Getting the Gospel Right! - Galatians 1:6-10

 “Getting the Gospel Right!”
(or, "We must never forget!")

Galatians 1:6-10

Introduction: Memorial Day is a time to remember those who paid the ultimate price, and laid down their lives to preserve our freedoms. We must never forget! Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this: than he lay down his life for his friends.” We can apply Jesus’ words to those who stood against foreign enemies and gave their lives for their country. That verse, of course, has its ultimate fulfillment in the event alluded to in the opening of this letter to the Galatians, specifically in Galatians 1:4, speaking of the One who gave himself for our sins, to rescue us from this present evil age… We must never forget! That message, the Gospel, is the foundation and the fuel of our faith, yet, amazingly, we can so easily begin to take for granted our salvation, forgetting the blood that was shed to make us free. The Galatian believers were losing their astonishment in the Cross of Christ, and were in danger of becoming spiritual deserters. They were being influenced by false teachers who were undermining the gospel message, and in the process, they were turning from the God in who alone was their hope of salvation.  

       The Bible claims to be the inspired Word of the living God. The central figure of the Bible is Jesus, the central message of the Bible is the Gospel. A preacher said,

“Many today dilute or pollute the Gospel. They dilute it by downplaying the fact that all humans are sinners desperately in need of a supernatural rescue. They pollute [it] by adding to it human effort or good works as a necessary element of our salvation. Both are a… perversion of the truth.”

       There are some who today profess Christianity, but they deny the core truths of the Bible. The miracles are explained away, even the historicity of the resurrection is denied. The necessity and the efficacy of the Cross is minimized.  Some would urge an ecumenical spirit of tolerance and inclusion, and want to affirm that Christianity is just one path among many that lead to God – in other words, it really doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you really believe it. Have you heard that?  Most of us are wary of the slippery slope of compromising the truth through “dilution.” We may be even more susceptible to spiritual pollution.  In Galatians we see a form of that more subtle threat, a danger that any of us can easily fall into, even out of a desire to protect the truth.   That danger is legalism.  We’ll see in this letter that even the Apostle Peter was not immune and, at least in terms of his practice, he had to be confronted and corrected by Paul.  Does the Gospel mean that we have license to sin? God forbid! Can we then add to or complete our salvation by our own effort? No way! Jesus paid it all! C.H. Spurgeon said it well, “If we try to add one stitch to the garment of our salvation, we’ll ruin the whole thing!” Let’s be sure we get the Gospel right!

The Maine* Idea: God is glorified when we steadfastly hold to His Word and do not compromise the Gospel of Christ.

I. Be determined! The Gospel of Christ is a firm foundation that must not be compromised (1:6-7).   I am not a builder, but some of you are. This I know, before you construct a building, you had better have a good foundation! I remember once on one of our trips down to the coast of Sao Paulo, near the city of Santos, there were two apartment buildings, maybe 10 or 15 stories tall, standing side-by-side. They should have been parallel to each other, straight up, but one was tilting about 15 degrees away from the other! Clearly something went wrong, there was not a proper foundation! Our faith must be grounded in the Gospel, that alone is God’s rescue plan for humanity!  Paul is amazed that they are so quickly being turned from the Gospel they had believed, by which they were saved!

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel- ⁷not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 

       We were already alerted in the opening of this letter, in verses 1:1-5, that Paul was writing with urgency. He affirms his apostolic authority, and summarizes the Gospel that he preached in those few verses. That urgency continues here, and is evident in what is said, and in what is not said. This epistle is striking in what it does not say at this point: almost without exception Paul follows his initial words of greeting with thanksgiving to God for some aspect(s) of the recipients’ life and faith.  Even the carnally minded Corinthians received such a word (1:4)!  In this case it is as though Paul has no time for such pleasantries, he is compelled by the urgency of the situation to come straight to the point.  It was not simply a matter of practice, but it was the heart of faith, the foundation was being undermined, the Gospel was under attack, and Paul’s response is emphatic, “I am astonished…!”

       These false teachers were turning (a process) Galatian believers from the truth (they were being turned from God Himself).  Compromise is like that—most people who abandon orthodox Christianity don’t do it all at once.  They begin “snipping out” a verse here or there, questioning the historicity of one narrative, then another. Soon they are denying anything “supernatural.” Miracles don’t happen, God doesn’t speak, he doesn’t act in human history. Or, “This is only cultural; Paul would never say that today!” The “Gospel” in view here is the central message of the Bible, the truth of salvation by grace through faith, apart from works.

       The word “turning” here is interesting, some translations say “deserting.” According to John Stott it was a term used of transferring allegiance, of soldiers deserting or revolting, of someone abandoning one political or philosophical school for another, a “turncoat.”   These traitors compromised the truth of the Gospel and in so doing were “…turning from the One who called them…” They weren’t just turning from right doctrine, in doing that, in compromising God’s message of grace, in turning from the Gospel of God, they were turning from God Himself!

       We’ll see as we get into this letter that the specific compromise that was polluting the Galatian churches was a form of legalism, that is making rule-keeping a requirement of salvation. This is a danger to which we Baptists can be particularly susceptible. We rightly recognize that holiness, a transformed life, is a normal part of Christian living. We go wrong when we start defining spirituality by what we don’t do.  We essentially add our “rules” to the gospel and say this is what real Christians should look like. The problem is when we look for things that are not specified in the Bible and make them an essential criterion, in our view, of authentic faith. Is a movie theatre essentially immoral? Some professing Christians, at certain times and in certain places, have said so – and they wouldn’t care if there was a Billy Graham movie playing, a Christian shouldn’t go in there! That thinking probably started with good intentions, but something went wrong along the way. Salvation is not based on us being good enough. It is based on putting our trust in the only One who was good and is good, Jesus Christ.  He was without sin, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all… (Isa 53:6). God is glorified when we steadfastly hold to His Word and do not compromise the Gospel of Christ.

II. Be discerning! We must reject any teacher whose message is contrary to God’s revealed truth (8-9).  God does not contradict Himself!

⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.  ⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. 

       Paul uses the strongest language imaginable to make his point here: “Even if we…” He is saying that even if he, the apostle Paul, began to contradict the Gospel he had preached to them, which they had received,  “…or an Angel from Heaven…” He is using hyperbole to emphasize the point: Even if an Angel came down from Heaven and began to preach a contradictory message, “let him be anathema, accursed…” (vv. 8-9). That word has the sense, “be damned to hell”! By repeating it Paul is making sure they got the urgency of what he was saying.

       We must be diligent, vigilant, and have zero tolerance for preaching or teaching that is not true to the Bible. Now I am not saying that you should immediately call for a special business meeting if you hear me say something that seems a little off!  But don’t just let it slide either – make a note of it, and ask me about it. I am responsible to teach the truth, and you are responsible to be a Berean, and to go home and search the Scriptures to see whether or not those things are so!  I make it a habit to listen to my sermon recordings before I put it on the church website. Occasionally I’ll hit the pause button and ask myself, “What did I just say? That’s not what I meant to say!”  And I probably don’t catch everything, because I know what I meant to say! So, be a Berean. The Scripture is our authority.

       Paul then moves from the hypothetical to the actual, repeating the anathema: “…if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to that which you received, let him be accursed…” He is not talking here about disagreeing on some fine points of theology—there are some things about which godly, sincere Christians disagree. We need to humbly seek the truth together. But if we are compromising the Gospel, the heart of the Christian message, that is a problem that can’t be ignored!

       Does the language Paul used sound strong to you? It is, and Paul intended it to be! The very heart of the Gospel message was at issue, human souls were at stake. Paul is saying this is not open to debate, it is not something about which we can agree to disagree. We need to get the Gospel right! Either we are saved by grace through faith alone, or by grace plus works, but it cannot be both. Spurgeon rightly warned, “If we try to add one stitch to the garment of our salvation, we’ll ruin the whole thing.” There is only one “Gospel,” the Good News that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.  Plus nothing. God is glorified when we steadfastly hold to His Word and do not compromise the Gospel of Christ.

III. Be devoted: Though compromise might win the favor of men, we hold fast to the truth because that is pleasing to God (v.10).

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

       Finally, since the Gospel is God’s truth, and faith in Jesus is the only way to God, we can’t allow ourselves to be pressured into telling people what they want to hear. Our highest goal is to seek to please God. Paul writes in Galatians 1:10: "Am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still pleasing men, I should not be a servant of Christ." In verses 8 and 9 Paul had just said something that will not win him many friends. It doesn't please most people to hear someone talk about judgment and Hell! People need to know that God is holy and just and that He must punish sin. He is also a jealous God, deserving of our whole-hearted worship, and He will not tolerate false religion. Our goal, always, is to make choices that please Him. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 4:1-4,

Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.  ² Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful.  ³ But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself.  ⁴ For I know nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord.”

      At least two things are at stake when the gospel is perverted: one is the glory of Christ; the other is the salvation of sinners. If the gospel is twisted, the all-sufficiency of Christ's work is dishonored, and the way to salvation for sinners is blocked. Faith comes by hearing… God is pleased, through the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe. There is no “plan B”! Therefore, in order to serve Christ—to advance his glory and achieve his saving purpose—We must oppose the perversion of the gospel, whether it pleases people or not. For the glory of Christ (Gal 6:14) and for the good of those who may yet believe the gospel (Gal 2:5), Paul is willing to speak the truth, even when it hurts.

       The lesson to learn from verse 10 is not that the more people you can displease the more spiritual you are! It wasn’t Paul's aim to alienate people. On the contrary, in I Corinthians 10:31 he says, "Do all to the glory of God. Give no offence to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please all men in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage but that of many, that they may be saved." And in Romans 15 he says, "Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to edify him…” Commenting on this, John Piper said, “…it is good to please people provided that pleasing them is a means to their salvation and their edification and to God's glory.” We should speak up for righteousness, but we speak out of love, desiring that people recognize and respond to the truth of the Gospel. We urge men on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God! Whatever we do, whatever choice we make, our desire should always be to please God, to do all to the glory of God. Sometimes the choices we make will please God and please other people. Its nice when that happens. Sometimes making choices that we know will please God, will anger someone. We can be crippled in terms of living out our faith if we tiptoe around people, always striving for their approval. We need to ask, “What would Jesus do? What would He have me to do in the situation in front of me?” That is what matters.  We love Him, and want to please Him, because He first loved us.

What is God saying to me in this passage? God is glorified when we steadfastly hold to His Word and do not compromise the Gospel of Christ.  The fundamental truth of the gospel is that we are saved by the Grace of God, that is, by His unmerited, undeserved favor.  Grace alone. Nothing we do can add to our salvation – and as we’ll see in this letter over the next few months, we can’t do anything to earn it, perfect it, or to keep it. Unmerited favor, the free gift of God. Tim Keller said, “…the biblical gospel—Paul’s gospel—is clear that salvation, from first to last, is God’s doing. It is His calling; His plan; His action; His work. And so it is He who deserves all the glory, for all time.”

       As Americans, we should always remember the price that was paid, the blood that was shed, to preserve our freedoms. We should honor the fallen. As Christians, let’s always remember that Christ gave Himself for our sins, to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. To Him be the glory. Nothing in my hands I bring. By His doing you are in Christ. And yes, we are saved “unto good works.” In Galatians Paul calls it the “fruit of the Spirit.” We’ll see in this letter that we are not under the Law, we are free in Christ, free indeed.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage?  Where do good works come in then?  Faith works through love.  Because God has loved us, we love Him in return. And that love will overflow in our relationships, we love one another. And we love our neighbors, seeking their good, conducting ourselves in a way that won’t cause another to stumble.  That is good works, and the result of Christ working in us (Eph 2:8-10).  It comes in the form of the “fruit of the Spirit.”  We believe God. And God in us, changes us, transforms us, from the inside out.

