The Empty Tomb

Introduction to the Empty Tomb Account: The Women and Their Preparations

0:04 Now this morning, let us turn together for the first time to the 16th chapter of the Gospel according to Mark. Mark chapter 16.

0:21 Those of you visiting with us, we have for seven years, believe it or not, intermittently been working our way through the Gospel of Mark with other series along the way, but it was June of 1983 when this series began, one of my thoughts being, and it was confirmed by the elders that amidst all the disruptions of a major construction program that would find us moving out of phase one into phase two, we felt it would have a stabilizing influence to have some continuity in the ministry of the Word. Well, little did we know that that continuity would carry over this long a period of time, but I trust under God's blessing it has not been tedious, but a means of ongoing edification. Now this morning, Mark 16, and I read verses 1 through 8 in your hearing.

1:21 And when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices that they might come and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, they come to the tomb when the sun was risen. And they were saying among themselves, Who shall roll away the stone from the door of the tomb? And looking up, they see that the stone is rolled back, for it was exceeding great.

1:56 And entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side arrayed in a white robe. And they were amazed. And he said unto them, Ye seek Jesus the Nazarene, who hath been crucified. He is risen.

2:17 He is not here. Behold the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, He goeth before you into Galilee. There shall ye see him as he said unto you.

2:34 And they went out and fled from the tomb. A trembling and astonishment had come upon them. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Now let us again ask the spirit as we seek to open up the word of God.

2:54 Let us pray. Our Father, we have in our Son together the corporate conviction of need for the Spirit's presence to take of the things of Christ and to make them plain to us, to open our eyes, sanctify our souls, and we come to you. Amen. Come again conscious that unless the Spirit attends the ministry of the word, it will profit us nothing.

3:29 For you have said the flesh profits nothing. It is the Spirit that gives life. And, O Lord, we long to be able to say with the Apostle that our speech and our preaching were not with enticing words of men's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power that men's faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in your power. Gracious God, do for preacher and people what we are utterly helpless to do for ourselves.

4:04 Hear us, we plead, for the honor of your dear Son and for the good of our souls. Now as I have already intimated in the course of our expositions of the Gospel of Mark, we have for many Lord's days, been reverently following the solemn events of our Lord's last hours, leading up to and culminating in his cruel death upon the cross. Then for the past two Lord's days, we sought to grasp the details pertaining to the burial of our Lord, details which highlight the emergence of the man Joseph of Arimathea as a daring disciple and his unique role in providing for our Lord an honorable burial. Further, we have seen the details which highlight with unmistakable certainty the fact that Jesus truly died. And the great emphasis upon his burial is the affirmation concerning the reality of his death. Now with the burial accomplished,

5:30 before the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath at sundown on Friday evening, our Lord's washed, linen-wrapped but very dead corpse lies on a cold slab in Joseph's tomb. And while the members of the Sanhedrin spend at least part of the following day, the Jewish Sabbath, seeking to have the sepulcher sealed and secured with a group of Roman soldiers, the only information we have regarding the followers of Jesus and what they did on that particular Sabbath is hinted in Luke 23, 56b. Where were the disciples and the followers of Jesus on that Sabbath day when our Lord lay dead in Joseph's tomb? Well, we are told by Luke 23, 56b. And on the Sabbath they rested according to the commandment.

6:47 Nothing more is revealed in the Gospel records or in anything found in the epistles except this statement, a statement by Luke given through the inspiration of the Spirit that as good Jews they kept a proper Jewish Sabbath. Now this morning we come to Mark 16 and the Spirit-inspired account of the empty tomb. And as we attempt to lay hold of the content and message of this portion of the Word of God, I want you to notice with me, first of all, what I am calling the introduction to the account of the empty tomb. The introduction to the account of the empty tomb. And the words empty tomb are found in each of my headings rather than the words resurrection because in reality there is a notable veil of total silence over the whole matter of the resurrection. Precisely when and how and in what circumstances was the Spirit of Jesus brought from paradise and the presence of the Father into the dead body

8:12 that lay on the stone slab in Joseph's tomb? Nothing whatsoever is revealed in Scripture. But the emphasis falls upon the empty tomb. And so in verse 1 we have the introduction to the account of the empty tomb.

