Various evidences of Jesus’ resurrection (Mark 16:1-11)

Various evidences of Jesus’ resurrection (Mark 16:1-11)

 6 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.

² And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.

³ And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?

⁴ And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.

⁵ And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.

⁶ And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

⁷ But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.

⁸ And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.

⁹ Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.

¹⁰ And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.

¹¹ And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.

 

Intro)

1. 

B.C 490 King Darius of Persia invaded Greece. There army was so strong, and eventually there army attacked Athens. So they faced each other and fought against each other. Athens won the battle.

 A soldier named Pheidippides ran about 42km to the Athens to let them know they won the battle. After he arrived he died because his energy was totally drained. The field were they fought is the Marathon field. This battle is the origin of the marathon game.
  Imagine people of Athens who were waited news of victory. They were looking forward to hear the news. So, when Pheidippides told the news, they called it “ευαγγελιον” which means gospel.

2. Now, we use the word gospel related as Christian religion. We say spread gospel as propagation. However, original meaning of gospel is good news. Word gospel often used as news of victory, or when a new King ascend the throne. People expected everything will be better with new king. However, we can say gospel as Christian term has same meaning.

 

2,000years ago Jesus, son of God, came to this world as King and savior. He crucified and resurrected after three days. He won over the death; He released us from death and sin. We are now belonging to His kingdom. Those are really good news! That is why we call this good news as gospel.

 3. So let us look into this resurrection of Jesus and see why that is the core of gospel in more detail.

  Body)

A) Resurrection of Jesus Christ is historical fact.

1. There were three day gap between Jesus’ death and resurrection. Precisely, scholars assumed it was 35 hours gap from 3pm Friday to dawn of Sunday.  

However, the people were very anxious between those three days. High priest and others was scared and think what should we do if of Jesus resurrect, if disciples steal the body of Jesus, if mad crowd march up to them.

The day Jesus was resurrected, the people who moved first was Maria and other women

They took sweet spice with them. However, unbelievable thing happened when they arrived at Jesus’ tomb.

  The huge stone that blocked tomb entrance was moved. The stone was too big so it was not possible to few people to move the stone. It was really heavy stone, also protected by Roman soldiers. Then an angel with white cloth came to them and said. 

⁶ And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.

⁷ But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you

 

Yes there was no body inside of the tomb. And Jesus is in Galilee which is 115 miles from the Jerusalem. It was simply not possible for Jesus to walk that fast even if he was alive.

 There are five reasons this incident was significant.

1) The stone (tomb’s door) was about 2 Ton, and sealed by Roman emperor.

2) It was protected by Roman soldiers.

 3) There were earthquake which made roman soldiers runaway, and angel which looks like a lighting in white cloth was seating on the stone. 
  ▶'Don’t be scared' =World is horrifying place, listen to the angel who said don’t be scared. 
  ▶'He isn’t here he resurrected’. = Jesus is not in tomb, he resurrected and ascend to heaven, and will return as king of king. 
  ▶' tell his disciples’

=Spread the news 
  5) When women went to tell the news to disciples, they met Jesus. Matthew 28:8-9.
 

B) Our religion has no tomb. 
There is no tomb in history of gospel. There are no Adam, Noah, Abraham, David’s tombs.  

Main component of tomb is dead body, without dead body there is no tomb. 

1) Empty tomb is the first evidence of Jesus’ resurrection.
  It the Disciples were hiding Jesus’ body, do you think every one of them could keep the secret when they tortured? And killed? People can die for the truth, but cannot die for lie. They might deceive people for a while, but not for 2000 years. They could make some people to believe, but not everybody with lie.

2)'Buddha, Muhammad, and Gong Ja have their tombs. However, Jesus’ tomb in the Jerusalem is empty.

  ▶ People in India and other Buddhism countries marched with Buddha’s bone when they found it. A missionary who was watching that parade told his friend, “if there was a particle of Jesus’ bone, Christianity could be perished.’ Yes, Jesus’ tomb was empty. It is proof of His resurrection.

  3) Empty tomb means victory.

When Jesus is crucified, at that moment, it seems like people, Rome, and devil those who were against Him have won. However, Jesus resurrected. People who crucified Jesus were in panic; they repent their sin and accept Jesus as son of God. 5000 people believed Jesus in a day. The mighty Roman Empire, declare Christianity as their official religion. Satan realized he has no control over life and death. 