     It is easy to become prideful, even to judge another because their life does not conform to our idea of what Christianity should look like.  Are there clear biblical admonitions that deal with the subject, or, is it an area where godly, sincere, believers disagree?  Jesus was rejected by some for being a friend of sinners.

       When it comes to the Gospel, let’s not be guilty of spiritual dilution or pollution. There is a tendency today to twist biblical doctrine, to deny absolute truth. It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you really believe it. Have you heard that? That is clearly wrong!  That is diluting the Gospel. But we also need to be on guard against spiritual pollution: Legalism amounts to grace plus works, that too is wrong.  Remember: "The secret of the Lord is with those who have been broken by his cross and healed by his Spirit." Galatians holds forth these two things: “…the cross of Christ as the only way a person can get right with God, and the Spirit of Christ as the only way a person can obey God.” Rejoice in His grace!    AMEN.

The Gospel and the Glory of God - Galatians 1:1-5

Getting the Gospel Right: The Letter to the Galatians, Part 1

The Gospel and the Glory of God

Galatians 1:1-5

Introduction:  We certainly hear a lot of bad news in the media these days. It gets attention and ratings I guess. I like the story of a boy who was at the front door trying to sell a subscription to a weekly newspaper, and he was very persuasive: “It only costs a quarter a week…” When he could see the hesitation of the person, the little salesman quickly added, “and the best thing about this paper is that it prints only good news!” That has a certain attraction to it!  In a world filled with trouble it is more and more difficult to find any “good news”!  Actually, all the bad news we see and hear should remind us that we live in a fallen world, people are broken and the world is broken because of sin. Every human desperately needs to hear the real “Good News,” the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

       We just finished our study of Mark, which set forth, in narrative form, the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Today we start our study, which should last through the summer (and maybe into the fall), of a letter that was written which was responding to a challenge to the message of the Gospel.  Galatians is a letter that was written a group of churches which were experiencing an attack on the message that the Apostle Paul and Barnabas had preached to them: The Good News that Jesus, by His substitutionary death, provided the forensic basis for sinners to be reconciled to God, and that He rose from the dead proving that He accomplished what He came to do. That is the good news that God was, in Christ, reconciling sinners to Himself, and that because of Him, by grace, through faith, we can be forgiven and have peace with God. God is glorified as humans, by His grace, recognize their need and receive forgiveness through faith in Christ and his finished work.  Implicit in the “good news” however, is some bad news that people often don’t like to hear: apart from Christ we are sinners deserving judgement, and we cannot save ourselves.  It is that message that is the foundation and the fuel of the Christian life. And it is that message that we are sent to proclaim, by the authority of Jesus.

     Today we start a study of Paul’s letter to the Galatians and I hope you’ll read through, and study, and consider how you must respond to the message of this book.  It has been called by some the “Freedom Letter.” It has also been called a dangerous book to study since it can challenge some of our wrong preconceptions about what constitutes Christian living.  The Scottish pastor, P.T. Forsythe, captured the message of this letter when he said, "The secret of the Lord is with those who have been broken by his cross and healed by his Spirit." Galatians exalts these two things: the cross of Christ as the only way a person can get right with God, and the Spirit of Christ as the only way a person can truly obey God. Jesus has provided the basis for our reconciliation, and the Spirit provides the power for our sanctification. Anything that adds to or detracts from the all-sufficiency of what happened on the cross of Christ is heresy to Paul, “let him be accursed!”. That language is about as strong as it gets!

       Anything that puts human will or effort in place of conscious dependence on God, according to Paul is no gospel at all! And the reason we will see such strong language and emotion in this letter is because that is exactly what seems to be happening among the churches of Galatia. Some false teachers had been undercutting the message of the Gospel of Grace, and had begun to lead the people to put human effort where dependence on the Spirit belonged, and the works of Law where faith in the cross belonged. Remember the “Solas” of the Reformation: Grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone! Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to His cross I cling! That is Good News, and it is a message worth sharing! That brings us to the…

Maine* Idea: God is glorified when we faithfully share the Gospel of His Grace!

I. Our Ministry: We are under the authority of the Word of Christ, and we have authority as God’s spokesmen to bring his message (1:1-2). The first 2 verses talk about the nature and source of Paul’s authority.

Paul, an apostle- not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead-  ² and all the brothers who are with me, To the churches of Galatia… 

       “Paul, an apostle…” The Apostle Paul uses various terms to describe himself and his ministry in his letters.  He is a slave, a steward, a workman, a servant. As in several of his letters, at the outset of Galatians, he specifically evokes the title apostolos, that is, Apostle.  The word has the idea of a “sent one,” more specifically, “one sent on a mission as an authorized representative.” In the near-eastern context, the Hebrew term shaliach had taken on a specific sense of someone commissioned by the sender, sent with his authority, as His authorized representative. He was to speak for and to be received as the sender. And he was not only sent, but sent with a commission (cf. 2:9).  In the cultural context the use of this term actually goes even further; shaliach = sent as an authorized representative, an ambassador, similar to the idea of “power of attorney.” The one sent spoke for, and with the authority of the One who sent him (Mt 10:40; I Thess 2:13).  In the technical sense this refers to the 11 disciples after the resurrection and to Paul, who encountered the risen Christ on the road to Damascus and received a direct, personal commission from him. Later Paul described the church as a building set on the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph 2:20). A foundation is laid once, and on it the building is constructed. The apostle had a unique, foundational ministry.  

       After identifying himself as an apostle, Paul then asserts negatively where his authority does not come from: this is unique to this letter and so demands our attention. Paul wanted to make it clear that his apostolic authority was not derived from any human or any group of people. He said it came, “…not from men…”  Some apparently were charging that since Paul was not one of the original 12, his ministry was secondary or inferior, he wasn’t a “true” apostle.  We see in Acts 13:2 that the church in Antioch did send him out, but under orders from the Holy Spirit (Acts 13:2) and in fulfillment of the word of Jesus.

