Good Monday morning. I'm so thankful for God's kindness to us yesterday, opportunities that he entrusted to us to be able to meet together on the Lord's Day, and I'm thankful for this opportunity as well as we come back to the Gospel of Mark. The Gospel of Mark has one of the messiest endings. We'll talk tomorrow, Lord willing, about some of the text and some of the questions about the text. But, it's weird. Not wrong to say that about scripture, if we understand it in its context. It's not wrong, it's just, it ends very much anticlimactically. If you are looking for Great Commission. If you are looking for the furtherance of the gospel and in the mission of the church and things going forward, it ends with the angelic announcement to the women, and they're not speaking to anybody. until, of course, they end up speaking to the disciples. But that's not, we say, of course, because we have Luke and Matthew to tell us that that transpires. And when we come across things like this, we should ask, why? Why did it end this way? Mark just got tired. He didn't know anything else. He couldn't remember anything else. And I guess I'm probably tipping my hand on what I think about the questionable ending to the Gospel of Mark, verses 9 down to 20. But either way, the ending should cause us to ask, what has been the purpose that this book has been written and how does this serve this purpose? We should always ask that, not just when there are weirdnesses, but the very weirdness itself should push us to consider why the Holy Spirit ended this gospel record the way he does. And I think that ties into and the overall purpose of the Gospel of Mark, to strengthen believers who had come to believe the good news, Christ's victory. And yet the good news wasn't feeling like good news. There was suffering. And in suffering, sometimes we give in and we are discouraged by our failure and our disobedience. sometimes in suffering we need to remember the Word, and that Word can encourage us to faithfulness and to obedience. And so we come here this morning to Mark chapter 15, actually in verse 47, and we'll read down to Mark 16 in verse number 8. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph were looking on to see where he was laid. When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome brought spices so that they might come and anoint him. Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb? Looking up, they saw the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe, and they were amazed. And they said to him, to them, and he said to them, do not be amazed. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen, he is not here. Behold, here is the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you. They went out and fled from the tomb for trembling and astonishment had gripped them. And they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. So here we come to the end. The story does end in fulfillment of God's promise through what Jesus had said. He had not only predicted his own death and the suffering that would lead up to that death, but he also predicted his own resurrection. And so the account begins with The women seemingly watching their clocks. Certainly they could have torches or some sort of portable candle to work. The timing seems to be focused on as soon as there was the first hints at daylight, very early, that they were out the door. They apparently had, some had prepared spices on Friday. Luke 23, 56 makes indication of that, but they apparently didn't think that it was sufficient for the king. And so they had bought spices for this purpose. Saturday evening, after Sabbath was over, sunset, shops would open for a few hours. And so they had This collection of spices. Spices were not used to embalm the body, not to try and preserve it. The spices there were to try and offset the smell and the stench of a body decaying. The acts being done here, in other words, were expressions of their devotion their commitment, their belief in Jesus and all that he had stood for. He had been disgraced through the crucifixion and they wanted to honor him. And whether they thought what Joseph and of Arimathea and Nicodemus had done was insufficient, or whether they just wanted to add their heave offering, as it were, with the spices, they come eager to honor their king. And as they are on their way, they stumble across something they should have thought about. How are we going to get that big stone out of the way? Mark doesn't give us any indication that they knew of Roman soldiers, that they had known of anyone guarding and sealing the tomb. They knew the stone was too large for them, and they nevertheless carried on, maybe hoping to find some workers that would be willing to help them. But when they get to the tomb, what do they find? They find that the stone had been rolled away. God had already prepared for the removal of the stone. The absence of the stone over the entry to the tomb was an invitation to come in, to find out what has gone on. And so they enter into, if you've seen pictures of this or had opportunity to go to Israel, you can find that there's a larger sepulcher area. And then there were shelves where bodies were laid to decompose. So they step into this sepulcher area and they're met by what Mark calls a young man. that clearly his description of the young man clothed in white robes, that's not young man kind of clothing. It was an angel. Mark's not trying to hide that. However, not all angels have wings. The seraphim do. According to Isaiah chapter six and verse two, but normally interactions with the supernatural, the angels look like human beings. And yet there's a supernatural element to this. And so the women are frightened. They're amazed, filled with wonder and awe and agitation. Something is definitely not what we were expecting out of the ordinary. They're gripped by this. And the angel says to them, you were seeking Jesus. Some view that as a negative. Why in the world were you doing this? He told you what was going to happen. I don't think that that's Mark's context. I think he's just making the observation that they came looking for Jesus. What is more significant for Mark is the description of Jesus. You have come looking for Jesus the Nazarene who has been crucified. Why is that significant? It's true, yes. The Nazarene, despised one, the nobody. You've come looking for this nobody. In fact, a nobody who's been treated as a common, not just a common criminal, a terrible criminal. He's been crucified. In other words, Mark focuses on the humiliation of Jesus in this event. They came to honor someone who is not honorable according to the standards of this world. He was a nobody, and he was a bad nobody. But the angel announced that the one that they were seeking, he is not here, behold, or he has risen, he is not here. Behold, look, right here is the place where they laid him. The angel simply announces the fact of the resurrection of Jesus. He doesn't explain it. Nobody saw the resurrection of Jesus. God sees it supernaturally. Angels apparently watch what's going on on the earth. They could have seen how it all transpired. You know, is it like the beauty in the beast when beast is kind of raised