WEBVTT 00:00:06.527 --> 00:00:12.054 We've been studying the Gospel of Mark on Sunday mornings and we are nearing the end. 00:00:12.054 --> 00:00:38.673 As we finish Mark chapter 15 today, if you'd like a sermon outline or borrow one of our Bibles, just raise your hand. 00:00:38.673 --> 00:00:49.262 Until we get to chapter 14, mark has spent a long time looking at some of the main events of the life of Jesus. 00:00:49.262 --> 00:00:57.405 It's the shortest Gospel, but when he begins the last week of Jesus' life in chapter 14, he slows way down. 00:00:57.405 --> 00:01:05.641 Mark's pace slows down even further when we get to the last day of Jesus' life on earth. 00:01:05.641 --> 00:01:29.272 In these final paragraphs we're looking at, mark is leaving us with the content of the Gospel spelled out by the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 15, which is three elements Christ died for our sins, christ was buried and on the third day he rose again. 00:01:29.272 --> 00:01:34.427 Last time we looked at the extraordinary events surrounding the death of Jesus. 00:01:34.427 --> 00:01:41.731 Today, mark continues to slow way down as we look at the burial of Jesus. 00:01:41.731 --> 00:01:47.784 If you want to follow along as I read, we'll be in Mark 15, beginning in verse 39. 00:01:47.784 --> 00:01:58.489 When the centurion who stood there in front of Jesus saw how he died, he said surely this man was the Son of God? 00:01:58.489 --> 00:02:01.575 And some women were watching from a distance. 00:02:01.575 --> 00:02:09.760 Among them were Mary Magdalene, mary the mother of James the Younger, and of Joseph, and Salome In Galilee. 00:02:09.760 --> 00:02:12.848 These women had followed him and cared for his needs. 00:02:12.848 --> 00:02:17.082 Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there. 00:02:17.082 --> 00:02:21.231 It was preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath. 00:02:21.231 --> 00:02:34.609 So as evening approached, joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the council who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. 00:02:34.609 --> 00:02:38.641 Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. 00:02:38.641 --> 00:02:42.850 Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. 00:02:42.850 --> 00:02:48.087 When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. 00:02:48.087 --> 00:02:57.795 So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen and placed it in a tomb, cut out of the rock. 00:02:57.795 --> 00:03:06.002 Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb and Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joseph, saw where he was laid. 00:03:08.045 --> 00:03:24.967 Mark helps us to understand that the burial of Jesus is significant for two reasons, and both have to do with the gospel First, the people who were there and why, and second, the people who were changed and why. 00:03:24.967 --> 00:03:27.195 We'll look at those two things today. 00:03:27.195 --> 00:03:30.062 First, the people who were there and why. 00:03:30.062 --> 00:03:31.806 It's very interesting. 00:03:31.806 --> 00:03:42.509 Mark wants us to see that the death of Jesus brought three very diverse classes of people together the Roman centurion, a pagan. 00:03:42.509 --> 00:03:57.825 The women who were followers of Jesus and Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy, prominent Pharisee, part of the Jewish Sanhedrin, the ruling class in Israel. 00:03:57.825 --> 00:04:05.390 The death of Jesus brought these people together and they all had a positive response to the death of Jesus. 00:04:06.634 --> 00:04:08.620 We mentioned the centurion last time. 00:04:08.620 --> 00:04:10.444 He's mentioned again today. 00:04:10.444 --> 00:04:19.867 First, in verse 39, we looked at last time he declared that Jesus was the Son of God when he saw how he died. 00:04:19.867 --> 00:04:21.550 We talked about that last time. 00:04:21.550 --> 00:04:26.127 We see him again today certifying to Pilate that he actually was dead. 00:04:26.127 --> 00:04:38.774 Then we see the women who were devoted followers of Jesus present at Jesus' death in order to make sure his body was taken care of properly. 