8:33 When the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought the spices that they might come and anoint him. In this introduction two things are highlighted. Namely, the people central to the account of the empty tomb and secondly the preparation made by these people for their visit to the empty tomb. So the introduction has the people central to the account of the empty tomb and the preparations made for their visit to the tomb.

9:14 Central to the account of the empty tomb. As surely as Joseph of Arimathea was central to the account of the burial, these three women named in verse 1 are central to this entire event. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, described earlier in verse 40 as the mother of James and of Joses, and Salome. This woman who was wife of Zebedee, mother of James and John.

9:55 Now these are the three same women who were mentioned in chapter 15 and verse 40 as part of the larger group of devout Galilean women who lingered at the cross. Two of them are named again in verse 47 as those who sat beholding the place where our Lord was laid. Verse 47, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses, beheld where he was laid. Now I remind you that Mary Magdalene was this woman from whom our Lord had cast out seven demons, according to Luke 8 and verse 2. Mary the mother of James and Joses was one of these who again, according to Luke 8, 2, was part of that group of women who followed our Lord throughout Galilee, providing for his and his disciples' temporal needs. And then there was Salome, the mother of the sons of Zebedee, according to John 19 and verse 25. And what is most significant that these three women should be central to the account of the empty tomb

11:17 is that they were central in the account of those who lingered at the cross. And as more than one writer has noted, it was those who were last at the cross who were first at the empty tomb. So these people are central to the account. But then there is an emphasis upon the preparations made for their visit to the tomb.

11:48 It is said that the Sabbath having passed, they bought spices that they would eat, that they might come and anoint him. Now what Mark is referring to is not an event on Sunday, but he's referring to an event that would have occurred Friday evening. I'm sorry, yes, Friday evening. The Jewish Sabbath beginning on Friday evening and going through Saturday evening.

12:22 We read when the Sabbath was passed, when the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices that they might come and anoint him. What they would do is on Saturday evening after resting from Friday evening through Saturday at sundown, the Jewish Sabbath, the bazaars, the places of public commerce would be open for a few hours before it got too late. So on Saturday evening after the Sabbath was over, they would have gone to an appropriate place and bought spices. What they bought was probably some form of liquid spice. The Greek word is the word from which we get our word aromatics, and it is known from archaeology that vials, receptacles for these kinds of aromatic oils are actually found in sepulchers. And so these women, knowing that it would be their desire to return to the tomb which they had carefully watched and there to place further aromatics upon the wound body of Jesus as soon as it was possible to do so,

13:46 prepared ahead of time by purchasing these spices sometime after the conclusion of the Sabbath on Saturday at sundown and prior to the Sabbath. Prior to later that night. Then according to Luke 23 they rested on the Sabbath day and now we read of their visit to the empty tomb in verses 2 and 3. The introduction sets the people before us who are central and the preparations which they made.

The Women's Visit to the Empty Tomb: Time and Problem

14:25 Now verses 2 and 3 record the visit to the empty tomb. And very early on the first day of the week they come to the tomb when the sun was risen. And they were saying among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb? Here we have two concerns set before us.

14:50 When was the visit made? And what problem filled their minds and mouths as they approached the tomb? When was the visit made? Mark is very straightforward in telling us very early on the first day of the week.

15:09 Literally the first after the Sabbath. The days were reckoned in conjunction with the Jewish Sabbath and this was the first day after the Sabbath. And very early in the morning precisely when the sun was risen and here we have another one of Mark's uses of the historical present. They are coming to the tomb, we are to picture them rising up even before sunrise taking the spices they had purchased that previous Saturday evening and now with those spices setting out as one of the other parallel accounts says while it is yet dark and yet by the time they arrive at the tomb the sun has risen so that they are able to identify the tomb and to bear witness to what they see. So the time then of their visit is early in the morning on the first day of the week. They would have no trouble finding the tomb for remember at least two of them carefully beheld where he was laid. Mark emphasizes that in the last verse of the 15th chapter.

16:32 But now as they are making their visit to the tomb a problem fills their minds and their mouths as they approach the tomb. Somewhere along the way they remember this matter of the large sat groove in front of the entrance and was now prohibiting anyone from entering the tomb. Whether they thought of it before they left there is no indication but the text says and they were saying among themselves a form of the verb which means this was a matter of continuous conversation who shall roll away the stone from the door of the tomb. Now remember it was on the Sabbath that the Sanhedrin went to Pilate and secured an official seal for the door of the tomb. It was on the Sabbath that they had secured a contingent not a contingency someone graciously corrected me this week it's a contingent of Roman soldiers to guard the tomb. But they were utterly unaware of this.

