What a Difference!

It was at the rising of the sun, and truly a new day was dawning. The Messiah had conquered the grave by His grace. “For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same His name shall be great among the Gentiles.” Psalm 113:3 says From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD’s name is to be praised.”
You can’t really blame the women for worrying who was going to roll the stone away.
This word is used in the Gospels to refer to the stone that was in front of the tomb of Jesus. In Palestine, graves were usually in a depression and the stone was rolled down an incline to cover the mouth of the tomb. For a small grave, about twenty men were required to roll a stone down hill to cover the door of the tomb. The Bible tells us that the stone covering the door of the tomb was a large stone. The women would have needed more men than even a full Roman guard of sixteen men to roll away the stone. This was a major task.
We can discover at least four ways the resurrection made a difference in the lives of the first century believers:
1. The Difference between Fear and Peace
Four different words are used by Mark to capture the condition of the women who went to the tomb. Together it shows they were basically full of fear and in an emotional state that shocked them. Fear affects a man emotionally, physically, mentally, and spiritually. They were:
1. Affrighted, v.5,6: Ekthambeo:{ ek-tham-beh’-o}
The word speaks of a great wonderment and amazement. They were thrown into a state of amazement or terror.
to throw into terror or amazement; to alarm thoroughly, to terrify
This word is used to describe the emotional state of the Savior in the Garden of Gethsemane. In Mark 14:33:
“And he taketh with him Peter and James and John, and began to be sore amazed, and to be very heavy; and saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.” (Emotionally)
B. Trembled: (Tromos) { trom’-os} : They were shaking with fear. (Physically)
C. Amazed (Ekstasis; { ek’-stas-is}): Their minds were thrown out of their normal state of mind. They were amazed and wondering and full of fear. We get our word, “ecstatic” from this Greek word. A person may be thrown into a state of surprise or fear, or both. This word is used for a trance in Acts 10:10, 11:5, and 22:17. (Mentally)
D. Afraid, v.8 (phobeo; { fob-eh’-o} : Intimidation and dread that causes one to run. Fear is evidenced when one runs from the problem. The one afraid is put to flight. (Spiritually)
Fear is like a darkroom; it is where negatives develop. Fear is a thief that robs us of joy and leaves us emotionally drained. Fear is like a warning light in our soul system. It tells us when something has become too important to us and that we are trying to solve the problem rather than trust God to solve it.
The message of the resurrection is FEAR NOT! Matthew 28:5, the angels tell the women to fear not. That is the message of the resurrection! The angel did not tell the Roman soldiers to be afraid. Why? Because they were not seeking Jesus. They tell these little ladies, without armour and without weapons to not be afraid. What a scene! There we see the trained, armed, muscular Roman soldiers stuck in their sandals and frozen with fear. (HA!) They could not move and all their training and weapons did not prevent them from freezing with fear. They felt the earthquake and saw the stone roll up the incline and there was ONE angel sitting on the stone with Pilate’s seal. Pilate’s power was nothing in comparison to the resurrection power of our God.
Circumstances will come in this life that can cause the strongest person to freeze with fear. Trials may come that can cause the fastest person to stand still and do nothing. Physical, financial, material resources are not enough to keep us from fear. Employment status, possessions, popularity are not enough to keep us from fear. The angels tell these women: You: don’t be afraid! Don’t be like those soldiers. Jesus is alive and I know that you seek Him. Fear not, he is not here! Fear not, he is risen! What a sight! What a lesson! Here are these tough, rough soldiers, trained to fight to the death and to fear nothing, frozen! Here are these little ladies, unarmed and untrained, but seeking Jesus skipping right past these soldiers. When you seek the risen Lord, you have nothing to fear. When you seek Jesus, you can replace your fear with God’s peace.
Jesus rose again to give us peace. He told the disciples on that first resurrection night, “Peace be unto you!” Luke 24:26-40. Yes, peace is on earth and glory in the highest. Peace connects His birth and his resurrection, Luke 2:14. Peace is tranquility of spirit based on a faith-grace relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.
Question: Are you frozen with fear or full of God’s peace?
