"Who Will Roll Away the Stone?!" based on Mark 16:1-8
Easter
Pastor Troy Slater - Our
It's certainly easy to overlook the real
humanity of the characters that we find in the Biblical records. It's so easy to think of them as larger than
life or perhaps just from that world of make-believe. Especially when we come to
those miraculous - those seemingly "out of this world" events such as
the resurrection from the dead.
But we of course must remember that our faith is a faith that is
grounded in reality - it is grounded in real people who lived real lives in
real places with their own real problems and concerns. That's certainly one of the reasons we
confess in our creed as we just did that Jesus "suffered under Pontius
Pilate". It grounds our faith in
reality - our Savior was a real man who suffered under a real man whom we can
find recorded in the history books. As
Christians, we speak of real events happening to real people.
And our text for this morning - our
Gospel text from Mark chapter 16 certainly also witnesses to the reality of our
faith. For we have the women - three
women as recorded by Mark - coming to the tomb where Joseph of Arimathea had placed the dead body of a crucified
Jesus. No doubt their hearts were aching
early that morning. The sights and the smells
and the sounds of that Friday morning and afternoon were still all too fresh in
their minds. A friend who had
tragically, cruelly had His life cut short while He still held so much
promise. But they had come to do a
service for this deceased friend - anoint His body - give His remains a proper
burial - something people really do for their loved ones. But they had a very real problem, a very real
question. “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb?” "Who
will roll away the stone?" …
In a lot of ways, we are very much
like those women. Now certainly the
women came with very sorrowful faces on that Sunday morning. Downcast – depressed – after all, they came
looking for a dead body – the body of their friend who had given them so many
hopes – hopes that were apparently crushed.
They came with downcast faces while we come with cheerful faces this
Sunday morning with words of greeting, words of “Happy Easter” on our lips. But yet today or maybe yesterday or maybe
tomorrow, we ask questions very much like that one that was on the women's
minds that first Easter morning. Questions
grounded in reality. Questions very much
like the one, "who will roll away the stone?"
The pressures of life pressing in on
you with no apparent way to escape? Yes, who will roll
away the stone?
"It's
cancer," the doctor says, "and our options are limited." Yes, who will roll away the stone?
"It's Johnny," the voice on
the other end of the line says, "he's in trouble again." Yes, who will roll away the stone?
"We just can't afford to pay you
anymore." Yes, who will roll away
the stone?
"I don’t know what to do with
myself in that big house, ever since Henry died, I
just get so lonely anymore." Yes,
who will roll away the stone?
"I'm leaving you for I just
don't think that I can love you anymore."
Yes, who will roll away the stone?
"Your dad just can't be by
himself anymore, you need to find another option." Yes, who will roll away the stone?
Today like the women we come with
those stones - and again, maybe they're in the past, maybe they're in the
present, maybe they're yet in the future - but we come with those problems,
those struggles, those sorrows - that need rolled away. We need some glimmer of hope to shine through
the darkness of the tomb. Yes, who will
roll away the stone? …
Well today, this morning, that
question is answered, isn't it? For the
women, as our reading tells us, "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
I am here today to declare to you
that Jesus lives. Crushed, wounded, and
pierced for our transgressions; stricken, smitten and afflicted for our sin;
crucified, dead and buried for us, Jesus lives.
Jesus lives and because Jesus lives, like with the women on that first
Easter morning, we find that the stone has been rolled away. Our Lord God has rolled it away.
Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not
saying, as some will try to tell you, "Oh you just need to believe in
Jesus and your life will be set. Just
believe enough and your best days are ahead of you." You see I'm not going to lie to you like
that. The problems may not get
solved. Your loved one may not get
better. You may continue to struggle
financially. The relationship may not be
repaired. The prodigal son may not find
his way home. There may not be an easy
option. I don't know.
But here's what I will tell you. Jesus lived.
Jesus died. And Jesus' grave is
empty. … You live. And unless Jesus
returns again first, you will die. But
your grave will be empty. On the day of
a risen Christ's return your grave will be vacated. For today we proclaim that Christ is risen; that death is defeated; that our sin has been washed
away by His blood; today we rejoice that your citizenship is in heaven. …
Now of course some here at this point
will say, "You Christians are chasing a fantasy - a fairy tale. All this Jesus and heaven stuff is just a way
to numb you to reality." Well, show
me the real remains of Jesus of Nazareth - a person whose existence history
attests to, and I'll believe them. But
they won't - oh they'll try, but they can't.
You want reality I'll give you reality.
The tomb is empty. The stone has
been rolled away. "He has
risen. He is not in His tomb."
He is risen and so today, tomorrow,
and for all eternity, we can find that our problems don’t have to weigh us down
- I'm not saying we won't have them or won't have to deal with them. But today we find that our God - our good and
gracious God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - is not the God of the dead, but of
the living. Today we hear the good news
that nothing in all of creation - not trouble or hardship or persecution or
famine or nakedness or danger or sword - not even death can separate you from
the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Today we hear of our sin abolished, our hope
secured, our troubles consigned to the status of temporary; today we even hear
of our death defeated. Yes today we hear
those joyful words from inside an empty tomb – that’s right from inside an
EMPTY tomb – “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene,
who was crucified. He has risen! He is
not here. See the place where they laid Him.”
That's
reality. That's your reality. No matter what yesterday, today, tomorrow
holds, Jesus is risen. The stone is
rolled away. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Amen.