       “…nor through a man…”  Some may have charged that since Paul had his Damascus road experience it was still necessary for Ananias to come to him, his apostleship was in some sense mediated by humans (and so inferior) [see Acts 9:15,16]. We’ll look more at this question as we work through the letter later this month. Note here what Paul says: his apostleship was directly conferred by Jesus himself.  This is the positive statement of the source of Paul’s apostolic authority: “…BUT, through Jesus Christ and God the Father…”  God in His power and glory, God who raised Jesus from the dead, whose power and grace made salvation available to men, this God has sent Paul as His ambassador. 

       One implication of this truth is that every Word of Scripture must be carefully studied, the meaning and intention of the author understood, and obeyed.    Paul claimed to be bringing the very Word of God.  We need to remind ourselves as we read this book that “All Scripture is inspired by God [God-breathed]… and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for training in righteousness…..” We need to receive this letter for what it is: the very Word of God. God has spoken to us. We must take Him at His Word. Believe God!

       The apostles were unique, bringing and writing the Word of Christ under the inspiration of the Spirit. They had a foundational role in the church as God was working in them and through them (notice Paul distinguishes himself from “all the brothers” in v.2). We are not apostles, but we do have the Word of God written. And God in His Word gives us authority to bring His message to the world (Acts 1:8; Mt 28:18ff). In fact, He has entrusted us with the truth! Remember the Maine* Idea: God is glorified when we faithfully share the Gospel of His Grace!

II. Our Message: We have been entrusted with the message of His grace (1:3-4).  We see the substance of Paul’s message alluded to in these verses, focused on the person and work of Christ.

³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,  ⁴ who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father…

       First of all, in the expanded greeting Paul uses we have a prelude to the Gospel.  “Peace,” would have been a standard greeting in Paul’s day, as it is among Jews to this day, “Shalom.” Paul typically expands that by starting with the phrase, “…grace to you…” A key idea in Paul’s theology, this word became part of a Christian greeting that became widely used in the early church. Grace, charis, refers to “God’s unmerited favor…” One commentator said, “This is grace—God’s love expressed in Jesus Christ.  This love gives and suffers and finally conquers and delivers.” Jesus took what He didn’t deserve, God’s wrath against sin, so that we could receive the blessing that we didn’t deserve. The acrostic G.R.A.C.E. can be helpful: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. Eph 2:8,9 “For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the [free] gift of God…”

       “…and peace…”  Not simply an absence of conflict but a state of life enjoyed by those who have experienced God’s grace.  In fact, peace is often ours in the midst of conflict and trouble.  It is a peace that is independent of outward circumstances, a “peace that passes understanding…”

       We see in verse 3 the subject of the Gospel. As the ambassador of Christ, the authorized representative, Paul is bringing greetings in Jesus’ name. In other words, he knows that he is bringing God’s word.  The full title is used “Lord Jesus Christ.” The title “Lord” in the New Testament is more than just “sir” or even “master” when it is applied, post-resurrection, to Jesus. It is the word used in the Bible mostly commonly read to translate “Yahweh,” “Jehovah.”  He is master, what’s more, He is God!  He is the Lord Jesus, His name meaning “Savior.” He is God our Savior, the Son of God who came into this world to suffer and die for our sins.  He is the Lord Jesus Christ.  Christ isn’t his last name, it’s a title that means “anointed one.” The scriptures predicted a coming savior, a deliverer and king.  Jesus fulfilled the prophecies made centuries before.  This Jesus is the central figure of the entire Bible: the Old Testament looked ahead to his coming, the Gospels and Acts show the outworking of God’s plan, and the epistles look back on the facts of the Gospel and reflect on the implications for how we should then live. I like the way J. Sidlow Baxter said it,

"Fundamentally, our Lord’s message was Himself. He did not come merely to preach a Gospel; He himself is that Gospel. He did not come merely to give bread; He said, "I am the bread." He did not come merely to shed light; He said, "I am the light." He did not come merely to show the door; He said, "I am the door." ...He did not come merely to point the way; He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."

Getting the Gospel right has to have as its foundation knowing the One, correctly, as He is, who is the subject of the Gospel! That was one of the questions Mark took pains to flesh out for us in his Gospel: Who is Jesus? Answer: Messiah and Son of God, in the full, correct, Biblical sense of those titles!

      The descriptors that he uses of Jesus get at the substance of the Gospel (v.4). The redemptive work of Jesus Christ:

     1)  His work is substitutionary – “…he gave himself for our sins…” The same preposition is used in John 11:50. There Caiaphas said more than he realized, “…You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish." He died to rescue a people for Himself. Our sins made the cross necessary - Jesus took our punishment (I Peter 2:24).

       2) His work was necessary – Why did he do it?  “…that he might deliver us out…” i.e., “…take us out for himself” to redeem us for himself (Acts 7:10,34).

      3) The norm, the reason governing this redemption is the sovereign will of God (4c).  "...according to the will of our God and Father..." There is a mysterious interrelation between divine sovereignty and human responsibility.  God is not obligated to save us, but he wills to save us.  Our “rescue,” our salvation, is “according to the will of God...” And so, as Paul told the Corinthians, “…of Him you are in Christ Jesus” (I Cor 1:30). And yet we are responsible to call men and women to repentance and call them to receive the free gift of eternal life through faith in Christ. So we urge people on behalf of Christ to be reconciled to God (2 Cor 5:20). That points us to the Maine* Idea: God is glorified when we faithfully share the Gospel of His Grace!

III. Our Motive: In sharing His message we bring glory to God (1:5).  Paul’s over-riding motivation in all that he did was to glorify the Lord. God’s glory should be our motive as well:

…to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

       That means we are to live for His glory: As Paul said in I Cor 6:19,20…

¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, ²⁰ for you were bought with a price. So, glorify God in your body.

       In fact, it means that all we do, we should do for his glory: Paul said as much in I Corinthians 10:31-33...

³¹ So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.  ³² Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, ³³ just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.

Paul speaks a doxology at a transition point in Ephesians, 3:20-21,

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever...

What is God saying to me in this passage? Yes, God is glorified when we faithfully share the Gospel of His Grace! You have been sent, commissioned by the Creator of the universe to be His representative, to share the good news, right where you are.  As we read Galatians, Paul will urge us to be sure to get the Gospel right!