2. Difference between Sadness and Gladness, Mark 16:9-13
We find a number of examples of the followers of Jesus weeping when they did not realize that Jesus was alive. We are living in a nation of depressed people. So many are numb with grief and living a real live nightmare. They do not wake up from it they go to sleep to escape it. I read this week about a mother whose son was killed two years ago in the “Tunnel” nightclub that she was reliving a nightmare. Many in our city live a real live nightmare every day. Do you know why? People do not believe the right thing; the truth. The fact is there is a cure for people’s sad, depressed state. The cure is not in a better doctor or drug prescription.
Here we see three sad meetings:
A. Mary Magdalene, Mark 16:9: (John 20:11-18)
Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene after He was risen from the dead. Here was a woman that had 7 demons in her! I do not understand the depth of that kind of possession, but she must have been a very evil, licentious woman. I wonder how many demons possess the unsaved the prostitute, the drug addict, the adulterer, the depressed one today? In our society we tend to call demon possession sickness. The Bible is straight to the point. Mary had seven devils but was now clean of that spiritual bondage.
John tells us that Mary was outside the sepulchre and stood there weeping. Woman, why weepest thou? The reason she gives is clear: they have taken away my Lord and I know not where they have laid him, John 20:13. Mary had delivered the message that Jesus lives, but perhaps the unbelief of the disciples discouraged her faith. Her first message to the disciples was after the angels told her Jesus was alive. They did not believe. Her second message to the disciples was after Jesus Himself appeared to her and they still did not believe! Their doubt cast doubt upon her faith! Their belittling attitude toward the women that their message was nothing but “idle tales” no doubt also discouraged Mary. Perhaps they were right. The angel’s appearance to Mary was followed up by the first appearance of the risen Lord to a human. Women are chosen by God for very special tasks!
Who is the one who tells them that Jesus is alive but Mary Magdalene! Jesus can use the most unlikely of people.
B. The Apostles, Mark 16:10,11
Mark tells us that the disciples were mourning and weeping. They were grieving and numb with pain over the death of Christ. These two words describe the lament and the grief one experiences over the death of a loved one. They did not believe that Jesus was alive. They were sad. Their Savior was dead. So were their hopes.
C. The Depressed Duo on the Road to Nowhere:
Mark refers to the two men on the Emmaus Road. Mark says that Jesus appeared to them in another form. This describes the unique and different nature of the resurrection body of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Although Jesus did possess flesh in His resurrection body, He also possessed material properties very different from His former condition. His body was of a physical nature, but it was also a spiritual body that was fit for heaven and eternity in glory. After His resurrection, he is said to have “appeared,” “to have showed himself,” as if visibility and the ordinary properties of a body were assumed by him at will. I quote from T.V. Moore in The Last Days of Jesus (p.69-70), “These facts seem to indicate that the resurrection-body of our Lord possessed material properties very different from its former condition, that it was naturally invisible and intangible, though material, and became visible and tangible as before, only by a positive volition.” I find that quote true, and also highly interesting, for we, too will have a glorified, resurrected body some day and it is fascinating to contemplate the kind of body that we too shall possess. Paul tells us it is a spiritual body for it will be made for eternity, but there will be a visible and tangible quality about it.
Luke gives us the fuller story and records a question that Jesus asked them: What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? Or, Why are you sad? These two men had lost their sense of direction and were going the wrong way. They were leaving the scene of the greatest event in human history! Why? They had a false expectation about Jesus and they did not believe all of the Word of God. Jesus straightens them out and gets them heading back in the right direction. Jesus left them with their hearts burning with joy.
One of the main reasons people are depressed today is a bad belief system. It is not because you need a better doctor. Let me give you a prescription for misery. I call these the “Jerry Springer rules for a miserable life.” Believe… All your problems are somebody else’s fault The world owes you something. You’ll never be happy until you get everything you want. You never have any reason to feel guilty. All beliefs are equally valid. You can have it all. Perversion does not hurt anybody. You should not have to wait for anything. The answer to your problem lies within you.
It does matter what you believe. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you can have joy unspeakable and full of glory. When the disciples believed that Jesus was alive, they were blessed. That means they were happy.
Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord, John 20:20. The disciples continued on with great joy, knowing Jesus was alive. Even after Jesus ascended to heaven, they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, Luke 24:52.
Question: Are you believing a lie or are you rejoicing in the truth?
3. Difference between Sitting and Serving, Mark 16:14,15
Jesus appeared to the disciples as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seem him after he was risen. Here are the disciples in their unbelief, SITTING. SAD. They were mourning and lamenting and weeping but that does not mean that their hearts were soft. Sometimes people weep with a hard heart. Sometimes people weep with tears of stone, angry at God and not willing to accept from God what He has prepared.
