Today we are looking at the last chapter of Mark, particularly the section of scripture in which he records the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  The chapter begins early Sunday morning.  We ended our message last Sunday speaking of the burial that happened immediately after the crucifixion which was on Friday afternoon.  You will remember that Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus were in a hurry to bury Jesus’s body because the Sabbath was quickly approaching.  The Sabbath was counted by the Jews from sundown on Friday, to sundown on Saturday.  We count our days from midnight to midnight.  But without clocks, it was more feasible to count the day as ended at sundown and a new day continuing until sundown the next day.  

So after they buried Jesus His body was in the tomb from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning.  If you were here last week, then you may remember that I attempted to describe what may have transpired while Jesus’s body was in the tomb.  1Peter 3:18 tells us “For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;  in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison.”  

Now I am not going to preach that message again.  Once was painful enough, I suppose.  I told my wife later that I thought last week’s sermon was probably the worst message I ever preached. And I said, “What did you think?” Hoping she might reassure me.  But she said, “Oh, I’m not sure, there have been so many!”  

The point is though that during this dark interval between the cross and the resurrection, though His body was in the tomb, yet Jesus was alive in the Spirit, and as the Apostle’s Creed declares, in His Spirit He descended into Hades.  In some mysterious way, in every respect, Jesus paid in full the penalty for our sins through His death.   Someone has well said, that the death of Jesus on the cross was the payment, but the resurrection was the receipt, showing that the payment was complete in the judgment of God the Father.  The fact that Jesus was resurrected is proof that God considered the sacrifice of Jesus as fully acceptable and the complete atonement for our justification.

Now I want to briefly make a few notes on the record of Christ’s resurrection as noted by Mark.  I don’t think it’s necessary to try to fill in all the blanks in Mark’s account from the other gospels.  I think it’s sufficient to make note of the points that he wanted to make concerning the resurrection.  Then I would like to show the relevance of the resurrection.  What does it mean for us?  It must be more than just a historical record.  And I believe that the relevance of the resurrection is central and crucial to  biblical Christianity.  Without it, there is no good news.  
The resurrection is one of the pillars of the gospel. It is central to the gospel because the resurrection is the source of eternal life for believers; because He lives, we live also. Without the resurrection, the cross, the death of Christ, would be meaningless. Without the resurrection, the cross would be powerless. If Christ is not raised, according to 1 Cor.15:14, then your faith is in vain, the gospel is worthless and you are still in your sins…if Christ is not raised.  So we need to understand the resurrection’s relevance.

And then, finally, I want to show our response to the resurrection.  It’s not enough to simply believe or accept it in some superficial, historical way, but it demands a response.  And that response involves an invitation and a proclamation.

So let’s begin first with the record of the resurrection.  Mark’s account is the briefest of all the gospels.  He begins with the same people he left off with at the end of chapter 15 on Friday evening with the women who witnessed the crucifixion and burial of Jesus Christ.  Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, were those who had followed Him from Galilee.  They had ministered to Him during His travels and ministry, perhaps with financial support, and caring for His needs during His preaching.  They supported Him.  And though all had forsaken Him, these women were faithful witnesses through the crucifixion, the burial, and now the first at the tomb early Sunday morning.

There is a principle that is taught in 2 Samuel during the time of David’s wars.  Some of the men stayed behind with the baggage while the others went on to fight the battle.  And after the victory, some soldiers wanted to keep the spoils from being shared with the ones who stayed behind.  But David wisely made a tradition, established a principle, which said that the ones who stayed behind with the baggage should share as fully in the spoils as those who fought on the front lines.  And that principle remains  true for these women, who were in the background, serving the Lord, and who gave a great service to the Lord, even though it was unheralded.  So much of the important work of the Kingdom is done by people who are not in the limelight, but who support the ministry in the background.  But at the consummation of the Kingdom, they will receive the same reward as those who were on the forefront of the battles.  

The next item of note is that it was early on Sunday morning, which was called the first day of the week. You know, this message would seem to be better preached on Easter, when we formally celebrate the resurrection.  But the fact is that we celebrate the resurrection every Sunday.  We meet on Sunday because Jesus was resurrected on the first day of the week.  Sunday became known as the Lord’s Day.  And since the earliest days of the church, Christians met on the Lord’s Day in worship.  The Sabbath was the day of rest which God instituted for the Jews in the law of Moses which looked forward to the rest from our labor that we would have in Jesus. But with the resurrection of Jesus Christ Christians began to assemble and worship on the first day of the week, in celebration of the new life we have in  Jesus Christ.  We are no longer under the law of the Sabbath, as Paul said in Colossians 2:16, “Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day– things which are a [mere] shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ.” So the fact that the resurrection was early on Sunday morning is important to our theology.

There is another item in the record which bears pointing out, and that is the extremely large stone that the women were aware was blocking their access to Jesus body.  It was beyond their ability to move.  And so, to a certain extent, they went to the tomb in faith that somehow they would be able to access the body.  They probably were unaware that Pilate had commissioned a detachment of soldiers to guard the tomb, and that they had put a seal on it, so that it could not be opened.  But the other gospel’s tell us that God had sent an earthquake and an angel to roll away the stone, so that the soldiers ran away afraid.  

But the point that needs to be made, is that Jesus did not need the stone rolled away in order to be able to get out of the tomb.  In John 20, we see Jesus in His risen body walking into a locked and closed up room to visit the disciples.  In His risen body doors and walls did not hinder Him.  So He had already left the tomb before the stone was rolled away. The angel rolled the stone away so that the disciples could enter and witness that He wasn’t there.

But in that early morning darkness, the thought of the great stone across the door to the tomb must have been a great deterrent to the women’s desire to tend to body of Jesus. They could have given up before they ever even started out.  And what a loss they would have if they had not ventured out in faith, in spite of the perceived obstacles. 

