Mark 16:1-8

Thank you, Chris. Do keep your Bibles open on that page 844. And we will flip a little bit over to chapter 16 as well, but we'll focus on chapter 9.

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And this concert was a royal gala, which meant that the Queen was there, I think Prince Philip was there, Prince Charles was there, Camilla was there, and possibly some others.

And we knew they were coming because we had all these security checks in advance. We were very aware that she was there.

But it wasn't until we actually got on stage, we were all in formation, they put us into this big formation to look like we were a big mountain.

And then the curtain went up, and we were sort of singing this new piece that had been written for it.

And we could just see just in the distance, off in the circle, we could just about make out that there was the Queen just there, that's Prince Philip there.

You could just about make the shapes of their heads because you'd seen them on TV.

But you were just only just aware of them.

And that was about as close as we got to her. We were very aware she was around, and the closest we got to her was just seeing her up there in the distance.

Well, last week from Matthew's Gospel, we saw that Jesus is the resurrected King.

We're doing a short series over four weeks, looking at what I'm calling Resurrection Colours.

What does each Gospel tell us about the Resurrection?

And we're taking out just some of the shades that we get from different Gospels about Jesus.

And in Matthew we see Jesus is a risen King.

The Bible's message is that there is a man who has not only gone into death and come back, but actually he has gone into death and come out the other end.

And Matthew's telling us, if you want to understand who this man is, you need to know that he is King.

He has all authority, whether or not you realise it, whether or not you acknowledge it.

This is a man who has all authority and therefore your life is about him, whether or not you realise it.

And I left you with a question, who are you living for, if not for him?

But it's really important to note that this is not a King who is distant, like the Queen was that one day, that one day in my life where I saw her in real life.

The King is not like our Queen in that way.

Now this is a King who relates to his people, because he speaks to his people.

Jesus, the risen King, is also Jesus, the risen prophet.

And that is the emphasis we're going to see in Mark's Gospel.

Just as Matthew's Gospel begins with a list of kings and then ends with talking about his authority,

we've got Mark's Gospel beginning talking about prophets.

Immediately at the beginning of Mark's Gospel, he quotes prophets talking about the one who is to come.

And then we have a focus on Jesus' teaching ministry,

to such an extent that we're not told anything about Jesus' life before he starts teaching,

in Mark's Gospel.

And just as Matthew's Gospel ends talking about Jesus' authority,

Mark's Gospel ends,

well, actually it's quite tricky where Mark's Gospel ends.

You might have seen when we read it,

Chris read up until verse 8,

and everything else had double square brackets around it,

with a footnote saying,

early manuscripts don't contain this bit.

And so,

there's been debate over whether or not that should be included.

And the more research people have done,

the more people have looked at the many, many, many manuscripts available,

it's become clear that Mark's Gospel really should end at verse 8.

So, I was working at the British Library yesterday, just doing some studying,

and if you were to go into their sort of treasures section,

you could go and see something called the Codex Anaiticus,

which is from the 4th century,

and it's under glass and it's stuck on one page.

But if you were to manage to persuade somebody to show you the page that has Mark's Gospel in it,

or you could just go online and look at it,

because they scanned it all online,

you'll see that it ends at verse 8.

Now, this doesn't mean,

if this is new to you and this is worrying,

it doesn't mean that the Bible's authenticity is in any way questionable.

It's actually the opposite.

It's precisely because we have so many manuscripts,

so much data,

that we can be pretty sure that Mark did end at chapter 16,

verse 8.

If you disagree, that's okay,

or if you want me to clarify or give more details,

I can afterwards if you want.

But I'm going to proceed on the basis that it ends at verse 8 of chapter 16,

which means that we don't actually see the risen Jesus in Mark's Gospel.

We just hear about the risen Jesus,

which is significant in itself,

and we'll come to why later.

But it means that the transfiguration account

is what will really help us to understand more about

Jesus as the risen prophet.

Because that is actually the point of the transfiguration.

Straight after the first time Jesus predicted his death and resurrection,

he takes three friends up the mountain,

and he is transfigured.

And the point of the transfiguration,

or at least one of the purposes of it,

is to give them a preview

of what Jesus will be like after the resurrection.

It's a preview of his resurrection glory.

It actually makes it to the end of verse 10.

So they kept the message to themselves,

questioning what this rising from the dead might mean.

It makes that quite ironic,

because they literally just saw what it means.

So what do these two passages,

in Mark chapter 9 and in chapter 16,

Mark 9 · chapter mention

tell us about Jesus, the risen prophet?

Well, four things briefly.

First thing, he is the original word.

Jesus is the original word.

Now I am far from being an art expert,

but one thing I have learned,

just in the little I do know,

is that one important thing

when you're looking at a piece of art

is the light.

