Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

(Mark 15:33-41; 16:1-8)

Yearly Theme:  “Patience is…”

Series Title:  “Perfect Patience”

April 17^th, 2022

Something to think about:

Teachings on the death and resurrection of Jesus are of vital importance for the church in the American culture today.  Without a clear grasp of the knowledge of the death and resurrection of Christ, Christianity is lost and without hope for the next generation.  Christian apologist and scientist, Henry Morris, wrote, “The bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is the crowning proof of Christianity.  If the resurrection did not take place, then Christianity is a false religion.  If it did take place, then Christ is God and the Christian faith is absolute truth.”

So, what is it about the death and resurrection of Jesus that’s so important?  Let’s take a look at Mark’s account of these two events in his Gospel writings:

Mark 15:33-41 (NLT),

³³ At noon, darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock.  ³⁴ Then at three o’clock Jesus called out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?”

³⁵ Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for the prophet Elijah.  ³⁶ One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, holding it up to him on a reed stick so he could drink.  “Wait!” he said.  “Let’s see whether Elijah comes to take him down!”

³⁷ Then Jesus uttered another loud cry and breathed his last.  ³⁸ And the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.

³⁹ When the Roman officer who stood facing him saw how he had died, he exclaimed, “This man truly was the Son of God!”

⁴⁰ Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene, Mary (the mother of James the younger and of Joseph), and Salome.  ⁴¹ They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee.  Many other women who had come with him to Jerusalem were also there.

Mark 16:1-8 (NLT),

Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body.  ² Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb.  ³ On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”  ⁴ But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.

⁵ When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side.  The women were shocked, ⁶ but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed.  You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He isn’t here!  He is risen from the dead!  Look, this is where they laid his body.  ⁷ Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee.  You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.”

⁸ The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.

Then they briefly reported all this to Peter and his companions.  Afterward Jesus himself sent them out from east to west with the sacred and unfailing message of salvation that gives eternal life.  Amen.

Here’s the takeaway this morning:

Key Point:  “With the resurrection of Jesus came the glorious fulfillment of the promise of salvation.”

Let’s take a closer look at the various things that happened that fateful day of Jesus’ crucifixion, and the glorious day of His resurrection from the dead.  What elements played a part in these narratives that are crucial to understand?

• The sky went  and Jesus  .

Amos 8:9-10 (ESV), ⁹  “And on that day,” declares the Lord GOD, “I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth in broad daylight. ¹⁰  I will turn your feasts into mourning and all your songs into lamentation; I will bring sackcloth on every waist and baldness on every head; I will make it like the mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.

2 Corinthians 5:21 (NLT), For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

• The  in the Jewish temple in Jerusalem  in two from top to bottom.

Hebrews 10:19-22 (NLT), ¹⁹  And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. 20  By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. 21  And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22  let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.

• Jesus   from the  .

Mark 16:6 (NLT), …[T]he angel said, “Don’t be alarmed.  You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He isn’t here!  He is risen from the dead!  Look, this is where they laid his body.” 

Something to take home:

Key Point:  “With the resurrection of Jesus came the glorious fulfillment of the promise of salvation.”

We are forgiven by GOD and receive salvation from Him when we accept, believe, and surrender to the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord.  There is no other way to be saved except through Jesus.  The Apostle Peter standing before the council of Jewish leaders in Jerusalem proclaimed this clearly when he testified about Christ by saying,

Acts 4:12 (NLT), There is salvation in no one else!  God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.”