Trembling And Astonished
March 31, 2024 Speaker: Jim Harris
Topic: Easter Scripture: Mark 16:1–8
Not one of the people who visited the empty tomb woke up that morning full of excitement to go verify that Jesus rose from the dead. Not one of them believed it was going to happen. That's true of the soldiers who lied about it and it's also true of the faithful followers of Jesus. Their spiritual eyes were not opened to grasp the resurrection until after they saw the empty tomb and heard from angels, or in some cases, not until they saw Jesus in person.
We have no description of what happened at the moment when Jesus' dead body came to life. There is no description of Jesus' body suddenly coursing with life. No description of Him or an angel removing the wrappings. No description of Him exiting the tomb. Rather, Scripture records a chorus of witnesses to validate that Jesus rose from the dead. We have a quadraphonic description of various people discovering that the resurrection happened. Matthew and Mark, tell us of the arrival of the two Marys at the tomb. Factor in Luke and John and you learn that there were more than just the two. They didn't all arrive simultaneously, but all observed the same scene in the early light of dawn.
- The Tomb Is Empty (1-4)
- An Angel Announced It (5-7)
- The Women Were Astonished (8)