One of our daughters asked Beth a question a couple nights ago. She asked if Jesus wanted to die. Somehow she had accepted the notion that Jesus actually didn’t want to die but preferred for all of us to die on crosses instead. As is sometimes the case when children come up with such questions, my wife was momentarily tongue-tied. Yet, there is food for thought here. What did Jesus think about as His death drew near? In a way, in His human nature, He did not want to die. He was afraid; he shrank from it. He knew the pain and anguish He would experience. But it was in God’s plan to redeem the world, and the Lord Jesus loved His own so much that He would willingly do His part in order that we could have eternal life. He wanted to save us from the sin that forever separated us from a holy God. So on the one hand, He shrank from the horror that faced Him, yet, on the other hand, He anticipated the joy once the passion was finally over and He had risen from the dead. He looked forward to the joy in accomplishing redemption; the joy in bursting out of the tomb; in meeting Mary Magdalene, and later Peter, and greeting His disciples, and His mother. He looked forward to letting them know that He was alive again, and to see their joy. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.”

On this Easter Day let’s consider the text from Mark 16. Besides being a beautiful story it affords us the opportunity to rediscover the truths of the resurrection.

The Sabbath day custom of Judaism began at sunset on Friday and ended sunset on Saturday. As soon as it got dark on Saturday many shops in ancient Judea opened up for business. That’s when three women went shopping at the spice store. They purchased aromatic oils and salves. Their plan was to get up before dawn on Sunday morning and go to the garden sepulcher to anoint the dead body of Jesus. Their aromatic oils would help offset the odors of decomposition. A question: Did the women know that Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus had already spiced and prepared the body of Jesus on Friday? Probably not! Or if they did know that the body had already been treated perhaps some part of the anointing remained unfinished. Or maybe their hearts so brimmed with love for Jesus they simply wanted to re-anoint His body.

There are many natural and plausible ways of explaining what happened. It is important we be certain of the harmony of the Gospels. Modern skeptics try to portray the different resurrection accounts as a bundle of contradictions. If Luke and John tell us that Joseph and Nicodemus anointed the body, and Mark tells us that three women anointed the body, then there must be an error it is claimed. How do we harmonize these differing versions of what took place? Another big problem we are told is the post-resurrection appearances. Mark says that Jesus would appear to the disciples in Galilee and Luke says Jesus appeared to some people in Jerusalem. Isn’t this an irreconcilable discrepancy? No. What is so hard about it? Maybe Jesus appeared to people in both places, Galilee and Jerusalem. The people who insist that the resurrection accounts contradict one another have an agenda: they want to discredit Christianity by saying Jesus never arose, it was merely made up. The truth is this: the resurrection is a historical reality. Every kind of evidence points to that conclusion. It happened around A.D. 30, and all the details of the resurrection written in the Bible can be harmonized. Some are easy; some are difficult, but all can be reconstructed into a coherent, credible course of events. [See Michael Green’s, The Empty Cross of Jesus for a good harmonization. pp. 121 ff.]

The sky was still gray when the women started out towards the sepulcher. On the way they talked about how to move the big stone and get inside. Perhaps they were present on Friday to witness the sealing of the entrance; so they knew about this obstacle. The kind of tomb in which Jesus was buried was an expensive one. Joseph of Arimathea had donated the best to Jesus. According to John’s Gospel, the tomb was located in a garden.

We should appreciate the garden theme throughout Scripture. God placed Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden. It was for their enjoyment. Through their labor and art the garden was to eventually cover the earth. However, Adam derailed that plan when he sinned. The Second Adam put that plan back on track. The book of Revelation promises us that the New Heavens and New Earth will one day become a garden paradise. So it is good for us to note that Christ’s passion began in the garden of Gethsemene and His resurrection took place in another garden. These gardens are microcosms of the redemption that Christ’s kingdom brings to creation.

The tomb that Joseph of Arimathea paid for had an opening that was sealed tight enough to keep out animals. This is an important point that helps refute a ridiculous theory by a prominent theological liberal. The main spokesman for the Jesus Seminar believes that the tomb was empty because a pack of wild dogs discovered the body of Jesus and devoured it completely. Unfortunately, the media pays a lot of attention to these ideas because it hasn’t yet figured out that the Jesus Seminar is a fringe group far out of the Christian mainstream. The guards posted at the tomb would make this canine scenario pretty unlikely. The same armed-sentries that would have prevented any group of persons from rifling the grave were well trained to deal with a dog pack too.

How were these tombs sealed up? An elaborate, disc-shaped stone, like a millstone, about a yard in diameter was used. The stone could be easily rolled to seal the tomb, being placed in a groove that sloped down to the doorway. To roll it away, however, would require the strength of several men with pry-bars. How would the women move the stone? Could they find some strong men to help them?

