Bewildered on Easter Morning | Mark 16:1-8

April 5, 2026 - The Gospel of Mark - 

Jerell Carper asks the questions, "How do we experience the joy of Easter when we still feel stuck in Lent?" Mark abruptly concludes his story of Jesus' resurrection by drawing us into the emotions of three women who are trying to make sense of the empty tomb. The resurrection of Jesus is a cosmic turning point and promise that one day God will make all things new. 

/// First Sunday of Easter ///

The Gospel of Mark: Part 8

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Well, this morning I have a question that I want us to wrestle through. And as I thought about you as my church community, not not mine, but one that I'm a part of, I thought this is a great question to start our morning. It's this. How do we experience the joy of Easter when many of us still feel stuck in Lent? How do we experience the joy of Easter when many of us still feel stuck in Lent? So this morning, you can see we we changed our slide color from purple to gold. You have new bulletins, we have new artwork, we're all wearing like pastel colors, right? We are experiencing one of the most significant shifts in the church calendar from 40 days of wilderness to 50 days of an oasis, right? From a season of darkness to a season of light, from a season of contrition to a season of celebration. And so as your pastor, I'm not here to just give you a generic Easter sermon. I want to give you an Easter sermon for this community right here, right now. And I think that we've been doing Lent very well. We've been leaning into suffering. And I think for many of us, it's not by choice, right? The last 40 days in our church community, the prayer requests and the needs and the things that have happened, we have we have done Lent very well. But not always by choice. We've been in a physical wilderness from autoimmune issues to eyesight that's failing to back pain that won't go away. We've been in an emotional wilderness from depression to anxiety to exhaustion to insecurity. We've been in relational wilderness from marriages that are more difficult than we ever would have thought, to relationships with our children or our parents that are kind of unresolved. We've been in a kind of global and social wilderness from $40 million 4-J budget cuts to war to increasing partisan tribalism to record low snowfalls to economic inflation. And many of us have encountered loss from friendships, opportunities, or death of parents, grandparents, and friends. Great way to start an Easter sermon. And so today it's Easter, but many of us are still neck deep in Lent. So how I want to ask again, how do we experience the joy of Easter when we still feel stuck in Lent? When your grandma says he is risen, how do you smile and say he is risen indeed? And feel like you actually mean it. Well, I have some good news today because the text that Logan just read, the preaching text, gives an account of these three women who I think are feeling the tension between Good Friday and Easter. And I think that they are just as disoriented and bewildered as you and I may feel today. And I want to say that that's okay. That's okay. You're in good company. So let's just look at that text. This is the ending of the gospel according to Mark. We've been going through this book for the last seven or eight weeks. Um, and Jesus has been killed, he died at a humiliating death, and he is put in this tomb, which we learned is kind of an unusual thing for someone who's crucified. And so the the gospel of Mark ends with this account of these three women. Just this account of these three women. I want to talk about who they are. Mary Magdalene, you guys have heard of Mary Magdalene. She's there's a bunch of Marys in the Bible, so they'll have to be like, which Mary are we talking about? This is Mary from a city called Magdala, which is on the southwest coast of the Sea of Galilee. And this is early on in Jesus' ministry, he healed her from very severe spiritual oppression. Um, and so she was a loyal follower from Jesus from day one. She's kind of ragged, out and about on the social fringes, experiencing demonic oppression. Jesus heals her, and Mary from this town of Magdala just follows Jesus for the rest of his ministry. She has a powerful testimony. Um, Mary, the mother of James, is kind of an unknown Mary. She's just another random Mary. We don't really know anything about her other than she witnesses Jesus' death, she witnesses him being placed in the tomb, and she's in this story. That's all we know about her. She kind of has an uneventful testimony. And then Salome, um, who's the wife of Zebedee, who are the parents of James and John. These were the original fishermen that Jesus called to follow him. And these are the two guys that asked if they could sit on Jesus' left and right in power. Like these are the power-hungry guys. There's another one of the gospels that actually portrays it as their mom coming to Jesus. And be like, hey, can my sons be in your places of power? Like, this is what we know about her. Like her blue-collar fisherman son have this chance with this like up-and-coming rabbi to be famous and powerful, and mom is gonna make sure that they get into the Ivy League school, you know? And she kind of has an embarrassing testimony, right? So this outcast who's healed, this no-name Mary, and this kind of contriving, like, I still don't know if you get the point, Salome. Um, somehow they become friends, and these three women witness Jesus' crucifixion, they see where he's placed in the tomb, and together they come together to um anoint Jesus with spices after he's dead. And they're on this kind of early morning, groggy, sunrise mission to anoint Jesus. And so they look up and they see this messenger who's dressed in white announcing what God has done. And Mark's framed his gospel with two messengers, both describing what they wear. We began with John the Baptizer from Woodstock wearing camel's hair. We end with this messenger wearing white. John announced what Jesus is