17:50 So as they are making their way in the direction of the tomb their minds are turned to the problem of the stone. They don't know anything about the official seal. They don't know anything about the group of soldiers and they are saying one to another who's going to roll away the stone? This early in the morning there would be no men around there would be no workmen around who shall assist us?

18:15 Here we've made adequate preparations in purchasing spices the night before in those few hours after the Sabbath was over and before bedtime. And rising early now to show their devotion and care and love to the Lord Jesus a tremendous impediment appears before them who shall roll away this stone? And Mark alone emphasizes in verse 4 that the stone was exceeding great. And they had seen it and they knew that there was no way that these three women would have the physical strength to roll that stone back up the incline and place it in the position in which it was found before it was rolled down to cover the mouth of the tomb. So in the visit to the empty tomb they start the visit while it is dark the sun rises as they come near to the tomb and their minds and hearts are filled with this tremendous problem what shall we do? What shall we do with the exceeding great stone? Now it's clear from what these two verses tell us about their visit to the empty tomb that these women had no doubt that Jesus was dead.

19:44 They had seen his corpse placed in Joseph's tomb. They had seen him wound and the spices worked in the folds of the newly purchased linen. Furthermore, it is clear that in spite of their disappointment they were last at the cross bound to their Lord in love and affection. They lingered by his tomb and though they could not make sense out of what happened their affection and devotion still burned within their breast driving them to the bazaar late Saturday night driving them out of bed in the dark hours of the pre-dawn on Sunday morning causing them to make the trip to that place where they believed the corpse of their beloved master lay. It's clear the expectation of a resurrection. Why are they taking spices? They are taking these aromatic oils because in the Palestinian climate it didn't take long for the process of decay to be known by anyone whose nostrils got close to a dead body.

21:06 You see they weren't expecting a resurrection. They were going with these aromatic oils to pour them over the linen wrappings in order to neutralize the ongoing effects of death upon the body of our Lord. And furthermore it's clear they had no idea that the tomb would be empty. They felt the only way we'll ever see our Lord to get to our Lord to put our aromatic spices and oils upon our Lord is to get into the tomb and we've got a problem with the huge stone.

Their Experience at the Empty Tomb: What They Saw and Heard

21:43 So much then the introduction to the visit to the tomb the actual visit to the tomb now thirdly their experience at the empty tomb verses 4 to 7. Their experience at the empty tomb and everything that is recorded in verses 4 through 7 concerning their experience impinges upon the senses of sight and hearing. And so I've divided the material into what they saw and what they heard. And this is crucial.

22:18 You see we are not dealing with the stuff of noble religious ideals. We're dealing with things that can be seen and things that can be heard. Things that came in at the eye gate. Things that came in at the ear gate.

22:37 Well what did they see? Well two major things are emphasized in verses 4 and 5. And looking up more literally rendered half the indication being while they were wrestling with this problem what are we going to do about the stone? And can't you see them three women filled with hearts of devotion carrying their aromatic oils and now they're discussing and carrying on this conversation.

23:07 But what are we going to do with the two? And before they know it they're there and when they look up the text says and having looked up they see that the stone kept them looking at one another with perplexed looks upon their faces and was the central issue of conversation suddenly is irrelevant. For when they look up as they approach the tomb the stone is in parallel accounts particularly in Matthew there's an indication it was not simply rolled back in the groove to its original place but possibly even hurled back out of the groove at a little spot distant from the mouth to the sepulcher. So that's the first thing they see having looked up and again we have a historical present they are rolled back and Mark wants us to try to put ourselves in that situation and imagine the look upon their faces when having lifted up their eyes the first thing that registers is the stone is rolled back from the mouth of the sepulcher. Mark doesn't tell us how it got rolled back Matthew tells us and we'll just bring in

24:33 this little side light Matthew 28 verse 2 there was a great earthquake for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it his appearance was as lightning and as raiment white as snow and for fear of him the watchers did quake and became as dead men so God sent an angel and the angel with the strength necessary given to him by God rolled back the stone and sat upon it I cannot help but believe with a look of holy triumphalism as one would sit upon the neck of a defeated enemy so the angel sits upon this so called great impediment the stone over the mouth of the sepulcher of our Lord. So that's the first thing they saw was the stone rolled back and then secondly we are told that they saw an angel sitting upon that stone back and entering into the tomb the vestibule of the tomb they saw a young man sitting on the right side arrayed in a white robe now we know that this young man

