Mark 16:1-6
My Resurrection Story
I do not know if this is your most unusual Easter or not, but it is
mine. Some of you were perhaps in the military and have spent an
Easter or two in foreign soil or maybe even in a foxhole. Others
have perhaps spent an Easter in a hospital room, either has the
patient or caring for the patient. But being locked out of church
this year makes this my most unusual Easter and—as we are studying
through the Book of Revelation—I wonder if we may not have many
more unusual Easters.
Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary
Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and
Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might
come and anoint him.
2 And very early in the morning the first day
of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the
rising of the sun.
3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll
us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone
was rolled away: for it was very great.
5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a
young man sitting on the right side, clothed in
a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye
seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he
is risen; he is not here: behold the place where
they laid him.
If you will bear with me, I will come back to these verses in a few
moments, but first I want to tell you the background of the
resurrection story this morning—but not just any story. I want to
tell you my story.
I view my story in a way you may not like or agree with, but that is
all right since it is my story. Every person must and will write
their own resurrection story so you make yours say whatever you
wish.
My story contains my greatest sadness, my greatest joy, and my
greatest anticipation. I view my story as a thread that runs both
backward and forward through time. As I tell you my resurrection
story, you may see that my thread changes colors depending on how
I feel about that section of my story.
I will tell you My Resurrection Story in three points:
I. That’s me.
A. My story begins in the future.
Rev 20:11 And I saw a great white throne, and
him that sat on it, from whose face the earth
and the heaven fled away; and there was found
no place for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God; and the books were opened: and
another book was opened, which is the book of
life: and the dead were judged out of those
things which were written in the books,
according to their works.
B. This is the Great White Throne Judgment, the place where God
will judge every sinner.
C. That is me standing at the Great White Throne.
1. This is my future.
2. Now, even before the thought can even enter your mind,
let me tell you that I am standing there because of the
sins of another, not because of what Adam and Eve.
3. I understand why some might think that.
a. When Adam and Eve sinned back in the Garden, they
did sin for us all; and because of their sin, our
nature was changed.
b. Sin became part of our DNA, our genes, our
very chromosomes.
4. However, \\#12\\ does not say that God condemns and
sentences those indicted before Him that day based on
their nature.
a. No, rather it says that He opens a Book of Life and
judges those there according to their works.
b. I will stand before that Great White Throne and be
condemned not because of the nature with which I was
born, but because of the bad works that I have
committed.
c. My works are bad and my bad works are many.
d. Our message today is being broadcasted on Facebook
Live and will be stored on my own personal website.
e. Many who have known me all of my life will be
viewing this message.
(1) Some who are and have been acquaintances since
my youth could tell you of my evil works. And
some in this community can tell you of my short
comings, my failings, my sins.
(2) Even closer to home, my two brothers know a few
of my evil works. They could each testify to
my temper, my pride, my arrogance, and my
selfishness. They and many other family
members have seen and know of just a few of my
shortcomings much too well for me to deny them.
(3) But even closer are my wife, children, their
mates, and perhaps even some of my grandchildren
by now are starting to figure me out. They
could each bear witness and tell stories of the
mean-spirit, the lazy spirit, and the prideful
spirit that abides within me.
(4) But all of those damning testimonies are not so
bad as those books which will greet me at the
Great White Throne for those books are the
complete, unabridged, and unadorned details of
every bad deed I have done, of every bad word
I have said, and of every bad thought I have
thought.
(a) He has them all recorded for at the same
time I did wrong against you, I was also
doing wrong against Him.
(b) Let me not play games about this. I would
never have taken the time to even think
about how I hurt you if I had not taken the
time to think about how I hurt Him.
(c) I am sorry for that, but denying my nature
does not make it go away.
(d) I am trying to tell you my story, the
complete story; and I am not a very good
person.
5. Friend, make no mistake.
a. That is me standing there at the Great White Throne.
b. It is my greatest sadness that I stand before God
guilty of sinning against both mankind and the holy
God.
c. My thread has turned black with shame and regret, with
the ugliness of sin and corruption.
d. I would like to avoid that day, but I cannot.
e. I would like to flee from that day, but I cannot.
f. It is there and I must greet it very soon.
g. That’s me standing there.
D. That’s me being cast into the Lake of Fire.
Rev 20:13 And the sea gave up the dead which
were in it; and death and hell delivered up the
dead which were in them: and they were judged
every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake
of fire. This is the second death.
1. I don’t want to go.
a. Oh how I don’t want this to happen!
b. But it will
c. It is my future.
d. It is my story.
e. It is my greatest sadness.
2. I will not be like those in the state of foolish denial
who claim they do not deserve it, because I do.
a. By attempting to figure out what is written in those
books, I have seen myself.
b. By wanting to know the charges that will be leveled
against me, the crimes which I have committed, I
now know more of myself than I care to know.
c. I shudder when I think of it, but I do deserve what
will happen on that day.
d. I deserve to be cast into the Lake of Fire that will
burn and torment me forever and ever.
3. But I do not want it.
4. Somehow, there must be a way out. Somehow, there must be
an alternative.
5. The Bible offers but one.
6. Another, a Lamb, may take my place.
II. That’s my Lamb!
Mark 15:33 And when the sixth hour was come,
there was darkness over the whole land until the
ninth hour.
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud
voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?
which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me?
35 And some of them that stood by, when they
heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias.
36 And one ran and filled a spunge full of
vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to
drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether
Elias will come to take him down.
37 And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave
up the ghost.
38 And the veil of the temple was rent in twain
from the top
39 And when the centurion, which stood over
against him, saw that he so cried out, and gave
up the ghost, he said, Truly this man was the
Son of God.
