Mark 15:40–16:8 — Responding in Faith

This sermon is from Mark 15:40-16:8.

Mark 15:40–16:8

It is the final sermon in our series from the Gospel of Mark, and it is entitled "Responding

in Faith."

It was delivered to Ecclesia Churches on Sunday, January 4, 2026.

From the very beginning of Mark, we have been faced with this contrast between insiders and

outsiders, but what determines a person's status in the kingdom of heaven that Jesus ushers in

isn't dependent on the usual qualifications. It isn't their bloodline, Jew versus Gentile,

or their social standing, or their history, or their possessions, or even their religious

performance that brings them from outsider to insider. Instead, the invitation to insider status

is reliant on their recognition of what they don't have and their belief that Jesus is what they

really need. I remember when I was in seventh grade, I sat in a social studies class with a

teacher who, ironically for a Catholic school, was a professed atheist. And he had a great memory for

history, but because he desired to write God out of it, he often missed the significance, especially

the spiritual significance in the historical concepts that he taught. And I remember one

particular lesson was about the haves and the have-nots, and how every conflict and event in

history could really be reduced down to this idea that there were two groups of people in the world.

There was the people who had something, and the people who didn't have that thing, but wanted it.

And this eventually led to conflict and a shift in power, and civilizations rose and fell on this concept.

And it's not a bad way, really, to teach seventh graders that in the kingdom of man, complex events can often be reduced to something like greed and a covetous heart.

However, Jesus teaches a different kind of kingdom altogether, one that seems upside down to us.

But it seems upside down because our whole vision and value system has become distorted by sin.

Jesus calls his followers to recognize that they are all have-nots in the kingdom of heaven.

Our wealth and our self-righteousness and our empty religious behavior and our social status come to nothing in the end.

We are all sinners separated from God and in need of salvation.

And what we've seen throughout Mark is that Jesus is the one sent to live and suffer and die and rise to secure the eternal life that none of us have on our own.

Which makes Jesus the only one who has anything of eternal value for us.

And here's the kicker.

He offers it freely to all who would come to him for it.

So all throughout Mark, we've seen people come to Jesus for various things, but relatively few

are willing to let go of all that they think they possess and hold on to Jesus instead.

Very few will come to Jesus with what Jesus calls great faith. And even those who have seen and come

and ministered to Jesus throughout his earthly ministry are at best at a distance at the time

his death. So in this last passage with all of their hope dashed to pieces, Mark shows us one

more comparison, one more example of the fearful condition that we're left in without faith in

Jesus, and one more example of what it looks like to be a courageous follower. And a real cliffhanger

ending that leaves the reader of Mark, us, with a question that we must answer. Will we choose to

act in obedience with faith in the risen Jesus. So let's read the first part of this passage.

This is just verses 40 through 41 of chapter 15.

There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother

of James the younger and of Joseph and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and

ministered to him. And there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

As Jesus breathes his last, we are taken to a scene by Mark not far away where a sizable group

of women is looking on from a distance. Most of the twelve disciples were nowhere to be found at

this point, having left Jesus either back in the garden where he was arrested or in the courtyard of

his trial before the Sanhedrin, but some of the women, at least, are watching from a distance,

unsure of what to do. Three of them, in particular, are identified by name and will be the primary

people that Mark focuses on. Mary Magdalene, who Jesus rescued from demon possession,

has followed him ever since and is mentioned in all four gospel accounts of the resurrection,

which makes her a significant character. The other Mary, best we can tell, is the mother of Jesus,

based on the names of her children matching known siblings of Jesus. And it's actually

interesting that the mother of Jesus, who has been largely distant from him for a good portion

of his ministry, even trying to silence his teaching at one point, is now standing near the

cross, watching from the sidelines. And then third is a woman named Salome. Jesus has often

instructed his disciples to keep watch and watch for the coming kingdom. We saw this in his

instruction to stay awake, to keep watch. But Mark uses a different word here to describe

what these women are doing here. Mark describes their activity as a kind of spectating or a

detached observation. One of those, they can't seem to look away, but they also don't really

want to look, and they don't know where to look, and they're not watching for what God will do in

an active kind of way. They're certainly not anticipating a resurrection. And where these

women are at probably describes many who would call themselves Christians in America and I'm sure

other places today. They've been a part of the crowd observing the show on the stage of the

American church. They've attended church for years, enjoying the lights and the music and the holidays

and the weekly donuts and the coffee, and they think that they're disciples of Jesus until

something happens that takes them by surprise and life goes off the rails. And in the middle of

persecution or suffering or pain, they realized that their faith was shallower than the kind that

they need in that moment. From personal experience, it is confusing when the bottom gets pulled out

from under you and you realize the feelings and the tradition and the empty religious observation

weren't actually the firm foundation that you needed.

The good news is that when we find ourselves in that position

and we come to Jesus, that he meets us in those moments.

Because it turns out that the real firm foundation

that you find through an active trust and faith in Christ as Lord

is better than any substitute, particularly when the bottom drops out.

So if you ever find yourself in that situation, or you recognize that this is the state of

your faith now, you can take hope in knowing that the real Jesus really did rise from the

dead, and he is with you even when life seems empty and hopeless.

So from the women here, we shift to someone very unexpected who acts with unexpected faith,

which is really something that we should be used to by now in Mark.

And we enter in Joseph of Arimathea.

So let's read from verse 42 through 46.

And when evening had come, since it was the day of preparation, that is the day before

the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself

looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate and asked for the body

of Jesus.

Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died, and summoning the centurion,

he asked him whether he was already dead.

