Mark 15:40-16:8, Life Without Limits

The Resurrection Is Not a Self-Help Slogan

Mark chapter 15. Starting in verse 40 be reading to chapter 16 verse 8 hear the word of the Lord. There were also women looking on from a distance among them Among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph's and Salome when he was in Galilee they followed him and ministered to him and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem and When evening had come since it was the day of preparation that is the day before the Sabbath Joseph of Arimathea respected member of the council who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God Took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died and Summoning the centurion he asked him whether he was already dead and when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph and Joseph Bought a linen shroud and taking him down Wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb That had been cut out of the rock and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.

Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James mother of Joseph's saw where he was laid. When the Sabbath was passed Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome brought bought spices so that they might go and anoint him.

And Early on the first day of the week when the Sun had risen they went to the tomb and they were saying to one another who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb and looking up they saw that the stone had been rolled back.

The Certainty That Jesus Really Died

It was very large and Entering the tomb. They saw a young man sitting on the right side Just in a white robe and they were alarmed 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. 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. 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. May the Lord add his blessings to the reading of his Holy Word. What are your limits? Ever been pressed to your limits or the concrete walls you you in your life that you can't push past.

What is it for you? Just hold you back. You've. You've come to the end, you know, you can't go anything something that confines you like a prison cell that restricts you. Now we're told these days, you know to fill our minds with these slogans.

We could do anything that we determine we have no limits that if our minds can conceive it we can achieve it. That was a slogan a coach taught us and in college, you know, we're unlimited. It's got to think that we're running fast.

And I guess we'll just run fast. A Slogan, I saw this past week. Toward that end is age is only a number. It's supposed to get us to spur someone to go work out to run to dare prove that we're not limited by Getting older and so go buy their running shoes, by the way.

And and some people think well the gospel and the message of the resurrection is just like that. It's a it's kind of a mind over matter gimmick. It's an Inspirational slogan to to get us to push against our limits.

An inspiring motto. To motivate us Onward, you know when we're discouraged age is only a number. If the mind can conceive it the body can achieve it. He is risen. They're all just Inspirational slogans.

Some people tell us it's the story of the improbable. Almost the impossible happening like UMBC beating, Virginia. And they say whether or not the resurrection ever really happened in history. Little hum and ha about that the inspirational value of it should give you that boost.

To help you push against your limits, too. And who knows? Like UMBC you might even be able to achieve the improbable. There's only one problem with that.

It's a lie.

You can't bite just mind over matter. Convince yourself just make your body overcome the limits of Age or do whatever you think you can do. It doesn't work that way. I can't run nearly as fast at 53 as I could at 22 and all the positive thinking and slogans is Not gonna help me run as fast as I could when I'm 22.

When I was 22, I'm limited. You are limited. Sorry to break the bad news to you. Some people find that depressing. Certainly not the what they want to hear on Easter here. They're limited. But we need to know that first that we are limited and that we can't overcome all the limits not the limits of sin.

Certainly not the limits of death just by wishful thinking. We're not like, you know, the the cult called Christian scientists. But they just think if they can imagine it they can make it come up to pass the prosperity gospel people.

Just calling it something into being they convince themselves first and then they just confess it and that will make it come about. That's not the message of the resurrection that's not the gospel. Then what are we to do?

Are we just left with this depressing reality of being limited by our upbringing limited by our weaknesses our sins by the relentless? creeping of old age and death. Are we limited by our families being the way they are?

The rebellious member the the annoying ones. The inconsiderateness of a spouse or child who's limited by that or the family we're stuck in. Are we stuck with the way the country is now how much we can do about it or maybe the way?

The church generally is it is what it is. It is just like the country. There's like there's not much we can do about it. We might as well just adjust to the reality of dysfunctional church, you know that.

The reality of showmanship out there the artificial quote fellowship no sense of all. Little real interest in the Word of God. No church discipline. Of course not very little that's just real at all the idea of recovering a New Testament Church.

And being a genuine fellowship that promotes godliness. It seems like a distant fantasy. You might as well just Get used to it. It's depressing sure. But just get used to it age isn't just a number. Death is stalking and that's just the cold reality of this universe.

The church is just depressed not anything like it's supposed to be get used to it. Is that really what we're told. Not. Certainly not an Easter families are frequently dysfunctional. Often they're promoting the limits of that destroy those in them.