A. That’s just any man.
1. That’s God’s Son.
2. He came to take my place in hell.
3. He came to be my Lamb.
B. This is my greatest joy, that my future can be changed.
1. My thread which turned black with sin and shame now turns
red as Someone does for me what no one should have done.
2. Jesus, my Lamb, died for my sins and took my place.
3. This story is old in time, but it never gets old to me.
C. He was recognized and announced.
1. The first was John the Baptism. Baptizing by the River
Jordan, Jesus came to be baptized. As Jesus was being
immersed, John saw the Holy Spirit descend upon like a
Dove and heard the voice of the Father announce, "Thou
art My beloved Son" \\#Mk 1:11\\. John later proclaimed,
"Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of
the world." \\#John 1:29\\ THE LAMB became MY LAMB.
2. Andrew appears to be the second to figured it out.
Hearing what John said, he and another followed for just
one day, just one day. In that day, Jesus performed no
miracles. In that day, Jesus was flanked by no crowds.
As far as we know, it was just Jesus, Andrew, and another
talking together, but by the end of that one day, Andrew
was heard telling his brother, "We have found the
Messiah." \\#John 1:38-41\\. Whatever burned into
Andrew’s heart burned into mine as well for that’s my
Lamb!
3. Nathanael took more convincing. He was not a man to
simply follow the crowd and plainly stated his doubt that
any prophet could come out of Nazareth, but within
minutes of meeting Jesus, he seems to be bowed on his
knees before Jesus proclaiming, "Thou art the Son of God;
Thou are the King of Israel." \\#John 1:45-49\\.
4. The number increased very slowly at first, but then came
the miracles.
a. Then people came, mostly to be healed physically at
first.
(1) The sick with diseases in their body….
(2) Those broken from accidents….
(3) Soon the dozens became hundreds; the crippled,
the deaf, the dumb, the lame, the paralyzed.
b. But the more that came caused more to come and the
numbers grew from the hundreds to the thousands
and from merely sick of body to sick of soul: the
afflicted, and the tormented, the oppressed, and the
possessed.
c. Oh, how they came and how they were helped.
(1) They came hungry and left full.
(2) They came sick and left well.
(3) They came controlled and left free.
(4) They came confused and they left certain.
(5) They came damned and they left forgiven.
D. But that is their story. I want to tell you mine.
1. I was not raised in a church. We only went on special
occasions like Easter and Christmas.
2. But as a child we lived across from a beautiful, Methodist
church that had a Sunday school hallway which opened to
the outside.
a. That doorway was directly across from my house.
b. Our house was not air condition, but that church was.
c. I rattled the knob on that outside door one day and
found inside that darkened hallway a cool place in
the hot summer.
d. I also found the light switch, and checked every door
to see what I could get into.
e. Only one door was ever unlocked.
f. Looking back now, I realize it must have been a prayer
room.
(1) There was a place to sit in the cool comfort of
that air conditioner.
(2) And there pictures and mementos of Jesus
scattered around.
(3) I did not in any way vandalize that room for I
knew it was God’s house.
(4) But would go there from time to time, to cool
down, and to ponder.
(5) And in that cool room, I wondered who God was.
(6) And in that cool room, I prayed, "God, if you are
real, I would like to know You."
3. It would be many, many more years and a false experience
before God would drive the sword of understanding into my
head and the spear of conviction into my heart; but
finally I would be driven from my bed in the early
morning hours to surrender stubborn will to God.
E. On my knees beside my bed, that Lamb became my Lamb.
1. Those slaps against His face were my slaps.
2. Those thorns pressed into His brow were my thorns.
3. Those stripes with the cat-of-nine-tail were my strips.
4. The cross He bore on His back was my cross.
5. The spikes that they drove into His hands were my spikes.
6. The sins that drained the life out of His body were my
sins.
7. The wrath of God that was poured upon Him was my wrath.
8. The hell that endured was my hell.
9. That’s my Lamb, my Lamb hanging there, my Lamb dying
there.
10. That’s my Lamb.
a. He died from my sins.
b. And He died for your sins.
c. He died to take our place.
F. But that is not the end of my resurrection story.
III. That’s my Lion.
A. We started by reading the resurrection account.
1. This is where my crimson thread becomes gold.
2. This is where my greatest sadness becomes my greatest
anticipation - to see my Lion face to face.
3. You see, my Lamb did not stay dead.
B. The Lamb had to die.
1. The Lamb had to die to take my place.
2. The Lamb had to die when He took my sins.
3. The Lamb had to die to face the fury of the Holy God which
was against me.
C. But while the Lamb had to die, the Lion had to arise.
1. The Lamb is the eternal God.
2. The Lamb is the conquering Hero.
3. The Lamb is the Almighty and death, like all others, must
bow before Him.
D. So like a Lamb, Jesus submitted to death and the grave, but
like a Lion, He arose.
1. Like a Lion who paid sin’s price, He arose.
2. Like a Lion who defeated death, He arose.
3. Like a Lion who defeated the grave, He arose.
4. Like a Lion who defeated the devil, He arose.
5. Like a Lion who pleased the Father, He arose.
6. Like a Lion who would ascend to His throne, He arose.
7. Like a Lion who was beginning something new and different,
the Lion arose.
8. Like a Lion who invited others to follow Him, the Lion
arose.
E. And that’s my Lion.
1. The Lamb is dead.
2. The Lion lives.
3. Forever live the Lion! Forever live the Lion!
That’s the resurrection story. That’s my resurrection story, and it
can be your resurrection story. Deny your sinfulness if you want,
but we both know it is there. Deny that you need a Savior if you
wish, but we know. Pretend Jesus is not the Lamb if you dare, but
we can both feel the truth. He is.
If you want to receive Jesus Christ as your Lamb today, you need to
do two things.
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