Message Date: March 31, 2024

“Jesus __________” Part 7: The Risen King — Easter Sunday

Victory Life Churh — Sunday, March 31, 2024

Introduction

Mark 16:1–20 (ESV) 16 When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, 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 that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. 9 [[Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it. 12 After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them. 14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.” 19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]]

Framing the Story of Jesus

We’ve been in a series on Sundays the last several weeks leading up to today. For those of you who are new to church, we often go through different series of teachings where we look at themes, topics, or sections of scripture. Next week we have our Founding Pastor with us, it’s a great time to invite people. But here is a very quick recap of this series we have been on. We’ve been looking at who Jesus is throughout the book of Mark, one of the four biographies of Jesus known as a “Gospel.” Mark begins his gospel story of Jesus this way.

Mark 1:1 (ESV) The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Through his gospel, he reveals how Jesus is…

Jesus is the Christ, the one whom God will anoint as the saving King of Israel, and the Son of God, who will be established by God onto the throne to rule over the whole world.

Jesus is the Suffering Servant, the one who will be the innocent sufferer on behalf of the guilty, and the Son of Man who, because of his innocent suffering, God will elevate to the heavenly throne to rule over all humanity.

Jesus is the King, but an unexpected one, who called the unqualified, healed the undeserving, touched the unclean, and restored the undone.

Jesus is the crucified King, whose throne was a Roman cross, and whose crown was of thorns.

And here at the end of his gospel, we have the story of an unexpected finale: He didn’t stay dead. All of his followers (and enemies) thought the end of the story was when they put the crucified body of Jesus into a borrowed grave. But to their surprise, he is no longer there.

This is the announcement of the gospel, the good news: this Jesus, who was tortured and crucified on a Roman execution instrument, has been raised from the dead; the tomb is now empty, and this new reality changes everything. In his resurrection, he has been vindicated as the Messiah, the King, the Son of God. This is what we still celebrate every year, and every Sunday, since this first Easter morning. This one moment has impacted all of history.

Jesus is the Risen King, whose resurrection conquers sin, death, and the grave.

In this story, we see the gospel is the good news for…

The Disappointed, the Demonized, the Disillusioned, and the Disengaged

The Gospel is for the Disappointed (the discouraged, down and out)

[ Connect to the story… ]

Part of the common human experience is the feeling of disappointment, where our experience does not match our expectations. For many of us here, it’s not just feelings of disappointment, maybe your prolonged experiences of broken dreams and dashed hopes have led you into a life of disappointment: disappointed by marriage, family, career, friendships, health, finances, business… Life has not met your expectations and has let you down, leaving you discouraged…maybe even teetering on living hopeless.

Look at the women in the beginning of Mark 16. In the chapter before, they were present at the crucifixion of Jesus. They had witnessed him being beaten, mocked, and killed. They saw his dead body, (the details of the story are specific—“the corpse”), they saw him be buried in a cave, and they saw a very large stone being rolled over the entrance to the tomb.

Every detail of this story paints a picture of finality and sorrow. He is dead and buried, the mission is done, the ministry is over. All the hopes they had in him are done gone. It is hopeless, and all we have left is our grief. This is what disappointment looks like. They had expectations of Jesus changing the world, being crowned King, and they being his early followers would be swept up into that new era! And now their hopes lie dead in grave and a giant rock seals his lifeless corpse in.

Can we relate?

Again, we all feel disappointment in life, often our experiences do not match our expectations. Maybe your hopes seem dead in a grave. Maybe they lie dead in a stale or broken marriage, or a wayward child, or bankruptcy court, or a friends betrayal, or a doctor’s diagnosis, or a prolonged illness, or a failed business, or literally in the casket of a lost loved one. What do you do with that level of disappointment that so many of you are experiencing?

Look at the example of these women in Mark 16. They were disappointed and devastated. They had high expectations for Jesus, that he was the One, the Messiah, God’s anointed king that would come and deliver their people. These women would witness Jesus in all the events of his gruesome torture, crucifixion, and death. They would watch his corpse be buried and sealed with a heavy stone.

That was Friday, but today is Sunday.

On Sunday morning, the women go to the tomb expecting to add spices and anointing oil to his dead body and have a seemingly insurmountable barrier between them and Jesus, but they keep moving towards Jesus. Even in their disappointment and sorrow. They don’t know how everything will get fixed. They just keep moving towards Jesus. They arrive at the grave to find that the stone, the thing they feared would keep them from getting to Him, had been rolled away.

Worry turns into wonder. As they hear the announcement that changed everything…

Mark 16:6 (ESV) “…You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen…”

[ Connect to the gospel: the empty tomb and the risen King ]

Your disappointments are very real, but the risen King calls us to a higher perspective. The tomb is empty, and part of what that means is that even death, the ultimate disappointment, doesn’t get the final say. That funeral of your loved one isn’t the end, that divorce is not the end, bankruptcy isn’t the end, being fired isn’t the end, that diagnosis isn’t the end. The very event that has left you disappointed and in despair does not have to be the final word on your life. Your disappointment can be like the heavy stone sealing hope behind it, and Jesus is still rolling stones away.

