Mark 16:3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre
Have you ever wasted your worry on something that was not going to happen, but you didn’t know it at the time? Here is a guy rushing to the airport to be on time for his flight. He makes it, but at the end of the day ends up at the wrong destination. Well, one problem never came to fruition and the other problem was the one he should have focused on in the first place.
In Mark 16 you find the followers of Christ engaged in one of the first goals and one of the first problems they had. They were tied together and were both false. Mark 16:1-2 says, “And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had brought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.”
So, one of the first goals of the followers of Christ was to anoint His body. That was a good and noble goal. The first problem related to their goal was they thought there was a stone rolled in front of the tomb. They wondered, “Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?” Well, the stone had been rolled away by supernatural power. So, they had a problem that didn’t exist. They had a false problem. Verse 5 says that when they entered the tomb, a young man in a long white garment was there and told them that Jesus was risen. The unexpected problem turned out to be that there was no body to anoint. Jesus wasn’t there.
So, they had a false problem and they had a real problem. The stone was no longer there, and there was no body to anoint. It was no longer there. Therefore they had problems that did not exist. This was all because they had the same premise as the enemies of Christ.
Why was the stone there to begin with? Matthew 27:62 says that “the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, Sir, we remember that the deceiver said, while he was yet alive, After three day I will rise again” So, they thought Jesus was a deceiver and was dead. They continued, “Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first.” The truth is, it never crossed the disciple’s minds to steal the body to make it appear if Jesus were correct.
Pilate said to the priests and Pharisees rather cryptically, “Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can.” So, the premise of the haters of Christ was Jesus is dead and will stay that way. The premise of the followers of Christ was Jesus is dead and will stay that way. They had different actions and goals, but ironically their premise was the same. Why was the stone there? Because Jesus was dead. Why did they want to roll the stone away? Because Jesus was dead and couldn’t do it Himself.
In Mark 16:10, when Mary Magdalene came to tell the good news that Jesus was risen to those that had been with Him, they mourned and wept. Why were they doing this? It is because they had the same premise as the enemies of Christ, that Jesus was dead. In verse 14 Jesus appears to the eleven and He “upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart.” The point is you are not going to share the good news if you share the wrong assumptions. The enemies and followers of Christ at this point in time both shared the wrong assumption. They had false problems, problems that had a faulty premise.
In America today those who are for or against many social and moral issues have the same premise. For instance, there are the issues of defining what marriage is, breaking up marriage, or defining anything around marriage. Those who are for or against some particular issue end up using economics for their premise and position and sometimes share the same premise; they just have different actions they wish to take. That is untenable. It cannot last forever. You are not going to have a different message if you share the same premise. In this case, the disciples of Christ and the enemies of Christ shared the same assumptions.
What are the assumptions, premises, and truths of the gospel. First, the resurrection is supernatural. That is a premise of the gospel. Someone says, “There is no way someone can rise from the dead.” Correct. It is not possible—unless there is a God. If there is a God, anything is possible. If there is no God, any miracle is foolishness, but you still have to consider that something created the universe. What would you call that if not supernatural?
Second, the resurrection is exclusive. For modern Americans this is difficult. Even people who believe in Jesus have assumptions that prevent them from living the life they should be living. The resurrection is exclusive, but also open to all. The gospel is exclusive as there is one God and mediator between God and men, Christ Jesus, but it is also inclusive because Jesus was ransomed for all.
So, the resurrection is exclusive. When Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me,” He was telling the truth. The truth is exclusive. There is only one truth. Two opposite positions cannot be true at the same time. So, the way you think is upstream from the way you live. You are not going to share the good news if you share the wrong assumptions.
Think about what needs to be done for this world. Organizations like the Peace Corps and the UN and their subsidiaries think they are doing good for the world, but they have no grand truth beyond the here and now. If in this life only we have hope in Christ Jesus, we are of all men most miserable. That is in contrast to verse 7 where the angel said, “Go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth to see them.” The only good news you have is the good news that God had given us. We need to be sharing that good news. Love people as Christ did. Tell the truth as Christ did and be bold as Christ is. The resurrection is supernatural and exclusive and you will not share this good news with the people who need it if you are sharing the wrong assumptions.