The Story of Redemption (Mark 15:21-16:8)

Ben Miller

God's Story, My Story • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago • Presented 4 years ago

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Mark 15:21–16:8 ESV

And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross. And they brought him to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of a Skull). And they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him and divided his garments among them, casting lots for them, to decide what each should take. And it was the third hour when they crucified him. And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down from the cross!” So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him. And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.” And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, “Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.” And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem. And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid. When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Asher making crosses out of everything…

“Look Mom!”… “Did you make a cross? Pretty cool!”

“Jesus died on the cross!” “That’s right, he did buddy.”

And some people might not like singing a song like that… “Why do I need to repeat such basic words so many times...”

“For what?” (over and over again… same story)

I used to sing that song as a kid around campfires… I certainly don’t need to sing it again!

How do you explain substitutionary atonement to a 2 year old???

I hear that objection a lot to modern worship music...

Or “Why do I need to repeat the

But I wonder: how many times do we fail to believe those same basic words? I would suggest it’s that many times that we need to repeat them.

And the same is true about the part of the story we are studying today;

The cross of Jesus Christ is the central event in the whole story.

The amount of times we talk about this event in church is almost beyond measure.

And we might be tempted to think, “Do we really need to repeat such a basic truth again, that Christ died for our sins?”

And I wonder: how many times do we fail to believe that basic truth? I would suggest that it’s that many times that we need to repeat it.”

I have to admit that as I was studying this week, similar thoughts came into my mind.

What can I say about the cross that isn’t old hat to many of these people???

But then God reminded me: the “old hat” truth is exactly what we NEED.

Here’s the thing about the cross: its so simple that a two-year-old can get the facts: Jesus died on a cross.

Big Idea: Trust that Jesus paid the price to redeem your story for God's story.

But it’s also so simple to forget the “For what?” WHY did Jesus have to die?

Maybe you are here this morning knowing in truth that “Jesus died on the cross...” but wondering again... “For what?”

WHY did Jesus die on the cross?

Maybe you are here this morning knowing in truth that “Jesus died on the cross...” but wondering again, “For what?”

Or maybe you understand “WHY,” but it seems like a distant fact that has little to do with your everyday life…

Maybe there are weighty things in your life… things that are hard… things that don’t make sense… and you wonder, “What does it really matter that Jesus died and rose again if I’m so focused on this problem over here...”

And the answer is: it changes EVERYTHING.

And the answer is: EVERYTHING.

We’ve been in a series called “God’s Story, My Story,” and we’ve been learning to find our place in GOD’S unfolding story of salvation through Jesus Christ...

That God has been writing a story since the beginning of time… and he created us a PART OF that story...

Our lives… our stories... are not ultimately about US… they are about HIM.

He is doing a work across all time to REDEEM a people for himself who are holy and blameless before him...

And it is in the cross and empty grave that the whole story of salvation comes together.

Today we are at the absolute climax of the story… the central event in all of human history… the cross of Jesus Christ.

Today I want to hold up the cross for you and answer the question, “For what?”

Big Idea: Trust that Jesus paid the price to redeem your story for God's story.

Redemption is Jesus paying the price to satisfy God’s wrath and free us from the curse of sin. [repeat]

And we are going to see today that in order for the price to be paid, there had to be suffering… there had to be death… and there had to be resurrection.

And because the redemption price was paid, EVERYTHING in our story is different.... EVERYTHING can now be redeemed for God’s story…

Your Bible is open to … lets get some context here before we jump in…

From 1:1 of his writing, Mark tells us that he’s presenting, “The gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God.”

This is THE GOOD NEWS of God… the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God…

We learn in the opening chapter that Jesus is THE SON OF GOD… God himself come to earth...

He is the CHRIST… the PROMISED ANOINTED KING... the Son of Man who sits at the right hand of God...

But his TRUE DISCIPLES confessed that he is the CHRIST… the PROMISED ANOINTED KING...

The King who created all things and sustains all things…

The Conquering serpent-crusher whom we’ve been waiting for since when man fell under God’s wrath against sin.

The Son of Man who would sit at the right hand of God and have absolute dominion over all things…

He is the CHRIST… the PROMISED ANOINTED KING...

But Jesus explained to his disciples what that meant for him to be the CHRIST...

- “And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.” (, ESV)

Jesus suffered to redeem your suffering for God.

