember hearing of grand and wonderful plans to increase a local Bible School in another place from a mere thirty-five students to at least seventy in a mere three short weeks. Almost everyone got excited. Four small churches were to combine their resources for the event. Material had to be ordered and invitations sent out and so forth. The host Church began getting things in order. When the great day arrived, over a hundred and fifteen children arrived. The facilities were overwhelmed and there were not enough teachers. Well, hurried trips were made for more material, the meeting place was changed, new teachers were brought in and something greater than had been expected happened. By the end of the two weeks almost one hundred and fifty students had participated.
Such was the excitement when the women arrived early at the tomb to find that God was able to accomplish more than they had planned on. But, the open tomb was only the beginning of the morning's surprise. In addition the tomb was empty, and the angel actually chided the women with the fact that Jesus had told them they would see Him again.
One week on one of my several trips to Columbus I was listening to an ancient folk song sung while husband warriors were away from home. Its haunting melodies kept returning to the phrase "will ye come back no more?" The worst was expected of course, and many in that terrible time of religious conflicts were no doubt disappointed when their loved ones failed to return. Their lament was already sung and their hearts prepared. In a similar vein men of the Seventh Cavalry rode off to the Dakota territories to the tune of "She wore a Yellow Ribbon". When news of the massacre was reported, many were the hearts that were troubled until the sad little party of survivors rode home to a handful of joyful reunions.
The women who went to the tomb, went with empty hearts expecting to find a dead teacher, instead the angelic messenger told them their weeping and mourning were in vain. "He has risen!", they were told instead. When that news was reported, the crowd of Jesus' followers refused to believe it. Even when the two men rushed back from their trip in the country with the same news, the disciples did not believe them either.
Imagine their surprise when Jesus appeared in their midst and rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
There are many today who refuse to believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. A few years ago, one of you showed me an advertisement for children's video tapes. The series was entitled something like "Myths and Incredible Tales for Children". Included in the fictional list were Noah, Moses and perhaps even one tape on the Christmas story.
Sound biblical facts for many in this day and age are stranger than fiction. And yet, to an incredulous world the disciples were sent out with the true story of the resurrection. Even today their calling is ours as well. How much we really struggle with that calling, we sense that the worldly do not want to hear about our Christ. We know that the worldly have little use for past history.
Well, the world really hasn't changed all that much since Jesus walked in our midst. If we would accept the challenge of telling the worldly about the faith given to us through grace, there will be some who listen. We know from history that the disciples spread the word abroad to the ends of the Roman Empire and even beyond. India and Ethiopia heard about Christ very early on.
In time, the Gospel must be preached to even the lost tribes of the Amazon, New Guinea and other remote and pagan peoples. Recently, there surfaced in South America a tribe of Native Americans who fled to remote mountain valleys at the time of Columbus. They have managed to remain hidden for four hundred years and only within the last decade have been found. Their escape into the Andes valleys is over, the world has stumbled on their hiding place.
Now, if the bureaucratic red tape can be cut, missionaries may finally be able to witness to one of the last lost tribes. Some of course will be saved, but just as in every other culture, some will not listen and they will remain lost. Reaching the whole earth has not been an easy task, only by the Lord's providence have iron and bamboo curtains fallen in our time to reveal a starved and teaming multitude anxious to hear the Good News known first hand on that Resurrection morning almost two thousand years ago.
Today, are you as eager to hear the Good News as the former residents of the evil Soviet Empire? Are you one of the elect described in verse fourteen? Look at that verse carefully, how much creedence do you give to the facts related in this and the other Gospels? Yes, we may very well accept them on an intellectual level. But, do we accept it on an emotional level to the extent that our hearts are stirred and our minds burdened to share the Good News of what God has accomplished for us? Do you really share the excitement of the New Testament Christians and expect a revival in our day and time? I wonder?
Given the tyranny exposed by Deputy Reno in the last few weeks, there is little cause for joy in Mudville today as the old story goes about Mighty Casey who went up to bat and struck out! Well contrary to the evangelical mood in this country today, Jesus Christ did not strike out when the Jewish Church and the Roman Empire conspired to kill God incarnate. And neither should we be intimidated amidst our current worldly set of leaders either. We have a calling, the same given to the disciples at the moment of their most profound disappointment. We have a risen Christ to proclaim, an ascended Lord to praise and worship. Let us leave the Lord's house today with a renewed confidence that God is sovereign even over death and Hades. Christ is indeed risen, and there is a world waiting to hear it. May we be emboldened to proclaim that fact. Amen.
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Baraclay, William. |
The Gospel of Mark: Daily Study
Bible. |
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Cole, Alan. |
Tyndale New Testament
Commentaries: |
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Chadwik, G.A. |
St Mark: The Expositor's Bible |
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"Bringing the Light of the Reformation to Scripture" (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995) |
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B2b31 |
11 April
93 |