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? There is a lot of bad news in the world. Don’t be discouraged, let it remind you why He came! You have received, and been entrusted with, the greatest good news, the Good News that God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. As we explore this letter, may we be led deeper in our understanding of the Gospel. Paul certainly had a unique calling and ministry as the Apostle to the gentiles. If you know Christ, you also have a unique calling. You are His ambassador to that group of people in your sphere of influence, your relatives, your friends, neighbors, co-workers. Do you remember from our study in Mark, when Jesus set free the Gadarene demoniac? The healed man wanted to get in the boat with Jesus and His disciples. Jesus said no, go to your own people, and tell them what the Lord has done for you. That is his word to us as well. We are His ambassadors, right where we live, and there are people around us who desperately need Jesus. How will they hear lest someone tell them? We need to be sure that we get the Gospel right… eternity is at stake. And then we can point others to the One who is the subject of the Gospel, our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.  AMEN.

His Story Continues (…and it includes you!) - Mark 16:8-20

His Story Continues (…and it includes you!)

Mark 16:8-20

Introduction: Whatever else I say today I want to encourage your confidence in the inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible. The God who is has spoken. He has revealed himself in His Word. As surely as Moses went up the mountain and received the Ten Commandments from God, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is profitable…” (2 Tim 3:16). Or as Peter said, “Holy men of God spoke as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit…” (2 Pet 1:21). So, God inspired the biblical writers to put down in writing the exact words He intended, He also supernaturally guided His people to recognize and preserve them as Scripture. It is through God’s Word that we know Him, and we learn what He expects of us (read Psalm 119!). We are going to take another look at what I believe is the original ending of Mark, 16:8, and also the “appendix” that has been preserved in verses 9-20.  The fact of the Resurrection, and the implications of it, are the foundation and the fuel of our faith. It is the foundation because everything else is built on it, it is the fuel because it energizes us to be faithful. Think about what the resurrection means! In the words of one theologian…

“The present age is Eastertime. It began with the resurrection of the Redeemer, and it will end with the resurrection of the redeemed. Between lies the spiritual resurrection of those called into new life through faith in Christ. And so, we live between two Easters, and in the power of the first Easter, we go to meet the last Easter…” (Eric Sauer, Triumph of the Crucified).

       In the light of the Resurrection we’ll look at an intentionally abrupt ending, what it might mean, how it should impact us, then we touch on three more “A’s”: 1) The Appearances of the risen Lord; 2) The Assignment that is our mission in the light of the Resurrection; and 3) The Ascension of the Lord, and the implications of it as we carry out that mission. This will all point us to…

The Maine* Idea: We are called to believe God, taking Him at His Word, trusting in His presence and protection, as we bear witness to His grace. First…

The Context: Mark 16:8 and the ending of the Gospel… Mark abruptly ends the story, calling us to action: How will they hear lest someone tell them?

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.

       It is after this verse that the ESV says, “SOME OF THE EARLIEST MANUSCRIPTS DO NOT INCLUDE 16:9-20.” Other translations may have an asterisk or a footnote indicating the level of confidence they have in what’s become known as the “long ending” of Mark. Because virtually every edition of the English Bible will make some reference to this, let me briefly explain what is going on.  You all know that the Bible was written over a long period of time, roughly 1500 years or so. It is actually, in a certain sense, not one book, but a whole library of 66 books, written by different writers at different times to different audiences. At the same time the Bible itself teaches that all Scripture is inspired by God… and so, He is the Author of the whole Bible. I don’t think anyone will be surprised when I say that we don’t have the original of any of the biblical documents. We have copies of copies. And because these documents were copied by hand, there are occasional, usually very small, variations… a word spelled differently, a word substituted for a similar word, sometimes the difference is just a letter or even a stroke, a part of a letter. Only in two cases is there a substantial paragraph that is in question: the story of the adulterous woman in John 8, and the so-called “long ending” of Mark. [We looked at John 8 a few years back, and my argument there was that that seemed to be an historical event from the life of Jesus, but not an original part of the Gospel. It illustrates beautifully the biblical doctrines of grace and forgiveness. So we can read it, appreciating it as a powerful illustration, but our doctrine is only supported by it, not derived from it.] Today we’re dealing with the ending of Mark.

       The manuscript evidence is strongly in support of the position that v.8 was the original ending of this Gospel. The oldest manuscripts don’t have it. Verses 9-15 were probably an appendix, added by someone with knowledge of the other gospels, intending to summarize what happened next. In subsequent copies, that appendix was merged by someone into the text. I think we can read it, comparing it with other Scriptures, and still be edified by the doctrines we see here.

      If I am right about this, why would Mark end his gospel so abruptly, at verse 8? Remember Mark wanted His readers to know the answer to who Jesus is. Mission accomplished! He is the Son of God, the God-Man. He was also showing us why He came, why it was necessary for Him to suffer. He endured wrath so that humans, by grace through faith, could be reconciled to God. So, Christ died and rose again, finishing the work He came to do, doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. And in ending with the word of the angel and fear of the women, Mark is encouraging His readers to take up their cross and follow Jesus, to be willing to risk speaking the truth with boldness. What if the women had remained silent? What if you remain silent? How will they hear? That brings us to…

The Maine* Idea: We are called to believe God, taking Him at His Word, trusting in His presence and protection, as we bear witness to His grace.

I. Appearances of the Risen Lord (9-14; cf. Lk 8:1-3; Jn 20:18; I Cor 15:6-8).  

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. 

      I see at least two important themes in these verses. First, notice the specific reference to Mary Magdalene, one of the women who had followed Jesus from Galilee to Judea. Here, Mark specifically mentions a detail that he had not brought up before, which is recorded for us in the Gospel of Luke. This woman, now a follower of Jesus, had formerly been demon-possessed! Luke 8:1-3 reports,

“…Soon afterward he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. And the twelve were with him,  ² and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out,  ³ and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's household manager, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their means.”