In order for Jesus to be the conquering king, he had to first conquer death and the grave.

He had to lay down his life… and every person who would follow Jesus has to follow that same path… they have to deny themselves (their identity… their sense of life)… pick up their cross… and follow him.

They must lose their lives for the FAR-SURPASSING TREASURE of FINDING the life that he gives...

Two chapters after Mark records Jesus’ explanation of his the path from death to life, Jesus tells his disciples WHY he would die: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” (, ESV)

Catch that: Jesus calls his suffering and death… the giving of his life... a RANSOM for many…

You are familiar with that word… RANSOM… You pay a RANSOM to set someone FREE from kidnapping or slavery or some sort of bondage...

You pay a RANSOM to set someone FREE who has been enslaved or kidnapped...

RANSOM is redemption language: Jesus says that the giving up of his life is a RANSOM… it’s the REDEMPTION PRICE... for MANY… not for all… not even for most… but for many…

For those who lose their lives to find new life in him.

What we are about to read is Mark’s account of the actual events of Jesus suffering… rejection by the chief priests and scribes… his dying… and rising again…

Last week we studied the prediction… this week the actual event...

And I want us to see the answer to that question that Asher keeps asking us, “For what”… why a cross???

What did Jesus have to do to give his life as a RANSOM for many?

We’re going to start today in 15:21-32.

Here’s how he did it… Read 15:21-32.

Jesus… the Son of Man… gave his life as a ransom… he taught his disciples that the Son of Man must suffer, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and the scribes...

Here’s the first “For what” of the cross...

Jesus suffered to redeem your suffering for God. (15:21-32)

Explain: We talk a lot about how Jesus DIED on the cross for our sin… but did you ever notice how much the Gospel writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) talk about the suffering of Jesus?

Like not just in his crucifixion… but they talk about the poverty of his upbringing…

They talk about misunderstanding and rejection by his family and friends…

and they talk about how the Son of Man has no place to lay his head (how he’s basically homeless)…

They talk about how he got hungry and thirsty and tired...

As we get closer to the crucifixion… the gospel writers tell us that Jesus was greatly distressed in his soul as he prayed in the garden… we may call that depression today....

Even in the events leading up to what we are reading:

Jesus was betrayed by a close friend…

He was the true victim of a sham trial… he was falsely accused and lied about...

That resulted in him being beaten within an inch of his life…

So that as they forced him to carry the 120 lb crossbeam of his cross from the place of trial to the place of execution… they had to get someone else to carry it for him.

Here in this section that I just read, we see his physical agony...

It was so great that as they forced him to carry the 120 lb beam of his cross from the place of trial to the place of execution… they had to get someone else to carry it for him because he couldn’t do it… that’s the degree of physical suffering that he endured...

And Mark shows us this… that they offered him wine mixed with myrrh… that was supposed to be a painkiller… and Jesus wouldn’t take it...

He hadn’t come this far to numb the pain now: he was experiencing the greatest physical agony that a human could experience.

We also see relational agony: shame...

ALL of his friends have now abandoned him…

He’s stripped almost naked and carrying the cross through the streets being paraded as a criminal…

They are mocking him as the King of the Jews… even though that’s who he actually is… and he is going to prove it once and for all on Sunday morning.

Remember… the Son of Man must SUFFER…

They are mocking his inability to save since he can’t even save himself…

We see physical agony… shame… and ultimately rejection...

Remember… The Son of Man must be REJECTED by the chief priests and scribes… we see that in v. 31 - “So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself.” (, ESV)

Why is that such a big deal? Well… as we’ve seen in the storyline of the Bible so far… as go the leaders, so goes the nation…

And the chief priests and scribes describe the majority of God’s nation who will reject their Messiah…

Jesus didn’t JUST DIE on the cross for our in… he SUFFERED RIGHTEOUSLY… for our redemption.

Remember… Redemption is Jesus paying the price to satisfy God’s wrath and free us from the curse of sin.