They make those members of their families worse and churches are often the same way. Get used to it. That's reality grow up. I knew of someone who seemed to be stuck in that status quo in that very way of thinking and who was even resistant to.

Trying to push the limits of it. No, let's not try their church discipline. Let's not rock the boat. Let's accept the dysfunctional reality of the world as it is of the church as it is just accept it.

I'm not you can do about it it that's depressing. But that seems to be the way he thought and one day he went swimming out in the lake and just kept swimming until he couldn't swim anymore and Drowned and that's really the rational.

It's the logical response to the limits of this world. You know that things are bad and there's no getting past them. The walls are impregnable and moving in closer. Well, then what are we to do? We just you know the escape to this fantasy world.

Where we can bust through all the limits with positive thinking and slogans that doesn't work I mean surely we know that be mature enough to know that but we can't literally drown our sorrows by drowning.

What are we to do? Well, we see that here. We see that here in two parts where life.

Exceeds.

The limits first. It's not about a slogan. It's not about us convincing ourselves of a reality. That we just want to come about and so we'll wish it into being. It's not about what we think. It's not about a positive mental attitude.

It's not about what. Oh what it means to me. The resurrection means this to me. Easter means this to me like you people here. Here you hear people say about how this can inspire me to break past my limits or at least push against them.

Oh, it helps me get up in the morning with a smile. First is not about us at all. It's about Jesus. It's about how Jesus had a life that could not be limited. Two parts. Jesus was dead. Jesus is not dead.

The Witnesses to Jesus’ Death and Burial

Death is the one thing that even our culture knows. You can't sloganeer or chant or meditate your way out of. Oh we might think that we can never grow old or we might think we can still run a run a four-minute mile at age 53 or Make it to the Olympics or go to Harvard or be a billionaire or grow a megachurch in Providence, North Carolina.

Whatever fantasy you might have but we'll still admit. If we can ever get people to talk about it, and this is why people won't talk about it. We want to push death away and where we can't see it or you don't have to hear about it that death.

We still know that death is a hard and fast limit. Steph Curry might come back from an injury to lead the Golden State Warriors to the championship this year, but Moses Malone won't. He's dead. Here Jesus is dead.

Mark wants us to know clearly that Jesus was dead. I mean he just what he just hammers that home that Jesus was dead now. Islam denies that Jesus was crucified and ever died claiming that he just ascended to heaven.

But the New Testament, especially here is absolutely clear. Bringing in several witnesses to testify to us that Jesus was dead first. There were the women from Galilee, especially the two Marys that he focuses on who had come down.

We have two Marys. Where's our other Mary? I guess she's with the kids. We have two Marys and here's there's two Marys. They've had come down from Galilee member Galilee's in the north. They're in Jerusalem Which is in the south and come down with him to Jerusalem and they saw Jesus die on a cross and they saw where he was buried.

Alright, so there's one set of witnesses. Then there's Joseph of Arimathea. Now. He was part of the same council Called the Sanhedrin that condemned Jesus to death, but he didn't go along with it. He was instead is bark says about him quote looking for the kingdom of God in verse 43.

The others may have said they were wanting the kingdom of God to come. But they chose to kill the king who was bringing in the kingdom of God. That they did that of course proves that they're really rebels against the kingdom and not Wanting the kingdom to come.

Joseph though was a subject of the kingdom not a rebel against it and he saw Also that Jesus was dead. On that on that Good Friday. Seeing him dead Joseph wanted him to have a proper burial now normally crucified men.

Weren't buried. The Romans might leave their dead bodies up on the crosses to let them rot or for animals or birds to pick apart. Now in Israel is a little different because the Jews had their religious sensibilities that corpses should be buried the day they died.

But for a crucified man like Jesus that might mean they just show they just throw his body in a shallow grave or just a pit with the trash. Somewhere and be done with it. For the Romans though. It often wasn't it wasn't good enough just to kill a rebel.

Not even just to crucify him. If he is quote the king of the Jews pilot may want to leave his body up on the cross for days or for weeks. Make an example out of even his corpse. A proper burial may be out off limits.

He he might pilot may not we've been want to give him that. He might even want to crack down on the followers of this king of the Jews, too. So it took courage for Joseph basically to come out and and and dare associate himself with Jesus.

That's why the disciples are nowhere to be found in this because they know they they gone after Jesus. They could go after us next and you this is the courage it takes for Joseph and it says he took courage.

