Date:   3/27/05

Text:   Mark 16:1-8

Title:   A Morning of Fear

Theme: The resurrection of Jesus Christ can change a morning of fear into joy in the morning.

Introduction:

  Easter is the time for Christians celebrating Jesus' resurrection from the dead. On this Sunday, no matter what church we go to, large or small, it is always filled with celebrative programs. However, when we read Mark's account of the first Easter, it is quite a surprise. We see no hint of celebration, instead, we read words such as: alarmed, fled, trembling, astonishment, and afraid. It was anything but a celebration. It was more like a morning of fear.

  Let's take a quick look at some events that led to this 1 st Easter morning, some 2000 years ago. Jesus was crucified on Friday, from 9 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon. While on the cross, all his disciples, except John ran away because of fear. Moreover, just several hours prior to this, Peter, one of his closest disciples, denied him 3 times. Besides John, there were several women present, including Mary, Jesus mother, two other Mary's and Salome. They saw Jesus' body being taken down from the cross and placed in a tomb, a cave, and a big stone was rolled to close the entrance.

  Now, early this Sunday morning, the three women brought with them spices and came to the tomb. They may have come to express their love and devotion to him by anointing him with the spices. As they came, they worried about who would move that big stone from the tomb for them. They came with the expectation that Jesus' body would be there.

  They arrived at the tomb, and saw that huge rock had already been moved. They went in. They did not see the body of Jesus; instead they saw an Angel sitting there. They were alarmed, or simply they were shocked and terrified. If we were there, we would have been terrified too. Now, let's listen to what the Angel said to them.

1.   Do not be alarmed.

  On the 1 st Easter morning, the 3 women had come to the tomb with the expectation of seeing the rock in front of it and the body of Jesus lying inside. Instead, the rock had been moved, there was no body, but an angel was there. The reality differed greatly from their expectations, and they were terrified. And the Angel said to them, vs.6a, “Do not be alarmed”. Do not be afraid. You don't have to be afraid anymore. There was no rebuke, why are you afraid? Don't you remember what Jesus said when he was still alive? Of all the people, you should know better. Instead, we have these gentle words, don't be afraid.

  Isn't it true that we also may have come here this morning with fears of our own? To some it is our physical condition. To others, it is our broken or strained relationship with someone close to us. To many parents; as we see our children growing up, we realize that we are beginning to lose control over them, or after many years of raising and teaching our children, they have decided to go against some of our values, these are very terrifying feeling, right? Some of us came to this country with certain expectations, but now, the reality is very different from what we expected. There are others who have lost their jobs or not sure of their future direction. You are approaching retirement age but uncertain of what to do after that. We, too, have come here with certain unsettling spirits. We are afraid because we feel life is like a train running out of control. I also feel that there are some among us just a few months or a year ago, you were so certain that Christianity is just another great religion teaching people to be good. But lately, and may be especially after last Sunday, you begin to feel that there must be more to it. If Jesus is really the son of God, then you will have to adjust and change your world view. This can be scary, right?

  We too need to hear these words, Do not be alarmed. Don't be afraid.

2.   Come and See

  Why? What is the basis for this? The Angel told the 3 women, vs.6, “….You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.”Come and see, he is not here, he has risen. The reason his body is not here, is because he has risen from the dead. Do not be afraid, because He has risen from the dead. No one was there to see Jesus actually rise from the dead. But what they could see was the empty tomb. He was there on Friday evening, but no longer. When you go to Medina in Saudi Arabia , you know this is where Mohamed was buried. When you go to Westminster Abby in London , you know this is where many English kings and queens and scientist such as Newton are buried there. In China , you go to Xian and know this is where Emperor Qin was buried. But youcan not point to a place and say this is where Jesus was buried. He might have been there for two evenings, but not anymore. No one saw him rise from the dead, but they could see that his body was not there anymore.

  We cannot see the wind, but we can see the effect of the wind. When there is wind, the leaves and flowers will be moving back and forth. We did not see Jesus actually rise from the dead, for there was no camera or video camera around, nor someone sitting there 24/7, but we could see the effects of his resurrection. How so?

  First, he appeared to these women and then to his disciples, then later to 500 people at one time. They were the first eye witnesses after his resurrection. When over 500 people saw the same person at the same time, it will be hard to accuse them of lying or hallucinating. Two people may be able to keep a lie for awhile. But under cross examination, it will be hard to keep it up. Individuals that lied over 50 years ago about the killing of some blacks and civil rights workers in the south eventually broke down and confessed. Imagine, 500 plus people continuing their lying, even facing death, is very unlikely.

  Second, the gutless disciples were changed into men of courage. Within 50 years of Jesus'' resurrection, they brought the gospel message to the end of the then Roman Empire . It arrived at the border of today's Russia and tradition has it that it also reached northern India .

  Thirdly, before his death, he demonstrated his power and authority to forgive sins via his words and healing miracles. But now, with the greatest miracle, overcoming death, he once for all demonstrated that he has the power to forgive sins. The women experienced this forgiveness. They were devout followers of Jesus Christ. They were with him when he taught them that after his death, on the third day he would rise from the dead. They were there when he died on the cross while the other disciples had ran away. But when they saw the empty tomb, instead joy and with their faith affirmed, they were shocked. At that moment, they did not have faith in Jesus'' words, that he would rise from the dead. The words do not be alarmed are words of comfort, tenderness, grace and assurance of forgiveness.