00:04:38.774 --> 00:04:45.492 Here's a question when are all the male disciples? 00:04:45.492 --> 00:04:56.863 When you get to the climactic event of Jesus' death, burial and resurrection, all the male disciples vanish. 00:04:56.863 --> 00:04:59.029 They're not around. 00:04:59.029 --> 00:05:06.807 The only followers of Jesus who are with him through all those things were his female followers. 00:05:06.807 --> 00:05:10.413 Only the women were there when Jesus died Verse 40,. 00:05:10.413 --> 00:05:13.992 Only the women saw where Jesus was buried Verse 47,. 00:05:13.992 --> 00:05:16.841 And the women were the first to see Jesus resurrected. 00:05:16.841 --> 00:05:26.641 Verse 16, verse 1, the men disappear and the women dominate the last part of the Gospel narrative. 00:05:29.007 --> 00:05:34.319 Mark is making a very strong point about the power of the Gospel here. 00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:35.201 Don't miss it. 00:05:35.201 --> 00:05:42.774 Both Jewish and Roman cultures of the day, women had no legal status whatsoever. 00:05:42.774 --> 00:05:46.925 Their evidence could never be brought into a court of law. 00:05:46.925 --> 00:05:47.696 Why? 00:05:47.696 --> 00:05:57.607 Because at that time there is a universal understanding across all cultures in the world that women were inferior and unreliable. 00:05:57.607 --> 00:06:14.547 Yet in spite of this listen to me, in spite of that, the most crucial moment in the history of salvation, god trusts a group of women with the whole story, the lifeline and content of the gospel. 00:06:14.547 --> 00:06:17.504 Nobody else knows what's going on. 00:06:17.504 --> 00:06:20.725 Only the women are initially shown what God is up to. 00:06:21.036 --> 00:06:30.567 For decades, the only witnesses who could say I saw Jesus die, I saw where he was buried and I saw the resurrected Jesus were women. 00:06:30.567 --> 00:06:44.285 God makes women his witnesses at a time in history when no other culture would have trusted them with that important job. 00:06:44.285 --> 00:06:47.403 What does that mean? 00:06:47.403 --> 00:06:49.505 That God was ahead of his time? 00:06:49.505 --> 00:06:58.108 No, god was showing them and us the power of the gospel. 00:06:58.108 --> 00:07:13.526 Because of the gospel, god was taking people who were considered outsiders in their culture and bringing them in to God's kingdom culture. 00:07:13.526 --> 00:07:16.163 That's what the gospel will do. 00:07:16.163 --> 00:07:33.749 Outsiders can come in and, as we'll see next, because of the gospel, god was also taking people who were considered insiders in their culture and bringing them outside in order for them to enter God's kingdom. 00:07:36.437 --> 00:07:37.120 Let's look at it. 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:47.624 Let's look at how God brought the cultural insiders in those in circles of power, brought them outside in order to bring them into the kingdom of Christ. 00:07:47.624 --> 00:07:52.735 These are the people who were changed by the death of Jesus. 00:07:52.735 --> 00:07:57.795 We've already looked at the centurion. 00:07:57.795 --> 00:08:04.788 He was an insider of the Roman power structure. 00:08:04.788 --> 00:08:27.545 He was brought outside of that power structure at the death of Jesus when, against all his pride and strength and power, he humbly bowed to acknowledge that he was convinced that Jesus was the Son of God and said so. 00:08:32.115 --> 00:08:52.653 But then we also see that God brought out Joseph of Arimathea, who's an insider culturally, ethnically, religiously, politically in Jerusalem, the complete opposite of the centurion but who was also an insider in the power structure in Israel, religious power structure. 00:08:52.653 --> 00:08:55.846 And the text says that Joseph was prominent. 