The prosecution rests; there is no defense

 

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.  --2 Timothy 3:16-17

Some people like to collect the dying words of celebrities.  Bob Marley, before his untimely death, told his son, "Money can't buy life."   Winston Churchill, before slipping into a coma and expiring nine days later, said, "I'm bored with it all."  And Ludwig von Beethoven is said to have uttered these words just prior to his passing: "Friends applaud; the comedy is over."

The last recorded words of Jesus were not just prior to His death, but were spoken after His resurrection, and just prior to His ascension into heaven.  Many of us can quote by heart the Great Commission as told in Matthew 28:18-20: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."

The events leading up to this final utterance are seen in our final passage of the book of Mark.

Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and He rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had risen.  And He said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will accompany those who believe: in My Name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover."  So then the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.  --Mark 16:14-20

Last week we discussed the evidences of the resurrection of Jesus.  In this passage Jesus rebukes the disciples for their initial disbelief, when the Old Testament Scriptures had foretold it, the teachings of Jesus during His ministry had prophesied it, and then there were witnesses testifying of it.  The reproof of Jesus is seen further in Luke's gospel:

As they were talking about these things, Jesus Himself stood among them, and said to them, "Peace to you!"  But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit.  And He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?  See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself.  Touch Me, and see.  For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have."  And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet.  And while they still disbelieved for joy and were marveling, He said to them, "Have you anything here to eat?"  They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He took it and ate before them.  Then He said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and Psalms must be fulfilled."  Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His Name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.  You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you.  But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."  --Luke 24: 36-49

In Mark's account, a progression can be seen: the Lord appeared to one (Mary Magdelene), then two (the disciples on the road to Emmaus), then to the Eleven.  When He appeared to the Eleven, he chided them for not believing the two, or the one.  In Luke's expanded account, the rebuke was extended to include their disbelief of the Scriptures.  Matthew 28:17 says, "And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted."  Perhaps that is why Luke gave the details of Jesus showing the nail scars in His hands and feet, and His encouraging them to touch Him, to prove He was flesh and blood, and His even going so far as to eat a piece of fish in their presence.

When you look at all the accounts together, the command to to and tell is more organic.  When an elected official is administered the oath of office, that is a turning point: from this point forward, you will swear to uphold the Constitution, or to protect and serve the people.  In this case, Jesus seems to be saying, "As you go, tell; and when you tell, explain."  He further seems to be saying that the explanation should meet people at their point of disbelief--if they doubt the Scriptures, then explain the Scriptures to them; if they doubt the physical resurrection, remind them that He was with them in flesh and blood, and that He ate in their presence.  Then, once they believe, disciple them as Jesus did--walking beside them, teaching them His words, showing them His power.

The last few verses of Mark seem to summarize the book of Acts: the Apostles did in fact cast out demons, and speak in tongues, and handled serpents, and drank poison without being hurt.  These are thankfully not signs that show repentance, so it is not necessary that you and I handle snakes or speak in tongues.  These signs did accompany the spread of the Gospel so that some would believe, and that the church would grow in its infancy.

The good news of the Gospel is found in John 3:16, but the message is expanded further in the verses penned by John just following the most quoted verse in the New Testament.

For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be save through Him.  Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the Light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the Light because their works were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the Light and does not come to the Light, lest his works be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the Light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. --John 3:17-21

Better to suffer a light rebuke by the Son of God for disbelief than to experience eternal condemnation and separation from Him.  Repent, and believe the evidence He has shown you, so that you may live; and in living, you may walk in the Light, as He is in the Light.  

Evidence of the Resurrection

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.  Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep.  Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles.  Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me.  --1 Corinthians 15:3-8

 We all grew up with stories of men bigger than life.  King Arthur with his Knights of the Round Table is one.  Robin Hood and his Merry Men is another.  Unfortunately, we tend to lump the Bible and stories of Jesus and His Disciples in with these myths and legends.

History tells us that King Arthur probably never lived, but that the legend grew from a series of poems from Welsh and Breton sources dating back to the 10th and 11th centuries.  Then in the 12th century a man named Geoffrey of Monmouth wrote a fictional work called Historia Regum Brittanniae or "History of the Kings of Britain."  The Historia included tales of Arthur warding off Saxon invaders, and other stories grew out of this work.

