Village Church Annandale (Sydney) sermons

This is the first proclamation of the gospel. That word gospel means good news. And this is the good news, that Jesus, the crucified one was raised.

'Was raised' is more correct than 'is risen' as is risen might leave open the possibility that Jesus did it himself. Whereas 'Was Raised' implies that there was an external agent, God Almighty!

Mark 16:6 “Don’t be alarmed,” he told them. “You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him.

The first resurrection experience. The women enter the tomb of Jesus looking for his body. And their encounter is entirely unexpected.

Mark 16:5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side; they were alarmed. 

The women on the way to the tomb were filled with anxiety. They had spices to anoint Jesus' body. But how would they get access to the body? For there was a huge stone blocking the entrance, and the male disciples were all in hiding.

They were expecting to find the dead body of Jesus. The issue of the stone blocking the tomb, was resolved in the most astonishing way.

Mark 16:2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb at sunrise. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance to the tomb for us?” 4 Looking up, they noticed that the stone—which was very large—had been rolled away.

These women had witnessed the crucification and burial - and now they have bought aromatic oils to anoint the body of Jesus. 

The spices were not to try and mummify the body, but rather to deal with the smells from decomposition. 

That the women were coming to honour his dead body - show they had no expectation of an immediate resurrection .

And since in the hot climate deterioration would happen rapidly - the visit after two nights and a day - must be seen as a gesture of significant devotion. 

That the women are named - Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome.  This listing of their proper names by Mark is testimony of the veracity of the events described.  

Mark16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they could go and anoint him.

In Mark’s gospel we meet Joseph of Arimathea.  In John we also meet Nicodemus.  He seems to gain prominence because he appears earlier in John’s gospel as well.  But Joseph was the main person in this conversation.   Matthew, Mark and Luke have only Joseph.  

Joseph and Nicodemus were both members of the Sanhedrin. There were a number of secret believers in the Sanhedrin - and included in that group Joseph and Nicodemus.

Both were rich. And it would seem rich by honest means.  So being respected in the community they were able to have this kind of conversation with Governor Pilate. 

Mark15:42 When it was already evening, because it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, came and boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body. 44 Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had already died. 45 When he found out from the centurion, he gave the corpse to Joseph. 46 After he bought some linen cloth, Joseph took him down and wrapped him in the linen. Then he laid him in a tomb cut out of the rock and rolled a stone against the entrance to the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching where he was laid.

The devotion of the women at the death and resurrection of Jesus is extraordinary and deserves special note.

Mary Lowman asks
'Why were all these women there at this ugly scene? It was not a place for a woman; unless it was your close relative, no woman would have gone to such a horrible place.  Yet there were all these women at the cross of Jesus.  These women had gathered there to mourn and to wail the crucifixion of their Savior, Jesus Christ.'

She answers:

'They were there because they loved Jesus.  They had been delivered from their sins and their pasts by Jesus, and they were determined to stay with him until the end, as ugly as it was.  Can you even imagine what it meant for these women to stay there throughout the whole crucifixion?'

Mark 15:40

40 There were also women watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 In Galilee these women followed him and took care of him. Many other women had come up with him to Jerusalem.

At the end of the Mark’s gospel a Gentile centurion makes an extraordinary declaration, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God.’

At the start of the gospel the heavens are torn apart and the Father makes that declaration.  At the end of the gospel the temple curtain is torn apart and the Centurion affirms that statement.

Mark15:39 When the centurion, who was standing opposite him, saw the way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”