00:08:55.846 --> 00:09:19.850 That meant he had power, he had authority, he had a reputation, and we learn from Matthew's Gospel that Joseph was rich, very wealthy, and we learn from John's Gospel that he was also a friend of Nicodemus, who was also a Pharisee, a member of the Sanhedrin, the ruling council in Israel. 00:09:19.850 --> 00:09:26.447 Now John, his Gospel, tells us that Joseph and Nicodemus went together to get Jesus' body. 00:09:26.447 --> 00:09:30.094 I'll read it John 19.38-40. 00:09:30.094 --> 00:09:43.724 After these things, joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but a secret one for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus, and Pilate granted permission. 00:09:43.724 --> 00:09:45.889 So he came and took away his body. 00:09:45.889 --> 00:09:53.950 Nicodemus, who had first come to him by night, also came bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about 100 pounds weight. 00:09:53.950 --> 00:10:02.721 So they took the body of Jesus, bounded in linen wrappings with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews. 00:10:02.721 --> 00:10:10.303 Now, in the place where he was crucified, there was a garden and the garden a new tomb which no one had yet been laid. 00:10:11.647 --> 00:10:21.253 What's interesting to see here is that the marginalized women, the prominent rulers and the centurion are all together in the same passage. 00:10:21.253 --> 00:10:26.250 The death of Jesus brought them together. 00:10:26.250 --> 00:10:32.548 The death of Jesus led the prominent, wealthy Joseph of Arimathea to do something completely unexpected. 00:10:32.548 --> 00:10:44.404 It shows us the profound change that the death of Jesus in the gospel can bring to a person's heart, can bring the insiders out so that they might come into the kingdom of God. 00:10:44.404 --> 00:10:48.070 The text says in Mark 15.43,. 00:10:49.552 --> 00:10:50.654 Joseph went boldly. 00:10:50.654 --> 00:11:03.168 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the council who was himself waiting for the kingdom, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. 00:11:03.168 --> 00:11:12.181 Joseph and Nicodemus got a courage they did not have before. 00:11:12.181 --> 00:11:27.083 It took great courage to ask for Jesus' body why the Romans had just tried and executed Jesus for high treason. 00:11:27.083 --> 00:11:32.293 The Jewish Sanhedrin just found Jesus guilty of blasphemy. 00:11:32.293 --> 00:11:39.474 Both power structures are absolutely thinking Jesus as an enemy. 00:11:39.474 --> 00:11:48.393 It took courage to go, identify with him and want to take his body. 00:11:48.393 --> 00:12:00.485 Now Joseph and Nicodemus, members of the Sanhedrin, for the first time, are willing to say out loud what they have been saying in secret. 00:12:02.390 --> 00:12:09.668 John says Joseph and Nicodemus were secret followers of Jesus. 00:12:09.668 --> 00:12:10.429 They read it already. 00:12:10.429 --> 00:12:15.600 They liked Jesus, they followed Jesus, they believed in Jesus. 00:12:15.600 --> 00:12:18.023 But they didn't want anybody to know. 00:12:18.023 --> 00:12:34.433 They wanted to stay safe inside the culture where they had the wealth, the power, the influence, the approval of all their friends. 00:12:34.433 --> 00:12:36.259 That's an insider. 00:12:36.259 --> 00:12:57.434 But now, when it's really risky, they're willing to risk everything to bury him, identifying with him publicly to show they are sympathizers of Jesus to Roman and Jewish establishments. 00:12:57.700 --> 00:13:01.568 Power structures are very risky for them. 00:13:01.568 --> 00:13:09.687 They boldly came and asked Pilate for the body of Jesus, after certifying Jesus was dead, and Pilate gave it to him. 00:13:09.687 --> 00:13:26.046 They took down Jesus' body from the cross and the death of Jesus brought these insiders out of their pride, power and comfort in the safe zone of their life into the kingdom of Christ. 