So, this Mary, along with other women, had been set free from demons, and had clearly believed in Jesus. They followed Him, and they also provided for Him and for the disciples!  John also reports that Mary was among the first to see the resurrected Christ, and that she brought word to the disciples…

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord"- and that he had said these things to her… (Jn 20:18).

        Slowness to believe, based on the testimony of others, is a theme that shows up in various NT contexts. Perhaps the best-known example is that of “doubting Thomas,” in John 20. He was absent when Jesus first appeared to the other disciples. He said the unless he could see the nail prints in His hands, he would not believe! Jesus appeared again, this time with Thomas present, and the rest is history. The famous point that Jesus made is the lesson here: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe!” Missouri is called the “show me” state, the disciples were seemingly “show me” followers of Jesus at this point. Mark wants us to receive the Word for what it is, the Word of God, and He wants us to take God at His word. That is faith. That is the Maine Idea I want to emphasize today… We are called to believe God, taking Him at His Word, trusting in His presence and protection, as we bear witness to His grace. So we see the Appearances of the Lord, and secondly, in light of the resurrection, the…

II. Assignment: He IS Risen! Go and Tell! (15-18; cf. Mt 28:18-20).

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." 

      This passage, for the most part, reflects on the Great Commission that appears at the end of Matthew, and in different form in Acts 1:8. In Matthew we read,

¹⁸ And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  ²⁰ teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20).  

There is no doubt that Jesus repeated this idea in different ways over the 40 days that He appeared to the disciples between the resurrection and the ascension. In Acts 1:8 He said,

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

These passages are complementary, not contradictory.  In Acts Jesus emphasized the importance of being a Spirit empowered witness. In Matthew He emphasized disciple-making in the light of His authority and presence, while in Mark He is teaching that the apostolic proclamation would be accompanied by attesting miracles, and that is exactly what we see in the book of Acts. That idea is stated clearly in Acts 14:3 with respect to the ministry of Paul: “…speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” We see that in the ministry of the apostles, starting with Pentecost.

       We see speaking in tongues three times in Acts, and many miracles of healing, but what about handling snakes and drinking poison (18)?  We don’t see these referred to anywhere else as signs accompanying the preaching of the Gospel. We do have one scene, reported in Acts 28:3-6, when Paul was ship wrecked on his way to Rome…

³ When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand.  ⁴ When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live."  ⁵ He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.  ⁶ They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

In the context of Acts there is no indication that this is something to be purposefully imitated. Paul did not seek out a viper to handle! The point in Acts is that God miraculously delivered Paul, because Paul was to be His witness in Rome. There are a few snake handling churches still today in the US, but it is literally, a dying religion (!), and it is based on a misreading of Scripture. I’ve read testimonies, particularly of believers in third world mission fields, who were given poison, and it pleased God to protect them from any harm. That is not promised! Nothing is too difficult for God, when it is His will to intervene in history He still does miracles. But it is the preaching of the Gospel, the Word of God written, and proclaimed, that evokes faith in those who believe.

       Put all this back into the context of Mark 16:8. The women were terrified, and said nothing at first. We know that changed quickly, that very morning. This scene made me think of God’s question to Isaiah: “Who shall I send, and who will go for us?” That is Mark’s question to his readers, and God’s question to us. Will we reply with Isaiah, “Here I am, send me!” In the light of the resurrection, we are called to believe God, taking Him at His Word, trusting in His presence and protection, as we bear witness to His grace.

III. Ascension: He is at the Father’s right hand, even as He builds His church (19-20; cf. Acts 1:9-11; 7:56; 14:3).

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.

       As does Luke at the end of His Gospel and again at the beginning of Acts, so the writer of Mark’s long ending affirms the ascension of Christ. Luke tells us,

⁵⁰ Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them.  ⁵¹ While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.  ⁵² And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy,  ⁵³ and were continually in the temple blessing God… (Lk 24:50-53).

Then again we read in Acts 1:9-11,   

⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.  ¹⁰ And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,  ¹¹ and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

Later in Acts, as Stephen is being stoned, just before his death he says, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56). So, the ascension encourages suffering believers to persevere, knowing that our High Priest and Advocate is at the Father’s right hand (cf. Ps 2, Ps 110:1-2). Jesus is the victorious, living, and returning Lord! Until that Day we are His ambassadors, declaring the Gospel to the world!

What is God saying to me in this passage? That is the Maine* Idea: We are called to believe God, taking Him at His Word, the testimony to His resurrection gives us a basis for our faith. So, we believe Him, the Son of God, trusting in His presence and protection, and we obey Him as we bear witness to His grace.

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? I hope this study of the Gospel of Mark has led you deeper in your faith, and stronger in your understanding of our great salvation. Are you hungry for more? Do you long to go deeper? Let’s close with a prayer from the apostle Paul, Ephesians 1:16-23,   

¹⁶ I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers,  ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,  ¹⁸ having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,  ¹⁹ and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might  ²⁰ that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,  ²¹ far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.  ²² And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,  ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.   That is who you are in Christ, that is what you have in Him!    Amen.

This Changes Everything! - Mark 16:1-8

This Changes Everything!

Mark 16:1-8

Introduction: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! One special boy understood the importance of that message…

Little Philip, born with Down's syndrome, attended a third-grade Sunday School class with several eight-year-old boys and girls. Typical of that age, the children did not readily accept Philip with his differences, according to an article in leadership magazine. But because of a creative teacher, they began to care about Philip and accept him as part of the group, though not fully. 

The Sunday after Easter the teacher brought… [empty plastic eggs]. Each receiving one, the children were told to go outside on that lovely spring day, find some symbol for new life, and put it in the… [plastic egg]. Back in the classroom, they would share their new-life symbols, opening the containers one by one in surprise fashion. After running about the church property in wild confusion, the students returned to the classroom and placed the containers on the table. Surrounded by the children, the teacher began to open them one by one. After each one, whether a flower, butterfly, or leaf, the class would ooh and ahh. 

