Tuesday, April 7, 2015

April 5-6, 2015 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Mark 16:1-8 “THE TRUTH IS: JESUS LIVES!”



EASTER
April 5-6, 2015
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Mark 16:1-8

“THE TRUTH IS: JESUS LIVES!”
1.     Good Friday’s Truth.
2.     The women’s Truth.
3.     The angel’s Truth.
4.     Your truth!

Mark 16:1-8 (NIV 1984) When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. 6 "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' " 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.”

          Those of  you who have been with us the entire Lenten season know that we looked at the “I tell you the truth,” statements of Jesus that were tied to His passion. Today we look at the truth of Easter.  Now there are some times when figuring out the truth isn’t always the easiest thing to do. Teachers will tell you that. When something happens between students in the classroom or on the playground and they talk with the students each has his own truth. And while the stories don’t exactly match up the kids aren’t necessarily lying. They are telling the event as they saw it and felt it. They are telling their truth. The teacher then has to figure out what the truth is. Police will tell you something similar. When a crime has been committed and they interview the eyewitnesses the accounts of what happened aren’t exactly the same. If they are exactly the same the police know there has been collusion because normally people tell what happened from their perspective and their feelings. Their truth. Then the police have to figure out what the real truth is. What’s the truth of Easter? Let’s find out by looking again at what God has told us about Easter in the Gospel of Mark.
          We actually have to start with the truth of Good Friday. What happened there? Mark tells us in the 15th chapter of his Gospel.  With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last. 38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!" 40 Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there. 42 It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. 44 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.”  The truth of Good Friday is clear. Jesus died. The Roman centurion saw it. The Marys and Salome saw it. Jesus’ body was buried. The Marys saw where that was. Now some deaths are understandable—when someone we consider old dies. Some deaths are hard to understand—when someone young dies. Some deaths we describe as senseless—like the 150 who died as the co-pilot committed suicide. Although Jesus was only 33 His death was not senseless but planned and on purpose and understandable because He died to pay for sin. That is Good Friday’s truth.
          Now let’s listen to the women’s truth. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" The women’s truth was they were going to Jesus’ tomb on Easter Sunday morning expecting to find Jesus’ dead body and properly prepare it for burial. There’s more. “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.” The women’s truth is that they saw an angel and just like if you or I really saw an angel we’d be alarmed and scared so were they. There’s more. “Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” Even though the angel had given them a message the women were just overcome. They were having a hard time grasping what they had heard and seen. Can we blame them?
          That takes us to the angel’s truth. What had he said that puzzled these ladies so much? "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' " Now friends, when you read your Bibles you will find that angels don’t appear to people very often. God only does that when there are important messages to deliver. Messages that are important for salvation. After this angel rolled the stone away from the tomb, he waited for the women. He told them that the one they were looking for, Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified, died and buried was not there. He had risen from the dead. He showed them the proof and told them to tell others. The angel’s truth.
          There you have it. You’ve heard the different reports. Now what? You have to do something with it. After teachers hear student A’s truth and student B’s truth they have to figure out the truth and whether someone is in trouble or not. When the police hear all the truths of all the different witnesses they have to decide whether or not to press charges against someone. We’ve heard the truths. What will we do with them? How about believe and rejoice! The truth is Jesus lives! Here’s why that matters. The Bible tells us that Jesus was delivered over to death for our sins but was raised to life for our justification. Justification here is actually a courtroom term. In a courtroom someone who is justified is declared innocent. So the truth is that Jesus died to pay for our sins and was raised to life as proof that our sins are paid for, all of them. How about those dumb ones you did in the past, the ones that you hope your kids or grandkids won’t find out about? How about those ones that you know if you did them in these days with video recording everywhere and videos going viral would shame you and probably change the course of your future? Yes. Paid for. Jesus is living proof. How about last week’s sins the ones that are still searing your conscience? Yes. Paid in full. Jesus lives. There’s more. Before He died Jesus said, “Because I live you too will live.” He does so we will. We all know that life here isn’t always the most fun. Senior saints will sometimes tell you getting old doesn’t feel good. The body runs down as we slowly move to death. But death isn’t the end for those who believe in Jesus. It’s the beginning of real life with Jesus. And when He raises our bodies on the last day they will be glorious and never fail us again. There’s more. When Jesus told his disciples what was about to happen to Him, that He would be betrayed, arrested, crucified, die, that they would not see Him for a bit, but then would later, He also told them their grief would turn to joy. Yours will too. Easter is fun to celebrate. It’s filled with joy. But the rest of life isn’t always like that. We have griefs. We have grief when we bury our loved ones. We have grief in our relationships with other people. We have grief when we run into life’s unfairness. All these and many more. But the truth of Easter is that grief won’t last. Grief will turn to joy. Jesus lives. He will make that happen. When you run into those griefs, hang on, hold on to Jesus. At the right time he’ll turn those griefs to Joy.
          Jesus lives. That’s the truth of Easter. It was true for the angel. It was true for the women. It’s true for you and me too. Christ is risen! Amen.

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