4) Empty tomb is proof of new life

Jesus Christ is fruit of resurrection, if you believe in him, you can share the power of resurrection. Believers will deliver fruit of resurrection like Jesus. That is why. John 6:40 said “And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.” only Christianity is religion of forever life and resurrection. 

 

B) Jesus stayed on the earth for 40 days after his Resurrection. The Risen Lord remained on earth for 40 days after the Resurrection, and during this time he appeared before his disciples 11 times and appeared before Stephen and the man who would later become the Apostle Paul, Saul the persecutor. What were these 11 times? 1) He came to Mary Magdalene by the grave (Mark16:9/John 20:14-18). 2)He appeared before the women who went to his grave. (Matthew 28:8-10). 3) He came before his 2 disciples that were making their way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35/Mark16:12-13). 4) He appeared before Peter (Luke 24:34/1 Corinthians15:5). 5) He appeared before his 10 disciples (Thomas was not there). (Mark 16:14/눅24:36-37). He appeared before his 10 disciples who were hiding on Sunday evening. “…he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? 39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. 40 And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. 41 And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? 42 And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. 43 And he took it, and did eat before them. 6) He appeared again before his 11 disciples, this time with Thomas among them. (John 20: 26-29). Thomas was suspicious and doubtful of Jesus’ resurrection and he said, “Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe.” A week after he said this Jesus appeared in front of Thomas and the other 10 disciples. Jesus came to the doubtful Thomas and said, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.” And Thomas did just that. He touched the hands and sides of Jesus and was so shocked and embarrassed that he had ever doubted the Lord. He repented before the Lord and devoted his life to spreading the Gospel, even to the far reaches of India, until he died as a martyr. 7) He appeared before the 7 disciples that were fishing at the lake of Galililee. (John 21:1-14) 8) He came before his 11 disciples as the mountain of Galililee. (Matthew28:16-20/Mark16:15-18) “16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them. 17 And when they saw him, they worshipped him: but some doubted. 18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” 9) He appeared before 500 people. 1 Corinthians 15:6 says, “6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. ” 10) on the 40th day after the Resurrection, he comes before 500 people and makes his last appearance as he returns to Heaven (Mark16:19-20/Luke24:44-53/Acts1:1-11). The disciples saw Jesus received up into Heaven with their own two eyes. Angels appeared on each side of Jesus and said, “Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” 11) Jesus appeared before Saul, who had been doing all he could to persecute the churches of Jesus, near Damascus (Acts9). Saul, the man who had been persecuting all Christians and been the man at the forefront of every effort to eradicate followers of Jesus, became the Apostle Paul, the man who spread to Gospel of God all over the world even when he was in jail. D) What changed in those who met the Risen Lord? (Luke 24:24-34) ⑴Their once blind Spiritual eyes opened. Luke 24:31 says ' And their eyes were opened, and they knew him ' They finally knew who Jesus was. Knowing and believing in the Risen Lord is the duty and blessing of a Christian. ⑵A fire was ignited in their hearts. Luke 24:32 says, ' Did not our heart burn within us.’ Their hearts and spirits burned when they heard the Word of God. These disciples feared nothing when they thought of Jesus and the Resurrection. Courage and strength would overwhelm them and nothing, not even death, could scare them. ⑶ The found courage in tragedy. Luke 24:33 says, ' 33 And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them.’ once again, they found strength and courage. The losers and the failures became the winners and victors. All those who accept the Risen Jesus Christ find new hope. They sing the song of victory. Hallelujah! Conclusion) The 2 disciples that met the Risen Jesus on their way to Emmaus became witnesses of the Resurrection. When they came to Jerusalem, they saw Jesus’ disciples all gathered, and they testified in detail of their encounter with Jesus. And they saw Jesus Christ several times after this. They heard Jesus’ command for them while they were on Earth. After they witnessed Jesus’ return to Heaven, they lived the rest of their lives proclaiming the Gospel of the Risen Lord, never fearing any danger, not even death. Many died while spreading the Gospel as martyrs. This is how we must live. This is the faith we must have. We must not be satisfied with where we are. We must not become discouraged and give in to obstacles. To be risen, the Resurrection is victory. It is our victory. If Jesus is in us, then there is nothing that can defeat us, break us, or discourage us. Let us all, who are here today, put our hearts together and receive the grace that Jesus has given us, that God and sent us, through the sacrifice and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.