The Empty Tomb. (Mark 16: 1- 8)

 Let me invite you to a cemetery, but not an ordinary cemetery. In this cemetery there is a tomb. However, the tomb in this particular cemetery is not ordinary because at this cemetery the body did not stay in the tomb. Often when we gather together for a funeral service, we gather around a coffin, or a grave or a tomb with a body in it.   This morning we are going to gather around an empty tomb and consider what we can learn for this unique situation.

This short closing section of scripture tells us about the activities of some woman who after the death of Christ went to anoint his body.

And then a message is given by a young man who suddenly appears dressed in white. (By the way Matthew clarifies for us that this was an angel). So, let’s begin by looking at these events by first looking at the three women we talked about yesterday. But then today we will look at what they actually do.

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body.

(Mark 16: 1-8)

So, it’s Saturday and it is after 6.00pm in the early evening and the sabbath ends. They have bought spices, and they are on their way to anoint the body of Jesus. Clearly, they were expecting to find a dead body at the tomb, they did not seem to particularly expect for his body not to be there or they wouldn’t have brought the anointing spices. The next verse tells us.

Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb.

(Mark 16: 2)

So, this is now the very early hours of Sunday morning, and they are now arriving at the tomb. Now we need to pause for a moment because in order to understand the significance of the empty tomb, we need to understand the death of Christ. The death of the Lord Jesus means that the debt of sin has been paid. God justice demanded this because as the bible tells us.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

(Romans 6:23)

That means we don’t have to pay because that gift was offered freely on our behalf. The forgiveness of sins is a free gift. Do you know that you are forgiven? The price for your sins has been paid, all you have to do is trust in His payment. Rely on his payment, and not your own resources. Once you trust in Him the debt is paid and you are given the gift of of eternal life.

I heard very recently of a lady who was explaining this to her 8-year-old grandson years old and this is how he responded. Oh yes, he said, I get it, it’s like WIFI.  Someone else pays for it for me, but in order to get it I’ve got to switch on and connect. 8 years old, and the kid really got it! That as good an explanation as I could have come up with. It out there and it is already paid for, but you got to switch on your computer and connect.

OK, that’s the 1st part pf this passage, the text continues.

and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?’

(Mark 16: 3)

You may remember that when we looked at the closing part of chapter 15, last week we noted that a huge stone was rolled across the entrance to the tomb. So, they are also discussing the practical problem that awaits them when they arrive at the burial site. These women knew about this stone, and they knew they wouldn’t be able to move themselves. On their way they were discussing among themselves how they might get someone to move it so that they could anoint the body of the Lord, but when they get to the tomb, this is what they see.

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

(Mark 16: 4)

Then.

As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

(Mark 16: 5-6)

Matthew identifies this young man as an angel. Now, the women are alarmed, terrified some translations actually say. They were expecting a grave and a body, instead they get an empty tomb and an angel. The angels tell them to not be alarmed, for he is not here, he is risen. Please note this verse tells us that the angel confirms to the woman that they have got the right tomb. But the reason he is not here he says is because, He is risen. The angel even points to the shelf and says, “see the place where they laid them”.

Why did the angel do that, what is the significance of that.

In the gospel of John, we are told that what the ladies saw was not just an empty slab but discarded grave clothes. An obvious point to make is that this was to show that the body has miraculously gone and not just been stolen. Because if someone had stolen the body, would they really have taken the trouble to remove the grave clothes before doing it. Furthermore, John tells us that when they saw that, they believed, that was the evidence the women needed. That is what fully convinced them that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead.

They like us cannot understand the empty tomb unless they understand the resurrection of Christ. They like us cannot understand the significance of the death of Christ unless we understand the empty tomb means resurrection. Let me tell you why.

Jesus said, I am going to die for your sins. Now, anybody could say that, even I could say that and indeed, I might then die after saying that, you might think, “big deal”. How would you know someone had really done that, you wouldn’t if they just died like anyone else. However, Jesus did indeed say he was going to die for the sins of the world, but He also said he was going to come back again. So, the empty tomb was telling us he did what he said he would do. The empty tomb is evidence of sins forgiven and demonstrates that this was not just an ordinary death on the back of an empty promise.

There has been nothing like that in all of human history. So, I say to you the message of the empty tomb is very straightforward it’s not just that Christ died and rose again. It the evidence that Christ forgives sin. Look what happens after that.