Then one was opened, revealing nothing inside. The children exclaimed, “That's stupid. That's not fair. Somebody didn't do their assignment." 

Philip spoke up, "That's mine." 

"Philip, you don't ever do things right!" a student retorted. "There's nothing there!"  

"I did so do it," Philip insisted. "I did do it. It's empty. the tomb was empty!" 

Silence followed. From then on Philip became a full member of the class. He died not long afterward from an infection most normal children would have shrugged off. At the funeral this class of eight-year-olds marched up to the altar not with flowers, but with their Sunday school teacher, each to lay on it an empty plastic egg. (Unknown).

I don’t know if these were based on that story, but Mary Ann has a set of “resurrection eggs” that each contain symbols of the gospel message. The last one is empty, reminding us of the empty tomb. Christ is risen! Indeed He is risen! That is not a story. It is not a myth. It is a fact of history. And that truth changes everything.

       The resurrection of Jesus is not just a religious story we tell at Easter time. It is not just a facet of the Christian tradition.  It is a historical fact, and the foundation of our faith! Paul spoke to the importance of the resurrection in I Corinthians 15,

¹³ But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.  ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain.  ¹⁵ We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised.  ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised.  ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.  ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.  ¹⁹ If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.  ²⁰ But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep… (I Cor 15:13-20).

That is pretty emphatic, is it not? If the resurrection is not true, our faith is usesless, we are still in our sins, we are of all men most to be pitied. But if it is true, and it is, it changes everything!  Ignatius of Antioch, was being taken to his execution in AD 107. He was expecting to be thrown to the lions, and may have reflected on those verses written by Paul when he wrote the following…

If you come across somebody who says that Jesus Christ never lived, or that He is just an idea, or a concept, or a myth, shut your ears to him.

     Jesus Christ was born into a human family, a descendent of David.  His mother was Mary. He was persecuted under Pontius Pilate, a fact testified to us by some who are now in Heaven, and some who are still alive on earth.  How can this be a phantom, or an illusion, or a myth?  These are facts of history!

     It is also a fact that he rose from the dead (or rather that his Father raised him up).  And that is the most important fact of all, because his promise is that the Father will also raise us up, if we believe in Him.  So if Christ Jesus is not alive, neither shall we be.  There is nothing left for us to hope for if he is just an idea or a fantasy.

     In any case, if he only appeared to rise from the dead —why should I be in chains for this “myth”?  Why should I die to support an illusion?  I am prepared to die for him, the true and real Son of God.  But no one is prepared to die for a shadow.

The resurrection is not just a story we tell once a year at Easter. It is the very foundation of our faith! The tomb was empty, and that truth changes everything! 

       As we look at this account, we will realize that the disciples, amazingly, were not expecting the resurrection of Jesus. I say this was amazing since Jesus had, multiple times, clearly predicted His death and resurrection! We’ve looked at three of those passages several times on our walk through this Gospel. After the disciples first confess that Jesus is the Messiah, we read in 8:31 Jesus explicitly teaching them about what had to happen. They needed to learn what the Messiah came to do…

Mark 8:31   ³¹ And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.

A chapter later, after casting out a demon from a boy that the disciples had been unable to exorcize, Jesus was teaching His disciples, and in 9:31 He says to them…

Mark 9:31  "The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he is killed, after three days he will rise."

Essentially the same teaching. Then again we read in…

Mark 10:32-34   ³² And they were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them. And they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. And taking the twelve again, he began to tell them what was to happen to him,  ³³ saying, "See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles.  ³⁴ And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise."

Each time, after Jesus’ teaching, the disciples said or did something that proved they did not understand.  After the scene on the Mount of Transfiguration Jesus had told Peter, James, and John to tell no one about what they had seen until after He rose from the dead. So we read in 9:10, “…they kept the matter to themselves, questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.” They would soon know! That is…

The Maine* Idea: The resurrection changes everything! It proves that He is who He claimed to be and that He accomplished what He came to do! We’ll look at Mark’s account of that morning and consider 1) The devotion of the women, as only they, among the followers of Jesus, risk going to the tomb on Sunday morning to anoint the body of Jesus; 2) The declaration of the angel in 5-7, appearing as a young man dressed in white who declares the Good News, He is not here, He is risen, and finally; 3) The deduction of the witnesses, as it strikes them as to what this must mean!

I. The Devotion of the Women: Only they, among the disciples, risk going first to the tomb to anoint the body of the Lord (1-4).

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and 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. 

      The disciples had been scattered, and are still out of sight. These faithful women, who had followed from Galilee, watched from a distance at Golgotha.  and had followed Joseph to the tomb, are first to arrive. Again, the fact that Mark reports that these women were the first witnesses of the empty tomb and that they received the angelic announcement of the resurrection, is a powerful testimony to the authenticity of the record. Women were truly second-class citizens in the ancient world. At the time of Christ they were not allowed to testify in legal matters. They were considered unreliable witnesses. If Mark was making this story up, he would not have had the first witnesses as women! But he reports it that way because that is the way it happened.  As God inspired Mark to write this account, he highlights the role of these women as faithfully following Jesus, from Galilee to Jerusalem, they are watching as He is crucified (while the men were scattered, and nowhere to be found), they follow Joseph of Arimathea to the tomb when Jesus is buried on Friday afternoon, and they arrive at the tomb to tend to His body on Sunday morning.

       It seems only on the way do they start to think about how they are going to move the huge stone they saw rolled in place to seal the tomb (3).  God had a plan about that. They arrive, and the stone is already moved! Who moved the stone? That the title of a book about the resurrection by a man named Frank Morison. He set out to disprove the resurrection, and like many before and after him, when He looked at the facts and considered the evidence, like the centurion at the cross, like the thief crucified at the side of Jesus, his heart was opened to the truth—surely this man was the Son of God!  Dr. Simon Greenleaf, founder of Harvard Law school had a similar experience. His book was entitled, The Testimony of the Evangelists: The Gospels Examined by the Rules of Evidence.  Lee Strobels’s The Case of Christ is a modern example. He arose! The resurrection changes everything! It proves that He is who He claimed to be and that He accomplished what He came to do!