Does this look like a group of people who could turn the world upside down? This this look like a group of people who could steal the body of Jesus? Or preach that He was alive? These guys had no plan, no guile, and no heart to outsmart or overcome the Roman soldiers. They were full of doubt and defeat!
What is truly startling about this is that the enemies of Jesus were nervous and fearful that these disciples would steal the body of Jesus and “say to the people that He is risen from the dead” (Matt.27:64). The enemies of Jesus understood well that Jesus said he would arise from the dead! The disciples were in hiding and were weeping as if Jesus would never arise! The enemies of Jesus seemed to understand what Jesus meant better than the disciples. The enemies of Jesus knew that Jesus had said he would rise again and they were doing what they could to prevent it from happening. These disciples who heard Jesus speak of rising from the dead did not believe even after the faithful witness of Mary and the two on the Emmaus Road. Often those who refuse to believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ have greater fears than we have faith. The enemy’s fears are greater than our faith! Their fear haunts them and drives them to desperate measures to keep Jesus from conquering the grave! While the enemies worked to prevent the resurrection, the disciples huddled in forgetful fear and tears.
Jesus manifests Himself to them in His glorified resurrection body and tells them to believe that He is risen.
Jesus rebukes them for their unbelief: Do you know what will get the people of God serving and going with the Gospel? A strong, yet, loving rebuke from the King of Kings. Who does the Lord rebuke? Those He loves. The Lord rebukes the apostles and “upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.” This word means to taunt, to reproach, and to revile. It is a strong word, but Jesus upbraids them in love.
That rebuke got them going!
They did not believe two separate accounts of those who had seen the Lord. How should they expect others to believe them if they did not believe the witness of those who had seen Jesus risen? Perhaps the Lord is allowing this so that the disciples would be patient toward those who did not believe.
If the disciples did not believe instantly then we must not lose heart when people today do not believe! We must be willing to endure all things for the elect’s sake!
He then commands the disciples to GO. WE are not saved to sit, soak, and sour: we are saved to serve the Lord. Go for God! Go with the Gospel.
In Matthew’s Gospel we see three “Go’s”:
a. Go Quickly, Matt.28:7 b. Go Tell, Matt.28:10 c. Go Disciple, Matt.28:19
There are too many believers who are benchwarmers. Get off the bench and into the game. God has not called us to be a spectator but a participator. Fresh fruit that sits on the shelf rots. Get going for God! Go quickly, go tell, and go disciple. Tell somebody else what you know. Tell somebody how to grow.
The word go means to go from place to place. We are to go with the Gospel, and that is the reason for our church. I call upon all who believe in the resurrection power of Jesus Christ: Go and serve the Lord. We are to serve the Lord through the authority of a local church. One of the most significant things we could ever do with our lives is to serve the Lord through the local church!
The ministry of going with the Gospel is for every believer. Every believer is a minister. Every believer is gifted by the Holy Spirit for ministry. Every believer has a vital ministry to the body of Christ. We are inter-dependent upon one another in the work of the ministry.
When we are done with this life and in heaven, we are not going to say: Oh, I wish I had bought that car or bought that house instead of the one we had. I believe many will say, I should have served more, been in church more, given more to God and His people, read my Bible more, prayed more!
Question: Are you sitting or serving?
4. Difference between Hell and Heaven, Mark 16:16
Here is an interesting verse. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned.
There is a heaven and there is a hell. Heaven is real. Hell is real. Heaven is eternal and hell is eternal. What do you have to do to go to heaven: hell. Absolutely nothing. You are by nature a child of wrath, born in sin and shapen in iniquity.
What do you have to do to go to heaven: Nothing, except believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!
What must you do to go to heaven? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe from your heart that God hath raised him from the dead. Then once you believe, you are to show forth the fruit of your faith. One of the ways we do that is to be baptized. Baptism is not a necessary condition for salvation. Baptism is a natural step of obedience for the one who believes. The thief on the cross was not baptized but he was saved. We are not saved by our baptism, we are saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Are you saved? Are you sure of it? How many years will you put if off? How do you know you have any more time left to procrastinate your eternal life. Cry out for the mercy of God in your life today!
Question: Are you going to heaven or hell?