00:13:26.046 --> 00:13:38.047 Their attitude towards their own status and power changed at the death of Jesus. 00:13:38.047 --> 00:13:39.769 It changed them. 00:13:39.769 --> 00:13:44.235 That's what his death will do. 00:13:44.235 --> 00:13:51.993 Before this, their power, their money, their status wasn't something they had. 00:13:51.993 --> 00:13:53.600 It was something they were. 00:13:53.600 --> 00:13:55.764 That was their identity. 00:13:55.764 --> 00:14:06.426 If I have all this, well then I'm good, I'm approved, I'll feel good about myself, I won't have to risk anything. 00:14:06.426 --> 00:14:17.653 But now Joseph and Nicodemus are using their power and influence as members of the Sanhedrin to get Jesus' body and to do right by Jesus. 00:14:17.653 --> 00:14:22.783 They're risking everything to do it. 00:14:22.783 --> 00:14:25.210 That means something's going on here. 00:14:25.210 --> 00:14:34.634 As they have understood what has happened here, something's going on. 00:14:34.634 --> 00:14:38.402 They don't have the same priorities they had before Jesus died. 00:14:38.402 --> 00:14:43.870 They're experiencing identity shift. 00:14:43.870 --> 00:15:08.010 Something just became more important to them than holding on to their power and stuff, something they were willing to become outsiders in the culture in order to identify with Jesus. 00:15:08.010 --> 00:15:21.802 Not only were the insiders, joseph and Nicodemus, becoming bolder, they are also becoming more humble and generous. 00:15:21.802 --> 00:15:29.024 They are not only getting stronger in their courage, they are getting weaker by not holding on to their pride. 00:15:29.024 --> 00:15:32.636 What are they doing? 00:15:32.636 --> 00:15:40.975 They are using their wealth, their influence, to protect Jesus' dignity. 00:15:45.542 --> 00:15:51.149 It wasn't normal for a crucified criminal to get any kind of honor or burial. 00:15:51.149 --> 00:15:52.677 They were just thrown in a pit. 00:15:52.677 --> 00:16:05.875 In an act of generosity, Joseph purchased linen cloth, wrapped Jesus' body in it and placed it in the tomb out of the rock. 00:16:05.875 --> 00:16:14.636 Now, in ancient times in Palestine, there was a traditional procedure followed when a loved one died and was buried. 00:16:14.636 --> 00:16:21.791 First, they took the body and washed the body. 00:16:21.791 --> 00:16:25.236 Then they anointed the body with spices. 00:16:25.236 --> 00:16:28.504 This isn't the same as the Egyptians who embalmed the body. 00:16:28.504 --> 00:16:30.307 These were spices. 00:16:30.307 --> 00:16:33.921 The Jews anointed the body as a simple act of love. 00:16:33.921 --> 00:16:38.970 It was the final act of devotion given to a loved one. 00:16:38.970 --> 00:16:42.743 Joseph and Nicodemus did it. 00:16:42.743 --> 00:16:52.267 I have to tell you, to wash the body after. 00:16:52.307 --> 00:17:06.228 What Jesus was through was a dirty stomach-churning and a traumatic, awful job In that society. 00:17:06.228 --> 00:17:10.656 It wasn't something prominent men would do. 00:17:10.656 --> 00:17:15.205 It was something given to women and slaves to do. 00:17:15.205 --> 00:17:20.076 Joseph and Nicodemus are having none of that. 00:17:20.076 --> 00:17:21.480 They are going to do it. 00:17:21.480 --> 00:17:27.476 Here are Joseph and Nicodemus washing and wrapping Jesus' body. 00:17:27.516 --> 00:17:28.558 Why didn't the women do it? 00:17:28.558 --> 00:17:29.422 They are there. 00:17:29.422 --> 00:17:37.403 If they had been, like other men in Judea, they would have asked them to do it. 00:17:37.403 --> 00:17:42.674 They are doing something extremely culturally inappropriate. 00:17:42.674 --> 00:17:46.384 You know what they are doing. 00:17:46.384 --> 00:17:50.013 They are not trying to preserve their power and position. 00:17:50.013 --> 00:17:51.076 They are giving it up. 00:17:51.076 --> 00:17:55.744 For Jesus' sake, think about it. 00:17:55.744 --> 00:17:58.490 That is what they are doing. 