The empty tomb and the risen King offers hope to the disappointed.

The resurrection doesn’t mean that events in life, or the suffering that comes as part of the common human experience, can be removed or avoided. However, the risen Jesus shows us that disappointment does not have to have the final say in our lives. We can have hope because of him. God has not ignored you in your disappointment, there is hope beyond suffering and death.

The Gospel is for the Demonized (the traumatized)

[ Connect to the story… ]

Life can be brutal for so many people. Many of you have been beaten up by life, and you carry the wounds of life’s trauma, maybe even on your body, many of us on our souls. Sickness or disease, or a major accident or injury, could have made your life seem broken. Abuse or addiction can leave a wake of destruction on our bodies, minds, and relationships. A growing epidemic in the West is not just of the body, but of the mind: mental illness, anxiety, depression, and emotional brokenness is plaguing more and more of our internal worlds. Compounding the brokenness of bodies and minds with real spiritual evil, which desires only to steal, kill, and destroy us, to torment and oppress us, and wreak havoc in our lives.

Featured in the story of the resurrection is Mary Magdalene, who’s described in a rather unflattering way, as having seven demons cast out. That can sound strange to us, but Mary Magdalene represents those whose trauma and tragedy have been the defining feature of their lives, people whose life has been marked by the torment and destruction of spiritual evil.

Mary Magdalene represents a large group of people who are the demonized and traumatized in the story of Jesus: people possessed by unclean spirits, the unclean lepers and people riddled with diseases, those who were paralytic and those with physical deformities, those who were blind and the deaf. Jesus’ response was consistent toward those who were demonized and traumatized: his love drove him toward their pain, and his authority extended to them healing and freedom.

[ Connect to the gospel: the empty tomb and the risen King ]

And here at the finale of the gospel story of Jesus, it is Mary Magdalene he appears to first. This should say so much to us. For the entire story of Jesus, he had brought healing and freedom to the demonized and traumatized, and now it is to Mary who encounters him first. The empty tomb reveals that the risen King still has the power over the enemies that wreak havoc in our lives.

Look at her example. She had been healed and set free by Jesus, yet in her sorrow and disappointment, she kept seeking him, and he appeared to her. The resurrection doesn’t mean that traumas and tragedies are completely unavoidable in our lives and in this world. However, the risen Jesus shows us that they no longer have to be the defining feature of our lives. We can have healing and freedom, despite the level of trauma or tragedy, because of him.

The empty tomb and the risen King offer healing to the demonized.

The risen King’s response to you is still the same as it was to them: his love drives him toward your pain, and his authority extended extends to you healing and freedom. God has not ignored you in your brokenness, in Jesus, healing and freedom are still possible.

The Gospel is for the Disillusioned (Doubters and Deniers)

[ Connect to the story… ]

This possibly connects with a lot of people. The disillusioned are those who at one time had zeal or passion, maybe grew up in church, follow the Lord at some point in time, maybe early in life or some time ago, but certain things have happened that have cast a shadow on your faith. Maybe life’s circumstances, or difficult seasons, unmet expectations, unanswered questions have made doubt creep in encompassing more of your life than faith has.

Maybe you have been disillusioned by dead legalism. Pastors and preachers, religious family members, made you feel like a failure. They set God’s expectations for your life so high with so many rules and “thou shalt nots” that you feel like you will never measure up. What once was a love for Jesus has been replaced by a weight hanging over your shoulders of inadequacy, and not being “good enough.”

Or maybe seasons and situations of hardship and trial came into your life. Maybe you thought that following Jesus should make life easier, but things got tough in an unexpected way and you backed up, possibly even gave up on your faith.

Or something that seems to fill headlines more and more is being disillusioned by “Church hurt” or the moral failures of christian leaders. You got let down by the Church, by other Christians, by well-meaning, but immature Church-people, maybe even not-so-well-meaning Church people, whose manipulation or verbal abuse left you confused and traumatized. News stories are not short on the number of scandals taking place in the American Church that make many feel betrayed, hurt, and disillusioned by it all.

Maybe at one time you believed in Jesus, followed him, was a committed part of a local Church. But people let you down and hurt you. You became disillusioned by the hypocrisy or pretension you saw in Church-people. You were faced with unanswered questions and Christians seemed unable to handle those questions and offered cheap and shallow answers to your serious questions.

The two disciples referenced in Mark 16:12 have their story told more fully in Luke’s gospel. All the disciples and friends of Jesus thought that it was over, that the cross was the end of the story. They had hoped that Jesus was the ONE, the promised Messiah who would save Israel. Though he was a mighty healer and powerful Teacher, a Prophet for sure, now he is dead and buried. They are disillusioned by all that happened.

Now Jesus comes alongside them, in the story he joins them in their walk. He listens to them and hears all that they are disillusioned by. But he points them to the truth of who he is, and he sits at the table with them, offering fellowship and friendship. Among those who were disillusioned was Peter, whose disillusionment went beyond doubt into denial. Peter denied he even knew Jesus. But Jesus tells Peter that he prays for him and encourages him. And after Jesus rises from the dead, he appears to Peter and offers love and restoration to him as well.

