Sermon Tone Analysis

Mark 16:1-8

 

! Introduction

Life goes on pretty much as usual most of the time, but every once in a while a change takes place which brings about a massive shift in the way we live.

For example, for thousands of years people sewed their clothing by hand, but when the industrial revolution came along suddenly clothing was mass produced in factories.

Wikipedia begins the article on the Industrial Revolution in the following way, “The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and transport had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions starting in the United Kingdom, then subsequently spreading throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world.

The onset of the Industrial Revolution marked a major turning point in human history; almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way.”

The phrase, “almost every aspect of daily life was eventually influenced in some way” intrigues me as I think about what we are celebrating this morning.

It is Easter Sunday morning and today we celebrate the resurrection which has probably changed human history more than any other event.

But I wonder if it is true that because of the resurrection almost every aspect of daily life has been influenced in some way?

Do we really get it?

I know that there are many people in the world who do not get it.

They have rejected the truth of the resurrection, or have not yet heard the message and do not live in the reality of the resurrection.

I am not actually thinking about them.

The message needs to be shared with them and they need to be invited to believe the resurrection and all that Christ has done.

I am actually thinking of people who have declared that they believe in the resurrection.

I am thinking about you and me.

We say we believe that Jesus rose from the dead.

We come to church on Easter Sunday and gladly sing the songs of Easter.

But do we live in the resurrection?

When we fail to trust that Jesus has our best interest in mind and will guide us to life, do we live in the resurrection?

When we fail to love our enemies, do we live in the resurrection?

When we seek every solution to a problem except turning to Jesus, do we live in the resurrection?

When we are content to live out our days focused mainly on enjoying the pleasures of this life, do we live in the resurrection?

If we face death with terror, do we live in the resurrection?

Jesus has risen.

But do we get it?

The story of the resurrection in Mark 16 invites us to ask those questions and gives some direction on how to live in the resurrection.

!

I.                   A Profound Promise

Make no mistake; Mark 16 is very clear that Jesus rose from the dead!

Jesus was arrested and tried on Thursday night or very early Friday morning.

During the day on Friday he was sentenced to die, was nailed to a cross and by Friday afternoon he had died.

Before sunset he was already buried.

The Jewish Sabbath began at Sunset on Friday and went until sunset on Saturday.

During this time no shops were open and no one did any work.

After sunset on Saturday, the shops opened again and the women who had watched Jesus die and had seen where he was buried went to one of those shops and purchased some spices.

But it was now already dark and so they did not go to the tomb in order to anoint the body of Jesus as was their intention.

Early the next morning, they got up, gathered their spices and went to the place where Jesus had been buried.

On the way, they were worried, wondering how they would get into the tomb.

They had watched as a large stone had been put in front of the tomb and they knew that they would be unable to move it.

They wanted to get into the tomb in order to pour their spices on the body of Jesus.

The purpose of the spices was not for embalming purposes because the Jews did not embalm.

The purpose was to cover up the stink of decomposition and they were plenty late already to do that because decomposition would likely already have begun.

Anointing was intended as a final act of love for Jesus.

As they approached the tomb, discussing these things, the first thing they noticed was that the stone had been rolled away.

This surprised them, but they hardly had time to think about what it meant, for they went into the tomb and immediately saw a young man sitting there wearing a white robe.

The text says that they were alarmed.

It is most likely that their alarm arose from the recognition that this was an angel.

We don’t have much of a record in Scripture of people being frightened by other people, but we do often have people being afraid of angel appearances.

The angel told them that this was not a time to be afraid.

That was an important command to them and we need to emphasize it because of something we will see in a few moments.

The angel both pointed to the reality of the empty tomb and also interpreted it for them.

He told them several things.

First of all he told them that Jesus, who had been crucified, had been raised.

He made the identity clear.

They were looking for Jesus of Nazareth and he was talking about Jesus of Nazareth.

He indicated further that this Jesus of Nazareth was crucified.

All of these details are included so that we know that there was no mistake.

They were not at the wrong tomb and there was no confusion that Jesus had not died.

But the angel was equally clear about the reason for Jesus’ absence - He has risen!

Then referring to the empty tomb and pointing to the place where he had been laid, he made it very clear that Jesus was not there.

The physical absence of Jesus, which they could perceive was explained by the angelic announcement that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

What a wonderful announcement!

What a profound promise!

Never did the disciples, the women, the Jewish leaders, the Roman leaders, or any other human being expect what had happened.

It was totally out of the realm of human experience.

Jesus died and rose again.

What wonderful news!

!

II.

A Great Challenge

What do you do with such amazing information?

Would it not make sense that such amazing information would change everything?

Every aspect of daily human life should be influenced in some way.

But the ending of Mark doesn’t immediately imply that.

The ending of Mark is rather unusual.

It ends with Mark 16:7, 8, “‘But go, tell his disciples and Peter, that He is going ahead of you into Galilee.

There you will see him, just as he told you.’

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb.

They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid."

!! A.                 What Do We Make of the Ending?

What do we do with that?

After such wonderful news the ending seems both abrupt and negative.

The last verse particularly is filled with failure and fear.

The commission the women have been given to go and tell the disciples and Peter is not fulfilled.

They don’t say anything to anyone.

Instead they run away in terror.

Is failure and fear really the final response to the resurrection?

A number of different things have happened historically to address this supposed problem.

One is that there must be more to the ending of Mark.

Some suggest that Mark wanted to write more, but was martyred before he finished writing.

Others suggest that there was actually more but it was lost and so we are left with this rather abrupt ending.

There are other endings to Mark.

In NRSV there are two different endings suggested.

One is a shorter ending, which simply adds words to the end of verse 8.

The other is to include, as many translations do, verses 9-20.

But notice that in most translations they admit that this longer ending likely wasn’t original.

People who perceived the problem of the ending of Mark added these words.

How do we solve this?

One way is to accept one of these alternative endings, but the problem is which one and can we really be sure that they are authentic when all evidence suggests that they are not.

Another solution is to accept this ending, but alter its meaning.

One such suggestion comes from Cole who notes that the word “afraid” “may contain a note of joy as well.”