up and light starts, you know, no, nobody knows. I don't think that's the way it is to be clear, but what was the resurrection of Jesus experience like? We don't know. What is important is what Jesus had said would happen did happen. God raised him from the dead. And look, his body isn't here. So in light of this fact, you have been seeking to honor him. But since he's not here, here's your task now. Go, be going, it's a command. Get out of here. Not run for your lives, get out of here. Run for your Lord, serve his purposes, be going. Go communicate the resurrection of the Lord to his disciples and specifically to Peter. Is that because Peter was the first among equals in the disciples? No. It's because Peter has denied Christ. Yet the Lord had told Peter he would do this not acceptable and when he does he needs to repent and Then help his brothers So the angel enlists the women who sought to honor Jesus though they hadn't clearly processed what was going on and In other words, they hadn't taken what Jesus said, seeing that he prophesied his death, and that he also prophesied his resurrection, and therefore they should anticipate. They don't need more spices. They need to prepare a meal. He's going to be hungry. A reflection of women are the only ones who can prepare meals. I hope it didn't come across that way. Then there needed to be a celebration is the point And so that the angelic messengers now are told So the angel is the messenger to the women and the women are served Communicating the angelic message. So they're angelic messengers in that sense to communicate to the disciples that what Christ had said has come to pass and And in fact, just as he told you, he was going to go ahead of you into Galilee, and that is, he would meet you there. This is in Mark 14, verse 27. After singing the hymn and going to the Mount of Olives, he said to them, you will all fall away because it is written, I will strike down the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered. But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee." And that's when Peter denies, even though I'll fall away, I will not. And the Lord says, it's going to happen, Peter, before the rooster crows twice. So he is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you. Mark's record. Now, what do you do with the man on the road to Emmaus and the meetings in the upper room and all these things that Mark doesn't record? Well, you can try and harmonize that by saying, well, the disciples must not have been willing to go to Galilee. You could say, well, but there's the feast and they need to stick around Jerusalem. I think that's wrong-headed. It's going the wrong way. What is the right way? Well, the right way is to consider what Mark's intent in recounting the resurrection. Obviously, it gives a historical, verifiable account of what has happened. Angels have announced what has happened. Peter has heard the testimony, testimony of women. And that's not a derogatory thing for me, that was a derogatory thing in their culture, but has believed that testimony, has preached that testimony in faithfulness, having been returned and restored to his service to the Lord. And all this comes in fulfillment of the word of God. So throughout Mark's gospel, this is my son, listen to him, hear him. Trust what he's saying. And now at the end of the gospel, it's trust what he has said. So the women go out from the tomb. They are gripped by trembling and astonishment. There's debate, is that positive, negative, is it terror? Are they in holy awe and wonder? I tend to think it's excitement. They didn't say anything to anyone because they were afraid. Does that mean they don't ever tell the disciples? No, we know from Luke and Matthew that they delivered the message. Were they shaking, quaking, so excited that they just I don't think this is intended to be a knock on the women. They had left and they were going to fulfill their mission. They were not going to get sidetracked from their commission to go tell the message from the angel to the disciples. And so they go. in great fear, and the story ends. Now, we'll talk about verses 9 to 20 tomorrow. Why would the story end there? The last word, at least in our English translation here is, and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. Now, again, we've interpreted that not as a negative statement, but as they were maintaining their focus on what they had been assigned to do. They go to communicate in the fear of the Lord, we might say. Communicate to the disciples that Christ has risen. So why does Mark's gospel end this way? Well, put yourself in Rome as a Christian, struggling, contemplating, capitulating to Jesus plus Judaism, because that's safe. Maybe you've already capitulated a little bit. Maybe you're struggling. You're afraid of the wrong thing. What is the message of the resurrection as Mark tells it? Well, there's plenty of theological important truths about the resurrection. Mark doesn't focus on those. It's not that they're irrelevant. It's just not his focus. What is his focus then? His focus is that God's word can be trusted. and therefore go in fear and obedience, not terror of the Lord, but holy awe, wonder, amazement, and carry out the tasks that God has entrusted to you, knowing that you can take him at his word. That is where the gospel ends. That's what Peter lived as one who had denied Christ and yet repented. That's what those Roman Christians needed. They needed the encouragement. You can trust God at his word. Go in fulfillment of your task, living in this earth, speaking His word. You can trust Him. He'll never let you down. Well, that's a challenge, right? And All the way along, disciples struggle. I mean, even the presence of the spices is a sign of not focusing on what Jesus has said. And that's from the women who are devoted. The devoted struggle to take God at his word. But you can. So trust him. He will keep His promise. And that's the thing disciples need. Faith in the promise of God, which when we fail, leads us to repentance, because He's faithful. He's faithful to forgive. He invites us to come to Him. And in fact, The author of Hebrews tells us he ever lives to make intercession for us just as he interceded for his disciples and specifically for Peter. So take him at his word and as you do, fulfill his mission. Live in this earth as his servant, represent him in both your actions and your words. knowing that His promise to resurrect you if you lose your life in that endeavor, or if you live a long life and you've served Him faithfully, paid the price, taken up the cross, that you will know it was always worth it, because His promise is certain. Trust His word. Well, that's how Mark's gospel, I believe, ends. We'll talk about why there's some other verses here, Lord willing, tomorrow. And I look forward to being able to open the scriptures to consider that together with you. And then, I'm thinking Wednesday, possibly just looking at some theological points. I haven't fully decided on that, or I might start a new study. So we'll see how all that plays out. Lord bless your Monday, and I appreciate your time here together. I hope it's encouraged you in the Word. All right, bye-bye.