And if we reach back into the story we’ve been studying this fall… we see that suffering is part of the curse that God gave in his wrath because of our sin…

Sin doesn’t just bring about the curse of death… it leads to the decay and futility of the whole creation the suffering that leads to death… even death itself apart from Christ could be described as ETERNAL suffering AFTER our physical body lies in the ground…

The fallenness of our sin nature leads to a lack of wholeness that we experience at every level of our personhood…

In the curse in , there was PHYSICAL suffering… to the woman, he promised pain in childbearing… to the man, toil against thorns and thistles in his work…

d thistles in his work…

There was RELATIONAL suffering… enmity between the snake and the woman… opposing desires between the woman and her husband…

Sin destroyed the very FABRIC of humanity… it ruined the shalom… the wholeness that God had given in the garden…

And we participate in that sin by nature and by choice...

I’m not saying that every part of your suffering is a direct result in a specific sin you’ve committed… but the existence of suffering finds its origin in God’s wrath against sin that you participate in by nature and by choice.

As the rest of human history unfolds, we see injustice and oppression… sickness and pain… wars and fighting… because sin entered the world through one man… and through that one man all entered into sin…

Suffering is PART OF God’s consequence… his curse... toward sin…

And for Jesus to redeem us… for him to the price to satisfy God’s wrath and free us from the curse of sin... he had to enter into suffering...

He didn’t just show up… die an easy death… and call the accounts even...

He didn’t just show up… shed a little blood… and call the accounts even...

He experienced the fullest extremes of the curse… the deepest places of human suffering… even when he did NOT deserve ANY of it… because he was sinless.

God didn’t just put upon him the DEATH of the curse… he ALSO had to endure the SUFFERING of the curse…

says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us...

Jesus took on the FULL curse that our sin had earned...

The prophet Isaiah wrote of the SUFFERING servant in … the picture of the CHRIST that was to come...

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” (, ESV)

He didn’t just bear our sins… he bore our griefs… he carried our sorrows… [pause]

says, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us...

Jesus took on the FULL curse that our sin deserved...

He didn’t just show up… shed a little blood… and call the accounts even...

He experienced the fullest extremes of the curse… the deepest places of human suffering… even when he did NOT deserve ANY of it… because he was sinless.

Listen… all of us experience suffering to varying degrees…

Some of us have dealt or now deal with physical pain… some experience relational pain… some experience betrayal and rejection...

And we can sometimes honestly ask the question, “Why do I have to suffer so much???”

And then you hear the pastor say something that sounds so harsh… your suffering is the result of sin existing in the world… and you are part of that sin problem…

And I hope that it never gets to this point for you… but for many… it can even get to the point of, “If that’s the case… then what’s the point of even living… it all just seems hopeless...”

But our savior enters into that curse and becomes a curse for us...

He enters into your suffering and experiences suffering for you…

I want you to know this morning that there is not ONE thing that you have suffered that your Savior has not experienced the same degree of suffering...

But even more than that… there is not ONE thing that you have experienced in your suffering that the Savior has not RANSOMED FROM the curse… that he has not REDEEMED and made new in the unfolding plan of God on your life…

He PAID THE PRICE of suffering… not just of death… but of suffering…

God USED the suffering of Christ to accomplish our TOTAL redemption…

Application: And you can TRUST that Jesus paid the price of SUFFERING to redeem your suffering for God.

I haven’t known a lot of suffering… but I can for sure say that the greatest tools of God in my life have been the hammer and anvil of suffering...

Losing a child through miscarriage… struggling with the ugly cloud of depression and anxiety on a fairly regular basis...

I know that my struggles with depression and anxiety have brought me to places of deeper prayer and intense refinement of my faith in God...

These things have brought me to places of knowing that my only hope and power is Christ…

They have brought be to deeper places of prayer that I would have never gone to without them… and there I’ve met my Savior again and again...

They’ve intensely refined of my faith in God...

They’ve brought about opportunities to relate to the pain of others and speak hope…

I’ve seen for myself how Jesus can redeem suffering for God.

Here’s the difference between the believer and the unbeliever: it’s NOT that the unbeliever suffers and the believer does not...

He doesn’t redeem you FROM suffering… he does something better… he redeem your suffering for God.

Suffering belongs to the believer and unbeliever alike… the difference is that the suffering for the BELIEVER is not a waste.

Paul wrote this: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.” (2 Corinthians 4:7–12, ESV)

Peter writes: “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (, ESV)

Because Jesus SUFFERED RIGHTEOUSLY on your behalf… and you TRUST him for your redemption... all suffering that you experience is just refining your faith in him...