about to do. This messenger announces what God has done. And he says, Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, he was crucified, but he has risen. He's not here. Look at the place where they laid him and go tell his disciples and Peter, he's going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as I told you. And so these women respond. First they're alarmed. He says, Don't be alarmed, but they're they are alarmed. And here's what, here's how Mark concludes his his gospel. Trembling and bewildered. The women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid. At the end. What are the four words? They're alarmed, they're trembling, they're bewildered, and they are afraid. And they fail both tasks given to them by this messenger. He says, Hey, don't be alarmed, but they are alarmed. He says, Go tell the disciples about this, and they tell no one. I think they're just as confused as we would be, and maybe they're just as afraid as we are. And this is how Mark ends his book, Three Bewildered Women, which was once Chris Watkins' DJ name. Look it up. That's not true. So for those of us who woke up to see an Easter sunrise but still feel stuck in Lent, what does this text have to say to us? I want to look at verse 6a. Don't be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified. The first thing we need to remember that Jesus did, in fact, die. He says, You're looking for this Jesus who was crucified. He was. You're right. He was in this tomb. You're looking in the right place. And so the thing about the resurrection, the thing about coming to life, thing about Easter, is that if you are going to be raised up again, you must have first died. This messenger acknowledges that Easter actually begins with Good Friday. To experience Easter, you must begin with Good Friday. And on that day, Jesus descended to the depths of death as low as possible. And in that moment, he absorbed the consequences of our sin and the full force of evil and death into himself, the full weight of creation's unraveling. He was at the absolute, absolute rock bottom. And so for you and I today, you might feel like you're at rock bottom, that you're down in the depths, you've been battered by the effects of evil and the consequences of sin. But just know that Jesus was there too. As rock bottom as you have been in the last 40 days, Jesus was at a rockier, bottomier place. And in that place he absorbed the consequences of your sin. And he absorbed evil into himself. I want to throw a picture on the screen. Some of you know the story. But in 2018, uh there was a youth soccer team that went into this cave in Thailand to explore. They got about 2.5 miles in. While they're in there, a sudden monsoon and rainfall came and rose up that water and basically trapped them inside. It took some people a little while to figure out that they were in there. But it was a team of 12 youth and their 20-some-year-old assistant soccer coach trapped in this cave for 10 to 12 days. And it basically became this whole rescue operation. I mean, they are deep, deep in the dark cave. They have no food. Um, it's a very bad place to be. Um, the military's employed special divers from around the world. And long story short, they eventually were rescued by a team of scuba divers and anesthesiologists that worked together for a few days to rescue these boys out two and a half miles of tunnels and water to safely rescue all of these boys. And I wonder, especially if you were the assistant coach, and I was a youth pastor for a while. I I took middle schoolers on like a two-night retreat to cool camps, and at the end of it, I was done. You know, 12 days in a cave with your youth group with no food sounds way worse. I mean, think about the emotional, physical, just relational toil that you would have been in the dark for that long. And then what would it have felt like when you see a scuba diver's headlamp like pop up? First of all, like I can't see anything, right? But what would that moment have felt like no matter how deep in the cave you are, no matter how lent your lent was, no matter how rock bottom it's been, Jesus found you deep, deep in the cave, deep in rock bottom. And there he dealt with evil, he defeated death, he forgave you. Because it doesn't matter how far in the cave you are, scuba Jesus will find you. And that is not going to be the title of my sermon. Sorry again, Chris. Jesus was crucified. He was in this tomb. Point number two, verse 6b. But he has risen, but he is not here. He was, he was here, but he is not here. See the place where they laid him. You're looking for him in this tomb where he was after he died, but he is not here. He's not here anymore. He has risen. This Jesus of Nazareth, this fully divine, fully human person was dead. His heart stopped, his neurons ceased firing, his lungs inhaled no more. Hey Miles. Um his his limbs grew cold, his body was set to decay, but it did not. It did not. Through the power of God, he came to life in a new way, in the same but a different body, once again a beating heart, the neurons firing, lungs inhaling, a limbs walking body. The person who Mary and Mary and Salome thought was the savior of the world, died, but he has been brought to life. And this is good news, and this is an historical event that means something for your life. A lot of the despair with the followers of Jesus when he died is that they had basically put all of their eggs in that one basket, right? If you're gonna follow this rabbi, you've given up your life, you've kind of lowered yourself to the social bottom of the totem pole. Look at those beautiful kids. I always do this. They walk in and then none of you look at me. So I'm like, well, do I keep talking or do you look at them? All right. Um, there was a time uh my senior prom, we did something called post-prom. It was basically a cheesy event at the high school so that like you didn't go and party after prom, but you could come and win prizes. So that's what me and my Christian friends did. Um, and I was very practical. I knew I was going to