There are a lot of perceived  impediments even today in coming to Christ.  The scriptures tell us that the gospel of Christ is a rock of offense.  But the lesson here is that we come in faith, in spite of the darkness, in spite of our lack of understanding, but believing that God can remove those obstacles, that He can move those mountains that seem to be impeding us, and when we come in the little faith we have, we will find that God has already provided a way, and our little faith will give way to a greater faith. Psalm 36:9, “In thy light we see light.”  As we walk in faith in the light we have been given, God grants greater light for the path ahead.

Notice also when they entered the tomb they saw an angel sitting at the right side of the tomb.  Mark describes him as a young man in a white robe.  The other gospels tell us it was an angel.  I think Mark is also obviously describing an angel, but in appearance he resembles a young man, though in a glorified state.  The women are amazed, frightened.  Angels are a messenger of God.  That is what the word means, messenger. Hebrews 1:14 tells us concerning angels, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to render service for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” And God wants these women to know what has transpired, not to speculate, not to wonder what happened to Jesus.  Vs6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, [here is] the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’”

So by this angelic announcement, the women’s faith was confirmed. The death of Jesus was not the sad end of a tragic tale of a good man.  The resurrection provided proof of Christ’s divinity, it offered hope of a new life, a new relationship with Jesus who lived, who had power over death, and because He lived, we might live.  Because He was resurrected, we too have the hope of resurrection.

You know, in a court of law, there is no greater evidence that can be given than that of eyewitness testimony.  A person can be sentenced to death on the basis of two eyewitnesses testimony.  The fact of Jesus’s resurrection is something Paul said was attested to by more than 500 eyewitnesses.  So the veracity of the resurrection stands as a historical fact.  There are many other details of the events surrounding the resurrection that we could review.  Some of those will be discussed next week as we look at the remaining 8 verses.  But for now I would like to leave the record, and move on to the second point, which is the relevance of the resurrection.  What is the meaning of the resurrection, and what significance does it have for me?

First, the resurrection means that Jesus was declared to be the Son of God.  We read in Romans 1:4, (Jesus) “was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.”  If Jesus was not resurrected, then He was just a man with delusions of glory.  But because He was resurrected, and ascended bodily into heaven, it is evidence that He was who He claimed to be, the Son of God.  And only because He was the Son of God, was His sacrifice acceptable. Because Jesus bore all our sins in His death and because His atonement for sin satisfied God, God gave to us His righteousness. 2 Cor. 5:21 “God made Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Justification is God crediting the righteousness of Christ to us, imputing the righteousness of Christ to our account. Because God raised Him from the dead, God was affirming the completeness of His sacrifice for sinners.

Secondly, the resurrection means that we have assurance of our own resurrection: 1Thess. 4:14 says, “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” That means that those who are asleep in Jesus, that have died in faith, will be raised from the dead, raised from Paradise to glorification with Christ.  We will be given new bodies, to live in a new heaven and new earth, to be forever with the Lord. That’s the hope of the resurrection.

Next,  the resurrection teaches us that God has an eternal plan for our lives. The resurrection means that death no longer has any power over us.  Jesus said, “he who believes in Me will never die.”  This life is but a foretaste of what is in store for those who are in Christ.  In the life to come, we will judge angels, we will rule and reign with Christ.  There may be worlds upon worlds out there in the cosmos that God will give to us to reign over.  I don’t know.  Paul said “eye has not seen, and ear has not heard.”  We can’t imagine the life that God has prepared for those who love Him. But we know that we will be with the Lord forever. We will never die.

1Cor. 15:35-55 says, “But someone will say, “How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come?” You fool! That which you sow does not come to life unless it dies; and that which you sow, you do not sow the body which is to be, but a bare grain, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one [flesh] of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the [glory] of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable [body,] it is raised an imperishable [body;] it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual [body.] So also it is written, “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING SOUL.” The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. Now I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory. “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?”

Fifth, the resurrection means that Jesus has a continuing ministry: Hebrews 7:25 says, “He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He ever lives to make intercession for them.”  We have a great high priest, positioned at the right hand of God, who ever lives to make intercession for us.  We have an advocate in the heavens, a mediator between God and man.  He who gave His life for us, how will He not freely give us all good things that we need?  That’s the continuing ministry of Jesus Christ who ever lives. 

Now let’s consider the last point I want to make in this sermon, and that is the response to the resurrection.  It is not enough to hear the facts of the resurrection, to learn the doctrines of the resurrection, but it is also necessary to respond to the resurrection.  It is the climatic conclusion to the gospel which demands a response from all who hear it.  And so we see in the passage two aspects to the response, first an invitation, and then a proclamation on the part of those who have accepted the invitation.  

First, let’s consider the invitation.  As spoken through the angel, the women received a message from Jesus they had to deliver. He says, “Go and tell the disciples…” We might think of this message as an invitation, because through this message the disciples were invited to meet with Jesus.  The angel says in vs7 “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.'”

This illustrates that the invitation of Jesus is an invitation based on grace. The disciples had completely failed Jesus. He had every right to be done with them, but in grace He extended this invitation to them.  None of us are given an invitation from God based on our own worthiness, but on HIs worthiness.  He is worthy of our devotion because He is faithful to love us to the end, to love us even when we desert Him, and to call us back to fellowship with Him.  God wants complete fellowship with us.  That is why we were created.  The fall broke that fellowship.  The resurrection restores that life with God that we were designed to have.  But it is in the form of an invitation to come to Him, to believe in Him and trust Him with our very lives.

This invitation also illustrates for us that the promises of Jesus are always fulfilled on His part. He said that He would meet them in Galilee and according to John 21:1 He did just that.  And the Lord has given us many gracious promises as well. He says if we believe in Him, then one day we will see Him in glory, and having seen Him as He is, we will be like Him.  Jesus not only prophesied concerning His own death, but He also promised His resurrection.  He said, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.”  He fulfilled His promise, so that we might be certain that He will fulfill HIs promises to us.