[ Connect to the gospel: the empty tomb and the risen King ]

Jesus still comes to the disillusioned, to the doubters and deniers. The things that happen in our lives that cause us to become disillusioned and doubt are not ignored or treated as irrelevant or unimportant. They are just eclipsed by the reality of the empty tomb and risen King.

The empty tomb and the risen King offer restoration to the disillusioned.

No matter what caused you to be disillusioned in your faith, no matter how much you have doubted, even if you have gone so far as denying Jesus, you are in good company. Jesus’ disciples struggled with the same things. Though whatever caused our disillusionment may be big or serious, it is still eclipsed by the incredible reality of an empty tomb. And the risen King comes to the disillusioned, the doubters, and the deniers and offers full restoration into relationship and friendship.

The Gospel is for the Disengaged (the distracted, the apathetic)

[ Connect to the story… ]

One more group that needs identified, and that is the disengaged. Maybe life has just gotten busy and cluttered. In attempts to just make it through life, you find yourself in a survival cycle, just trying to get by from day to day. It could be just trying to get from paycheck to paycheck, scraping by each month. Or maybe you’re not able to get your head above the waters of life’s challenges. Maybe it’s family commitments and a busy schedule, or a demanding job or business. Either way, your life is just marked by just getting by.

It’s not that you don’t believe in Jesus, it’s just the faith in Jesus, relationship with him, has moved to the sidelines of your life. You believe, but faith is only a small part of your life, your attention and schedule is dominated things that seem more important to you.

Jesus began his ministry announcing the good news of a new reality, a new kingdom, God’s kingdom. His ministry was all about this one thing, God is in charge and we are called to get in on that action.

Mark 1:15 (ESV) “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Jesus calls us to bring our lives into alignment to this new reality, repent and believe. After his resurrection, he challenges the disengaged by warning them of the dangers of hardening their hearts. But he doesn’t just challenge them, he commissions them with a purpose.

Mark 16:15 (ESV) And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.

[ Connect to the gospel: the empty tomb and the risen King ]

Jesus is saying the gospel is such good news, the whole world needs to hear it. The reality of the Kingdom of God is too good and too important to allow ourselves to be disengaged from it. The tomb is empty, death is no longer the most powerful enemy. God’s love conquers the greatest of humanity’s enemy, death itself. The risen King is in charge of the world. This should reshape how we see everything. It’s too good of news to remain disengaged.

The empty tomb and the risen King offer meaning to the disengaged.

To those who have drifted into distraction and disengagement, you’ve gotten busy or apathetic toward your faith in Jesus: don’t let your heart get hard, drifting toward disengagement. There is meaning and purpose in life beyond just surviving day to day. There is the good news of Jesus Christ, that God’s love conquers all enemies, and he invites you to participate in this Kingdom invading the whole world, and this commission gives meaning to our lives.

Conclusion

This is the story of the resurrection, what the empty tomb and the risen King means to us now. God is still rolling stones, removing obstacles that seem keep us separated from Jesus. No matter what you’ve done, no matter how bad you have messed up, no matter what has happened to you, no matter where you are now, God’s love is chasing us down, He wants to be near you, and sent His Son, Jesus, to break down all those barriers and roll away the stones that separate us.

Romans 8:32, 38-39 (NLT) 32 Since [God] did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? … 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The empty tomb and the risen King offer hope to the disappointed, healing to the demonized, restoration to the disillusioned, and meaning to the disengaged, and now reveals that nothing can separate us from God’s love.

And so how do we respond to this good news?

Mark 1:15 (ESV) “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

The Gospel of Mark is structured in 3 Acts (or Sections): Act 1: Galilee, Ch. 1:1–8:26 — which explores the question, “Who is Jesus?” Act 2: On the Way, Ch. 8:27—10:52 — explores what it means for “Jesus to be the Messiah;” and Act 3: Jerusalem, Ch. 11:1–16:20 — is revealing “How Jesus became King”

Mark 1:1, 1:9-11, 8:29-30, 9:7, 14:61-62, 15:39

Mark 2:10, 2:28, 8:31, 9:31, 10:33-34, 10:45, 14:61-62

Mark 1:16-17, 2:14-17, 5:21-23 & 35-43, 5:25-34, 7:24-30, 15:17-20, 15:26-32

Mark 15:16-41

Mark 16:6

Mark 15:40, 47

Mark 15:45

Mark 15:46, 16:4

Mark 16:9

Mark 1:21-34, 1:40-45, 2:1-12, 3:1-6, 5:1-43, 6:53-56, 7:24-37, 8:22-26, 9:14-29, 10:46-52

Mark 16:9

Mark 9:23

Cross-reference Mark 16:12-13 with Luke 24:13-35

Luke 24:21

Luke 24:25-31

Mark 14:26-31

Luke 22:31-34

John 21:15-19

Mark 16:14