EASTER SUNRISE
April 4, 2010
Pastor Timothy J. Spaude
Text: Mark 15:42-47

PORTRAITS OF OUR SAVIOR:
“RESTING”

Mark 15:42-47 (NIV) “It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, 43Joseph 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. 44Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 45When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 46So 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. 47Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.”

It’s one of those things that many book readers and movie goers absolutely hate and despise. I’m talking about the setup for the sequel. You know how it goes. If the authors or screenwriters are good they get you wrapped up into their storyline, breathlessly waiting for the exciting conclusion and then the story or movie just seems to stop. There’s no satisfactory ending. You’re left with a disappointment sometimes even anger that you are left hanging. The Scripture before us is kind of like that. Not the anger and disappointment part but in the way it leaves you kind of hanging there waiting for the rest of the story. It doesn’t seem right to leave Jesus in the grave. And yet these words and actions are so important that the Holy Spirit Himself made sure they are included in God’s Word. What do they show us?
They show us a lot of people waiting. First there was Joseph of Arimathea. He was a prominent member of the Jewish ruling council known as the Sanhedrin. We are told that he was waiting for the kingdom of God, that is the Messianic age, to be revealed. He was also waiting for the opportunity to bury Jesus’ body. But for that to happen he had to wait for permission from Pilate. This he received when it was clear that Jesus was really dead. Others were waiting too. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses. They went to see where Jesus body was buried because they were waiting to prepare it in an honorable way for burial with the proper spices. They couldn’t do that then. Why not? Why were they waiting?
That’s told us at the beginning of our text. It was Preparation Day, that is the day before the Sabbath. Ah! Here’s why everyone is waiting. The Sabbath. Remember that the Jewish day is counted a little differently than ours. Their days begin at 6 PM. The Sabbath began on what we would consider 6 PM of Good Friday. Remember what the Sabbath was for. Resting. Rest from physical labor. Rest from spiritual struggle by worshipping.
Resting is what we see our Savior doing in our text. It’s the Sabbath so naturally He’s resting. He rests from the physical labor and torments His body went through as He paid for sins. He rests from the spiritual agony He endured when He was forsaken by His Father.
He rests because His work is done. Here’s a reason this is contained in the word of God. It’s not setting up a sequel or a writer’s trick to keep us hanging so we buy the next book or see the next movie. It’s God showing us Jesus’ work is done. Remember how Jesus described that work. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Or “I am the Good Shepherd. I lay down my life for the sheep. No one takes my life from me. I lay it down of my own accord.” Everyone who heard Jesus should have expected this, yes, even looked forward to it. The problem the Pharisees, Joseph of Arimathea, Jesus’ disciples, the Marys all had was that for some reason they just weren’t listening. In the case of the Pharisees they didn’t want to. For the others they had been taught wrongly about the work of the Messiah for so long it’s really not surprising that they did not expect Him to die. But die He did because that was His work. To give His life as a ransom for many. And just like His Father at Creation, just like God’s will for His people is, when the work is done there’s rest. Jesus’ work was done, the ransom paid. So He’s resting, waiting for resurrection.
And because of what Jesus accomplished there’s something else for us to learn as we see the portrait of our Savior resting. It’s how we get to approach death too. Here I’m specifically talking about the death of those who believe in Jesus. The death of those who do not believe in Jesus is a tragic waste and cause for great sadness. Even though Jesus gave His life as a ransom for all, even though Jesus paid for the sins of all people of all time, those who reject Him as Savior condemn themselves to Hell. They are forfeiting God’s grace and mercy, the place in heaven that Jesus won for them. The death of an unbeliever is horrible. Whenever someone asks me how people without faith deal with death I have to honestly answer, “I don’t know,” because I don’t. Maybe they fool themselves with pleasant stories or use alcohol or drugs to numb their minds. I don’t know.
Yet sometimes death isn’t always easy for believers in Jesus either. Maybe you’ve seen someone at the end of life just seeming to linger, in and out of the hospital 2 steps forward, 3 steps back. Our bodies seem to know that they were originally designed to live forever so they seem to try to hold on to life as long as they can. That can be hard. When someone we love is dying or has died there is this sense of loss. Death often gets talked about in hushed tones. In a sense this is understandable. Death is a constant reminder of sin. God said it. The wages of sin is death. So there is this wrongness about death.
On the other hand Jesus has shown us exactly what death is now that He paid the wages of sin. Death is resting! Death is a temporary rest when your work is done. Look at Jesus. He finished His work. He calmly committed Himself into His Father’s loving hands and He rested until the time was right to get up and live and rule eternally. Easter! So also for you when your death approaches it’s a chance to rest. You know kids when your parents urge you to take your afternoon nap or for older children that you get in bed by your bedtime. You know how you buck that and fight that? Do you also know how blessed you are to be able to get a nap or enough sleep at night? Your parents would love to take a nap or get a good long night’s sleep. I’m sure some here are looking forward to an Easter afternoon nap. Rest is something to look forward to and to cherish.
And so is the death of a believer in Jesus! Have you experienced in the past year or so the death of a loved one who died in the Lord? Has it been hard on you? Hear God’s truth. They’re resting! Like Jesus did. Waiting for resurrection. No longer was there work for them to do on earth. So they get to rest from physical labor. No longer do they have to labor spiritually, fighting temptation, resisting sin, praying for help, repenting when fallen, dealing with shadow guilt. They get to rest. That’s a good thing.
Is death imminent for you or for a loved one? Think of Jesus. Resting. That’s what’s coming. A time to rest. It’s nothing to fear or dread. It’s something to cherish and look forward to. And then really it’s just the beginning. We know that Jesus did not keep resting in the tomb. On Easter morning, when the time was right, He rose. Right now the souls of those who have died believing in the Lord Jesus are with Him in heaven resting from physical labor and spiritual too. But a time is coming and when that time is right Jesus is going to return to this earth and in a miracle that’s really hard to comprehend He will tell the bodies of all people to wake up and they will. They will rejoin their souls. Sadly those who have rejected will have to spend eternity body and soul in hell. But for the believers there will be the joy and happiness of living body and soul with Jesus forever.
That’s another reason we aren’t angry at this word of God for leaving us hanging because it doesn’t. Eventually the plot lines for movies and books run out. Generally in a still less than satisfying way, and when there’s no more money to be made, the authors wrap it up. But with God it continues. After rest there’s resurrection then sequel after lovely sequel of eternal life in heaven. In a way we will be able to endlessly say, “The best is yet to come!” Amen.