If your body feels weak… if you experience suffering and affliction… God wants to USE that suffering to show the surpassing power belongs to him… not to us...

Remember last week, we talked about losing your life to find it in him?

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

That self-protection and self-preservation is not the way to eternal life… but rather following a Savior who suffered and died....

As you lose your life to find it in him… you can trust that HE WILL USE EVERYTHING in your life… even your sufffering… in his unfolding story of salvation…

It’s showing you how much you need him...

It’s showing how much your faith in him is necessary…

So here’s what we can do: instead of merely praying, “Take my suffering away...” we can pray, “Redeem my suffering for your purposes.”

God, if I must suffer, use my suffering to produce more faith in me.

God, if I must suffer, use my suffering to make me more dependent on you.

God, if I must suffer, let me see you work POWERUFLLY in my weakness.

God, if I must suffer, ALLOW MANY to see your life and power through me and my suffering.

Now, of course, he didn’t just suffer… his suffering was ultimate… he died.

the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and BE KILLED

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” (, ESV)

The price of our lives under the curse… the cost of our sin… was ultimately DEATH.

Read 15:33-47.

We’re learning to trust that Jesus paid the price… here’s the second price he paid:

Jesus died to redeem you from death separated from God. (15:33-47)

EXPLAIN: There’s a lot that could be said about the death of Jesus... We could talk about the physical pain… and all that crucifixion meant in its gruesome horrors…

We could talk about the physical pain… and all that crucifixion meant in its gruesome horrors…

We could talk about the science behind the way a person being crucified would die… and how they would know he was dead...

But MARK is content to say, “They crucified him.” ...and then focus on the spiritual aspects of that reality...

For some of us, the death of Jesus kind of comes out of the blue… it doesn’t totally make sense...

And that’s because we have to remember that it was part of a MUCH bigger story...

The gospel should not just be reduced to bullet points… “God is holy… man is sinful… Jesus died...”

We have to have some sense of what it MEANS for God to be holy… that he is Creator God and everything else is just creation…

We have to have some sense of what it MEANS for man to be sinful… we try to be like God APART from God...

We have to have some sense of WHY sin deserves death and how that played out for thousands of years before Christ.

And when we see the Gospel writers explain the death of Christ… even for Gentile audiences like Mark… we see them reach back into Old Testament imagery and make connections to the whole story....

Mark tells of darkness over the whole land from the 6th to the 9th hour...

Darkness is chaos… it’s what existed in before God said let there be light...

The prophets foretold of darkness coming before the day of the Lord...

This is not an eclipse… they last a matter of seconds to a few minutes...

God is alerting us to the fact that what we are seeing is not just a political execution… it is a spiritual execution… one that marks the very unraveling of the Created order so that a new creation can form.

This is not some storm clouds passing through...

This is the hand of God the Father somehow miraculously blotting out the sun as the Son of God dies on a cross.

The Old Testament Prophets talked about a time called the Day of the Lord… it is events that precede the coming of the King… and Jesus’ death initiated that period of time.

There is still yet coming a an even more fearsome time before the second return of Christ… but this darkness over the crucifixion certainly fits the description...

This is a SPIRITUAL execution… not primarily a political one.

Then Mark points us to Jesus’ words… Jesus again shows he is fulfilling the whole story by quoting … Mark quotes Jesus in his common language of Aramaic… and then Mark translates the words for his readers in Greek...

“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me???”

Jesus isn’t just casually quoting scripture… he is feeling the AGONY of separation from God the Father… he is PRAYING scripture at the deepest moment of spiritual torment...

The perfect son of God… the person who was perfectly One with the Father since before time began... very God of very God… FORSAKEN.... not just his friends… not just Israel… but by God himself.

This was necessary to redeem us from the curse… think back to the curse again in …

Adam and Eve were created for perfect fellowship in the Garden with God…

They had unbridled access to every good gift of God… they had everything that they needed for abundant life in him...

But instead then they tried to be LIKE God apart from God… they took the forbidden fruit and believed the lie of the serpent… and they rejected their creator.

That’s why we live under a curse… because our sin isn’t just doing bad things… it’s anarchy against God himself.

And the final part of the curse God gave in was this: He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. ()

And the final part of the curse in was this: He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. ()

TOTAL separation from God… that was the curse... that was what Jesus had to bear to redeem us from the curse…

That’s the agony that he is experiencing on the cross that he has never experienced before and will never experience again...