To to go ask in verse 43 associated himself with Jesus asked for the body of Jesus and Joseph testified to pilot. That Jesus was dead. So there's a second witness now pilot and it's and the centurion then confirm that Jesus is dead now.

Pilot was surprised. Of course, he wasn't there himself. He's the governor of the peas in his palace, whatever he's doing. He's surprised here that Joseph say that Jesus was dead already. Because men could survive for days being crucified and Jesus although he had been weakened by the beatings and the scourging and all that.

But he had been a you know healthy man probably in his mid 30s and there's no reason that a man like that should should be dead already and. So pilot wants to confirm it and he asked the centurion who's this leader of the execution squad?

Remember the same man talked about Friday night in verse 39 who confessed truly this man was the Son of God and He asked him pilot asked him if Jesus was really dead already. Is he dead already? Yes, he was.

Now notice here what mark is doing how intent mark is to get us to see that Jesus's death is confirmed. Multiple times by many witnesses. Pilot is surprised. Jesus is dead. He asked if Jesus is dead. It's confirmed that Jesus is dead.

He's Marcus is laboring the point to you know, basically to refute any kind of wacky conspiracy theory. Well, you know, he's only on the cross six hours. Maybe he just passed out and he came back consciousness again in the tomb and he just walked out somewhere.

No, it's confirmed. Confirmed by the multiple witnesses including by this man the centurion who is an expert on killing people. That he had killed Jesus. No pilot granted the corpse notice that in verse 45 a particular word Corpse the word is specifically corpse.

It's not body didn't say he granted the body because the body can be alive or dead right generically, but a corpse by definition is Dead and pilot granted the corpse to Joseph and Joseph then gets a linen shroud has the corpse taken down wrapped in the linen.

He lays the corpse in a nearby tomb. They're kind of in a hurry because the Sun is going down and all this must be done before the Sun is completely down because then The Sabbath starts so they're in a hurry to get this done.

And the he they put him in the tomb and they roll a large stone over the entrance and now these stones would probably be shaped like a big disc and And on a ramp that would slope downward so that it would be easy to slide it into place to close the tomb.

But it would be very difficult to push it open. It's on it's on a slope. You'd have to push it uphill and it's heavy and it would probably take several strong men working together. To get it back up again and open the tomb and Jesus is dead.

Jesus Has Broken Through the Limits of Death

He's in that tomb now if death is an absolute limit from which no one comes back Jesus is limited. But point number two Jesus is not dead. Oh, he was dead past tense, but he is Present tense not dead.

Jesus dies on the day before the Sabbath. It's Friday any part of a day counts as the whole day. Any lawyer to tell you that if he's billing you that's the way they bill. But so that's one day on Friday.

The next day is the Sabbath what we call Saturday was from begins sundown on Friday. Continues to sundown on Saturday. That's two then the first day of the week begins on sundown on Saturday night. Which go again toward dawn?

Jesus rose sometime there and that's three so three days in the tomb. Limited by death and of course a heavy stone disc. Then it would take several strong men to open up now two of the women who had seen Jesus die these two Mary's Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Joseph.

It's a Lobby. They come with spices. To anoint the body they come to complete the burial that had been so hastily done before sunset on Friday. Because it was again on the Sabbath or Jews observance, so they didn't do any work on this Sabbath.

They wouldn't come and do anything now. They aren't coming with these spices to revive him with smelling salts. Okay, they're not coming for therapy. This is not aroma therapy. Maybe it'll maybe it'll wake him up.

No. He is as far as they know beyond help the limitations of death don't allow Him any help. They think that they can show their respects by giving the corpse a proper burial but that's all that the limits of nature will allow and 2 ,000 years of scientific and medical progress have not changed that one bit.

It's still just as true today. There's nothing still that we can do for the dead once they've crossed over to being really dead. There's nothing we can do as the two Mary's were walking to the tomb. You know, they're wondering they're chatting with each other probably depressed, but they're wondering to each other.

Who's gonna help us get the tomb open? It was that big that big stone disk. It was beyond their physical limits. Would there be soldiers around who would help there might be soldiers around would they help us?

Would there be a gardener and his helpers? Could they help us get it up? Maybe some passersby. Maybe we'll be a flag down some men walking by and help will help us do it. But when they got close enough close enough to see it they could see the stone had already been rolled away.

Now that's weird. Who would come so early and they thought they were early. They're coming right at the crocodile and Roll that big stone out of the way. Notice in verse 4 it says it's very large. So they can figure who did this.