What does the artist do with the light?

It's partly the genius of the Impressionists.

They do really amazing things with light.

And there's a painting I really enjoy

in the Louvre Museum in Paris

by an artist called De Vitter.

He's a Dutch artist from the 17th century.

And it's the inside of a church.

There are people milling about.

I think there's a dog somewhere.

There's a man digging a tomb

to bury someone inside.

But it's actually, it's an imaginary church.

But the only way you know it's imaginary

is the light.

Because the light is coming in

from the side of the church,

not from either end of the church.

The whole point of the painting

is him saying,

what if we just weren't so much

dictated about tradition

that says churches should face east

and just got on with the job?

The Bible never says

to face a church east.

So why are we bothering doing it?

Now that's partly the point of it.

But the only way you know that

is the light.

And we should look at

where the light is coming from

in this passage.

The light is coming from Jesus.

He is the radiant one.

He is the one who is glowing.

He is the one who is transfigured.

Moses, who was standing right next to him,

he had shone himself as well.

His face had shone.

But his face was reflecting glory.

Jesus is the one whose glory

Moses had reflected.

He is the original word.

He is the original glory.

The original one they were speaking about

all these years.

He is the basis of all the prophecy

that had come before him.

So he's the original word.

He's also the ultimate message.

He is the one all the prophets

were promising

over all those centuries.

So secondly,

he's the ultimate message.

Look at verse 3 of chapter 9.

And his clothes became radiant,

intensely white.

And then he just adds this comment.

As no one on earth

could bleach them.

And if you jump down

to the bottom of the page

to the footnote,

which is even tinier,

it says,

Greek launderer,

or it's literally a fuller.

So no fuller on earth

or no fuller in the land

could make them any whiter.

That's literally what Mark is saying.

Why would he add that comment?

The more I thought about it,

the more I'm convinced

that he is deliberately

just giving little echoes

to other prophets

who had spoken

of the one who was to come.

Isaiah the prophet

had said that God

would make Israel's crimson sin

as white as snow,

as white as wool.

And here,

beyond death,

lies one who is

as dazzling white

as it can possibly get.

Not in racial terms,

obviously.

He's talking about

the purity of his holiness.

Here is a promise

of what lies beyond death

in the resurrection.

You can't get purer

than what lies there.

Also,

the prophet Malachi,

he said that

when the Lord came,

it would be like

a refiner's fire

and a fuller's soap

and who can abide

the day of his coming.

And now,

he stands one who,

as the Lord,

is as awesome in purity

as you can get.

And he is a man

who doesn't need

to be purified

at all.

He is the one

who can stand,

he can abide

the day of the Lord's coming

because he is so

pure and perfect.

He is the one

the prophet

had been speaking of,

both as the Lord

and the man

who can stand

before the Lord.

Moses as well,

who was standing

right there next to him,

supernaturally,

he had spoken

of a prophet

who would be

greater than he,

one who would come

and be greater.

Which leads me

to a third thing

we can learn.

He is the final prophet.

Jesus is the final prophet.

Moses had predicted

a greater prophet

than he who was to come.

So Moses wasn't saying,

I am the greatest prophet

and then somebody else

comes and said,

no, actually I am.

Moses himself said,

somebody greater than I

is coming.

And later on,

we see another

remarkable prophet,

Elijah,

who is also standing

right there next to Jesus.

And he had a remarkable

ministry.

But he also faced

great opposition

from the authorities

at the time.

After a great event

on Mount Carmel,

Queen Jezebel says,

go and kill him.

And he falls

into a depression.

I wonder whether

maybe he had suspected

that he might have

been the greater prophet.

And he goes

to the same mountain

that Moses had gone up

to hear those words

from God.

And Elijah sees

much of what

Moses saw.

He saw fire

and earthquake

and wind.

And after the fire

came a still,

small voice

or basically

nothing,

nothing new

was said.

Elijah is told,

no, you keep

preaching the message

that you've had

the whole time.

You're not getting

a greater message.

You are not

the greater prophet.

You're getting

nothing.

You keep the message

you've had

because the greater prophet

is still to come.

And one day,

I'll show you

who he is.

And here he is

seeing who this

greater prophet

is.

And if we think

about the end

of the Gospel of Mark,

we don't see Jesus.

We see the women

going to hear

from an angel

that Jesus is risen.

And they are told,

go and tell the apostles.

And the last thing

we see is

they go off,

they're full of fear,

and they don't tell

anything to anyone.

And you could read

that in different ways.

Is that possibly

that actually

they disobey

the command

because they're

too scared?

Or might it be,

probably to fit

better with

what we see

in the other Gospels,

is that they are

so in awe

of what has happened

and so committed

to the task

they've been given

that they don't

tell anyone

on their way

to tell the disciples.