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.

The sinless Son of God without his source of life…

The full wrath of God… the cost of our eternal separation from God being poured out upon JESUS in that moment...

The flaming sword was turned against Christ…

But the story continued for mankind: generally speaking, humanity remained separated from God… generation upon generation died without hope and without God... until God established a covenant with the uniquely loved people of Israel...

That covenant included a law so that Israel could know the moral and civil demands of God for his holy people...

And it also included a system of cleansing from sin and impurity so that mankind could have access to the Holy presence of God...

That system included the death of an animal… a substitute for the death that their sin deserved.

The major example of this was that once every year... on the day of Atonement… the High Priest was to offer sacrifice for the sins of the whole nation...

He would cleanse himself… put on special garments… offer a bull for his own sin… and then offer two goats...

The first goat he would slaughter… sin deserves death, right… the Bible says that without the shedding of blood there is no removal of sin...

And the priest would take the blood of that slaughtered goat and he would walk through a THICK curtain…

that curtain, by the way… had all kinds of symbols of heaven and the garden sown into it… It was an earthly representation of the heavenly throneroom and paradise…

and the priest would enter through that curtain into the most holy place in the tabernacle… the place where God chose to manifest his holy presence on earth…

and the priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the ark of the Covenant which was a representation of the throne of God in heaven.

He would then come out and put his bloody hands on the other goat… and he would confess the sins of the people… acknowledging that their sin deserved death… and he would send that goat running out into the wilderness… never to return again... as a symbol of the REMOVAL of their sins....

That God had not just accepted the sacrifice, but that he removed the guilt and shame and impurity of their sin as far as the est is from the west.

And these two goats together temporarily restored a taste of what was lost in the garden because of our sin…

They maintained covenant relationship with God...

And so when we read in v. 38 that the curtain of the temple was torn in two… we are reminded of this ritual where the priest got to go behind that curtain into the very presence of God… into the most holy place…

And we find in this moment of crucifixion that the Old Covenant sacrifices were FULFILLED and UNDONE… the presence of God has LEFT the temple... and he is instead going to INDWELL all who TRUST the sacrifice of Christ...

He is going to make his PEOPLE his holy place… THROUGH the sacrifice who DIED in our place to ATONE for our sin...

The sacrifice who DIED in our place to ATONE for our sin...

Here’s the crazy thing… God says that the only way to pay the price for our sin is for a PERFECT sacrifice to DIE in our place… and then he will REMOVE our sin from us… but WE too often say, “No, I can deal with my sin in my own way.”

The death of Christ is the ONLY way that our sin can be dealt with… Jesus was paying the death that we deserved to die...

I can try harder… I can do better… I can be a “good” person… I can manage my sin and keep it from hurting anyone else and then it’s ok.

That wouldn’t work ANYWHERE else in life!!! That’s like me walking into a Lamborghini dealer and saying, “I’ll trade you my ‘05 Murano for that one over there.”

It just doesn’t even come close to the redemption PRICE!!!

And a price needs to be paid for that curse to be broken…

But Jesus is the PERFECT sacrifice… who became a curse for us… who gave his life as a ransom… and opened the curtain for us to BECOME the very temple of God himself.

He made the way for us to ENCOUNTER the LIVING and HOLY GOD!!! For us to be RESTORED to relationship with our Creator!

And our response MUST a response of trusting him as the ONLY way for our sin to be paid for and removed.

And our response is a response of trust.

Notice the first person to respond: the centurion in charge of the execution… the one who signed the proverbial death certificate....

He’s seen a million executions… but this one is different.

“Truly this man was the son of God.”

Then you have the women looking on from a distance… all the men who had followed him were nowhere in sight…

But these women’s lives had been changed by Jesus.

This is a favorable description of the women… and for their faithfulness, they will get to be the first to witness the resurrection on Sunday.

And then there is Joseph of Arimathea...

He is one of the religious leaders who secretly believed that Jesus was the Christ.

He requests the body for burial… he sticks his neck out for the crucified one...

The centurion confirms the death… and he lays him in a Garden tomb.

Jesus has really died… he was really forsaken… he was really the sacrifice that opened the way to the most holy place.

And we can trust that the death of Jesus… his separation from God… redeemed us from OUR separation from God.

Because of Jesus’ death, God is NOT holding your sin against you...

