“Victorious Light”
Second Sunday of Easter
©Thomas B. Cundiff
Mark 16: 1-8
When the Sabbath was over,
Mary Magdalene, and 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. They had been saying to one another,
“Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they
looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been
rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white
robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said 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. 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.” So
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.
I.
Introduction
Easter is not over.
In fact, how could we possibly
contain all we know about Jesus and his resurrection to just one Sunday. All I had time to do last Sunday was scratch
the surface in what Jesus’ resurrection means.
The HOLIDAY may be gone. Spring Break may
be over for most of us. But Jesus’
resurrection will always be part of our spiritual DNA . The living Christ is in us—part
of our being. His resurrection flows
from week to week in our worship
experience as we integrate all his resurrection means for us as we walk with
him every day. So this second Sunday of
Easter this question again: What does
Jesus’ resurrection mean for us?
Let me repeat: For the hard-core Christian, every Sunday is EASTER. Easter is a way of life for the
Christian. Every worship experience is
celebrating Jesus rising from death to give us, first and foremost, the promise
of life eternal. His love and care and
grace and hope and forgiveness and love and compassion all come with this
eternal hope that God will always be with us and in us—part of our spiritual DNA .
I also find something that
never goes away. There are always going
to be scholars and preachers from every conceivable theological perspective,
continuing to argue questions that have been around for centuries – questions in
trying to disprove the possibility that Jesus actually (quote) “rose from death, ascended into heaven, to be
seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.”[1]
Yet the truth from the
gospels is to be found in only one place – our hearts – as we search for what
it is we truly believe. What are our
core beliefs?
This being the second Sunday
of Easter, this I know for sure: It’s
obvious you aren’t one of those twice a year congregants who comes to church
only on Christmas and Easter. Otherwise
you wouldn’t be here! There are those we saw last week we won’t see again until
Christmas! (Oh, maybe mother’s
day…..that’s one of those secular holidays that seems to bring a lot of people
out to church)!
For those who are serious
about being here every week: What do you
believe about Jesus’ resurrection? What
is the biblical foundation for this theology of resurrection? In our hearts, what does believing in
Jesus’ resurrection mean for the church and our mission in the world – our
lives as we live in this world?
First Foundation of Truth:
All
four of the gospels, Matthew and Mark and Luke and John say it! Jesus was crucified and rose from
death. It’s in the bible. The four gospels written by different men at
different times in history say it. The
gospels written from the different perspectives of four different men say it. These men didn’t collaborate in their
writing. They didn’t know each
other. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all say Jesus was
crucified and then rose from death.
There is something “scientific” about getting four I-witnesses to report
the same thing—many years after the event!
Is this not believable? The
truth? Jesus rose from death? Truly, there were more than just these four
men who shared this experience! We
wouldn’t be here if the faith of the church rested on the testimony of just
four men. These four men and gospels
represent a ground-swell of
belief that was spreading like wild-fire in the hearts of thousands of
women and men!
Second Foundation of Truth:
The
stories of the empty tomb in all of the gospels, including the text read this
morning, were never written to try to prove
anything….let alone prove Jesus’ resurrection.
The New Testament proclaims as a mater of fact and faith – Jesus’
resurrection! The empty tomb report attests to what
everybody at that time simply believed. “He
is not here! He has been raised by
God. The one crucified is now living
with God. Death cannot hold him! This is not like a witness talking to a
reporter. This is a proclamation of
faith! Now in our western minds we start
thinking about: Who could have stolen
the body from the tomb? This wasn’t in
the hearts of those at that tomb in the first century. They simply knew God had taken Jesus. The gospel
writers proclaim what they believe
to be true in their hearts. They don’t
feel the need, like we do in our modern western world, to prove things
logically or scientifically. We too, in
the modern church, are asked to accept this proclamation through FAITH we place
in God.
So putting these foundational truths together, where
do we go with FAITH we place in God in accepting these truths? This is a key word: FAITH!