26:03 this Neaniskos was none other than an angel and it's interesting that angels when described as human beings are always described as men and often as young men Mark says they saw a young man arrayed in a white robe Matthew amplifies that and indicates that this young man in the white robe was none other than an angel of God and there was that supernatural brilliance of the robe in which he appeared to the eyes of these three women and upon seeing such a sight they reacted as any normal human being would react when you are approaching a sepulcher with the intention of taking these aromatic oils and spices and placing them upon a wound corpse of a beloved person and instead you find a stone rolled away a bright angel sitting there in the emerging light of a new day no wonder the text says and they were amazed one of Mark's exclusive but favorite words amazed is a weak translation they were awestruck

27:30 they were dumbfounded it's the word used of our Lord's experience in Gethsemane he began to be troubled and sore amazed it brings together all of the concepts of being awestruck dumbfounded terror wonder all mixed together and that's exactly what happened to them as they approached the tomb that's what they saw the stone rolled away an angel sitting upon it now what did they hear now to show that this was no apparition they heard vocables words sentences with vocabulary that registered on the auditory nerve and on the brain and conveyed concepts of reality these were not a bunch of women who were somehow caught up in some mystical experience thinking they saw and heard no they saw a real stone rolled away they saw a real angel and their ears actually had vibrations coming out from the mouth of the angel registering here on the God-given antenna and then transferred by the stirrup and anvil and auditory nerve

28:58 to the brain these were real words conveying real concepts of real things happening in a real place in real history not noble religious notions by women who were carried away by their devotion into some realm of a never-never land of religious fantasy and what they heard came in four categories of verbal concepts number one a gracious prohibition and he saith unto them being blown out of your mind dumbfounded awestruck he uses that word and a present imperative means you're doing it stop it and I call that a word of gracious prohibition dumbfounded ladies awestricken women who have come from Galilee marry Mary and Salome cease from being dumbfounded being blown out her terminology best conveys it it was a gracious prohibition to stop being terrified then secondly

30:23 a glorious explanation 6b he saith unto them be not amazed there's the gracious prohibition now the gracious now the glorious explanation you seek jesus the nazarene who hath been crucified he is risen he is not when he prohibits he now gives station to tell them to be terrified he says i know you have come seeking the very jesus whom you followed in galilee jesus of nazareth and there was a precious little personal touch here i know you are seeking jesus the nazarene the one whom you first became aware of up there in galilee who came out of nazareth and there was skepticism about him can any good thing come out of nazareth but you knew him to be all he claimed to be i know that you seek jesus the nazarene the very one whom you saw crucified by whose cross you linger even after the soldier plunged the spear into his side and out came blood and

31:45 water you lingered that very jesus i know that you're seeking jesus the nazarene that would immediately identify him in their minds the one who has been crucified they knew who that one was they had spent hours watching the crucifixion gazing with love and brokenness and mingled confusion upon his dead body while yet upon the cross that very one who was tenderly taken down from the cross by joseph and interred in that very tomb he says he is not here this tomb is not his home he is risen he has not been stolen away he's not been consumed by predatory beasts he is not here he's risen there's the glorious explanation that lies at the basis of the gracious prohibition stop being terrified you are seeking jesus the nazarene the one who was crucified he is not here he is risen then the angel goes on to give a comforting invitation six see he is not here behold the place where they laid him there's a comforting invitation

33:10 the place where they laid him i know that you ladies over against the tomb and watch the whole process of his burial you saw him carried in you know that he was laid in this very tomb you saw the stone rolled at the mouth of the tomb you saw joseph and possibly nicodemus leave i know all of that now i give you a comforting invitation behold the place where they laid him look and see for yourself he is not here and when they looked you know what they saw john tells us in john 20 verses six and seven all they saw was the linen wrappings in the form of a body and then a napkin folded up very neatly to the side that had been placed over his face he was not there only grave windings were there and the face cloth was there but he was not there and so they are invited to use the eye maybe and a you know golf place

34:38 where they lead him he is longer there and that he is forward was a word of solemn commission verse seven dot goa Tell his disciples and Peter, he goes before you into Galilee, there shall you see him, as he said unto you. Solemn commission is now given to these women. They are to go, not to linger and to look. They are not to stay and to reminisce.