II. The Declaration of the Angel: He is risen; He is not here (5-7).

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." 

       An alarming sight (5). Mark describes this scene in the simplest, most straightforward terms. A young man, dressed in white. We know from the parallel accounts that this was indeed and angel, and his appearance was like lightening (Mt 28:3) and he was dressed in dazzling apparel (Lk 24:4). The word Mark uses here can have the sense of “amazed” or “alarmed,” or even “distressed.” No wonder! They were already distressed about the events of that week, but now they find the tomb open and the body gone, and this angelic figure seated in the tomb! As shocking as all that was, I assume that what He says goes even further…

        A shocking statement (6). They were alarmed at the sight of this angelic figure sitting in the tomb. Wouldn’t you have been?! But the announcement the angel made had to be even more shocking: He is risen! These women may have been there in Capernaum when Jesus raised the daughter of Jairus to life. More recently, they might have been at the grave of Lazarus when Jesus called Him forth! But Jesus now had died. They saw His dead body taken down off the cross, wrapped in linen by Joseph of Arimathea, laid in a tomb, and then a rock rolled in front of the door to seal it in. He’s alive? Do you know what this must mean? Yes, this was a “shock and awe” moment!

      Look at the place where they laid Him – It is as though the angel is saying, “Impress this on your mind, consider what it means, you are going to be a witness to this earth-shaking event! This changes everything!”

      Go and tell the disciples and Peter… Why does the Angel specifically mention Peter? Remember his response when Jesus looked at him in the courtyard of the High Priest, after Peter had denied Him three times? He was broken.  Broken and broken-hearted, Peter needed restoration—he had denied the Lord. It’s hard to read that “Go and tell” without thinking of the Great Commission, and our mandate to share the Good News of Jesus with the world around us (see I Corinthians 15:1-3; Matthew 28:18).

      “…he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."  Remember that after Jesus predicted that they would all be scattered, and that Peter would three times deny Him, Jesus said to them,

"…You will all fall away, for it is written, 'I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'  ²⁸ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee."  ²⁹ Peter said to him, "Even though they all fall away, I will not." (Mk 14:27-29).

We know how that worked out for Peter! But consider the grace that Jesus is extending. They would all desert Him, Peter would deny Him, but Jesus would be raised and go before them to Galilee. That speaks to restoration and forgiveness. Even for Peter, and even for us! God’s grace is bigger than our sin. That is why Jesus came, that is why He died. And the resurrection changes everything! It proves that He is who He claimed to be and that He accomplished what He came to do!

III. The Deduction of the witnesses: Consider what this means! (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.

       Astonished and fearful they fled from the tomb! One preacher said, “The resurrection confronts before it comforts.” That has been true of other miracles that Jesus did earlier in his ministry. Jesus was giving glimpses of the future kingdom and clues to His identity in the acts of power He did. They were signs, testifying to His identity, revealing the presence of the Kingdom in the person of the King!  They didn’t just casually leave the tomb, chatting about the theological implications of what they had just seen. Mark tells us they “fled the tomb.” He uses three words to describe their feelings of awe at that moment: trembling… astonishment… afraid… That shouldn’t surprise us too much in the light of what we have already seen in our survey of the Gospel of Mark. It is the response of humans as they get a glimmer of the answer to their question: “Who is this man?” (cf. Mk 4:40-41). Sinclair Ferguson said,

“In Mark’s Gospel, this fear is always man’s response to the breaking in of the power of God. It is the fear the disciples experienced when Jesus stilled the storm; the fear of the Gerasenes when Jesus delivered Legion; the fear of the disciples as they saw Jesus setting His face to Jerusalem to die on the cross. This fear is the response of men and women to Jesus as He shows His power and majesty as the Son of God…” (Let’s Study Mark, p. 271)

       I believe Mark intends us to understand that they went directly to the disciples, speaking to no one on the way (8).  It doesn’t say that does it? Remember that Mark is writing to a group of believers, a church. They had heard the Gospel message, they knew the story of the death and resurrection of Jesus from the testimony of the Apostles. I Corinthians was one of Paul’s early letters. In chapter 15 of that letter Paul says that Jesus appeared to Peter, and to the twelve, and on one occasion to more than 500 brothers at once! We learn from the book of Acts that after the resurrection Jesus appeared to them over a period of 40 days, teaching about the kingdom, until he ascended to heaven. There is a phenomenon in reading the Bible that is called “intertextuality.” The writers of Scripture could assume that their readers had a context, a background, that would inform how they hear the story, what they naturally read between the lines. We’ve seen that in Mark’s allusions to the Old Testament Scriptures. I think that same principle extends to the teaching and preaching of the apostles that was at the heart of the faith of the church from the beginning. Of course the women eventually took courage and told the apostles what they had seen! If not, they would never have gone to the tomb to see!

      More than likely these women ran in silence back to the house where the disciples were huddled. All the while, considering what all this meant, what they had seen and heard. Their excitement probably grew as they drew nearer. The evidence was compelling, evidence that demands a verdict! If the tomb was empty, that means that Jesus conquered death—He really is who He claimed to be! Sinclair Ferguson wrote,

“Mark began his Gospel by telling us who Jesus is. He wrote his Gospel to make us ask the question: Who is Jesus? And answer it accurately. Now he shows us the nature of a true response to Jesus. It is to be moved with a sense of awe and wonder that the Son of God came among men, and lived and died and rose again for our salvation. That sense of awe is the beginning of a new life of fellowship with a risen Lord…” (Ibid, p. 272),

What is God saying to me in this passage? The resurrection changes everything! It proves that He is who He claimed to be and that He accomplished what He came to do!

What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Over the last two years we’ve been looking at Mark’s Gospel from the perspective of three questions, Who is Jesus, why did He come, what does it mean to follow Him. The resurrection is the exclamation point at the end of this Gospel. He is God, the Son. He came to rescue us from wrath, to reconcile us with God. Will you trust Him? Will you follow Him? AMEN.