This is why I am here in this
time and this place and in this pulpit! FAITH. I am here to preach: FAITH.
FAITH keeps Jesus alive in our hearts
and minds. FAITH helps us understand
Jesus as a church. FAITH has kept us
going in our lives with many of our families and this church for nearly a century
and a half. As one author said, and I apologize for not knowing
his name:
“Who would ever
come to support a church as a doubter?
As one without at least a kernel of FAITH?”
Easter remains, after 2000
years, a celebration of FAITHFUL people struggling together to understand what
the early disciples tried to understand – God’s giving us a valuable gift –
part of himself – part of his divine family -- his son. While our faith is not perfect, we are
here! We continue to search for what it
means that Jesus lived and died and rose and ascended into heaven for YOU and
for ME!
II. The
Earliest Account of Jesus’ Resurrection
Digging deeper into today’s
scripture: In case this general
discussion about FAITH doesn’t work for you in understanding Jesus’
resurrection, let me get to some supportive details found in the gospel of
Mark.
This scripture today tells us that a group of women were the first to learn of Jesus’ resurrection. They were: Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. The morning after Jesus’ death, they went to the tomb with spices so they could anoint his dead, broken body. There was nothing to be happy about in making this trip to the tomb.
And when they get to the
tomb:
“Jesus is gone!”
“He is not here!
The tomb is empty!”
Scripture proclaims these
women were “seized with trembling and
bewilderment. They said nothing to
anyone, for they were shocked / alarmed.”
I find myself reading and re-reading
this scripture….from different translations studying the words
carefully,…..listening to what is being said.
The women did not celebrate! There was no jubilant celebration! These women were filled with alarm and
disbelief! They were hurting. They were grieving. These women and all who heard about the empty
tomb were going to have to come, over time, to believe that Jesus rose
from death. This is worth
repeating; these women, over time, were
going to have to come to terms with what they experienced.
Something else I need to keep
reminding myself. The gospel of Mark was
written some 65 years after Jesus’ death. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of
this! It’s not like the reality or truth
of Jesus’ resurrection was known and recorded for us to hear a week after it
happened! The PROCLAMATION of Jesus’
resurrection took a full generation, 65 years, to take root. The story of what happened had to be told
over and over again for many years before being written down!
Likewise, for us, it can take
years – an entire life – to come to terms with what we believe. It is part of human nature. It takes time to adjust to dramatic
experiences that occur in life. The
Easter service and story of Jesus’ resurrection, last week, may have meant
absolutely nothing to you. Today may be
different. Today maybe you can leave
saying:
“Aha! I
am beginning to get it! I am now
understanding what God is giving me! It
is not just a neat story about Jesus disappearing from his tomb. This scripture is really telling me Jesus
died for me. Jesus rose from death for
me. Jesus has given me so much
including hope in eternal life. Jesus
has conquered death!”
In faith – can we come together again next week to
continue exploring what it means that God gave us his son? Next week I will be turning to Saul and his
conversion on the road to Damacus…..in his growing in faith to accept Jesus as
the risen Christ!
I want to end, as I have in
past years, with the words of Rev. Dr. Peter Marshall. I go back to an image that has meant a lot to
me for most of my life since I was a teenager.
“Knock and the door will be opened.”
These great words from the
late Rev. Dr. Peter Marshall in opening some doors to understanding Jesus’
resurrection:
“The
Glorious fact that the empty tomb proclaims to us is that life for us does not
end when death comes. Death is not a
wall, but a door. And eternal life, which may be ours now by
faith in Christ, is not interrupted when the soul leaves the body, for we live
on, and on.” [2]
Death is not a wall but a
door. It is a door to life that never
ends. It is a door to eternal life. Jesus through his death and resurrection
opens the door for us. Our decision? Will we walk through the door?
SO AGAIN, THROUGH FAITH, I PROCLAIM TO YOU TODAY:
Jesus Christ is Risen Today! I still feel his love! I know he is in my heart.
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