35:10 They are to go. They are to find his disciples and Peter. A marvelous little stroke. Though Peter, as it were, excommunicated himself from Christ by cursing and denying that he knew him, the angel is saying that Christ regards him still as one of his own.

35:31 Tell the disciples and Peter, he goes before you into Galilee, the place where you followed him, the place where you ministered to him, the place where most of his mighty works were done, and his greatest following was known. He goes before you into Galilee, there, in that place, you shall see him. The very one who was laid in this tomb, who is no longer here, you shall see him. Now notice, he said unto you.

36:10 And this is a direct reference to Mark 14 and verse 28, where our Lord spoke in the clearest language, but in their confusion, they had forgotten. After I am raised up, I will go before you into Galilee. When our Lord was announcing his own death, he said, after I am raised up, I will go before you. And so the angel is saying everything he promised before he died will yet be fulfilled as the risen Christ.

36:49 A solemn commission. Go. Tell. The experience of these women then focused on what they saw and on what they heard.

Their Departure from the Empty Tomb: Fear and Obedience

37:08 The still people in real places with real events entering the real faculties of sight and of sound. Well, having looked at the introduction to the account of the empty tomb, the visit to the empty tomb, their experience at the empty tomb, now briefly notice their departure from the empty tomb. Verse 8. And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come upon them.

37:40 And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. Three things in this account of the departure. How they left the tomb, why they left that way, and what was the result. How did they leave the tomb?

37:56 They had left or gone out from the tomb. They fled. Still in a state of fear. A state of tremendous emotional trauma.

38:10 So when they went out from the sepulcher, they fled. They split. They said, feet, make track. These women, apparently, to the clip that would have made anyone addicted to striding for aerobic reasons very, very pleased with the rate at which they moved along.

38:33 They left the empty tomb. And why did they leave that way? We're told four. Trembling and astonishment had come upon them.

38:43 A more literal rendering would be, Trembling, as though trembling and fear are personified into two substantive realities. Trembling and fear held them or had them. That's why they split as they did. That's why they fled from the tomb.

39:15 Because they were filled with trembling and with fear. And what was the result? They said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. In other words, they didn't pause along the way whenever they saw someone to tell what they had seen.

39:32 There was a mingling of natural fear. The fear that comes from a theophany, a visitation of God or an angel of God. The wonder of all these redemptive acts. They dare not trifle with a precise commission.

39:49 Go! Not tell anyone and everyone. Go tell the disciples and Peter. And so filled with both a natural plus a religious fear and apprehension.

40:03 They do not run off at the mouth and stop and tell everyone what they've seen. But they say nothing to anyone. Until, of course, they come to the appointed group, Peter and the disciples. And then they tell what they've been commissioned to tell.

40:21 But until then they say nothing. Because they were in a state of being afraid. And imperfect is used to speak again of continuous action in the past. They were in this condition of fear.

God's Wonderful Dealings with True Disciples

40:38 And so ends the account of their visit to the empty tomb. This was the experience of these three women as they came early in the morning to anoint our Lord with these aromatic oils. Now having opened up the narrative of Mark, what does all of this say to us? And while I purpose to devote a whole message, God willing, next week, to the theological significance of the empty tomb, while the details of the narrative are fresh, this morning all of my application focuses not upon the theological significance of the empty tomb, but upon the practical and pastoral implications of what is recorded for us. And I want you to note with me, first of all, and consider from this passage the wonderful display of God's dealings with true disciples. True disciples. Well, we notice at least three things in this account.

41:49 First of all, His surprising intervention on behalf of anxious people. Disciples. These three women were full of anxiety. Anxiety as they anticipated coming to the tomb, to the sepulcher, and there's that problem of the stone.

42:08 That's all they can talk about. The text indicates they were disgusted. When they get there, they find that all of their anxieties were totally without foundation. God had already taken care of the thing that was filling them with anxiety.

42:27 And in this we have a wonderful illustration. God's dealings with true disciples. Namely, His surprising intervention on behalf of anxious disciples. Bishop Ryle caught this, and in his comments on this, he said, What a striking emblem we have in this simple narrative of the experience of many Christians.