college after high school and I was gonna fly to Spokane, Washington, and I needed suitcases. And so there was one of these things where each got five tickets, right? And um, there's all these prizes, like, remember when iPods were a thing? Yeah, the little circle scroller. Okay, you win all these cool prizes, TVs, iPods, and there's this suitcase set, and I was like, well, I have five tickets. It's like everyone else is putting their tickets in the iPod. I was like, this this suitcase cup is empty. So I was like, all right, I like 1% chance of iPod or 100% chance of suitcases. Um, and guess who walked away with a set of olive green Samsonites? Me. I had no I needed to have more fun in high school. I did not have as much fun. When you put all of your eggs in the Jesus basket and he dies, that's really bad. But if you put all of your eggs in the Jesus basket and this the story of salvation, this act of God shows that he has victory over evil, forgiveness over sins, and kind of turns the page for the whole world to begin to move towards life and light. If you put all your eggs in that basket, then the resurrection is good news that even if you feel like you're still in Lent, Jesus has risen from the dead. Peter, this guy, Peter, who the women didn't tell, but did run to the tomb later, writes this in one of his letters later on to the church. He says, the beginning of his first letter, praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. New birth. So we died with Christ, we've been born again into new life, into this living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. The resurrection isn't just theology to be understood or a doctrine to believe, it's a reality to be lived. It's more than something we explain, it's something we embody. That this hope isn't, it goes beyond just our emotions. It's a certain destiny for the world. It's something that we lean into, that even if we are still in Lent, we know how the story ends. We live into this hope that even at the tomb, we can find life. I want to show this illustration from um a Portland artist named Scott Erickson. Scott the painter, anyone uncovered his art? I can't be the only one. Lauren, I can't be the only people. All right. You know him personally? Okay. Go back to your tech corner. Um, so Scott is an artist out of Portland and Austin, Texas. Um, really kind of provocative Christian art. And he like does a lot of cool stuff that I like to look at. And here's this piece of art. And what you can see is it's a tree that was actually you know pretty big and it got cut down, and then it grew again, and then it got cut down, and it grew again, and it got cut down, and it grew again, and it keeps going on and on and on. And we still have this tree that is coming up out of this stump. And it's actually a picture of the story of God throughout the Bible, but I'll also think it's a picture of our lives. As we look back, we've all had those moments where it felt like our branches got cut off, our life and our beauty got taken away. And what the resurrection means is that life wins, that you will keep growing and you will keep going, even if it doesn't feel like that. Jesus was here, but he is not here anymore. Verse 7, he has gone ahead of you into Galilee. Kind of a random detail. He's gone over to Galilee. Great. Well, what happened in Galilee in the Gospel of Mark? In Galilee, in Mark's gospel, is the place where most of the ministry of Jesus happened. Um, it's where the kingdom of God arrives, it's where the lame walk, it's where the blind see, it's where the oppressed are set free, it's where the hungry are fed. It's where all ethnicities and abilities and social classes are invited to share in the forgiveness and the life of Israel's king. When Jesus goes ahead to Galilee, he is continuing the kingdom work as the resurrected Son of God. He's going to launch this movement that begins with a few disciples and is going to spread throughout the Middle East into Turkey and Northern Africa and in Europe and eventually the whole way to Eugene, Oregon, Camas Ridge Elementary School, 2026. The resurrection is not just about you and Jesus. The resurrection is about the whole cosmic renewal of the whole world. It's God's new creation enterprise. The page has turned and new life has been been brought into the whole creation. The resurrection isn't just about you, it's about the whole world that's been groaning under sin, experiencing restoration and renewal. If you find yourself in Lent during Easter, something that helps me is to know that the Easter story is actually bigger than just me, and bigger than just you. That we are caught up in this cosmic restoration event where God is restoring all things and making all things new, that what happened to Jesus isn't just going to happen to you and I, but the rivers and the trees and the mountains and the valleys and the plains, the air and the water and the animals. There once was drought and floods and forest fires and contaminated water and pollution and oppression. But there will be that no more. In the resurrection, it's actually a cosmic event. There will be a day where all of creation is restored the way it was originally meant to be. The resurrection is bigger than just how you feel today. It's a symbol and a starting point of this new world. It's the claim that followers of Jesus make that Jesus isn't simply starting a new religious possibility or a new ethic or a new way of salvation, but a whole new creation. It's a cosmic turning point where God makes all things new. So, what do we do on Easter if it still feels like Lent? Well, we identify with these three women, sketchy pasts, don't know really what's going on, yet they come to anoint Jesus and show their loyalty. They kind of fail at the task. They are afraid and they don't tell anyone. They experience four negative emotions. And then Mark's gospel ends. And if you're looking at your Bible, you're saying, hold on a second, there's a little bit more added, and there's this little footnote that says, well, maybe this was