Sunday's Message - A More Important Question

Here's the message I offered during the celebration services in the First United Presbyterian Church of Brilliant, Ohio and First United Presbyterian Church of Mingo Junction, Ohio on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021.

Mark 16:1-8 [Contemporary English Version]

After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James bought some spices to put on Jesus' body. Very early on Sunday morning, just as the sun was coming up, they went to the tomb. On their way, they were asking one another, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance for us?” But when they looked, they saw that the stone had already been rolled away. And it was a huge stone!

The women went into the tomb, and on the right side they saw a young man in a white robe sitting there. They were alarmed.

The man said, “Don’t be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who was nailed to a cross. God has raised him to life, and he isn’t here. You can see the place where they put his body. Now go and tell his disciples, and especially Peter, that he will go ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.”

When the women ran from the tomb, they were confused and shaking all over. They were too afraid to tell anyone what had happened.

A More Important Question

Now, I recognize that, because the temperature’s been in the twenties and there’s been snow in the air, it may be a little difficult to feel. And since there aren’t a lot of flowers blooming and attendance is still a little lower than in the past, it might not be quite so easy to see. Still, in spite of what we might be sensing, right here and right now, I can say with both certainty and enthusiasm that today is Easter Sunday. Will someone say “amen”? And even though the lead up may be a little different than what we’ve done in the past, it’s a whole lot better than it was last year, am I right? I mean, God’s given us the opportunity to be together this morning, and that’s a big change. And since, as a country, we’re working hard to control the virus and we’re getting vaccinated, maybe next year, we’ll all feel comfortable singing “Christ the Lord is risen today” without a mask.

But regardless of what might happen in 2022, today is Easter, that one time a year when we remember and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And because of that, on this Sunday, we generally look at one of the resurrection stories found in either Matthew or Mark, Luke or John. And this year, we’re looking at the Gospel of Mark. And for me, well, that’s kind of exciting, and I’ll tell you why. When you compare all four stories, Mark is kind of unique. I mean, even though they all have some very basic things in common, what the Evangelist Mark wrote is a little different, and I say that for two reasons. First, the resurrection in Mark comes at the very end of the gospel, and when I say “very end,” I mean very end. You see, this gospel ends at verse eight; therefore, there’s nothing after the resurrection itself: no Jesus walking with two guys on the Emmaus road or appearing to Mary in the garden or joining his apostles in a locked room. And he doesn’t tell them to make disciples or to wait for the Holy Spirit or to feed his sheep. None of that stuff happens in Mark at all, which must have made some folks in the day really nervous, because they added two different endings which are not found in the most ancient versions of the gospel. Now that’s one way Mark is unique. 

But I’ll tell you, there’s also something a little different going on in the story itself. And that’s really the second difference. Now, just so we’re all on the same page, let me read the passage again.

After the Sabbath, Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James bought some spices to put on Jesus' body. Very early on Sunday morning, just as the sun was coming up, they went to the tomb. On their way, they were asking one another, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance for us?” But when they looked, they saw that the stone had already been rolled away. And it was a huge stone!

The women went into the tomb, and on the right side they saw a young man in a white robe sitting there. They were alarmed.

The man said, “Don’t be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who was nailed to a cross. God has raised him to life, and he isn’t here. You can see the place where they put his body. Now go and tell his disciples, and especially Peter, that he will go ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.”

When the women ran from the tomb, they were confused and shaking all over. They were too afraid to tell anyone what had happened. [Mark 16:1-8, CEV]

Now that’s what Mark wrote, and just think about what he’s saying, especially after the young man started talking with the women. I mean, he told them to do two things, didn’t he? He told them to not be alarmed, and then he told them to tell the disciples, right? Now that seems pretty clear and straight-forward. But in response to these two commands, what did the women do? Again, according to Mark, “When the women ran from the tomb, they were confused and shaking all over. They were too afraid to tell anyone what had happened.” [Mark 16:1-8, CEV] And so let’s get this straight: the young man said don’t be alarmed and the women left confused and shaking. And then he said tell the disciples and they told no one because they were afraid. In other words, they did the exact opposite of what they were commanded to do. And with that, the gospel ends, something which just doesn’t make sense, because somebody must have spoken. And I’ll tell you, when you take those two things together, well, for me, that makes the resurrection in Mark really unique, if not a little strange. 

And you know, that’s what we’re going to focus on for the next ten minutes or so. And to do that, we’re going to answer two questions, and I’ll be right up front with y’all, I believe the second one is actually much more important than the first. 

You see, since it’s so unique, I think it makes a lot of sense to simply ask, why did the Evangelist Mark write his resurrection story the way he wrote it? And for me, that’s really the first question we need to answer. Why did he offer no appearances in his gospel at all and why in heaven’s name, did he write that the women left the tomb and told no one? I mean, why would he do that? Good question. And you know, to understand the answer, I think it’s really important to think about how different people reacted to Jesus throughout the gospel. 

For example, I believe you can sort of put the people Jesus encountered into four basic groups. And even though they were different, what they ended up doing was exactly the same. Take, for instance, group number one, the Pharisees. Now these guys were focused on a whole bunch of rules and commandments that they thought God wanted everybody to follow. As a matter of fact, they were so bound to their Law that, after Jesus had the audacity to break their interpretation of the rules by healing a man on the Sabbath, this was what these fine, up-standing, defenders of the faith decided to do: The Pharisees left. And right away they started making plans with Herod’s followers to kill Jesus. [Mark 3:6, CEV] That’s the first group. 