Robin Hood was probably based on a real person who lived in the 12th or 13th century, but whose actual life was not as glamorous or romantic as the legend or stories or movies make him out to be.  The stores that grew out of his life were mythical, speaking to the needs of later generations.

Unfortunately, many biblical deconstructionists view Jesus in the same way.  He probably never existed, they say, or if He did, there is no real evidence of the miracles He performed or that He was actually physically raised from the dead.  They convince themselves that, like King Arthur and Robin Hood, the stories surrounding the life and death of Jesus were made up out of whole cloth, and that the mythology of His divinity has evolved over time.

I submit that the writers of the Gospels--Matthew, Mark, Luke and John--were all actual people, and that they wrote history, not just biography and certainly not mythology.  They were eyewitnesses to the events that they recorded, and that their testimony is true.

Continuing our reading of Mark 16:

Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons.  She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.  But when they hears that He was still alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.  After these things He appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.  And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.  --Mark 16:9-13.

If you read the fine print in your Bible, and take a look at the footnotes in most modern translations, you will see that some of the earliest manuscripts do not include these verses.  They were likely added later and may not have been included in Marks original Gospel account.  Critics will look at this and show it as proof that the story of Jesus is myth and legend, and that each retelling of His life added more to the original story.  However, they tend to ignore the fact that Mark's account does not in any way contradict the other Gospel accounts of Jesus.

Let's explore the mention of Mary Magdalene.  She was first to see the empty tomb, and John 20:11-18 fills out her story.  She was clearly distraught that Jesus's body was not where they had left it, and she wondered who would steal the body, and why.  She turns and sees Jesus standing before her, but does not recognize him through the darkness and her tears.  He speaks to her, and it does not register who spoke or what He said.  Wrapped up in her own grief and sense of loss, she confesses that she is seeking Jesus but does not know where to look.  Jesus spoke her name, and her eyes were opened.  When she realizes to Whom she is speaking, she falls at His feet and clings to His garment.  Jesus tells her to stop clinging to Him, and to go and tell the others where to find Him.

Laying aside the spiritual ramifications for a moment, that if we seek Him then He will make Himself known to us by opening our spiritual eyes, let's look at this narrative as an eyewitness account of one who saw Jesus alive after He had been crucified.  The previous narrative was that the tomb was empty, but that did not prove the resurrection as much as an eyewitness account of seeing Him alive.

One eyewitness was not enough, not in a Jewish court of law.  That may be why the disciples did not believe Mary Magdalene when she told them.  It was not until Jesus appeared to them in the flesh that they actually believed, and Thomas would not believe the testimony of 10 witnesses--he had to see for himself.

As for the two men travelling from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus, about seven miles away: they were two men who could testify in a Jewish court that they had in fact seen the Savior.  Jewish law required two independent witnesses in any trial, and these two men fit the bill.  They had heard the testimony of Mary Magdalene and the other women who had seen that the tomb was empty, and had heard the angels testify of His resurrection, but these men were not sure what to believe.  Jesus appeared to them on the road, and explained the Scriptures to them.

Sometimes I wish I could know exactly what Jesus said in the parts of the Bible that do not go into such detail.  In this case, Jesus took the Old Testament, "beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself."(Luke 24:27).  I would have liked to hear that sermon, and see what Old Testament verses He shared that proved He was the Messiah.  I would also like to know what He told Peter when He appeared to him personally.  We know that Jesus appeared to Simon Peter exclusively, because when the men rushed back from Emmaus to tell the disciples what they had seen and heard, "they found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, 'The Lord has risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!'"  These words were not recorded; and if the story of the resurrection was a myth, certainly other authors would have later expanded the narrative to include what was said in these meetings--that's how legends work.

Do not doubt the Scriptures, for they speak Truth in our times.  Do not be like Thomas or like the modern biblical critics.  Repent and believe.  God will open your eyes to see Him.

 

All heaven broke loose

Now it was Mary Magdalene and Joanna and Mary the mother of James and the other women with them who told these things to the apostles, but these words seemed to them an idle tale, and they did not believe them.  --Luke 24:11-12

Bible critics have long held that the Bible is untrue because, they say, it contradicts itself.  Today we will look at an event, one of the most critical events in Christian theology, and try to reconcile some of those apparent contradictions.