They know

their focus now,

tell the disciples

that Jesus has risen.

And they are not

at all distracted

from the people

they might see

on the street.

They go straight

to the disciples.

Because Jesus

is the final prophet

and the apostles

are his messengers.

They are the ones

who then go

and spread the news.

These disciples

would be the ones

not to add

to the prophecy,

but to be

the final interpreters,

the final communicators

of this message.

Which is why

we have the Bible,

the New Testament.

The apostles

recorded

their teaching

here in the

New Testament.

And so this is

what the women

have to do.

They have to go

and get the message

to them

so that we can

then have them

have the message

recorded.

The message

of this final prophet

recorded.

And here is

God's voice

to Peter

and James

and John.

Hear him.

Hear this

final prophet.

Yes,

hear Moses

insofar as

he is pointing

to this final prophet.

Yes,

hear Elijah

insofar as

he is pointing

to this final prophet,

Jesus.

Jesus.

And then

everyone was

to hear

the apostles

who would

communicate

the message.

Insofar as

you hear

anyone

preaching

faithfully

what the

apostles

passed on,

you are

hearing the

voice of

Jesus.

Mark was

most likely

a friend

of Peter

and a disciple

of Peter

and he

heard Peter.

And so

through Peter

he heard

Christ

and he

recorded

that for us.

He is

saying hear

him.

He is

making it

very clear

that this

is the

final

word.

This

is the

final

prophet.

That

Muhammad

is not

the

final

prophet.

And it's

not Joseph

Smith.

And it's

not Charles

Russell.

And it's

not Oprah

Winfrey.

And it's

not Barack

Obama.

It's nobody

else.

There is

no final

prophet

after Jesus.

God is

making it

absolutely

clear with

this great

voice coming

out of

heaven.

Yes,

you see

Moses and

Elijah.

And Peter

might think

this is

wonderful.

Let's

keep Moses

and Elijah

with us.

Let's

keep you

in the

tent as

well.

And we'll

have everyone

maybe come

and visit.

Or we can

just stay

here on our

own.

We don't

quite know

why he

said it.

And we're

told he

doesn't

really know

why he

said it.

But he

thought this

is just

so wonderful

that we've

got Moses

and Elijah

here.

And the

voice says,

no,

this is my

beloved son.

Hear him.

And only

Jesus is

left.

We're

saying hear

him.

If you're

hearing anything

that contradicts

with Jesus,

you're hearing

the wrong

thing.

Hear him.

So we've

seen that he

is the

original word.

We've seen

he's the

ultimate

message.

He's the

final prophet.

And then

finally,

he's the

greatest voice.

He is the

greatest voice.

We live in a

world where we

are surrounded

by voices.

You'll look

around and

you'll see

adverts

everywhere.

You'll switch

on the TV

or just go

online.

And whether

it's on the

BBC or on

Netflix or

anything,

you will be

invited to hear

all kinds of

different

messages.

You will be

invited into

worlds where

there are

different gods.

You might be

invited into a

world through

a TV program

where the

god there is

power or

maybe money or

sex or

anything or

maybe there's

just no god

and it's all

hopeless and

it just brings

you into

despair.

But here we

have the

real world

where God

is king and

we are told

hear him.

The whole

world wants

to tell you

don't listen

to him,

listen to

me.

And God

is saying

don't listen

to anyone

else,

hear him.

That is the

one you should

listen to.

Don't believe

that the

world's

created in

the books

you read

or in the

TV shows

you watch

as entertaining

as they can

be and as

interesting as

they can be

and as far

as they

contradict what

Jesus is

saying and

present to

your world

where there

is no god

or there

is another

god.

Don't hear

them,

hear him.

You might

think I

can't hear

him.

I read

this and I

just can't

hear him

at all.

Do trust

that it's

possible to

hear him.

All kinds

of people

heard Jesus.

A deaf

man heard

Jesus when

he said

open up to

his ears.

A dead

girl heard

Jesus when

he said

honey it's

time to

get up.

She heard

him.

A dead

man in

a tomb

had been

there for

days.

He heard

Jesus and

got up

when Jesus

spoke.

It's

possible to

hear him

if you're

listening for

his voice.

So hear

him.

So last

week I

asked you

who are

you living

for if

not for

him?

And so

consider who

are you

listening to?

What are

you listening

to?

If not

Jesus.

So that's

more of

what we

can see

from the

resurrection.

Here's

another

resurrection

colour.

Jesus is

the risen

prophet.

And we

hear him

as we

hear the

words of

scripture.

As the

apostles handed

down those

words to

us.

And here

we can

hear him

and come

to life

and share

this glory

ultimately

in the

resurrection

that he

promises

himself

to bring

us to.