  Then there are the disciples. The angel told the women, vs.7, “But go, tell his disciples and Peter….” Tell the disciples. After their forsaking Jesus in times of his greatest need, they were still called his disciples. And above all, Mark specifically noted “the disciples and Peter”. If you are Jesus, you probably would deliberately omit Peter. This self boasting guy, dared to deny Jesus 3 times, in front of a young girl. But, now, go tell the disciples and Peter. These are words of grace, tenderness and forgiveness.

  To this day, you and I can still experience the effect of Jesus resurrection. He is still changing lives. Last Sunday's baptism was a vivid demonstration of Jesus'' power to change lives. Recently I read a testimony of a professor in Taiwan who died of cancer. She became a Christian in Atlanta . Shortly after her conversion, she said, “This Jesus is really awesome. He could even change my temper.” Many of us can also testify how he has changed you. If Jesus rose from the dead, is there anything too difficult that he cannot change? He can change us from being timid to becoming men and women of courage. He can change us into patient and self-controlled person. He can soften our hearts to forgive those who have hurt us. He is in the process of changing you into Christ's likeness.

  Besides the power of changing us, He still forgives sins. As we look at our lives, isn't it true that there is nothing good we can offer to him? All we have is our disobedience and selfishness. We have hurt him and those close to us. We have been insensitive in word toward others. We find security in holding grudges against others. But to forgive means we have to let go of our pride. When we bring to him our sins as many of us did on Friday evening, we experienced his power of forgiveness.

  Because he has risen, he has the power to change us and forgive us. Because he has risen, he has overcome death, therefore he also has the power to take control of our career, our children, our relationship and our ministry. Even though we may have come here with fear, but he says to us, do not be afraid. Come and See, he is not here; he has risen from the dead.

3.   Go and Tell.

  After asking the 3 women to come and see, the angel now says to them, vs.7, “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.” He told the women to go tell the disciples and Peter that Jesus will meet them in Galilee . There will be a reunion of some sort. Galilee was the place when Jesus first began his public ministry. Now, having completed his work on earth, he wanted to meet with the disciples there.

  What did the women do? Vs.8, “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.” They were so afraid of what they saw and heard, they went and fled, and said nothing to anyone. They were told to go and tell. Instead, they fled in fear and said nothing to anyone. Sure, in other gospels, it was reported that after they left, they met Jesus and were joyous. They did go to the disciples and told them what happened and immediately, Peter and John came to the tomb to see for themselves.

  But here, Mark, like a movie director, zooms in his lens and focuses on the 3 women and their fear, and ended his gospel. It is a very abrupt ending. Did we miss something? Is there some part of the manuscript missing? Many scholars don't think so. Mark did it on purpose. Why?

  You remember the story of the prodigal son. The father extended the invitation to the elder brother to come in to celebrate but there was no mention of how he responded to the invitation. Did he go in or not? The reader would have to respond to that invitation. The same here. The women were told to go and tell, but somehow they were so afraid, they fled and said nothing to anyone. How about the reader of this gospel of Mark?

  Now, we are here this morning. We have seen for ourselves the aftermath of Jesus'' resurrection. We are also told to go and tell. Go and tell your friends and family members about this Jesus, his gospel and his resurrection. Go and tell our colleagues at work and school about this Jesus. Go and tell your neighbors and non-believing friends about Jesus and his resurrection. Go and tell the people in far away places about Jesus and his resurrection. What is your response? You see, the gospel of Mark appears not to have completed, for it is waiting for you, waiting for me to respond.

Conclusion:

  Many of us have come here with different degrees of fears and uncertainty. Some feel our personal life is unreeling, falling apart. Others feel the burden of sin. Our failure and inability to live up to God's expectation. We may feel our loss of control over our career and study direction. We experience fear when our reality and expectations don't match.

  I am so glad that you are here. You have come to the right place. You see, when there is no fear, it is really hard to celebrate Easter. In order to celebrate Easter, we begin right where we are. We are weak, we have little faith and we are full of fear. And having come, we are brought face to face with the Jesus who has risen from the dead. Because he has risen from the dead, he has the power to forgive our sins, to be in control of our circumstances, both now and in the future. Because he has risen from the dead, he can change us and turn our fears into joy; from a morning of fear to joy in the morning.

  A little over one week ago, we heard so much about the story of Ashley Smith, the Atlanta woman held hostage by murder suspect Brian Nichols. The news media are mystified at how this woman could be so calm to talk to Brian Nichols. She told him about God's purpose in his life. She cooked breakfast for him. Brian Nichols later surrendered to the police. About 23 years ago, there was another young Texas woman confronted by a murderer. This woman told the murderer that, “It's not coincidence you're here. God brought you to this car. Even though you have committed some horrible things, God still loves you.” He eventually surrendered to the police. Why are these two women so courageous? The secret is found in their faith in God. Yes, they were afraid, but their faith in God helped them to overcome their fear.

  Now, as you have come and met this Jesus who has risen from the dead, go and tell others about him.