All four Gospels address this narrative from a different perspective, and the details seem to vary widely.  We have been studying the book of Mark, and in our focal passage today it says that three women brought spices to anoint the body of Jesus early on the first day of the week, just after the sun had risen.  They found the tomb unexpectedly open, and an angel was sitting in the sepulcher.  However, Matthew says it was before dawn that they went, and Luke says there were two angels.  John says Mary Magdalene went by herself while it was still dark.  After finding the stone already rolled away from the tomb, she ran to get Peter and another disciple (probably John) to investigate.

Here is Mark's version of the story.

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices, so that they might go and anoint Him.  And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb.  And they were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back--it was very large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.  And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He has risen; He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him.  But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you into Galilee.  There you will see Him, just as He told you."  And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.  --Mark 16:1-8

Last time we talked about the women, and how they intended to prepare the body of Jesus for burial.  While some of them went to purchase spices and oils, the other women stayed at the cross to see what would happen to the body.  When Joseph of Arimethea and Nicodemus took the body to a new tomb hewn out of a rock, the women who had followed them went back to meet the others to tell them what they had seen.  Then sunset came, marking the beginning of the Sabbath, so they had to wait to go and do what they had intended to do.

Early on Sunday, after the Sabbath ended, they took the spices and oils to anoint the body.  Some commentaries say that they took the spices to cover the smell of the decomposing corpse, assuming that they knew the men had already prepared the body for burial.  I think they didn't know, and were going to perform this very Jewish ritual of respecting the body after death.  In any case, all four Gospel accounts agree that when they arrived, the stone had been rolled away and the tomb was empty.  The devil is in the details.

If we study the details carefully, and don't get caught up in the critics detracting distractions, we may can make sense of it all.  The late David Hocking, radio evangelist, Bible teacher and author, said that all four narratives pick up on little details but don't dwell on them because they are getting to the main point of the story--that Jesus Christ is alive.  The solution to the apparent discrepancies, he says, is to show that all kinds of people were coming and going, to and from the tomb at all hours of the day and night.  This was not a single group of women who all went together at the same time, confronted one or more angels, saw that the tomb was empty, then left together to tell the men, who didn't believe them until Jesus appeared to them in the flesh later.  No, each one of them had their own story to tell, and none of the four Gospel accounts takes time to flesh out each individual story.

Let's start with Mary Magdalene.  She probably went to the tomb first.  John 20:1 says that she was there "early, while it was still dark." Matthew 28:2 says there was an earthquake, and that an angel of the Lord "descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it."  The Roman guard that had been assigned to stay nearby and stand watch were so afraid that they fainted dead away.

Was it the earthquake that woke Mary Magdalene, and caused her to go to the grave and see what was happening?  Perhaps, or maybe she just couldn't sleep.  Maybe she was walking nearby, crying out of guilt or loss or mourning.  She saw the stone rolled away and the empty tomb, but no angel was there to explain to her specifically.  That may be why, when she saw Jesus and assumed Him to be the gardener, she asked "where have they taken Him?"

Matthew goes on to say that more women showed up, and that they were greeted by an angel who said, "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.  He is not here, for He has risen, as He said.  Come, see the place where He lay."  They may have followed the angel into the tomb and found him sitting on the right side, as Mark said in his account.

After the women left, Peter and John ran up.  There is no evidence that they saw the women when they arrived at the tomb.  John said they went back to their homes without talking to any angel.  They may have passed another group of women headed toward the tomb.  Luke tells of some women being greeted by two men "in dazzling apparel."  David Hocking says that these two men may not have been angels at all, but rather the two witnesses spoken of in Revelation.  These two men testified of what Jesus had said: "Remember how He told you, while He was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise."

At this point the differing narratives converge, saying that Jesus would go before them to Galilee.  Remember that Galilee was where it all started.  Jesus' ministry began at Cana in Galilee.  Since we were studying Mark's gospel, we will remember that in Mark 1:14 it says, "Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, "the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."  Jesus called the disciples back to where they began, where they could start again.

You may be thinking, why does any of this matter?  Either you believe the gospel, or you don't.  Those of us who believe do not need convincing.  1 Peter 3:15 says, "But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect."  If anyone comes to you with a question of why do you believe the Bible, even with all its apparent contradictions, then you should be able to explain the gospel to them in a way that makes sense.  The Scriptures are reliable, and should be taken by faith, but not by blind faith.  We should always be prepared to make a defense, as the skeptic may be persuaded with reason leading to a saving faith.  This is the good news, after all, and it should be presented in a clear and convincing fashion.