Jesus’s invitation shows us that Jesus wants to reveal Himself more fully to us.  The angel said, “He is going before you into Galilee, there you shall see Him.”  The main objective was to see Him, for Jesus to reveal Himself to His people.  And the main goal for us to to look unto Him with the eyes of faith and then one day we will see Him face to face.  And as a result of that great experience of seeing our Lord in all of His glory, we will be changed to be like Him.  I can’t imagine what that will look like.  But we know that He keeps His promises.  As we were made in His image, in HIs likeness in the first creation, then how much more so will we be like Him in the new creation, when He makes all things new.

When Jesus invites us He always remembers His promises. “As He said to you,” the angel added to the invitation. What Jesus says, He will do, and He can never fail in any promise.  I would ask you today, have you ever accepted Jesus invitation?  He has promised life, forgiveness, peace, joy, eternal life to those who believe in Him.  But if you never accept the invitation, if you never act on it, then you will remain dead in your sins. Jesus has extended to you a personal invitation, to be saved, to be forgiven, to receive eternal life, by repentance from sin, and faith in Him.  Have you responded?  Isaiah 45:22 “Look unto Me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; For I am God, and there is no other”.

Then for those who have responded in faith, there is one more aspect to that response, and that is to go and tell, to proclaim the good news. Until He returns that is our job one, to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.  People are perishing all over the world, without hope, and Jesus provides the antidote.  But He wants us to be the ones to administer it.  

Mark says “and they said nothing to anyone:” This does not mean that the women made no report of the resurrection because we know plainly from the other gospel accounts that they did (Mark 16:11 and Luke 24:9). What he probably means is that as they left the scene of the empty tomb, they did not immediately do what they were told because of the fear and trembling that they felt.  Maybe it means that they did not go home and tell their families or neighbors at first, because of the amazement that overwhelmed them.  But we know eventually that they did tell the disciples.  And gradually word spread about the resurrection of Jesus, so that as Paul reported, at one point more than 500 people gathered to see the risen Savior. 

The disciples were told to tell the good news, and Mark reports that they did. Vs15 And [Jesus] said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. … vs20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.

We too have been given a mandate to go and tell.  But I’m afraid we too are full of fear and trembling.  The sad thing is, that we aren’t afraid because we have seen an angel, we aren’t trembling because we have witnessed the power of God in resurrection.  But we are afraid because of men, and what they might say about us, or think about us.  

I pray that we might be more like David, who said in Psalm 56:11, “In God I have put my trust, I will not be afraid, what can man do to me?”  If we really believe in the power of the resurrection, then we have no reason to fear man.  If we really trust in the power of God to raise men from the dead, then we have no reason to be afraid.  We can be bold because we know the truth that leads to salvation.  We have the antidote that a dying world is in dire need of.  I pray that we will not keep to ourselves what God has done in Christ.  Let’s go forth with joy and confidence that we have the good news of salvation, and may the Spirit of Christ work with us to bring men and women to see Jesus.

I believe that the greatest pivotal event in the history of the world is the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.  The Old Testament saints looked forward to it, and the New Testament church looks back to it.  But not only is it central to Christians, the cross of Christ is the centerpiece of the history of the entire world.  Even our calendar reflects the fact of Jesus’s life and death.  I know, AD does not mean “after death.” It means “anno domini”, which means “in the year of our Lord.”  However, even though some historians now use BCE or CE, meaning “before common era,” and “common era,” the determining crux of the eras is still the life of Jesus Christ.

Jesus whole life purpose was to come to offer Himself as our substitute, to be crucified on the cross for our sins, that we might be made righteous by the grace of God and be given spiritual life.  But in order to accomplish our salvation, He also had to be God incarnate, He also had to be the Messiah, He also had to be the Son of God, and He also had to be the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

I believe that as Mark describes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, he is recounting for us a tragedy of errors, as the world fails to accept Jesus Christ as it’s King.  In fact, they scorn Him and ridicule Him for claiming to be the King of the Jews. If this event were a fictional work of literature, then this story would easily best the greatest Shakespearean tragedies.  The King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, rejected, despised, scorned by His own people, and to add injury to insult, they crucify Him, having failed to recognize His rightful claim to the throne, nor His mission of mercy towards the very ones that assaulted Him.

I think it’s noteworthy that Mark gives merely four words to describe the actual act of the crucifixion; “and they crucified Him.”  Mark does not tell us all the gory details of crucifixion.  He leaves out many of the events that the other gospel writers include. Mark obviously wants to focus our attention on this event, but on what exactly?  Volumes of books have been written on the crucifixion.  Movies have been made, poems written, songs composed, and yet Mark, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, gives us four words.  What gives?  If not the torture of the cross, then what should we be considering here?

Well, I suggest that what Mark wants us to consider the humiliation of Jesus the King.  He is humiliated in that He has put aside HIs robes of glory, His heavenly splendor, and for our sakes became poor, for our sakes became clothed in human flesh, and yet He was despised for it, He was ridiculed for it, He was flogged for it, and then  hanged for it.  Paul says in 2Cor. 8:9 “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.” 

Mark emphasizes again and again that Jesus was the King of the Jews.  Notice how many times the phrase turns up in this section of scripture.  Notice in vs2, Pilate questioned Him, “Are You the King of the Jews?” And He *answered him, “It is as you say.”  Then notice vs9, Pilate answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” Then vs12 Answering again, Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Him whom you call the King of the Jews?” Next, listen to the words of the soldiers in vs18 and they began to acclaim Him, “Hail, King of the Jews!” Then notice the charge they crucified Him under; vs26 The inscription of the charge against Him read, “THE KING OF THE JEWS.”  Notice next they join the title Christ, which is Greek for Messiah, with the King of the Jews, in vs32 “Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” 

Now that’s a very important insight on the crucifixion, I believe. Jesus claimed to be the King of the Jews and the Son of God. Jesus was condemned, crucified for being the King of the Jews.  He was ridiculed and scorned and beaten for being the King of the Jews.  He was taunted to come down from the cross if He was indeed the Messiah and the King of the Jews. 
Now to be clear, to claim to be the Messiah was to claim to be anointed as King of the Jews by God Himself.  The Messiah, according to prophesy, was to be a descendent of David, in line to the throne of David, who would restore the kingdom of Israel. So as we saw in the last chapter, when Jesus is brought before the High Priest in a midnight trial, they ask Jesus pointblank, “Are You the Christ (that is the Messiah), the Son of the Blessed One?” And Jesus said, “I am; and you shall see THE SON OF MAN SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF POWER, and COMING WITH THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN.”