added later. We could talk about that sometime. I believe that Mark did end his gospel here, and that very shortly after that, the early church worked together to kind of give it a more full ending and make sense of, like, well, what did actually happen with the resurrection? We know a lot about that from Acts and from the other gospel accounts. But Mark, I think, at a literary device, as a literary tool, he ends his gospel very abruptly. It just ends with three bewildered women. And I think that it ends so abruptly because Mark wants it to Mark wants his story to leave us with a lot of questions. And perhaps the biggest question that he wants us to ask is something that he's been entertaining this whole time through the book. And it's this question. Who is Jesus? Who is this dude? And more specifically, who do you believe him to be? As we worked through this book, we found that some of the most unlikely characters believed him to be the true king of the world, the Roman soldier, some blue-collar fishermen, a group of female disciples, a tax collector. They believed Jesus is the long-awaited king who fulfills the story of God, even if it's in unlikely ways, through suffering and death and resurrection. But there were others who this story didn't sink in. What Jesus was doing and saying, it's like it's just not doing it for me. This isn't what I believe. This isn't what I think ought to be true. These are the people, like honestly, a lot of the pastors of the day. They felt like Jesus was someone who stole their popularity. I'd love to be popular someday. For the Roman government, he was a threat to their peace and control. For the priestly overseers, he disrupted their power structures. For the wealthy, he asked for too much generosity and sacrifice. And for the pure, he was someone who invited the unclean. For many, he most certainly was not the long-awaited saving king who fulfills the story of God. For many, he's a fraud or myth. He's not where life is found. And this survey of responses and this abrupt ending makes you want to read the book again and again. And it makes you ask, and it makes me ask, who do we say that Jesus is? Just today. Who do you say that Jesus is? And if you're here and you don't identify as a Christian, like props, man, I I'd probably be out on a hike or something right now. So more power to you. We're in post-Christian context. I don't know if people feel pressure to come to Easter anymore, but if you're here, thanks for being here. Um I'd love to chat. But what I don't want to do is just try to make some arguments or like proof. I kind of want to respect your worldview enough to know that I don't think that one sermon, one church experience is going to change your worldview. But I do have a question that if you're here, could it be that God is at work in your life to draw you to him? Like, could it be that somehow you ended up here? And somehow maybe in this moment, wherever life's led you, however it's been the last few months, the last few years, is this some moment where you feel like God is drawing you to him? And if you could have a few moments, an hour or two this week, hypothetically, if you could step away from work and family and distractions and Netflix and podcasts and chores and your side hustles, if you could just be still and out in the forest by a river and the trees and be present with your thoughts and your emotions and your longings, could it be that God is at work in your life? And could it be that God is drawing you to himself? Maybe Jesus is who he says he is. And if you're anywhere near yes, or maybe or I don't know, um, let me buy you a coffee or a lunch or a nice sushi roll this week. Or next week. And then if you are a Christian and you're here, I want you to know like I feel like you're you're my church. And as your pastor, I I didn't want what we said this morning to feel trite. I know that many of us have been feeling lent very strongly. I don't think we need to manufacture Easter joy. But we are called to a living hope. A hope that is alive. It's something that's bigger and stronger than our emotions. And Citizens Church over the last year, you all have worked really hard to help plant and start a new church community. Um, you took the hard, challenging road. It would have been a whole lot easier to just attend and experience programs and niceness, but you have all stepped up. You've been putting in the work. And as your pastor, I know that so many of you are desperate for a drink from the calm, cool river of living hope. You need your wounds mended, you need a robust inhale, and you need rest. And you need the presence of the resurrected Jesus and the power of resurrection life. In the same way that Jesus' resurrection turned the page and moved the hinge and opened up a portal to new life, today, Citizens Church, we turn the page from Easter to Lent. And while Jesus does ask you to give up your life for him, he does so because he wants you to provide you abundant life. And so, whatever the resurrection means, that whatever pain or despair or loss you've experienced, whatever your rock bottom is, it will one day come to an end, either now and soon or eventually. And the resurrection means that whatever your success or your accomplishments or your competencies or your strivings, they're just a small drop in the massive river current that is God's restorative work in the world. So lean in. Lean into the abundant life found in Easter. And if you're worried that you're still stuck in Lent, don't be afraid. Because Mary and Mary and Salome were as well. He was crucified, but he is not here. And he is going ahead of you to Galilee. Let's pray. Father, the sun rose this morning, and it is difficult to comprehend what Easter means, but here we are in Canvas. We're just a little bunch of people. Um for those of us stuck in Lent, we need your rescue. Help us to taste life. We have lamented well, we are ready to rejoice. Do what we cannot manufacture on our own, but show us the path to calm and cool waters because we need a drink. Amen.