42:55 How often believers are oppressed and cast down by anticipation of evils, and yet in the time of need find the thing they feared removed. And the stone. A large proportion of a saint's anxieties arise from things which never really happen. We look forward to all the possibilities of the journey toward heavens.

43:19 Heaven, we conjure up in our imagination all kinds of crosses and obstacles. We carry mentally tomorrow's troubles as well as today's. And often, very often, we find at the end that our doubts and alarms were groundless, and the thing we dreaded most has never come to pass at all. Let us pray for a more practical faith.

43:44 Let us believe that in the path of duty we shall never be entirely forsaken. Let us go forward boldly, and we shall often find that the lion in the way is chained, and the seeming hedge of thorns is only a shadow. In one of the other gospels, one of the other gospel accounts you remember, one of these very women was weeping because she was convinced, having put one and one together, she got seventeen. The tomb is empty.

44:17 The Lord was there, and she said, Well, nothing could have been further from the truth. Her tears were real. But it was all based upon something she conjured in her own head. But you see, the Lord doesn't bash us when we do that.

44:40 We all do it, to one degree or another. But as he did with these dear women, at the point when their anxiety was greatest, God moves them to look up, and they see that all the anxiety was for nothing. God had already gone before, and the stone had been rolled away by the hand of God through the mediation of an angel. And isn't that the way God deals with us?

45:06 You fear. Here I've come. I'm twenty-five, twenty-seven, twenty-nine, thirty. I'm going to go through life single.

45:17 You spend all your time fretting and worrying as though singleness were some horrible, demonic state, when all the while God may be hedging you up and preparing you for an unusually blessed experience of perhaps a shorter marriage, but one more blessed than a lengthy marriage. Now you start applying it. In those areas where you, sitting here this morning, are full of apprehensions, the thing that occupies your mind, that occupies your conversation, and yet, yet, when you come to that situation, you find that the Lord has rolled away the stone, his surprising intervention on behalf of anxious disciples, but then also note his tender compassion toward backslidden disciples. Compassion to backslidden disciples. Go tell the disciples and Peter. Why do you have to tell a woman this, or a group of women?

46:20 Because there were no disciples around lingering at the cross. Disciples around lingering at the tomb. It says, we find later on they were huddled up in a room for fear of the Jews. These women.

46:39 The procession to the tomb. There they are early Sunday morning going out to show their love and devotion by pouring out their aromatic oils and spices upon the corpse of their Lord. And what does the Lord do to those backslidden disciples who ran away and slid under pressure and even Peter who took oaths and brought down. He was no disciple.

47:14 What does the Lord say through the angel? Go tell his disciples and Peter. He goes before you. You shall see him.

47:24 He's going to keep his word. You've broken your pledge with him. You have foully and wickedly denied him. But he has not denied you.

47:33 He has not disowned you. Go tell his disciples and Peter. What a marvelous picture of the tender compassion of the Lord to backslidden disciples. You may be here this morning having come from a week in which under pressure you've cracked.

47:52 And the accuser would say having done that God will have nothing to do with you. No my friend. Though the righteous fall seven times he rises again. The Lord will not cast off his oath.

48:06 And then note his solid encouragement to confuse disciples. Nothing made sense. They come into the sepulcher. The body's gone.

48:17 But where? And put it all together. We don't know why he had to die in the first place. We had hoped it was he.

48:26 We're confused and we can't fit in this debt. We can still show our devotion in the midst of our confusion by coming early in the morning to anoint his body. And what does the Lord do? He brings an angel to say he is not here.

48:46 He is risen. See the place where he lay. He calms encouragement to confuse disciples whose devotion burns in the midst of a cauldron of spiritual and mental confusion. And he lovingly sorts it out by his word.

49:11 Coming home to our hearts with power. Light is sown to those who are in darkness. And he does it again and again and again. So consider from this passage the wonderful display of God's dealings with true disciples.

God's Unique Honor Bestowed Upon Women in the New Covenant

49:27 But secondly, consider from this passage God's bestowal of unique honor upon women in the new covenant. Consider from this passage God's bestowal of unique honor upon women. Under the new covenant. God has been careful to record it was devout women who lingered at the cross and are named.

49:53 And we are told there was a great number of them. All we read about the men is there were a few unnamed male acquaintances, Luke says. But there were many devout women and they are named for us. We have seen them following the procession to the sepulcher.