So Jesus claimed to the religious leaders of the Jews that He was the Messiah, that He was the Son of God, and that He would be sitting on the throne of power, and coming with the clouds of heaven.  That’s a pretty heavy claim.  He is claiming not to be just the King of the Jews, but the Supreme Ruler of all the Earth.   And then to Pilate, the Roman governor, who asks  “Are you the King of the Jews?”  Jesus answers, “it is as you say.” 

Now I want us to consider the rest of His remarks because it’s reported in John 18:36 Jesus continued to answer Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”

What Jesus is claiming is pretty clear; His kingdom is a spiritual kingdom, not a geopolitical one.  Not limited to the physical, material world.  It is a kingdom of the spiritual world.  And those who are spiritual are part of His kingdom.  Though Jesus had every right to claim the physical, material benefits of being the King of the Jews, the Messiah, He was not setting up a physical throne in Jerusalem but He is claiming spiritual sovereignty over the world.  And so as Paul would make very clear later in his epistle to the Romans said in chapter 2:28-29 “For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh.  But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.”

Now that death of the flesh, which Paul says is pictured by circumcision, is described for us here as the cross.  The cross is the means by which the flesh is put to death, and righteousness is revealed, so that sinners might be made spiritually born again. Folks, there is something missing today in modern Christianity.  And that is the cross.  Not the historical details of the crucifixion.  I think we are all well familiar with them.  But taking up our cross and following Jesus.  We have to take up our cross, we have to crucify the flesh, or die to the flesh, so we may be reborn, transformed, converted, so that we have new life.  Gal. 5:24-25 “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.”

I’m afraid for the church today because we have millions of people who are claiming to be Christians, claiming faith in Christ, but many cannot be characterized as having been reborn, they cannot be described as all things becoming new, they cannot be thought of as having been converted.  As a result of their Christianity, they may be able to make the claim that they are improved. but not changed.  I’m afraid it is because they have been taught a watered down gospel, which says you can retain all the corruptness of the flesh and still have salvation. 

The truth is, that the flesh and spirit are diametrically opposed. Rom 8:5-8, 12-14 “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.  For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,  because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,  and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. … 12 So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh–  for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

I’m sure you have all seen the products which have become familiar in the grocery store, and then they come out with a new color scheme on their packaging, and they write in bold letters, “New, Improved!”  Yet when you taste it, it tastes the same as it ever did. I’m afraid that is what a lot of Christians are like.  They claim to be new and improved, but what’s inside still seems to the same.  The problem is perhaps that they have never been converted.  They have just changed some things on the outside, but not the inside.  

Now that change comes from recognizing that you are a sinner in need of changing, number one.  It is an appeal to the One who is able to change you to forgive you of your sins, and to cleanse you from all unrighteousness.  To make you into a new creature. And that conversion can only come from the One who has the authority to give life, and to take it away.  It comes when we renounce our will and bow down and worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, who alone has the power and authority to forgive sins, and to give new life.  

I think there is some difficulty in recognizing what it means to be a King in today’s culture.  We live in a culture which celebrates independence, a government which recognizes an individual’s rights.  We live in a time when democracy claims to be the rule of law.  The rule of the people.  But that’s the opposite of what a King or a kingdom represented in history.  A King had complete authority over life or death.  A King owned all the land, and all the people of the land.  Everything was under His dominion.  The King granted land to certain nobles.  He appointed certain people to certain tasks.  He gave permission for people to do various things.  Everything existed by His decree.  Now that is not a popular form of government today.  But it was pretty much the only form of government for the first 6000 years of the history of the world. And that kind of sovereignty is what is referred to in the title King of the Jews.

Now Mark presents for us several kinds of of people that are at the cross during the crucifixion.  And the overwhelming response of them all towards the idea that Jesus was the King of the Jews is that of scorn and ridicule.  But not all of them. I want to briefly address each of these groups as they are recorded as encountering the Lord Jesus as He suffered, and in the process we will see how they came to see the cross and it’s significance for them.

The first person we see after the sentencing by Pilate and the scourging by the soldiers is a man called Simon of Cyrene. As Jesus is being led to the cross, He is forced to carry Christ’s cross.  And the scourging Jesus has already endured, and the loss of blood has undoubtedly severely weakened Him.  As Jesus carries His cross, Mark tells us that the Roman soldiers pressed into service a passerby, who was coming into Jerusalem from the country, to carry the cross of Jesus.  

Tradition tells us that Simon actually became a Christian as a result of witnessing the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.  We don’t know exactly how it happened, or when it happened, but the act of taking up the cross and following Jesus must have caused him to recognize Jesus as the Lord who was sacrificed for his sins. Notice that Mark tells the reader that Simon was the father of Rufus and Alexander.  The point being that they were known to the church in Rome at the time of Mark’s writing, presumably because their father Simon had first become a Christian, and then led his sons to become Christians.  Many believe that Paul writing much later to the Romans mentions Rufus as a leader of the church of Rome in Romans chapter 16.

The next group we see in this passage is the soldiers once again.  They brought Jesus to a place called Golgotha, which means the place of the skull.  There are a variety of explanations why it was called the place of a skull, we are not sure which is the real reason.  But that definition is not the point of this lesson.  We see the soldiers offered Him a drink mixed with wine and myrrh, which was a form of narcotic that was given to help those being crucified to lessen the pain somewhat.  But Jesus refused it.  As I said last week, He had no desire to escape the cross, nor even it’s suffering.  He willingly suffered and died for sin, because that was the penalty that was due to us.  

