Saturday, August 8, 2020

Mark 16 - It all comes down to this

Today we will finish our series in Mark chapter 16. This chapter is all about the resurrection of Jesus. It is impossible to overplay the importance of this event. This is what everything has been building towards. As important as Jesus life and miracles were, they mean nothing without the resurrection. Even Jesus’s death on the cross, his ultimate sacrifice, have no effect without the resurrection.

Paul put it this way: “And if Christ is not raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. More than that, we are found to false witnesses about God, for we have testified about God that he raised Christ from the dead…. And If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, you are still in your sins.” 1 Cor. 15:14-17.

Christianity hinges on the resurrection. The resurrection proves Jesus claims to divinity. Remember he told his disciples three times in Mark that he would die and rise again. If the resurrection is false, then Jesus is a liar, and how could we believe any of his teaching. How could we maintain that Jesus was a good moral teacher if he lied about being God? Would anyone listen to someone like that?

Paul goes on to say, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied” (1 Cor. 15:19). The Christian life is not without struggle. By accepting Christ we do not somehow magically exempt ourselves from the difficulties of life. If anything, we are bringing more trouble on ourselves, in the form of persecution from the world. We are taught to deny ourselves. We are taught to live our lives for eternity because this world is passing away like a vapor. But if there is no resurrection, then we are throwing our only chance of life away.

But if the resurrection is true, then the suffering in this life just doesn’t matter very much. We can give our lives in sacrificial love for others because we know that there is a reward with the Father. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Cor. 4:17).

The resurrection gives us hope. There is something inside of us that abhors death. Every person knows that it is wrong. We spend our lives and our fortunes trying to avoid it. We were made for eternal life. It is rooted deep inside of us. “He has set eternity in the human heart…” (Eccl. 3:11b). But at the same time, we know that death is coming for us. “…it is appointed for man to die once…” (Heb. 9:27). As the old saying goes, nothing is certain in life but death and taxes.

There is this dissonance inside of us between what is and what should be. But our hope is this: Jesus rose from the dead, so he will bring us to life as well. Death does not win. The order that God designed is restored. “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55). Our final enemy has been defeated.

We also have hope for our loved ones. One of the most painful things in life is to lose a loved one to death. But in this grief, we have hope. Hope that we will be restored together one day. Paul encourages us not to grieve as the world does, without hope, because “we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him” (1 Thess. 4:13-14). And so we have hope for the future.

But we also have hope for today. “We were therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). And “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11). We are able to “walk in newness of life” and have “life in our mortal bodies”. Those are promises for today. That is help for this life. We are not in this alone. The Holy Spirit is available to empower us to live lives of godliness.

In another gospel, as Jesus ascends into heaven, he tells the disciples to “stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Ten days later the Holy Spirit is poured out (Acts chapter 2) and the church explodes.

This is important. We cannot do the mission without the power. Our own strength is simply not going to cut it. If we are to spread the gospel and live a life of sacrificial love and service, we are going to need some help. We need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said that if we ask, we shall receive (Matt. 7:7), and God “gives the Spirit without limit” (John 3:34). I encourage you today, ask for the Holy Spirit’s empowerment. Ask him to fill you and make you able to serve him better. It is a prayer he loves to answer.

One of the things that Jesus said before he left was to go and make disciples of all the earth. The angel at the tomb tells the women who came to anoint Jesus body to see where he lay, and to go and tell the disciples. That is the message for us as well. Come and see, go and tell. We are to be witnesses of what God has done. A witness simply tells what they have seen and heard. That is our responsibility. We simply testify as to what we have seen and heard. What has Jesus done in your life? Has he saved you? Washed you clean? Forgiven you? Healed you? Pass it along.