00:17:58.490 --> 00:18:04.903 In doing so, they are identifying with God's kingdom. 00:18:04.903 --> 00:18:16.724 After anointing the body with spices and perfumes, they wrapped it in a linen cloth and because it was the Sabbath, they didn't finish the anointing. 00:18:16.724 --> 00:18:23.605 That is why the women came back the next morning to finish the job and encountered a big surprise. 00:18:23.605 --> 00:18:25.568 That is another part. 00:18:25.568 --> 00:18:33.876 Joseph and Nicodemus are becoming the kind of people that the world needs to be agents of change for the gospel. 00:18:33.876 --> 00:18:35.480 That is our challenge. 00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:44.118 Bolder in their faith, weaker in their pride that is really the signature over their lives. 00:18:47.826 --> 00:18:59.032 If you remember, in the Gospel of John, nicodemus went to see Jesus at night so people wouldn't know His power and status were too important to him. 00:18:59.032 --> 00:19:03.522 There was his identity. 00:19:03.522 --> 00:19:15.585 Jesus told this prominent ruler in the Sanhedrin that he must be born again in order to enter God's kingdom. 00:19:15.585 --> 00:19:17.887 For him to hear that was radical. 00:19:17.887 --> 00:19:28.244 He is talking to a Pharisee, a prominent religious man who knows the scriptures backwards and forwards. 00:19:28.244 --> 00:19:38.104 He is extremely religious in following all the rules sent out for them to be a devout Jew. 00:19:38.104 --> 00:19:45.332 And Jesus is saying he has to go back and start at zero, born again. 00:19:45.332 --> 00:19:55.910 So far, what Jesus is saying about it so far you've done nothing of value in God's kingdom, nothing. 00:19:55.910 --> 00:20:05.296 See, it doesn't matter if you're a wealthy, prominent person in society or poor beggar on the street. 00:20:05.576 --> 00:20:07.520 The gospel is the same news for all of us. 00:20:07.520 --> 00:20:16.982 What Jesus has done for us makes it possible to have a new life and a personal relationship with God. 00:20:16.982 --> 00:20:26.122 And Jesus told Nicodemus what he had to do to be born again, to start from zero when it comes to God's kingdom. 00:20:26.122 --> 00:20:33.200 I'll read a small portion of it John 3.15-17. 00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:39.092 Goes back and pulls, something Nicodemus would have been very familiar with in Exodus. 00:20:39.092 --> 00:20:52.347 He says to him as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, the son of man, speaking of himself, must be lifted up so that whoever believes in him will have eternal life. 00:20:52.347 --> 00:21:04.258 For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 00:21:04.258 --> 00:21:09.395 God didn't send the son in the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through him. 00:21:09.395 --> 00:21:22.445 The burial of Jesus is significant. 00:21:22.445 --> 00:21:30.756 It's speaking so much to us about the power of the gospel. 00:21:30.756 --> 00:21:48.182 Joseph and Nicodemus took Jesus' body down, but at some point they also took Jesus into their hearts and risked everything for their faith in him. 00:21:51.586 --> 00:22:08.661 Is it kind of a paradigm for all of us Would that we would gather up the courage to openly, publicly express our faith in Jesus, even when it risks our power, position, status and wealth? 00:22:08.661 --> 00:22:16.916 Coming to faith in Jesus and being born again doesn't just make you happy. 00:22:16.916 --> 00:22:19.902 It changes you from the inside out. 00:22:19.902 --> 00:22:25.296 I didn't believe in Jesus because he was going to make me happy. 00:22:25.296 --> 00:22:29.522 I knew I needed a Savior. 00:22:29.522 --> 00:22:35.217 I was a sinner, involved in all kinds of miserable, awful stuff. 00:22:35.217 --> 00:22:39.323 I wasn't happy, but I didn't believe in him. 00:22:39.323 --> 00:22:43.729 To be happy, I needed a Savior. 00:22:43.729 --> 00:22:57.711 I could tell me today that when I believed in Jesus 50 years ago, I'm not the same person I was Right. 