You know, the cross is a terrible way to die.  But it may not be the worst possible way to die. I don’t know what is, and I prefer not to think of it.  Thousands of people have been crucified, however, down through the centuries.  However, God chose the torture of the cross as a just recompense for the affront of our sin. A Righteous Judge must give an adequate punishment suited to the severity of the crime.  And the agony of the cross illustrates for us the severity of our crimes against God.  We may think our sins are not really that bad, but to a Holy God, they deserve not only the horrors of the cross, but the whippings at the trial, and the terrors of Hell.  We have too small a view of sin, and too mild a view of God’s wrath against sin.  

Then after the soldiers had crucified Him, Mark says they divided among themselves His garments.  This is all in fulfillment of prophecy found in Psalms 22:16-18 “For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me; They pierced my hands and my feet.  I can count all my bones. They look, they stare at me;  They divide my garments among them, And for my clothing they cast lots.”  Written roughly 1000 years before Christ, this is an amazing fulfillment of prophecy.  That He was crucified, and that they cast lots for His clothing.

The illustration though that needs to be seen in this event, is that the soldiers are men in their natural condition, and consequently are blind to the spiritual.  Thus they crucify the King of the Spiritual Kingdom of the whole earth, and focus only on His clothes. They completely miss the point of the crucifixion, that God has prepared a righteous robe for them to wear through the death of Jesus Christ, the King of the Jews. Instead, they are focused on the physical parts of His clothing.  How many people come to Christianity today looking for the physical benefits to Chrisitanity, and completely miss the spiritual blessing.  The prosperity gospel that glosses over the blessing of new life in the Spirit, while emphasizing your best life now, is but a caricature of what we see these poor blind soldiers doing.

These callous men who are gambling over Jesus’s clothes, are the very ones of whom Jesus prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” They are looking down at the garments and the dice on the ground, when they should be looking up, where above Christ’s head is the inscription written in Aramaic, Hebrew and Latin, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.  The Creator of life, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the source of true riches, hangs above them, while they focus on material things.

The next group that Mark shows us at the cross is the robbers who were crucified with Him.  Mark doesn’t give us the details that the other gospel writers do concerning these men.  He seems content to say in vs.32  that they were also insulting Him.  But Mark does tell us that this fulfills the prophecy that He would be numbered with transgressors which is found in Isaiah 53:12 written about 700 years before Christ.

Luke tells us that one of the robbers in particular was hurling abuse at Jesus, but the other rebuked him and then said, Luke 23:41-42  “And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.”  And he was saying, “Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!”  Jesus answered Him, “Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” One robber despised Jesus as a victim, saw only a convicted man dying upon a cross, the other saw a King, dying to give men life.

Then there are the passersby’s.  It was typical of Rome to crucify criminals beside the main roads, in order to be a warning to others.  And as it was the Passover, many people were passing by to enter into Jerusalem before the Sabbath.  And those who passed by were blaspheming Him, shaking their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuilt it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross.”

The tragedy that these passersby’s failed to recognize, was that Jesus was intentionally hanging there to save them.  He had no interest in saving Himself.  He would not come down from the cross to try to save Himself.  He went to the cross to save them. Isaiah 53:7 “He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.” The Lion of Judah became a lamb that was slaughtered for the sins of His people.

These scoffers are fulfilling prophecy again from Psalm 22:6-7 “But I am a worm and not a man, A reproach of men and despised by the people.  All who see me sneer at me; They separate with the lip, they wag the head, saying,“Commit yourself to the LORD; let Him deliver him; Let Him rescue him, because He delights in him.”

There is another group of scoffers that Mark describes, which are the chief priests and the scribes.  The very ones who demanded that Pilate crucify Him.  The ones who arrested Him and demanded that He be killed for the charges of blasphemy and treason.  Now they come to the cross and say, “He saved others; He cannot save Himself. Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!” 

Notice first of all, they recognize that Jesus has saved others.  They cannot dispute His miracles.  But what they do is just add more requirements in order for them to believe.  The problem is that they don’t want to believe.  They will not believe.  Notice also that they call Him the King of Israel, the Christ, or the Messiah.  They are saying it in sarcasm, of course.  

But by their words they condemn themselves.  “Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross, so that we may see and believe!”  They are saying that if they see, they will believe.  But salvation is by faith, and faith is the evidence of things not seen.  I’m afraid that a lot of people today, even many so called Christians, are guilty of making this charge against Christ.  “Manifest yourself and we will believe!  Show us a sign and we will believe.  Why doesn’t God reveal Himself?  I would believe if He would show Himself.” Jesus said God is Spirit, and we must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. The Bible tells us that the just shall live by faith, not by sight.  Jesus said concerning Lazarus and the rich man, that even if a man were to come back to earth from the dead, they will not believe.  And even if Jesus was to have come down from the cross, these men would not have believed. 

Now there would come a time when it says in Acts that many priests came to faith.  But I think it was because of the preaching of the Word of God, in conjunction with the working of the Holy Spirit. And that was poured out on the church with power after Pentecost.  Acts 6:7 “The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.”

This speaks volumes of the grace of God towards sinners, that after the resurrection, Jesus did not send the apostles to hunt down and put to death or condemn to death the priests, but to preach the gospel so that even the very ones who persecuted Christ to death, might live in the Spirit by faith in the gospel.   What a great testimony to the patience of God when we are living in rebellion against Him.  God is continually wooing us, and seducing us by His mercy and grace that we might turn to Him.  The gift of salvation is available to everyone, even to those who hammered the nails in His hands.  Even to those who cheered His crucifixion.  Even to those who deserted Him at His trial.  Christ came to save sinners, even the chiefest of sinners.  The only people that cannot be saved, are those who will not be saved.

Well, Jesus had been crucified at about 9am.  For three hours He endured not only the torment of the cross, but the ridicule and scorn of His people.  But then at high noon God caused darkness to come upon the land for three hours.  Luke says the sun was obscured. I believe it was a supernatural event, symbolizing the Light of the World dying for sin.

