Sunday’s Children (Mark 16)

Sunday’s Children(Mark 16)

Mark 15:33-16:8 • Jesus’ Death (15:33-37) • The Effect of His Death (15:38-47) • The Untold Day – Saturday • The Resurrection (16:1-8)

I. Jesus’ Death (15:33-37)  Darkness  "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?"

II. The Effect of His Death (15:38-47) • Access (v. 38) • Revelation (v. 39) • Courage and Devotion (vv. 42-46)

III. The Untold Day – Saturday Silence! Saturday was surely a day of desolation, shattered dreams, gloom and despair.

IV. The Resurrection (16:1-8) • Central to Christianity (1 Corinthians 15:1-5) “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2and by which you are being saved … 3For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to …”

“to preach Christianity meant primarily to preach the Resurrection. … The Resurrection is the central theme in every Christian sermon reported in the Acts… [The Gospels] were in no sense the basis of Christianity: they were written for those already converted. The miracle of the Resurrection, and the theology of that miracle, comes first: the biography comes later as comment on it… The first fact in the history of Christendom is a number of people who say they have seen the Resurrection.” C. S. Lewis

IV. The Resurrection (16:1-8) • Central to Christianity • Historically unprecedented

“Christianity was born into a world where its central claim was known to be false. Many believed that the dead were non-existent; outside Judaism, nobody believed in resurrection… Those who followed Plato or Cicero did not want a body again; those who followed Homer knew they would not get one” N. T. Wright • Was resurrection of deity borrowed? No! What about the taurobolium ritual of Attis & Mithra? No hint of resurrection until 4th cent. A.D.

IV. The Resurrection (16:1-8) • Central to Christianity • Historically unprecedented • Defensible  Frank Morrison, Who Moved the Stone?  Josh McDowell

IV. The Resurrection (16:1-8) Evidences: • The Empty Tomb (vv. 1-6) • Eyewitnesses (v. 7) • Sunday’s Children (v. 8)

IV. The Resurrection (16:1-8) • Central to Christianity • Historically unprecedented • Defensible • Relevant

Implications of the Resurrection 1. Validation of His claims, including coming judgment. “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31)

Implications of the Resurrection 1. Validation of His claims, including coming judgment. • Eternal Life (Romans 5:10) “For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:10)

Implications of the Resurrection 1. Validation of His claims, including coming judgment. • Eternal Life (Romans 5:10) • Personal Presence and Ministry

Implications of the Resurrection 4. Lordship of Christ “Easter is not primarily a comfort, but a challenge. “If it is true, then it is the supreme fact of history; and to fail to adjust one’s life to its implications means irreparable loss. If it is not true, if Christ has not risen, then Christianity is all a fraud foisted on the world by consummate liars – or, at best, deluded simpletons.” J. N. D. Anderson

“Tremble, O proud snake king! The spike-scabbed foot on your skull isn't dead tissue anymore.” Russell Moore

Sunday’s Children (Mark 16)