He is NOT keeping you at a distance...

He is NOT waiting for you to try harder… do better…

The ransom price has been paid… the power of sin has been undone… the record of your debt has been nailed to the cross…

And now he offers us himself. He’s put to death the sin that destroys you… and he’s offering the treasure of a restored life in him.

Application: Our response MUST be the same as the centurion: “Truly this man was the Son of God.”

It MUST be the same as the women… I will stand with him through ANYTHING.

It MUST be the same as Joseph… I will stick my neck out because I BELIEVE this man was innocent.

Truly this is the worthy one of heaven… the creator and ruler of heaven and earth…

Jesus did what over a thousand years of Israelites could not… he kept God’s law perfectly offered the sufficient atoning sacrifice as the ransom price of death that we deserved.

You can’t do that… your only hope is trusting Jesus.

HE is the centerpiece of the story… and all of creation… all of history… has been waiting for his redemption...

And because we have the whole story… it can go even further than the centurion or the women or Joseph of Arimathea...

He is the one who has paid the price for my sin.

He is the one who has opened the way to relationship with God.

His death is the ONLY way my sin can be dealt with.

My sin… my old life… my flesh… must die with him. It must be buried in his grave.

My sin is agony and destruction and death… and Jesus nailed the record of that sin to his cross. I DON’T WANT ANYTHING MORE TO DO WITH IT!!!

If that has never been your response, it needs to become your response today.

To believe that changes your life.

And the beauty is that

For the people looking on, they realize that this man was utterly life-changing… but they are also left wondering… what now??? What does all this mean??? And they were about to find out… that it meant more than they could have ever imagined in that moment.

In that moment, he was dead… they laid his laid in the tomb… they touched him… the felt the life was gone from him… they saw where he was laid…

And they were about to find out… his body was laid in the tomb… they touched him… the felt the life was gone from him… the women saw the tomb…

and then the day gave way to darkness… followed by another morning of waiting and wondering… followed by more darkness.

Look at 16:1… the Sabbath ended at sundown on Saturday… that’s when the women purchased the spices for the final burial preparations of their friend and Lord… waiting until there was sufficient light and time to honor him…

And then we read in v. 16:2 [Read 16:2-8]

This is what Jesus had predicted… and yet what no one expected or understood.

“...the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.” (, ESV)

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”” (, ESV)

This is how we know the ransom price was accepted: the tomb was empty.

Jesus rose again to redeem you for a life of awe toward God.

Explain: The women go to the tomb fully expecting to find a big stone covering the tomb of a dead body… and what they find instead is an ANGEL… described as a young man…

Really, we know from the other gospels that there are two angels… but Mark mentions just the one… just enough for us to get us this explanation…

Jesus of Nazareth… the one who is crucified… is not here, he has risen.... see for yourself… that place you watched them lay him to rest late Friday afternoon… that place is now EMPTY.

And he gives them very specific instructions… first: do not be alarmed… that didn’t work so well...

And then go tell Peter and the others and make sure they go to Galilee because Jesus wants to meet them there and tell them what they are supposed to do with the rest of their lives now that he is risen… that’s where he gives them the Great Commission to go and make disciples...

And we know from the other Gospel writers that eventually the women go do this… eventually the disciples make their way to Galilee… eventually they receive the purpose of their new, transfomed lives...

But Mark ends his gospel really abruptly...

There’s a lot of speculation about the end of Mark’s gospel...

There are probably a number of verses in your Bible that are cut off by some statement about the earliest manuscripts not containing that portion of the book...

What we know as could be original to Mark… there could be another lost ending...

Or Mark COULD have left us with this: “And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” (, ESV)

We don’t really know for sure how Mark ended the gospel… but what we are left with is the impression of life-transforming AWE that the the women experienced that day…

We are left with the reality that a man who rises from the dead causes our mortal bodies to physically tremble and our tiny little minds to be blown… we are left with the fear of the Lord.

And sometimes the familiarity of this story takes us too far away from that place of trembling.

They’ve just SEEN their Savior King PAY THE PRICE of their sin… and rise again from the dead for so that they could be counted righteous before God…

The reality of all this hasn’t set in yet.... they are stopped dead in their tracks by the life-transforming weight of it all...

And I kind of like an ending to the Gospel that leaves us hanging on THEIR choice.