But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”’

(Mark 16: 7)

Just pause for a moment here and ask why did he single Peter out? I believe he specifically mentions Peter because Peter had just denied the Lord and at this point, he was set apart, probably depressed, no doubt ashamed of himself. Perhaps he even no longer even considered himself to be a disciple. There is a special message for Peter here. This message says, “Peter you are forgiven”.

That right there is the unique message of this passage is, God forgives those who have sinned, always. Have you ever fallen away from the Lord? Did you ever once feel you were close to Him but are no longer so. I have good news for you right here, you can come back again. Good news because Christ is calling you back, calling you home.

God forgives sinners. His death paid for your sins and his resurrection proved it but it also proves he is always willing to forgive. Not only forgives you, but calls you back, and forgives you and calls you back into his service.

God forgave me when I was a young teenage, but I wandered far from Him, but he forgave me again when I was 30 years old and called me back into service and he didn’t make me go through all kinds of torment to do that. He just reminded me that he had forgiven me, and He let me pick up on my discipleship we it had left off. Granted I had to carry with me some of the spiritual consequences of some wrong choice I had made but He forgave me again and allowed me to carry on serving and following Him.

So, the message of the empty tomb is forgiveness. Christians are not perfect, we are just forgiven.

The famous inventor Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric lightbulb said that along with his whole team of men it took over 24 hours to make each of the first 6 individual lightbulbs. He talked about the first one he created, and when he finished it, he passed to a young apprentice to take it up stairs to the testing room. You can guess what happened next. He tripped and dropped it and it broke, it took the team 24 hours to make the second one. Do you know what he did with the next one….He gave it to the same young lad. That’s what God is like, so you messed up, OK, let’s try again. That’s what the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is all about, forgiveness. Come on back, acknowledge your mistakes, acknowledge you sins, and he will forgive just like he did before.

One more verse, then we are all done. What were they told to do? Look at the verse behind me. “Go, tell”.

What did they actually do? Final verse; 

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

(Mark 16: 8)

They were afraid, and they ran away. The fled, and they said nothing, to no-one. We who know the Lord, we who have experienced forgiveness, should also go tell people, right. But we often don’t, why not? Is it because we are afraid.

In conclusion.

I think the main message of this passage is that God forgives, it is as simple as that and God forgives, and God will forgive again and again. God forgives sinners and God forgives sin. I wonder if there is anybody here this morning who hears this but has only accepted it at an intellectual level. They know it in here but not in here. There might be someone here this morning who thinks that way. Don’t raise your hand, and don’t look guilty.

Maybe you’re thinking, “in order to be forgiven and in order to spend eternity with you Father in have you have to do something about it”. Maybe you believe in order to live a righteous life, you have to be a good person. I’m really sorry of that is the message that has been implied by the Christian church that you have experienced so far in your life.  Do you know what the number one answer most people in this country give to the question, do you know for sure that if you were to die you are going to heaven. The number 1 answer is, “I hope so, I hope I have lived a good enough life”. Well I am here to tell you, it’s not about being good enough, it’s just about receiving a gift. Remember the WIFI, it’s free to use, you just got to switch on the computer, and that is done by accepting and trusting in Jesus Christ.

A friend of mine told me of a story when he was out one Sunday afternoon walking in his local park when he came across a man sitting reading  bible track. He said to the man, was he assured that if he died, that he knew he was going to heaven. The man said, I never could be good enough to get to heaven, This is what my friend said in reply.

Okay, if we accept that as true. However, if God were to make an exception in your case, and give you salvation outright as a gift, would you then accept it. The man replied, “of course I would, who would be daft enough to turn down a gift like that”. That’s exactly what people do every day. The gift has been paid for, the gift can be yours, you just have to receive it. You can say no, many have but then you won’t get the gift. This closing story I am about to tell is absolutely true, go look it up if you don’t believe me.

In 1830 in America a man named George Wilson killed a government employee who caught him in the act of robbing the mail.  Wilson was tried and sentenced to be hanged. The President of the United States, Andrew Jackson, sent Wilson a pardon. But Wilson did a strange thing: he refused to accept delivery of the pardon. No one seemed to know what to do because of this, so Wilson’s case was sent to the equivalent of the supreme court at that time. Chief Justice Marshall judged the situation and wrote the following conclusive opinion:

“A pardon is a slip of paper, the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned. If it is refused, there is no pardon”. George Wilson was subsequently hanged.

The death of Christ on the cross is the pardon God has sent.

But before it becomes our pardon, we must accept it in faith and obedience. We must accept that offer of forgiveness. We must accept the sacrifice made on our behalf Then we can live a life in the light of having received that wonderful gift.