They take you several men. Who would come so early to do it? Notice they had no expectation that Jesus was raised. It's not it's not in their mind anywhere. They're not thinking that they're not expecting it or wishing it or hoping it nothing.

That hasn't entered their minds, you know in case some skeptics think well, they were just in denial. You know, they say the first stage of grief is denial. This can't be true here. Maybe they would say well these women they just hadn't accepted the fact that Jesus was dead.

And so Things got it confusing. Maybe they went to the wrong tomb and they jumped to a conclusion and they you know. The conclusion they were already hoping for anyway that Jesus was raised right? That's kind of this skeptical theory.

No, they had no thought of that. It wasn't even something they were wishing hope anticipating that they didn't think it was possible. They were in mourning. But they were not in denial they had seen him die they had personally seen it themselves on the Friday before.

They had come to they had come to treat a corpse. That was their purpose. They expected the tomb to be closed. There wasn't any wish. That they had jumped to the conclusion that was now fulfilled. For all they knew and expected Jesus was now limited by death and there was no coming back from that in this age.

They entered the tomb now, it's probably a small Stone, you know, it's probably small. Maybe like a walk-in closet. You can imagine stone all around and there are these carved out sort of shelves or slots in the in the wall for the bodies.

Probably stacked several slots stacked up so they could put multiple bodies in the same tomb now before Jesus. No one had no body had yet been buried there. And so he should be the only body. His should be the only body in that tomb, but there wasn't anything to get in there there wasn't any corpse instead Sitting on the right side and notice all these details.

I mean, you just got to love all these little details. The man is sitting he's on the right side. Now, I don't think we're supposed to to read some kind of symbolic meaning into all these little details.

They're just little touches of.

Authenticity.

That's just the way it was. This is not fiction that an author, you know when in fiction an author mentions everything for some purpose here. This is the this is the way it was. This is what happened.

This isn't an Inspirational metaphor. Oh the right side indicates the side of favor. No, it's not that kind of thing. This is news. This is history. This is the way it happened. So sitting on the right side with someone who looked like a young man wearing a white robe now.

Sure, the white might be symbolic for purity since this young man is actually an angel, but it's also just the fact I mean what else he was wearing white. What else do you expect an angel to be wearing?

Anyway, they were alarmed at the end of verse 5. They're greatly astonished. They're just shocked. You know, they walk into this a Jump back. They weren't expecting this. Contrary to what some people they weren't expecting some miracle to be happening.

They have stepped past the limits of their experience. The angel has two things to say to them first the declaration and then the direction. In other words what we are to know and Then what we are to do.

The indicative first that is what is the facts the conditions new conditions? And then the imperative. What you must do on the basis of these new facts what the new conditions? Require of you. Well, the angel says the declaration to them.

Here's the new facts. Here's the new condition the new reality. Don't be alarmed. I guess that's kind of an imperative actually, but it was a calm them down. So they'll listen. The limits have been broken.

The new age has begun but you don't need to be frightened not you believers. Not you. Don't be worried you seek Jesus of Nazareth. It was very specific. They weren't seeking some other body. They were seeking a substitute who managed to take Jesus's place and all these theories people could try to come up with they were seeking Jesus that particular Jesus not any other one the one from Nazareth Jesus the one who was crucified.

Again, in case you missed the point so that we fully understand that Jesus passed over that boundary separating death from life. He went where nature tells you you can't come back from. But in verse 6 He has risen.

He has burst through the limits of death. He is not here in this tomb. He's not around see the place sound like a guide in museum, doesn't he? See the place where they laid him. He's the angelic guide to the tomb.

It's empty the place where they laid him the little slot that would have where they were. Joseph would have put his body.

Nothing there.

He's not in it. He's not in that tomb. He's not in any other tomb. He's not in any grave. His corpse hasn't just been moved. His corpse is no longer a corpse. It's a living resurrected body. That's the declaration.

That's the new fact upon which our new life our new actions are based. Jesus is alive. He is not dead. Well, then there's the directions. Here's what we're to do in verse 7.

Go.

But don't just linger. You might want to you might want to stay here make a museum out of it. It's empty tomb and just it's just enjoying the declaration of the resurrection. Don't make a shrine out of it and just stay here.

No, don't do that. Go go out and then.

Then tell.

Tell that the limits of death of nature have been broken. Now they've been broken not by your slogans your positive mental attitude or your efforts or.