50:13 Watching as he is buried lingering after the tomb. After the stone has been rolled over the mouth of the tomb. We see them after the Sabbath is over grabbing those few hours before bedtime on Saturday night to go out and purchase spices. Why? Their minds are filled with how they can express their devotion to Christ. Those very women at the tomb. The first to witness the stone that Jesus out was no longer there. He did not need to have the stone rolled away to get out.

50:59 In that glorified body he could appear in the room. The doors being shut. He could pass through the walls. Those rock walls of that sepulcher.

51:11 The stone was rolled away for the sake of disciples. Not for the sake of the Savior. And it was women who first saw the stone rolled away. It was women who saw the angel.

51:23 It was women who heard those words of comfort and consolation. And it was women who were first appointed to preach. If I may use the word with inverted commas. The truth.

51:39 He is not here. He is risen. They were appointed as the first heralds of the fact of the resurrection. The integration of women in the Bible in general.

51:52 But, the unique way under the new covenant women come into a place of glorious dignity and usefulness that was not true in general under the old covenant. But isn't it interesting? The very women, some of whom were present according to Acts 1 on the day of Pentecost. And in the time prior to Pentecost when they were deciding for a replacement for Judas.

52:23 There is no indication that they were so liberated in the new covenant. Let us become one of the apostles. Not us. Where he lay.

52:49 He is not here. He is risen. Yet they never assumed from this. This gave them a right to the apostolic office or to the preaching function.

53:05 The only way to fully dignify women under the new covenant is to give them equal functional status with men. And it is not seeking to so-called liberate women to their full potential. They destroy all that is precious and feminine in terms of the purpose of God. But oh what honor is given to these women in the passage before us. And that honor does not upset the divine order of male hierarchical headship in the world, in the church or in the home. But it certainly does forever any sacrifice. That women are to be treated under the blessings of the grace of God with anything other than the dignity and the nobility with which the angel treated these women when they came first to the tomb.

The Amazing Power of Genuine Love and Devotion to Christ

54:27 Then finally consider from this passage the amazing power of genuine love and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider from this passage the amazing power of genuine love and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider from this passage the amazing power of genuine love and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. Consider from this passage the amazing power of genuine love and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ.

54:43 Consider from this passage the amazing power of genuine love and devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ. They put aside everything else at the end of that Sabbath but their desire to purchase spices. If it was anything like the stuff that Mary had used or the woman had used to anoint our Lord beforehand to burial, that spirit was very, very costly. This stuff was not toilet water and cologne.

55:13 This was the real distilled stuff, the expensive stuff, but it didn't matter to them. Whatever their means were to be spent on the commodity that could express devotion to Christ, they could no longer prepare meals and lodging for him as they did up in Galilee. He's dead, they think, in Joseph's tomb. If we can take of our substance and purchase the finest of aromatic oils, can by pouring those oils upon the linen wrappings, slow down the evident tokens of bodily decay, neutralize it. We can by this means show our ongoing love and devotion. They were willing to lose sleep, rising before dawn, willing to run some personal risk, vulnerable women out that time of night before dawn had fully broken. It didn't matter. Jesus, body lies in Joseph's tomb. And all we can do is take our spices, aromatic oils upon,

56:31 but that's what we must do. What drove them to do it? It was love to him. It was devotion to him.

56:38 Remember Mary. She was the one who knew what it was to be possessed of souls. What those demons did to her mind, to her body, to her psyche. Who knows what terrors of demonic torture that woman had undergone.

56:56 Yes she knew. Jesus of Nazareth spoke the word and the demons were gone. And my heart was bound in love and gratitude to the Son of God. What lay at the root of their devotion was a deep sense of gratitude from deliverance from sin. That is always the root of true devotion to Jesus. True devotion to Jesus has the tap roots in the awareness, on the one hand of my utter unwavering deep reverence of Jesus as my destiny to find greater mounting faith to my institution. This is the moment worthiness and wretchedness of his amazing grace to the vilest and a felt sense of sin and an apprehension of god's mercy in christ are the two tap roots of genuine devotion and love and i ask you as we close this morning do you know anything of that devotion to christ that devotion that must find a way to express itself it may be a bit unorthodox

