Easter Day, 16^th April 2006                                                               Mark 16:1-8

“Holy Terror”

I.  Totally Unexpected

“They went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (Mk. 16:8)  The first thing that Easter brought into the world was terror and amazement.  We have gathered today in joy and delight.  We are celebrating something wonderful, and we have taken time, thought, and effort to prepare our celebration.  But Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome were not overjoyed that first Easter.  They were scared out of their wits.

Let’s ponder for a minute why they might be frightened.  Think about the week they had just experienced: first, there was the day Jesus entered Jerusalem, hailed as the Messiah.  Everyone was jubilant, for God was doing something wonderful.  Then there was a week filled with teaching and with Jesus debating the various factions of Jewish leaders.  Then came the feast of the Passover, when the Jews remembered their dramatic rescue from slavery in Egypt.  If God were going to rescue Judea from the Romans, Passover was the perfect time to start the rescue.  Jesus ate the Passover with his twelve disciples, and the women and other followers of Jesus waited expectantly.

Imagine their shock and horror when Friday came and instead of God beginning the rescue from the Romans, Jesus was betrayed, arrested, and put on trial.  They watched the dreadful procession to Calvary and the brutal crucifixion of their beloved Lord.  When Jesus died, they watched him taken from the cross and carried to a tomb nearby.  They saw the large stone rolled in place to seal the tomb.  Then night fell, and it was the Sabbath.  They could do nothing on the Sabbath, but when night fell again on Saturday, they rushed to the merchants to buy spices and oils to anoint Jesus’ body.  This was the one last thing that they can do to show their love and devotion.  By the time they bought the needed supplies, it was too dark to go outside the city to the tomb, so the women waited anxiously.  As the skies begin to lighten, they hurried out to the tomb.

They had already had the shock of Jesus’ arrest and execution.  They knew that Jesus had brought the dead back to life, for they had seen or heard about Jairus’ daughter, the son of the widow of Nain, and most dramatically, the raising of Lazarus.  But who can bring Jesus back to life?  Evil and death have defeated him.  The women knew, from all too bitter experience, that the dead stay dead.

But when they arrived at the tomb, they found it empty, and a strange young man robed in white spoke to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.”  (Mk. 16:6)

These women have been on an emotional roller coaster all week, along with the rest of Jesus’ followers.  Their expectations have been overwhelmed several times.  They wanted to give Jesus one last act of devotion, and now they cannot even do that.  The empty tomb is too great for them to comprehend.  It is no wonder that they are terrified. 

II.  The Heavenly Message: Resurrection

The women are terrified at that moment and they flee from the tomb.  We know from the other gospels that they do not remain terrified and that they eventually reported what they had seen and heard.  Otherwise, Mark would not have known what to write about the events of that first Easter morning.  The women reported the words of the “young man robed in white,” who was an angel, bringing a message from God.  When we look at what the angel said, we see that he brought two important pieces of information.

The first information was the news that Jesus was raised from the dead: “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.”  The angel directed their attention to the niche in the wall of the tomb where the body of Jesus had been placed.  It was empty.  John reports that the grave clothes in which Jesus had been wrapped were there, empty.  If grave robbers had taken Jesus’ body, they would have taken it still wrapped.  The empty niche and the empty grave clothes pointed to a living Jesus who no longer needed grave clothes.

The angel said, “He has been raised.  He is not here.”  Who raised Jesus?  Of course, we know the answer to that question: God did.  There is another question about Jesus’ resurrection that we seldom ask: Why did God raise Jesus from the dead?  After all, Jesus had come and taught the most wonderful wisdom any great teacher has ever given the human race.  We have the Beatitudes and the summary of the Law.  We have the Lord’s Prayer.  We have the wonderful stories of the Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.  Perhaps if Jesus had lived longer, we would have more great teachings, but what we have has certainly inspired and guided millions of people for two thousand years.  We have his teachings on life and wisdom; what more do we need?

That is true enough.  But remember who Jesus was.  A few months ago, we celebrated Christmas, the birth of Jesus.  There were angels with messages then as well: “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people: to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is the Messiah, the Lord.”  (Luke 2:10,11)  At his birth, Jesus was announced as a King and a Savior, not as simply a teacher.

Then on Palm Sunday, Jesus was hailed as a King.  Last week, we read about the crowds shouting “Hosanna!  Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is the coming kingdom of our ancestor David!”  (Mark 11:9,10)  Jesus accepted these praises offered to a divinely appointed Messiah.  In fact, we know that he went out of his way to enter Jerusalem riding on a donkey, so that the prophecy of Zech. 9:9b would be fulfilled, “Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on a donkey…”

But then the king was executed.  The Jewish high priest accused him of blasphemy.  He was accused as a rebel against Caesar before the Roman court, and even though Pilate did not believe that Jesus was a leader of insurrection, he still allowed Jesus to be executed as the ringleader of a rebellion.  And when Jesus was executed, he was hung on a cross.  In Dt. 21:23, the Lord says, “Anyone hung on a tree is under God’s curse.”  Jesus was hung on a tree, accursed by God.

So, on the one hand we have the angelic announcements that came at Jesus’ birth and we have Jesus accepting, even claiming, the crowd’s acclamation of Jesus as the promised Messiah.  On the other hand, we have his execution as a blasphemer and rebel and we have his accursed death on the cross.  Which are we to believe?  If Jesus had remained dead, it would mean that God the Father had repudiated the ministry of Jesus.  It would be as if God had said, “I’m sorry, Jesus.  I had such high hopes for you, but you did not make it.  Your teachings were beautiful, but mistaken.  Your life was a failure.”

But the angel at the tomb said, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him.”  (Mk. 16:6)  God did not reject the ministry of Jesus.  Raising Jesus from the dead shows that God accepted and affirmed the ministry of Jesus.  All that Jesus taught was true.  Even his accursed death had a purpose.