Will they obey what the angel commanded them and tell the others what they’ve seen...

Or will they go about their lives like nothing happened… that it was all just some elaborate scam… that it was their imagination playing tricks on them...

Really, Mark’s potentially abrupt ending leaves us with the same choice...

Will we tremble at the God who conquers Satan, sin and death… who pays the price to redeem us from the curse… and who leaves his temple to indwell his people...

Will our lives be forever changed… will we tell others what we have seen and heard… will we go to Galilee, receive the Great Commission, and make disciples of all nations...

Or will we go about our lives like nothing happened… like this was all just some elaborate scam…

Those are the only two choices...

And I would suggest to you that it isn’t even really a choice...

The evidence for the death and resurrection of Jesus is too great...

And if it is true, it MUST grip our hearts with TREMBLING at what God has done… it must fill us with ASTONISHMENT at the power of God… and the mercy and grace of God to redeem us...

And it MUST change our lives...

Remember what we talked about last week… … Jesus explained that the Son of Man must suffer, die, and rise again… and he explained that everyone who would come after him would must deny themselves, pick up their cross, and follow him.

He said that whoever would lose their life would save it.

Jesus is offering salvation… TRUE life… abundant life… life that you were intended for...

Not the life you always wanted… not your best life now… the best life EVER… the life of Christ in YOU!!!

And now the work is finished…

And it’s time for his followers to lose their lives to find them in him.

At our GC this week, Katy reminded me of this quote that I don’t really know who said it, but it captures well this call of Christ upon our lives...

It goes something like this, “Are you living in such a way that the only explanation for your life is that Jesus the Christ who died and rose again?”

That’s what it means to trust that Jesus rose again to redeem you for a life of awe toward God… EVERYTHING CHANGES… HE BECOMES EVERYTHING TO YOU...

Your life is inexplicable without him.

The sin nature that rules the hearts of men is dead to you… and the life of Christ is the greatest joy…

Paul said that we are most to be pitied if the resurrection were not true…

Would the world look a your life and say, “Look at them… they’ve given everything for this Jesus guy… they’ve staked their whole life on this claim that he rose again… I sure hope it’s true because their life sure is a pity and a waste if it’s not true!”

Jesus redeemed you… not just FROM the curse of sin… but he redeemed you FOR a life of awe toward God. .

The response to our redemption is to live a life that is CONSUMED by the glory of GOD.

Paul said, “[...Jesus] gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (, ESV)

Jesus redeemed us to be HIS people… to do HIS work...

That’s the story of the Spirit at work in the church that we will get to in the next couple weeks....

Do you trust that Jesus paid the price to redeem your story for God’s story?

Do you trust that he can redeem all the hard parts of your story that are touched by the curse because he entered into our suffering?

Do you trust that he can redeem all of your sin… because he paid the death price that your sin deserved… the price you could never pay off for all eternity?

Do you TRUST that he redeemed your life for a new purpose: a life of awe toward God?

If you say you trust the redemption of Jesus, then the only explanation for your life is the death and resurrection of Jesus.

You are trusting that you have no life apart from him… you were dead in your sin… but God made you alive together with Christ.

This is massive grace that gives you new purpose… and you can walk in the confidence that your redeemer lives and you will see him on the last day...

One of the ways that Jesus gave us to express that trust and confidence is through observing the Lord’s table...

What we are about to do next is for those who trust Jesus as their redeemer… who have lost their lives to find new life in him.

Paul wrote, “For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (, ESV)

This is the opportunity to remember and celebrate and cherish our redemption...

That the price has been paid for our sin and a new relationship… a new covenant with God has been established...

That we have died with Christ and been raised to new life with him...

That he is coming again for a people whom he has purchased with his own blood.

This is an opportunity to confess any sin that gets in the way of a life that is completely abandoned for the sake of Christ.

And so we are going to sing a few songs now… reflecting on the death and resurrection of Jesus… the one who rescued our souls...

And if you have trusted in the redemption of Jesus Christ… if you have died with him and been raised to new life in him…

I would invite you to come to the table… take the bread and the cup… you can eat and drink as soon as you want when you get back to your seat...

But do it remembering the work of Christ that accomplished your redemption...

Do it confessing and forsaking the sin for which Christ has ALREADY paid… and committing to live in a new covenant relationship with God and his people...