58:02 it's the only way open to you in which at times may be expressed in the midst of much mental confusion and even spirit one thing i know i love my savior and i must show my love to him am i willing voluntarily without any coercion to part with something precious to me be it substance be it sleep am i willing to jeopardize my own safety is there anything

58:43 other than a formal part of empty formal religion or anything i do known to god perhaps not known to any man that indeed proves that i truly love him you see these women didn't have a clue we'd be preaching about them this morning that their deed would be memorialized wherever the gospel went they didn't get up and say now what can we do that'll really show off that we love jesus when they were out after dark that saturday night after the sabbath had ended it's sundown buying the spices they didn't have a tv camera crew following them around and when they got opening to go out to the towns of the neighborhood say we love jesus they quietly stood down to express their devotion what is there in your life my friend that has no explanation but that you love the son of god i'm talking about those times when sins known only to you and god drive you into the secret place the secret place may

60:04 be a man's room at work you allowed your spirit to be stained with lust or with anger you can't even go on with your work until you take that legitimate break and while there in the quiet stall in the men's room you pour out your heart and say oh lord jesus you're broke before sins known only to god do you know anything about that and get honest think about that talking about something that floats right over the head of your experience i was used to be driving down my street and thinking about where if God may not arrest people that tells you what's such a sense of wonder you can barely drive the car because the tear comes out of your eyes oh to pray the better daily i am constrained do you know anything of that wretched and hell-bie n

61:30 the flavor of his grace that is what made these women tick and you will never love him until you have those roots in you

61:41 And child of God, how is devotion to Christ nourished? It's nourished exactly the way it was first planted in your heart, by a growing sense of your sin and a growing appreciation of His grace. That's it. That's it.

61:57 That's why I have no sympathy for when people say, well, I don't want a ministry that deals with sin. I want a ministry that just magnifies Christ. Hogwash. What is Christ?

62:09 Luxury for people who've got their act together? He's a Savior. The one who loved him more than any other, the Apostle Paul. It was his ongoing sense of sin to save your precious.

62:29 This is a faithful saying, worthy of all acceptation. Christ Jesus came into the world. Not I was, I am. I am. I am.

62:45 No wonder he could say to me, to live is good and to die is gain. My friend, hear me. Devotion to Christ is nurtured and nourished exactly the way it began. Yeah.

63:02 The ever-increasing, ever-repeated cycle of the discovery of the depths of my wretchedness and the believing discovery of the magnitude and the wonder of His grace to sinners.

Conclusion and Call to Reflection

63:23 Yes, there are tremendous apologetic and theological implications of the empty tomb. But while our minds still have the picture of the event, I say I made a judgment. That I should emphasize these things. God willing, next week we'll take up the others.

63:41 But may I urge you this day to reflect upon these things. Consider from this passage the wonderful display of God's dealings with true disciples. His surprising intervention when we are anxious. His tender compassion to us when we are backslidden.

64:02 His solid encouragement through His word when we are confused. Consider the bestowal of unique honor upon women in the new covenant. And may this church and our homes and all our dealing with women on the one hand reflect our determination that we will not be wiser than God. Our women, young or old, into positions for which God never made them.

64:31 But on the other hand, to show to them all the dignity and all of those in need. Character traits that bespeak our recognition. That in Christ they have equal standing with us. And in the hour of His need when deserted by all, they manifested a courage and a devotion that no men to the same degree manifested.

64:59 And we must in that sense tip our hat to these noble women who were in their devotion to Christ. Wonderfully dignified and honored in the biblical record. And then may we know the power of genuine love and devotion to the person of our Lord Jesus. Even as these women did.

65:25 A love and devotion rooted in the sense of our sin. And in the wonder of His grace. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for your holy word.

65:45 That it is indeed a lamp unto our feet. And a light to our pathway. We thank you for this portion of that word. We thank you for the great truth of the empty tomb.

65:58 We thank you for the confidence we have. We are not following cunningly devised fables. We thank you for the things these women saw. These women heard.

66:10 And oh Lord, as we embrace the testimony given. We are assured. That that tomb. Indeed was empty.

66:20 Not through men's artifice and cleverness. But because the Savior was raised from the dead to die no more. Oh Lord, bless the truth preached this morning. Take the applications and make them personal and powerful in every heart.

66:38 And bring some to love and to trust your dear Son. Who hitherto have found no beauty in Him. Seal then your word to our prophet. We plead in Jesus name.

66:53 Amen.