WHO WILL ROLL THE STONE AWAY?
Mark
16:1-8 (4/16/2017)
Introduction: According to a
legend, a king once placed a heavy stone in the roadway. Then he hid and waited
to see who would remove it. Many who came by loudly blamed the government for
not keeping the highways clear, but none assumed the duty of pushing the
obstacle out of the way. At last a poor peasant stopped and rolled it into the
gutter. To his surprise, he found a bag full of gold embedded in the road
beneath the spot where the rock had been. A note said it was the king’s reward
for anyone who removed the troublesome object.
Over
two thousand years ago, there lived an unusual King, and his name was Jesus. He
was sarcastically called the King of the Jews, yet he himself claimed that he
came from another world and his Kingdom was of another world. While Jesus was
still alive, he taught his disciples about the Kingdom of God. He told his followers that one day he is going
to be crucified and die a cruel death on a cross. When the time came, the crowds
who once shouted Hosanna, Hosanna, Lord save us, the ones who prophetically
said, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord” now incited by
the Scribes and Pharisees shouted, Crucify Him! Crucify Him.
Given
into the populous demand, Pilate the governor ordered that Jesus would be
flogged and crucified. According to the prophecies of the ancient prophets,
Jesus was crucified and died on the cross. Now there was a problem. Though he
truly was the King of the whole world he did not have any possessions of his
own, there was no place even to bury him. One of his rich friends who may have
been touched by his teachings came forward and buried his friend Jesus in his
own tomb and rolled a stone over it.
Now, it was the first day after Sabbath, Jesus’ friends some women
wanted to anoint the body of Christ, but they had another problem, it was the
Stone. They asked each other, who will
roll the stone away from the entrance? Mark 16:1-8
I
title this message, “Who Will Roll the Stone Away? Before we answer this
question, who placed the stone? Why was that grave stone, sealed and guarded so
tightly?
I
JESUS WAS LAID IN A TOMB (Lk 15:42-47)
It
was the preparation day, that is the day before the Sabbath. Joseph of Armathea
a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of
God, gathered up courage and went in before Pilate and asked for the body of
Jesus. After receiving the body Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down,
wrapped Him in the linen cloth and laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out
in the rock and he rolled a stone (extremely large) against the entrance of the
tomb. By doing so the Prophecy in Isaiah 53:9, “His grave was assigned with
wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death,” was fulfilled. According
to this passage we know who placed the stone, that was Joseph of Armathea, but
why was it sealed and secured so tightly? Matthew gives some reasons to why the
stone was sealed.
II.
THE STONE WAS SEALED & SECURED
While
Jesus was still alive on several occasions he made it clear that he was going
to be killed and on the third day rise again. The disciples did not understand
what he was talking, but the Pharisees and the teachers of the law took him
literally and seriously. So, they went up to Pilate and said, “Sir, we remember
that when he was still alive, that deceiver said, “after three days I am to
rise again.” Therefore, give orders for the grave to be made secure until the
third day, let the disciples come and steal Him away and say to the people, “He
has risen from the dead and the last deception will be worse than the first. Pilate
said to them, “Take a guard, go make the tomb as secure as you know how. So,
they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting
the guard”.
What
do we know about the Roman guard? The Greek word for “guard” was Kustodia that’s where we get the word custodian. Kustodia was a 16 men security unit.
Each man was trained to protect six square feet of ground. The 16 men,
according to Roman history, were supposed to be able to protect 6 square yards
against an entire battalion and hold it. Each guard had four weapons on his
body. He was a fighting machine.”[1] Just imagine, would it be possible for eleven fearful disciples to come
secretly and steal the body of Jesus in the watch full eye of the powerful
Roman Guard? How about the two women, who would come back the next day to
anoint the body of Christ, be able to roll away extremely large stone? So, the
two women wondered who will roll the stone away?
III.
THE STONE WAS ROLLED AWAY (Matthew 28: 1-4)
Have
you wondered why the stone had to be rolled away? Could Jesus not have risen
while everything was still intact? He could have risen, secretly but he didn’t.
The reason being, Jesus publicly told several times that he would die and rise
again on the third day, so perhaps he wanted his resurrection to be a public
display not a secret one. In Matthew 28:1-4 we read about this spectacular
rolling away of the stone. After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the
week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. There was a
violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going
to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like
lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him
that they shook and became like dead men.”
Coming
back to Mark 16:4-8, “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which
was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a
young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were
alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene,
who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here.
See
the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is
going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” Trembling
and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to
anyone, because they were afraid.” What a powerful encounter the rolling away
of the stone from the entrance. It so happened to show that no Roman guard or
wicked scheme of the Pharisees could prevent Jesus from rising on the third
days just as he has promised. That is the power of the resurrection. The angel
rolled away the stone to show to the world the power of the resurrection.
IV.
WHO WILL ROLL THE STONE AWAY?
In the scriptures, the unsaved
condition of the human heart is often compared to a grave and a stone. On this
resurrection day listen to the promise of God Ezekiel 36:26-27, “I will give
you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart
of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and
move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.” How is your heart today? Are you like the women, who were amazed and
afraid? Is your heart sealed off and feels cold like a stone? The good news of
the Resurrection is that, the same power that was there to remove the stone and
raise Jesus from the dead is here today.
This power can change you from being a captive to sin, darkness, fear, hopelessness
and death, to walk in light, freedom and fullness of life. The power of the
resurrection will also enable you to bear witness to what Christ has done in
your life. Amen