For three hours of darkness God’s judgment rained down upon Jesus in a way that we cannot imagine. But it obviously caused great torment and a sense of desolation to Jesus.  Vs.34 At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI?” which is translated, “MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?”

Once again, this is a direct fulfillment of Psalm 22, which says in vs 1, “My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Far from my deliverance are the words of my groaning.”  We have already seen the disciples forsake Jesus, the Jews forsake Jesus, and now it seems even God the Father forsakes Jesus as Christ becomes sin for us.  2 Cor. 5:21 says, He who knew no sin, became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Sin separates us from God, and Jesus became sin for us, being forsaken by God until He had made atonement for sin.

But some bystanders hearing Jesus, seems to misunderstand Him as asking for Elijah.  And so they say, “Behold, He is calling for Elijah.” Someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed, and gave Him a drink, saying, “Let us see whether Elijah will come to take Him down.”  Perhaps they referred to Elijah, having been familiar with the prophecy that Elijah would come first before the Messiah, to prepare the way for Him.  So they are sarcastically saying that maybe Elijah will come and help Him come down from the cross.  Right up to the end they are slandering Christ.  

And you know, the same is said to be true of the  generation of the last days. 2Peter 3:3-4 “Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts,  and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”  I believe we are living in the last days, in dark days of spiritual blindness and hardness of heart.  And the Bible teaches that God will bring judgment upon the world during that darkness, but men still will not repent.
Right up to the second coming of Christ, men will curse God, and ridicule Him, and mock God. 

Mark then tells us in vs37 after this one last mockery that “Jesus uttered a loud cry, and breathed His last.”  We know from the other gospels that He cried out, “Father, into your hands I commit my Spirit.  It is finished!”  Jesus gave up HIs Spirit to the care of the Father, as His body died hanging there on the cross.  And Mark tells us at that moment, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.  This veil being torn from the top to the bottom is another supernatural occurrence by God showing that the way to Him was made possible to all men.  Up to that point, the chief priest had been the only one allowed in to the Holy of Holies, and that only once a year.  Now that the veil of separation was rent in two, the high priests office is no longer necessary, as our Great High Priest fulfilled the role of both the mediator and the eternal, perfect sacrifice for sin. The curtain that separated the natural from the spiritual was opened up through the death of Jesus Christ, that we who were condemned in the flesh, might be given spiritual life.

Finally, there is one last person that we will look at today.  We see the centurion, who witnessed the entire proceedings, from trial to the darkness, to the way that Jesus gave up His Spirit to die, and who seeing all of that comes to the conclusion, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”

This centurion, who took part in the torture and crucifixion of Jesus Christ, suddenly sees in the death of Jesus the evidence of Christ’s divinity.  He who had participated in nailing Jesus to the cross, now confessed Him as the Son of God, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.  And by such faith, he was given forgiveness, he was given repentance, he was given new life by faith in Jesus Christ.

Listen, what we need to take away from the crucifixion is that regardless of your rebellion, or how grievous your sin might be, or how horribly you may have blasphemed against the Lord, He died to save you.  He died to change you, to make you a part of His kingdom.  Repent and be converted.  Call upon the Lord to save you, to forgive you of your sins, and give you a new life.  Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and be saved today.  

Today’s passage, Mark 9:1-8, you will also find a parallel passage in Matthew 17, and also in Luke chapter 9. So if I appear to say something which is not in your text as you look down at it, then that is probably because the reference that I’m making is either to the Matthew passage or to the Luke passage.

John, in the prologue to his gospel, makes at least a tangential reference to this event when, in the course of his statement concerning Jesus, he says of him in John 1:14, “we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth..” And one of the ways in which the glory of Jesus was seen was in this particular event that we’re considering now. 

Peter writes of it in 2 Peter 1:16 saying “For we did not follow cleverly devised tales when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.  For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an utterance as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”– and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.”  So Peter, in writing his letter, references this event which the Gospel writers record for us and which we are considering this morning.

For Peter, the experience of the recent days has been a roller coaster ride of spiritual highs and lows. One minute he says that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the living God, and the next minute Jesus is saying to him, “Get behind me, Satan! You don’t have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.” You know, some people suggest that in the Christian life,  once you get up to a certain altitude, then it’s just smooth sailing from that point on. I’ve never been too convinced of that. I don’t find that expressed in the Bible, and it’s certainly not the experience of my own Christian life. No, I think I’d have to say that the Christian life is a series of highs and lows. One minute you feel as though you have ascended to the mountaintop, and the next minute you’re down in the valley of the shadow of death. Well, we find that Peter was perpetually riding the highs and lows of the Christian experience, and we see another incidence of that in this passage.

Some commentators think that vs 1 should really be the last verse of chapter 8.  But I think it belongs just where it is, as an introduction to the transfiguration.  Vs 1, “And Jesus was saying to them, ‘Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.’”

There are a lot of possible interpretations of this verse, but I think it is a reference to some of the disciples witnessing the transfiguration. “Some of you who are standing here are not going to die before you see the kingdom of God coming with power.” And six days later, he took James and John up on the mountainside, and guess what happened? They saw the kingdom of God come with power.

So if that’s the context, we continue from verse 2: “Six days later, Jesus *took with Him Peter and James and John, and *brought them up on a high mountain by themselves.”  We don’t know what happened during those six days, but we can assume that Jesus continued teaching the disciples about the same subject matter that He talks about in the last of chapter 8, and now vs 1.  And then the six days of teaching are over, and now it’s time for a theological field trip.  A field trip is supposed to be a physical representation in the real world of what you have been learning in the classroom.  The disciples have been in class for the last week or so, learning about the kingdom of God and how Jesus will accomplish His ministry as the Messiah. But now they get an opportunity to go see a personal glimpse into that spiritual reality.

And by extension,  we are going to participate in that same field trip via the written account that is given to us by Mark.   So let’s look first of all at the description that is provided for us in verses 2–4. “And He was transfigured before them; and His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them. Elijah appeared to them along with Moses; and they were talking with Jesus.”