00:22:57.711 --> 00:23:03.786 After I believed, certain changes immediately started to happen in my life. 00:23:03.786 --> 00:23:05.769 I'm not going to go through it all. 00:23:05.769 --> 00:23:07.217 You've heard my testimony before. 00:23:07.217 --> 00:23:16.555 Just to say when we believe in Jesus, some things will change right away. 00:23:16.555 --> 00:23:18.337 We get it. 00:23:18.337 --> 00:23:21.923 This isn't how you serve Jesus. 00:23:21.923 --> 00:23:24.926 This isn't reflective of my faith in him. 00:23:24.926 --> 00:23:29.457 We need to change and it starts inside. 00:23:29.457 --> 00:23:34.704 We get it, but that's only the beginning. 00:23:34.704 --> 00:23:56.284 We're going to spend the rest of our lives working out our salvation in Jesus, one step at a time, transforming us from the inside out. 00:23:56.284 --> 00:23:56.923 It doesn't stop. 00:23:58.506 --> 00:24:04.656 Why would Joseph and Nicodemus, who had lived in fear, and now boldly come out and identify with Jesus? 00:24:04.656 --> 00:24:09.464 Here's the ironic thing about the Christian life. 00:24:09.464 --> 00:24:14.175 I'm sure some of you can relate to this. 00:24:14.175 --> 00:24:17.442 I know I can because this is why I'm sharing this. 00:24:17.442 --> 00:24:24.642 The ironic thing in the Christian life is, most of the time, our spiritual growth. 00:24:24.642 --> 00:24:30.895 These spiritual growth spurts happen when trauma hits our life. 00:24:30.895 --> 00:24:33.019 Something awful. 00:24:33.019 --> 00:24:39.828 They're connected to these adversities. 00:24:42.092 --> 00:24:53.516 You see, for Joseph and Nicodemus, I think it was probably seeing Jesus delivered over to die by the Sanhedrin that they were part of. 00:24:53.516 --> 00:25:02.209 It was seeing him tortured, mocked, humiliated, crucified for their sins. 00:25:02.209 --> 00:25:05.517 It did something profound inside them. 00:25:05.517 --> 00:25:17.855 They were not the same, and that should be true for all who believe in him. 00:25:17.855 --> 00:25:26.826 We're not the same, if we really get it. 00:25:26.826 --> 00:25:31.830 What's happened there to Jesus at his death? 00:25:33.134 --> 00:25:41.597 It begins for all of us with the message of the gospel to believe and internalize the truths that we see there. 00:25:41.597 --> 00:25:47.048 The gospel reveals the truth about Jesus and the truth about us. 00:25:47.048 --> 00:25:56.048 We are so bad that our only hope is that Jesus had to die for us. 00:25:56.048 --> 00:25:57.150 That's it. 00:25:57.150 --> 00:25:59.535 That's how bad we are. 00:25:59.535 --> 00:26:21.394 And that second part Jesus loved us so much he was glad to die for you and those who believe in Jesus not only become a new person, they become part of a new community, the family of God, the church. 00:26:24.265 --> 00:26:27.574 So I leave you with this Will you help change the world? 00:26:27.574 --> 00:26:46.528 One heart at a time Begins when you believe in Jesus, who died for you to give you the gift of eternal life, and then continues to change you from the inside out and give you a boldness to testify to him, identify with him. 00:26:46.528 --> 00:26:54.833 For those who don't know him, this is going to end our study of Mark's gospel. 00:26:54.833 --> 00:26:55.394 For a while. 00:26:55.394 --> 00:26:57.846 Let's pray. 00:26:57.846 --> 00:27:19.326 Father, thank you for the truth of the gospel that you've revealed to us, that Jesus died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead three days later, so that now all who believe in him will not come into judgment your judgment, but will pass from death to life. 00:27:19.326 --> 00:27:23.576 Would you help us to see what Jesus did for us. 00:27:23.576 --> 00:27:37.009 Help us to internalize that in the deepest part of our being, and let it humble us and give us the courage to boldly identify with Jesus, who loved us to the utmost. 00:27:37.009 --> 00:27:39.932 I pray in his name, amen.