And group number two, well, we’ve got those disciples, especially the twelve, who decided to leave a lot of stuff behind and to follow Jesus. But evidently, this leaving business didn’t include their expectations, because not only did they dislike Jesus talking about how he was going to face rejection and pain they also squabbled over which one of them was actually the most important both now and in the future. Evidently, for them, discipleship meant following a healer and a miracle worker but not someone who would suffer and die. Now that’s what they expected. And that probably explains why, when Jesus was arrested, Mark wrote this: All of Jesus’ disciples ran off and left him. One of them was a young man who was wearing only a linen cloth. And when the men grabbed him, he left the cloth behind and ran away naked. [Mark 14:50-52, CEV] You see, just like the first group, the disciples also let Jesus down. 

And what about group number three, the crowd, that bunch of people who were always in the background, hearing the lessons, seeing the miracles and eating the free fish sandwiches. Well, they scared the Pharisees enough that they felt that they needed to arrest Jesus in private. But I think the crowd was just as controlled by their assumptions as the Pharisees by their laws and the disciples by their expectations. And that’s why, one week after greeting Jesus with hosannas as he entered Jerusalem because they assumed he’d restore David’s kingdom,  they would do this in Pilate’s court: Then Pilate asked the crowd, “What do you want me to do with this man you say is the king of the Jews?” They yelled, “Nail him to a cross!” Pilate asked, “But what crime has he done?” “Nail him to a cross!” they yelled even louder. [Mark 15:12-14, CEV] You see, Jesus just didn’t fit their assumptions, and so they turned on him, just like the Pharisees and the disciples.

And that really leaves only group number four, and now I’m talking about the women, and I’ll tell you, they were really distinct because when everyone else had left Jesus to die alone, these women held tough. You see, they watched the crucifixion. According to Mark, “Some women were looking on from a distance. They had come with Jesus to Jerusalem. But even before this they had been his followers and had helped him while he was in Galilee. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joseph were two of these women. Salome was also one of them.” [Mark 15:40-41, CEV] I mean, even though all the male disciples had either betrayed Jesus, denied him or simply ran away, the women saw him die from a distance. And they watched as he was buried. And they came on that Sunday morning to put some spices on Jesus’ body. And in the empty tomb, they heard the young man say, “Don’t be alarmed! You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who was nailed to a cross. God has raised him to life, and he isn’t here. You can see the place where they put his body. Now go and tell his disciples, and especially Peter, that he will go ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.” [Mark 16:6b-7, CEV] Now that’s what these women had done. But to be obedient, you know, to do what Jesus wanted them to do, they had to do two things: one, stay calm and two, tell the disciples. But did they do that? No. In fact, they did the opposite. And why did they disobey? Mark wrote that they were afraid. In other words, they allowed their fear to get in the way. And so, just like the Pharisees and the disciples and the crowd, in the end, even the women, let Jesus down. And then without giving anyone the chance to change their minds and to get it right, you know, to confess and repent, the Evangelist Mark ended his gospel. 

And I’ll tell you, in my opinion, this is the reason. It was now up to the reader, which means us, to provide the ending to this story. In others words, knowing that in his life every human being let Jesus down, now we have to decide if we’re going to be like them or if we’re going to do something different. For example, it’s really up to us to decide whether we’re going to focus on all those little rules and commandments that can absolutely dominate our lives and cause us to forget that Jesus said this about God’s commandments: “The most important one says: ‘People of Israel, you have only one Lord and God. You must love him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.’ The second most important commandment says: ‘Love others as much as you love yourself.’ No other commandment is more important than these.” [Mark 12:20b-31, CEV] You see, we have to decide whether we’ll follow the Pharisees or recognize the simple fact that God’s compassion transcends all the limits we try to put on it. That’s one, but that’s not all. 

It’s also up to us to decide whether we’re going to focus on our own limited expectations of what God provides or recognize that God offers us far more than we can even imagine, just like Jesus said to Peter: You can be sure that anyone who gives up home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or land for me and for the good news will be rewarded. In this world they will be given a hundred times as many houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and pieces of land, though they will also be mistreated. And in the world to come, they will have eternal life. But many who are now first will be last, and many who are now last will be first. [Mark 10:29b-31, CEV] That’s two. 

And as it relates to assumptions, we have to decide whether we believe that God’s grace extends only as far as we think it should, or whether we can accept that it’s gift that he controls, something that Jesus made clear when this happened: 

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “It’s hard for rich people to get into God’s kingdom!” The disciples were shocked to hear this. So Jesus told them again, “It’s terribly hard to get into God’s kingdom! In fact, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to get into God’s kingdom.”

Jesus’ disciples were even more amazed. They asked each other, “How can anyone ever be saved?”

Jesus looked at them and said, “There are some things that people cannot do, but God can do anything.” [Mark 10:23-27, CEV] 

That’s three. 

And finally, Mark leaves us to decide whether we’re going to stay still and quiet because we’re afraid or whether we’re going to trust that God has the power to not only calm our fears but to give us the strength to do what Jesus has called all of us to do: “If any of you want to be my followers, you must forget about yourself. You must take up your cross and follow me. If you want to save your life, you will destroy it. But if you give up your life for me and for the good news, you will save it.” [Mark 8:34b-35, CEV] I’ll tell you, these four decisions are really up to us. And I think that’s why Mark described the resurrection the way he did. You see, it’s up to us to write the ending.

Of course, if you remember, I said the “why” was only the first question, which means, right now, we’ve really got to answer a second and actually, a far more important question. And so, on this Easter morning, having read Mark’s unique take on the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ and the Son of God and having talked about why he wrote what he wrote, it seems to me the only question we have left is this: What are we going to do about it?