We have here the description of a scene which in some sense is almost indescribable. That should become apparent. Look at what we’re told. What do we learn from this? Well, we learn that there were three individuals involved, plus Jesus. We’re told that they were up on this “high mountain” and “they were all alone,” that there was no one with them. We’re also told in Luke 9 that Jesus had gone up onto this high mountain in order to pray. And as they were praying, “he was transfigured before them.”

“His garments became radiant and exceedingly white, as no launderer on earth can whiten them.” and Matthew says “his face shone like the sun.” He was transfigured before them. The word that is translated “transfigured” is the Greek word metamorphoo, from which we get our English word metamorphosis. It is used here and in Matthew 17; it is used in Romans 12:2 when Paul talks about being “transformed by the renewing of your mind;” and it is also used in 2 Corinthians 3:18, where Paul says, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” Those are the only occasions in the New Testament where this particular verb is used.

Hebrews 1:3 tells us that Jesus is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of God’s nature,. So the glory of God is veiled in Jesus’ humanity. What we have in His transfiguration then is a temporary pulling back of the veil that we might see His glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father.

But if you think about it, even this exhibition is inevitably incomplete. Because it can only be given to us under symbols—symbols which are then adapted to our capacity with language, our capacity of comprehension, so that the whole of the Bible is actually an accommodation to us. The other day I was reading from Psalm 91. And I was reading the verses which said “He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge;” What is David saying? God has wings and feathers? No. It is an accommodation. It is the use of language in order to connote something, to describe something, which we in our humanity can then process.

And that’s really what we have in this description—a shining face and dazzling clothes. God was making it possible for Peter, James, and John to get a taste of what they could not fully comprehend—to get a glimpse of what they fully couldn’t understand.

So from a human perspective,  the divinity of Jesus was concealed under the veil of his humanity. His divinity was concealed under the veil of his humanity, so that you read Isaiah 53: He had “no form [or] comeliness.” There was “no beauty” about him that we would be attracted to him. He was one from whom men hid their faces. He was “despised,” and we esteemed him not. Jesus walked down the street, and people didn’t notice anything. He was lost in the crowd. The people would have said, “Which one is Jesus of Nazareth?” unless he was teaching or unless he was doing a miracle.  You would never expect that God was there in the midst of the crowd in the Jerusalem markets—that in the midst of all of that, there is divinity. Surely, He would have some dramatic way of identifying himself. Surely, He would be accompanied by angels. Surely, He would have people walk in front of him and come behind Him. Surely, when he finally made his great declaration of His kingship in the streets of Jerusalem, He would have marshaled all the forces of heaven to accompany Him, riding on chariots of fire.  But no! He rides in on a donkey, on the colt of a donkey.

He became what he was not—namely, man—without ever ceasing to be what he was—namely, God. And here in this moment, in this temporary exhibition, these individuals are given a  preview of that which will then be manifested after the resurrection, and that which will finally come to its fulfillment when history as we know it is wrapped up and we live in a new heaven and in a new earth.

Now, not only is Jesus transfigured, but suddenly the four become six. And in verse 4, two key characters from the Old Testament are talking with Jesus.  The disciples became completely terrified on the basis of this. Elijah, the prophet,  and Moses, the lawgiver, are talking with Jesus.

When the saints of old spoke of the Bible, the Holy Scriptures, they spoke of the Law and the Prophets.  Here we see the greatest of the Old Testament prophets, Moses and Elijah, signifying the unity of scripture in testifying of the kingdom of God. You see by this the wonderful way in which the Bible is one unified book—that the Old Testament and the New Testament are not set in opposition to one another. Someone has well said, that the New is, in the Old, concealed; and the Old is, in the New, revealed. That the significance of Moses as the lawgiver and Elijah the prophet finally finds its fulfillment in Jesus, for He is the one who hasn’t come to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfill them.

Luke says they were talking about the departure of Jesus. That’s an interesting thing to be talking about! You’ve only just come, and you’re talking about leaving. What’s that about? No, the word that is used here is the word for exodus. They were talking about the exodus of Jesus. And that would be the exodus whereby people, through faith in Jesus, being placed underneath the sign of his shed blood, as was true for Moses and the people in Egypt, that they also would be set free, and the exodus of Jesus, the departure of Jesus, in and through Jerusalem is a reference to that where, by his death and his resurrection and his ascension, He delivers His people from the captivity and condemnation of sin.

So, we move from the looking part to the listening part. And there is a discussion which ensues. Mark tells us that Peter “didn’t know what to say” because he and his two friends “were so frightened.” Actually, the fact that he didn’t know what to say hadn’t ever stopped Peter before, and it doesn’t stop him now. Luke actually tells us that Peter “didn’t know what he was saying.”

“Peter said to Jesus, ‘Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; let us make three tabernacles, one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”’  I can imagine Peter and the other disciples thinking this is really great, you know.   This type of spectacle is what is needed to really get the church going.  If Jesus could just bottle this up and display it for the multitudes then the whole world will be streaming to see Jesus and would believe in Him.  After all, the Pharisees had just been complaining that Jesus would not show them a sign that He was from God.  But if they saw Moses and Elijah and saw Jesus transfigured then they would believe.  So this is good.  This is going to be a great ministry tool to bring people to the Lord. 

And suddenly a dark cloud envelops them on the mountain, and voice from heaven says, “This is my beloved Son.  Listen to him.”  I find myself unable to adequately expound upon God’s statement.  It’s perfect in it’s simplicity.  In this statement God the Father expresses His complete agreement with Christ, and tells us to listen to Him as the full expression of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, who dwelt among us.  His words are the word of God.  His word is truth, they are life, they are the way. He is the fulfillment of the law and the prophets.  Listen to Him that you might receive life, that you might gain entrance into the kingdom of God. And suddenly with those words, Elijah and Moses are gone, and only Jesus and the disciples are there alone. The light emanating from Jesus fades awy, and the veil of Jesus’ humanity is replaced.

