Easter Shorts 3-31-2024

[MUSIC - YOU WERE THE WORD] You were the word at the beginning, one with God the Lord Most High. Your hidden glory in creation now revealed in you are Christ. What a beautiful name it is. What a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ, my King.

What a beautiful name it is. Nothing compares to this. What a beautiful name it is, the name of Jesus. You didn't want heaven without us, so Jesus, you brought heaven down.

My sin was great, your love was greater. What could separate us now? What a wonderful name it is. What a wonderful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a wonderful name it is.

Nothing compares to this. What a wonderful name it is, the name of Jesus. Death could not hold you. The veil tore before you.

You silenced the boast of sin and grave. The heavens are roaring the praise of your glory. For you are raised to life again. You have no rival.

You have no equal. Now and forever, God, you reign. Yours is the kingdom. Yours is the glory.

Yours is the name above all names. What a powerful name it is. What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus Christ, my King. What a powerful name it is.

Nothing can stand against. What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus. What a powerful name it is, the name of Jesus. brother.

But here's how it goes in Mark's gospel. This is what you just heard. The two Marys and Salome get to the tomb Sunday morning so that they can anoint Jesus' body. Jesus has been in the grave since Friday.

And that was customary. It was kind of a thing you did out of reverence for someone who had died. You anoint their body with oil and spices. And they wonder, whenever they get there, who's going to be able to roll the stone away from the entrance so that they can get in, since they certainly can't.

And they arrive to find that the stone is already gone. And a young man dressed in white is sitting in the tomb. And that naturally spooks them a little bit. You don't expect to find someone sitting in the tomb.

And he tells them what has happened. Don't be alarmed, he says. You are looking for Jesus of Nasa, who was crucified. He has been raised.

He isn't here. Look, here's the place where they laid him. Go and tell his disciples, especially Peter, that he is going out ahead of you into Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you.

And what happens then? Well, here's Mark 16 again, where we ended. Overcome with terror and dread, they fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid.

Jesus comes out of the tomb. His body still bears the wounds from the crucifixion but is more alive than ever and he is seen and heard and touched and loved again. The good news is that regardless of the women's fear, regardless of the mistake that anyone might make, the good news travels anyway. Death couldn't hold Jesus in the grave so fear certainly couldn't keep the good news quiet.

Our lives will always be a mixture of fear and faithfulness, of bravery and cowardice, of saintliness and sin.