Just good luck.

The limits that death put on life have been shattered not by us at all But by Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified But is now risen. Go tell that to people. Here in particular tell that tell it to the disciples.

The scattered doubting terrified disciples huddled in some dark room Somewhere. We don't know exactly where but he's there in the city somewhere hiding Not coming to the tomb. Because they had no hope they had no expectation.

They had no slogans. They had their mind wasn't conceiving it so their bodies could achieve it. No death was the limit beyond which they knew they could not go. Go tell those those Wondering wandering men.

Especially.

Peter. Tell him notice that in verse 7 tell his disciples and Peter. Peter might be wondering whether he even counts as a disciple anymore. Well, he's just so far. Exceeded the limits of what can be tolerated out of a disciple whether he's he's burst.

The acceptance of the Lord. He's gone past that. You know whether he's he's out completely. He might expect the angel to say, you know, tell the disciples but not Peter. No, no. No that total failure.

Get rid of him. But that's not the message the Lord has through the angel for Peter. Peter is singled out. Not for rejection. Because he stepped far over the line way past the limits of discipleship that he's out.

He's singled out not for rejection but for inclusion. Make sure you include Peter. He's not exceeded the limits of God's grace. So neither have you? The message of the resurrection is that life and forgiveness are without limits.

Tell them the angel says That Jesus is going to meet you in Galilee. He'll regroup you all there. There in verse 7 you will you will see him. He told he told them before he will regroup them at Galilee, but it was so far beyond what they could imagine.

You know, they didn't understand it because this is not the first time he's this has been told to them but They didn't understand for before they just discussed the mind among themselves. What is this rising from the dead mean?

They couldn't fathom it so far beyond their their limits. Now here you will see him in the body alive. His resurrection is not a slogan. It's not an aspiration. It's not a he's not a metaphor symbolizing how you know, the Sun will rise again tomorrow Scarlet O 'Hara and it will be a new day of hope.

So look up keep going. No, he really rose. That's why mark here has two women as the first witnesses, you know in that day. The testimony of women was not allowed. Was it accepted? So the only reason that the Gospels tell us that it was women who were the first witnesses of the resurrection is.

Because this isn't just an inspirational story. Someone made up to try to convince us. So we can get up in the morning and face your limitations with a smile the better attitude. This is what really happened.

The resurrection is real it is something God did which you can see you will see him and Galilee and you will see him in the body. Jesus is alive again having done for you. What you never could have done with all the positive attitudes and hopes and exertion he broke through the limits of death and He'll bring you along with him.

From death to life that is so far beyond the limits of what we expect of what we can control. That it is terrifying. It's just it's bewildering whenever you you cross the limits when maybe when you go into a whole different culture just Beyond anything you can imagine.

It's shocking. And so the two Marys are shaking. From the trauma of it now, they hated that Jesus had died. But they are terrified that they've just crossed into a new realm a new age where life is no longer limited by death.

And so they they do indeed they do what the angel said they go but more from fear than from the command. They are fleeing that shock and they run there. They're passing people along the way on the road.

Probably going right to where the disciples were passing all kinds of people on the way there. But they don't tell anyone because they're just so. You know out of their minds with fear. It's just so it's so beyond what they expected that Jesus's life is.

Life Without Limits Means Believing the Resurrection

Really.

Beyond limits. Now sure we live in a depressing world a world of being limited by. Maybe by our upbringing limited by our weaknesses. By the stalking of old age and eventually death. We're limited by families by spouses by our country our money by our brain.

We're even limited and we should we should know it if we'd be honest with ourselves by our own sin by our depraved nature. Left to ourselves. We are Bible says dead in sin. That means we're beyond the limits of self help and Positive slogans.

Dead in sin is like dead in the body or beyond any natural help. We need supernatural help. We are weak and failing like Peter wondering whether God's forsaken us were depressed or thinking have He did have we exceeded the limits of what can be forgiven.

What are we to do then? That's reality could get out of this Mentality. What we need is just slogans and positive attitude that's keeping us from seeing the reality. What are we now? The reality is depressing with one exception.

The exception of the resurrection. What are we to do? What are we to do with this reality who will deliver us from the deadly limitations? Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ. What are we to do?

Believe.

Believe that he has not us not by our mind. But he has a life without limits that he has broken down the walls. Even even the walls of death that limits us now, so don't be afraid. Believe that he has burst through the limits for you.