“The Exodus From The Tomb” Mark
16:1-8
Intro.: Recently while watching an episode of
Those of you who have been in attendance at
our Lenten services of preparation this year have heard about a number of the exoduses
in the Bible. They were all just
warm-ups, because today is the day we celebrate the greatest exodus of all; the
exodus from the tomb which Christ has accomplished for us.
I.
Christ’s Exodus From The Tomb.
A. As our lesson begins it is clear that Jesus
had truly died a horrible death upon the cross, and was sealed in the tomb for
our sake. The very women who had
faithful stood by his cross and watched him suffer and die for their sins, and
the sins of the whole world, had spent days in mourning, and now they went to
the tomb to render what they assumed would be one last service to their
Lord.
They had bought all the spices and
ointments, and set out at sunrise on the first day of the week. But their was a
problem they thought that Jesus was sealed away from them in the tomb. They probably watched on Good Friday, as
Jesus’ lifeless body was wrapped up and dumped into the tomb, and a giant stone
was rolled in front of the entrance.
They knew that the governor had placed his seal upon it and placed
guards over it so that no one could come near to Jesus.
Thinking that the tomb was sealed and
that Christ’s lifeless body still lay within, their hope was buried with Him
and sealed off from the light of day.
They thought like those described by St. Paul in our epistle: that Christ was not raised and that if He was
dead in the tomb then there was no resurrection hope for them either, because
they were still in their sins. They
felt themselves to be the most pitiful people in the world, because it seemed
that their faith in Christ had come to nothing.
It was futile and worthless.
As they approached the tomb they knew that
they could not open the tomb on their own, nor could they rekindle the hope
which had died when they saw their Lord, and the one they believed was their
promised Savior, die in such shame upon the cross.
B. What a glorious surprise awaited those women
when they arrived at the tomb and discovered that Jesus had set himself free
from the bondage of death. Throughout
their journey to the tomb they worried about that stone and seal, and then upon
arriving the faithful women saw a fearful sight which soon became wonderful to
them: the seal was broken, the large
stone was rolled away from the tomb, and the soldiers who stood guard were
nowhere to be found.
As they entered the tomb, confused and
afraid, they saw an angel of light sitting on the right side of the right side
of the tomb, and He announced to them what this all meant. He told them not to be alarmed. He knew that they were looking for Jesus, who
they had seen crucified. Then He gives
them the joyful news which broke the seal which had buried their hope. “He has risen! He is not here!” the angel told them. It was not a trick, nor a fake disappearing
act. Jesus was truly who He had told
them He was! He truly rose as He had
promised! Everything He had taught them,
and everything He had promised them was true!
On that morning He rolled the stone away from their hearts and ours, and
broke the seal of the tomb. Christ, is risen! He
is risen, indeed!
Alleluia! Alleluia!
And because Christ has truly risen and
broken death’s prison, and opened the way for all people to enter eternal
life. Because Christ lives and reigns,
we with those women at the tomb that first Easter know that our faith is not in
vain. We know that through Christ we have
received…
II. Our Exodus From The Tomb.
Many of you may remember the story of Randy
McCloy, the sole survivor of a mining accident in
January. Following an explosion in a
A. We were all sealed in the tomb of spiritual
and eternal death, unable to help ourselves.
The scriptures tell us plainly that we were
all dead in our trespasses and sins. The
spiritual and eternal life which God had originally bestowed upon Adam and Eve, was lost in the fall.
The moment they ate of that forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge
of evil we were all given over to death.
As our epistle notes: “death came
through a man…in Adam we all die.” (1 Cor. 15:21-22)
Buried beneath our load of sin our tombs
had been sealed. Our tombs were sealed
by God’s solemn declaration through Ezekiel, “The soul who sins is the one who will
die.” (Ezek.
Like the soldiers placed outside of Jesus’
tomb, Satan and His agents stood guard outside of ours. Ever tempting us to greater sin, always
accusing and condemning us. They exerted
their power over us to keep us dead and buried.
The worst part of all is that there is
nothing we can do about it. Dead, buried and sealed in that tomb of our own making we
cannot set ourselves free. We cannot get
ourselves out of this tomb, but like the trapped miners we can only wait in the
darkness, behind our shroud of death and barrier of guilt to be rescued. The stone that seals our tomb, that horrible
load of sin is too great for us to move, we can only ask who will roll the
stone away for us. With the apostle we
cry out, “What a wretched man I am. Who
will deliver me from this body of death?”
And then today, on this
glorious day of Christ’s resurrection we hear the answer: “Thanks be to God – through
Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom.
Yes, thanks be
to God, our waiting is over. Jesus
Christ, God’s Son, has come to rescue us.!
B. By His death for our sins and resurrection
for our salvation Jesus has set us free from the bondage of death. As
The seal of death has been broken by
Christ’s resurrection. And He broke that
seal, not only for Himself, but for us, so that the saying has come true: “’Death has been swallowed up in victory.’ Where, O death, is
your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to
God! He gives us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor. 15:54-57) When Christ our Lord,
broke the seal of His tomb with a mighty earthquake, and an angel appeared to
roll the stone away from the tomb, the soldiers who stood guard shook with
fear, and ran away in terror. In the
same way in the presence of our risen Savior, Satan must tremble in fear and
flee in terror. He is defeated and has
lost all power over us. We have God’s
assurance that our tomb is open, and the last enemy which is death has been
placed under his feet. Through the
apostle He encourages us that: “We were therefore buried with him through
baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life…If we have been
united with him like this in his death, we will surely be united with him in
his resurrection.” (
With the women who arrived at the tomb
that first Easter morning our hope is now alive. Because, Christ is risen! He is risen,
indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia!
In the same way the angel spoke to the women at the tomb God’s
messengers announce to us that Jesus has gone ahead of us and we will see him
again! We will see the risen Christ, not
in Galilee but returning to us from heaven, to take us to be with Him on His
Holy mountain to share the wedding feast of the Lamb, and when we see Him face
to face there will be no more tears or sorrows, because he has taken away our
disgrace, and destroyed death forever.
We will see him and declare: “Surely this
is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in Him; let us
rejoice and be glad in his salvation.” (Is. 25:6-9)
Praise God, the seal of death is broken,
and we have fled the tomb, but not trembling and bewildered. We go forth today in the full assurance of
faith, and in the joy of our salvation so that…
C. We can proclaim this great exodus to the
world.
We can tell the whole world what Christ
has done. That just as through one man
death came, so through the one man, Jesus Christ, the resurrection of the dead
has come. (nt. I
Cor. 15:21) We can tell the Good News of the sacrifice
which Christ offered once for the sins of all people, so that whoever believes
in him will not perish but have eternal life.
We can tell the whole world that death’s
prison has been broken, and that their dreaded enemy, death, has been trampled
under Christ’s feet. We can assure them
that they share in Christ’s victory of sin, death and the power of the devil. (nt.
1 Cor. 15:26)
We can tell the whole world that because
Christ lives we will live also. We can
encourage them with the words of our epistle lesson, so that they understand
that Christ is only the firstfruits of those who have
fallen asleep, and we shall follow. On
the last day He will raise us all up, and give to us, and all believers,
eternal life. (nt. 1 Cor.
15:22)
Today is the day when we are delivered
from death and the grave. This is the
day of Christ’s exodus from the tomb.
Let us go forth in the joy of our salvation, proclaiming to all that : “Christ is
risen! He is risen,
indeed! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Amen.