The problem was a moot point. When they arrived at the garden and approached the sepulcher they looked, and the stone had been rolled away. An earthquake had jarred it loose and the guards lay like corpses from the impact (Matthew 28:2-4). The fact that the ladies went into Joseph’s tomb indicates that it was fairly large. Though they had to crouch to get through the entrance, once inside, the ceiling was high enough to stand up. “A young man” startled them. He was clothed in white and sitting on the right side. It was an angel. He spoke to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.” In other words, “You’re in the right place! See the discarded grave-clothes and shroud. Jesus was lying here. Not anymore. God raised Him up. He arose from the dead, and departed. He is walking to Galilee (about 80 miles away). Go tell the Eleven disciples, and especially tell Peter. Tell them to go to Galilee immediately and meet the Lord.” This was the message the angel gave the women to convey to the disciples.

The message of the angel shows the forgiveness and compassion of God towards those who backslide. All the disciples had forsaken Jesus. None of them stayed to defend their Master. Yet Jesus reached out to reassure them that they were still His and He was theirs. If that was true for the Eleven, the kindness is doubly true for Peter. Peter had vehemently denied the Lord three times. Then the rooster crowed. Peter was the one who sinned the most and Peter is forgiven the most. Every one of the disciples who ran away must be forgiven and restored, especially Peter. This was our Lord’s strategy after His resurrection.

Are you as forgiving as Jesus? This is a passage that highlights God’s willingness to forgive penitent sinners. Are you anxious and willing to forgive those who disappoint you? Of course it is hard. It’s easier to get even, or dismiss the person as a hopeless case. Peter and the disciples had just turned their backs on the Lord in the most cowardly and faithless manner. The Lord was reaching out to restore them at the first opportunity. This is an example for us to follow. Refusing to pardon our brothers and sisters in Christ is an unchristian attitude. We give them a second and third chance when they apologize. We excuse their behavior 490 times. We are ready to forgive just as Jesus did.

What did the women do when they heard the message of the angel? Verse eight says, “So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”

Why were they so afraid? Fear is normal under these circumstances. In the presence of the manifestation of God’s glory the natural response is fear. Some people assume that the presence of the Lord and his angels produces bubbly giggles, high fives, silly jokes, and sweetness, and so they attempt to create such an atmosphere in worship. In reality the presence of God is terrifying and sublime to human witnesses. When Jesus calmed the raging sea, the reaction was fear. When He walked on water the emotion was fear. When He cast out hideous demons the response was fear. When He raised the dead the feeling was fear. When He was transfigured on the mount the response was fear (Mark 4:41; 5:15, 33, 36; 6:50; 9:6, 32). When the angel showed the women the empty tomb and announced, “He is risen!” the dominant effect on them was fear. In traditional worship fear and love meet together and kiss. That is why an environment of sublime reverence is appropriate in our adoration of the Holy Almighty.

On Easter morning the women were shattered by the events of the passion. They were utterly disheartened. Thoughts of the resurrection never entered their heads. By bringing the spices to the tomb they were just trying to make the best of a bad situation. The eleven disciples were even more dispirited than the women. Praise be to God, death was not the end. Jesus had risen! Once that fact sank in the women opened up. They rejoiced (Mt. 28:8). The disciples did too. They became new men and women. Their lives and outlook were transformed, and Peter especially became bold and confident, for God had gloriously raised Jesus to the power of an endless life.

It would be hard to overstate the repercussions of the resurrection. The estimation of the infant Church about the importance of the resurrection was so great that they changed the Sabbath to Sunday. The resurrection had broken the fear of death. His resurrection was the guarantee of their resurrection. And their hope is our hope. Christian optimism about the continuation of life after death and Christian hope of a better life after death is based on the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Death for the Christian leads to the nearer presence of God. Heaven is superior to what we experience here, and that is our hope and confidence.

Furthermore, thanks to the resurrection we can be certain that Christ lives and reigns. Through the Holy Spirit He comes to His people in the Word and Sacrament. The Holy Communion is no memorial feast in honor of a dead founder. When we partake of the Supper in faith we can be sure that Christ is present with us. The death and resurrection of Jesus explains the rise of the early Christians. That is why they were so brave in persecution, so joyful in hardship, so confident in prayer. That is why they outlived, out-loved, and soon outnumbered the Jews and pagans. The Church’s Gospel message spread so fast that within thirty years large numbers of the Jewish priesthood had become believers; Rome had been heavily affected, so had Alexandria, Ephesus, Antioch and the other main cities of the Empire. From the cities it spread into the rural areas. It kept advancing through the Middle Ages. With the missionary movement of the 19th century the Gospel extended around the globe, and it continues to expand today. How did it happen? Jesus rose from the dead. He lives! He is Lord! He reigns now over Heaven and earth, and through His Spirit He empowers the Church to conquer the nations. Come now to the Feast of the King. Offer Him your joy and thanksgiving.

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