There were many things to be learned from the transfiguration. One is the reality of spiritual life. Moses and Elijah were alive, speaking to Jesus. Talking about His ministry. They learned, as Jesus would say on another occasion, God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. The disciples not only got to see behind the veil of Jesus’ humanity, but they got to see behind the veil of the physical world into the realm of the spirit. They learned from this event the superiority of Jesus as the Christ, that He is, according to the Father’s statement, His only begotten Son, and in Him is all power and authority given in heaven and in earth. And they should have learned from this event of His eternal nature, which supersedes His humanity. 

Then vs 9 says, “As they were coming down from the mountain, He gave them orders not to relate to anyone what they had seen, until the Son of Man rose from the dead.“ Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.” That seems to include the fellow disciples, the other nine that were not present with them on this occasion. That’s quite a tall order, I think you would agree, to have been exposed to something as spectacular as this, something as life-changing as this; you would want immediately to hurry down the mountainside and let everybody know what you had experienced.

But Jesus said don’t tell anyone about it. There will be time enough for them to tell the story to others once they themselves have understood it. But since they as yet do not yet fully comprehend what happened, it is quite understandable that Jesus gives the order that He does. They’re not going to be able to make sense of this until after the resurrection.

Verse 10: “They seized upon that statement, discussing with one another what rising from the dead meant.”  In other words, they had a question about what Jesus meant when he said they weren’t to tell anyone until they had seen “the Son of Man … risen from the dead.” That raised a question in their minds, which they chose not to ask but decided to discuss with each other.

The Jewish people believed in the resurrection at the last day. And  the disciples clearly believed in that theology.  In John 11, which speaks of the death of Lazarus, you will remember that Martha says to Jesus. “If you had been here,” she says in John 11:21, “my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” John 11:23: “Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’”  And that was a reference to the Jewish conception of resurrection. The resurrection at the last day would usher in the final judgment.

But they had no concept of a personal resurrection on the part of the Messiah which preceded this general resurrection at the last day. And so, consequently, it was a matter of confusion to them for Jesus to say, “You need to keep this quiet until the Son of Man has been raised,” and they must have said to one another, “Do we have to wait until we get to the very end of the age? Do we have to wait until the new age is ushered in? What does he mean by this?” But they don’t ask Jesus that question.  However the question they don’t ask, is replaced by another question, which is really just trying to understand the time frame that they are looking at, in light of the prophecies which they are aware of.

So the question they ask is ‘Why is it that  the scribes say that Elijah must come first?’”Malachi says in chapter 4 verse 5, the final two verses of his prophecy, “Behold, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes.” So, the prophet Elijah is going to come before the great and dreadful day of the Lord arrives. “He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.” So, not only did the Jewish people anticipate a resurrection at the last day, but they anticipated the appearance of Elijah before the appearing of the Messiah.

You see, they have  already come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah. So they’re really stuck now: “If you are the Messiah and you have come, what’s this stuff about Elijah coming before the Messiah? Because you’re already here!”

Jesus answers them in verse 12. And He said to them, “Elijah does first come and restore all things. And [yet] how is it written of the Son of Man that He will suffer many things and be treated with contempt? But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they did to him whatever they wished, just as it is written of him.” And therein is the problem: How do we put the suffering and rejection in line with the triumph and the glory? Where does it all fit?

We can get a little more clarity on that answer from  Matthew 17 and to the account of the transfiguration as Matthew records it for us. Matthew 17:10: “[Then] the disciples asked him, ‘Why then do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?’ Jesus replied, ‘To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.’” Verse 13: “Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist,” In other words, that those  statements concerning the prophet Elijah find their fulfillment in the ministry of John the Baptist.

But the ministry of John the Baptist was not the ministry that they had hoped for. Because they hoped that the restoration which they anticipated in the prophetic role of Elijah would be the restoration of all of their supremacy as Jewish people—the  triumph over the Roman authorities,  the reestablishment of the temple, the restoration of all things that would establish Israel as dominant in the world. But when John the Baptist comes, what does he speak to them about? He speaks to them about repentance. He speaks to them about the need for forgiveness. He speaks to them about the need of them being baptized as an outward sign of the fact that they know their hearts are sinful and need to be renewed. They need to be restored not in a geopolitical way or a national way like they had hoped for, but by the spiritual rebirth which is brought about by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s a spiritual kingdom which must come before any physical kingdom comes.

“And so,” says Jesus, “John the Baptist, fulfilling the prophetic role of Elijah, suffered death at the hands of those to whom he preached, and in that respect, he is a forerunner of the Son of Man. Because, I tell you, Elijah has come, and they’ve done to him everything they wished, just as is written about him, and He says by implication,  that is what is going to happen to the Son of Man. They didn’t recognize John, or the parts that they recognized they didn’t like, and they don’t recognize Jesus, and the parts that they do recognize they don’t like either. And so as John suffered and died for his message, so his death points forward to the suffering and death of the Messiah.”

You remember the healing of the blind man that we looked at a couple of weeks ago?  Remember that Jesus spit on the man’s eyes and he saw men walking like trees, and then Jesus touched him again and he began to see clearly?  Remember how I told you then that was an illustration of the way that the disciples were being given spiritual discernment?  I think that healing illustrates this incident in which their knowledge and understanding of Jesus is taken to a second stage in their spiritual development.  They begin to see more clearly that not only is Jesus the Messiah, the King who ushers in the kingdom of God, but He is also the Savior of the world, who dies for the sins of the world so that man might be given life in the kingdom of God.

The gospel of the kingdom of God must first of all be spiritually discerned.  Citizenship in the kingdom of God must be spiritually obtained through faith in Jesus Christ. There will come a time, at the last day, when the faith shall be sighted, and the Lord shall return, and we will be changed, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and the heavens and the earth will be burned up and then all things made new.  But there is more to see here than simply a physical application.  There is more to the gospel than a social gospel, or a prosperity gospel.  There is more to the Christian life than living your best life now.  The kingdom of God is first of all a spiritual kingdom, and then at the last day, the physical kingdom will be established in a new heaven and a new earth.

So as Jesus said in chapter 8:34-38  “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”