III.  The Heavenly Message: Grace

The angel’s message at the tomb included more than the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead.  He went on to say, “But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.”  (Mk. 16:7)  I want to focus on the little phrase, “and Peter.”  Why would Peter be singled out for special mention?

It is because Peter had denied Jesus three times.  Before Jesus was arrested, Peter swore that, even if no one else were loyal, he would stand by Jesus no matter what.  After Jesus was arrested, Peter had the courage to follow the arresting party back to the High Priest’s house.  He wanted to stand up for Jesus somehow.  But when a servant girl asked, “Aren’t you one of his followers?” Peter denied even knowing Jesus.  In fact, Peter swore with ferocious oaths that he had nothing to do with Jesus.  When the rooster crowed, Peter remembered that Jesus had foretold that he would deny him, in spite of Peter’s promise to remain loyal. Peter’s grief was overwhelming and he dissolved into tears.  He had failed Jesus totally.  He was filled with grief and guilt.  How could Jesus now have anything to do with him?  Jesus had told his disciples over and over to be loyal.  Peter had sworn to stand up for Jesus against his greatest enemies – and when a little serving girl asked if he was a follower of Jesus, he collapsed.  He was not worthy to be called a disciple.

So when the angel said, “tell his disciples and Peter,” he was saying that Peter was indeed a disciple.  He had failed Jesus, but he was forgiven.  John 21 has the account where Jesus gives Peter face-to-face restoration as a disciple, but the words of the angel at the tomb tell Peter that he is still numbered among the disciples.

The words of the angel are words of grace.  Did Peter deserve to be forgiven?  No.  He had openly sworn loyalty to Jesus and then openly denied him.  One thing that Jesus had taught is found in Lk. 12:8,9, “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God; but whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.”  Peter stood condemned by Jesus’ own teaching.  He knew what Jesus had said and he knew what he had done.  He was without hope.  But then the angel said, “Tell the disciples and Peter,” so that Peter would know that Jesus still loved him and accepted him.  Peter was forgiven and restored.

IV.  Affirmation and Grace to Us

The women had expectations when they went to the tomb that morning.  They expected to find Jesus’ body in the tomb.  They had seen him die; they had seen him buried.  And they knew that dead people stay dead.  They were astonished, and then terrified, when they saw that Jesus’ body was no longer in the tomb.  The words of the angel only served to deepen their astonishment and terror.  They did not know what was happening; all that they knew was that their world had been turned upside-down.

We have a lot of expectations as well.  I think that one of the most common expectations that we have is that God’s acceptance is performance-based.  That is, if we do what God wants, he will be pleased with us, accept us, and care for us.  That expectation can be turned upside-down if we are going along, being decent a decent person, and then something distressing happens.  What happened to God’s care?  Or, on the other side of things, what happens if we make a huge mistake?  Suppose we recognize after the fact that we have denied God or disobeyed him – not in a little way, but in a huge and horrifying way, like Peter?

Those are huge questions.  I will say one thing about, “What happened to God’s care?”  That is, you have to look at things from the perspective of eternity, not simply the 80 or so years we have on this planet.  God is up to something far bigger than making life comfortable for us.  God does promise to care for those who trust in him – but listen to this, from Mt. 6:31-33, “Therefore do not worry, saying, “What will we eat?” or “What will we drink?” or “What will we wear?” For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  It is easy to hear the care promised in this verse, and harder to hear, “strive first for the kingdom of God.”

When we recall that phrase, “strive first for the kingdom,” we suddenly find ourselves in the middle of that second question: what happens when we fail God?  Are we hopeless?  Any honest person knows that he or she does not put God’s kingdom first all day every day.

When God the Father raised the Lord Jesus to life that first Easter day, he ratified the ministry of Jesus.  By raising Jesus, the Father was saying, “All that Jesus taught and did was correct.  Depend on it!”  One of the things Jesus taught is Mk. 10:45, “For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  God the Son served humanity by offering himself as a ransom payment for the sins we have committed.  The Apostle Paul later put it this way, in Col 1:13, “God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

When Jesus sent word of Peter’s forgiveness, he was not telling Peter, “It doesn’t matter.”  He was saying, “Yes, Peter, that was awful – but I have taken care of it.”  In the cross, our disobedience to God has been taken care of.  We are forgiven.

When the women were at the tomb that first Easter morning, they were terrified.  Their beloved Jesus had died and then his body was missing.  But as they pondered the message of the angel, they came to realize two things.  Over the centuries, we have recognized even more.  The message the angel spoke tells us first of all that Jesus was raised from the dead.  Since only God can raise the dead, we therefore know that God approved of what Jesus had done and taught.   Therefore, one excellent response to Easter is to read, study, and live the teachings of Jesus.  What Jesus taught us is not simply inspiring words or good advice; it is a description of what is real and true.  When you buy a new appliance, you read the owner’s manual so that you can operate it properly.  So, read the manual for life that God has given us.

But as you read the Bible, you will discover that you have failed God, as Peter did.  The words of the angel at the tomb tell us that God raised Jesus from the dead, and therefore, God affirms Jesus in his entire ministry – as teacher, as healer, as Savior.  When we go to Jesus and his Word for instruction and guidance, we discover that failure is not final.  Jesus is not a dead teacher; he is a living Savior.  There is nothing he will not forgive, if you come to him.  As the angel said, “Tell the disciples and Peter…”

We are too used to Easter to be scared by it, as the women at the tomb that first Easter were frightened out of their wits.  But be careful with Easter – if you take it seriously, it will turn your life upside-down.

To the Lord who gave his life for us and who rose to give us life be glory now and evermore.  AMEN.