And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph.

And Joseph brought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud,

and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock.

And he rolled the stone against the entrance of the tomb.

Joseph is certainly not the person that we expect to act in the way that he does at this point.

For one, he is a respected or well-known member of the Jewish council, which is also called

the Sanhedrin. Yeah, the group that played the biggest part in condemning Jesus to death.

However, we know that not every member of the council was actually against Jesus. We've seen

people like the scribe coming to ask Jesus questions of his own. People like Nicodemus,

who is not mentioned in Mark, will come to Jesus believing that he has the answer to eternal life.

So, while not all of the Sanhedrin was actually against Jesus, the most vocal ones were,

and the rest are, at best, silent about their true feelings. Until now.

Something changes for Joseph after he witnessed the death of Jesus and the signs surrounding it.

The proclamation of the centurion that this must have been the Son of God.

The temple curtain is torn in two.

The earthquakes and the darkness during the day, whatever the reason was, probably a combination

thereof, while the followers of Jesus are either in hiding or watching, confused from the sidelines,

Joseph is motivated to action.

And there's a few things that Mark tells us about Joseph.

First, he is looking for the kingdom of God himself, which is Mark's way of saying that

he is legitimately seeking God and his kingdom.

He's looking for the Messiah.

To many of the Sanhedrin, the coming of the Messiah posed a threat to the balance of their

power and position.

But Joseph has his eyes set higher than that.

Second, it says that he took courage and went to Pilate.

Remember, time is very short for doing anything with the body of Jesus at this point, because

the observance of the Sabbath is only hours away at this point, beginning on Friday at

sundown.

Remember, Jesus dies at about three o'clock in the afternoon.

Also, Jesus has been sentenced to death by Rome, making him an enemy of Rome.

So Joseph actually risks quite a bit of his own security and reputation by going to the

Roman official and asking for the body of this man that they have executed.

It's also a pretty powerful scene when you think about this well-respected, probably well-dressed

Jewish leader personally taking down the bloody and broken body of Jesus and preparing him

for burial.

All 12 of his closest followers are nowhere to be found at this point in time, but this

unexpected man humbles himself to take care of the body of Jesus.

And finally, we see that Joseph is incredibly generous, purchasing not only the linen wrapping,

but we know for sure from the other gospel accounts that this tomb that he has is his.

It is a brand new yet unused tomb that belongs to Joseph of Arimathea.

This is a big deal because typically a family would own a tomb that would be kept for generations

and would be used by the family line.

This is where we get the biblical line laid to rest with his fathers because when they're

saying someone died and was laid to rest with their fathers. It was literally the same tomb

with the bones of fathers and grandfathers and so on and so forth. So this tomb likely would have

been planned for centuries of future use by Joseph's family and would have been very costly

to have made. Of the tombs that we have found to date in Jerusalem, a very small percentage belonged

to people wealthy enough to have this type of tomb with an entrance instead of a smaller

cave that you would have to crawl into.

The other piece here, though, that I've missed until now is that Jewish law prohibited somebody

who died a disreputable death from being buried in the tomb of their family.

Someone who had been convicted and crucified, for example, would have been likely put in a simple grave, usually with their family hoping that people forgot the scandal and didn't connect it with their family name.

That person was dishonored and put out.

So culturally, look at what Joseph is doing here.

He's giving up more than just a space in his family tomb.

He's likely giving it up permanently.

and is willing also to be connected in this way to the death of Jesus.

We'll talk about the tomb more in a little bit, but I want us to reflect on some of the

characteristics of Joseph that Mark is highlighting here as the marks of a disciple. He's contrasting

Joseph with the behavior of the women, and we'll see the second half of that in a moment,

but let's just look at Joseph for a moment here. There are several ways.

Unlike his fellow leaders, he was looking for the kingdom of God.

He wasn't looking for ways to enlarge or preserve his own kingdom.

He was looking for a better kingdom.

And this is something that Jesus called his followers to look for over and over.

The kingdom of heaven is different and it is better than anything else that you are striving for.

Second, Joseph acted with courage when others hid in fear.

He was willing to be named and recognized by the powers that be, Roman and Jewish alike,

as someone who chose to honor Jesus.

He wasn't content to remain anonymous like Peter.

Jesus calls us to take up our cross and follow him, to act with courage, to be identified

with him, and to risk everything in order to do that if necessary.

And finally, he wasn't just moved emotionally.

He was moved to acts of generosity to honor Jesus.

Just like the woman who anointed Jesus a day prior with the costly ointment, he freely

offers what he has to honor Jesus in his death.

Jesus calls us to generous, open-handed living for the sake of the gospel and the glory of

Jesus.

And I think I probably overlooked Joseph of Arimathea, and I honestly don't know what

happened to him.

There's not like a historical record that tells us much about him after this.

But I'd like to think that after acting as he did, and a few days later, the news that

this tomb of his is empty again, and Jesus is alive, I'd like to hope that he moved from

secret disciple to a vocal disciple of Jesus.

I suppose we'll find out how he responded to the gospel one day, but I'm optimistic that he did.

So after Jesus is placed in the tomb, which is sealed with a large disc-shaped stone,

he remains there from Friday night through the Sabbath until the morning of the third day, Sunday.

When a small group of women goes to the tomb, a small group of women who's already been introduced

to finish the preparation of the body that could not be finished before the Sabbath.

They go ready to deal with death and find the surprise of their lives.

So let's read that together.

This is Mark 15, verse 47 through chapter 6, verse 8.

Mark 15:47

Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.

When the Sabbath was passed, Mary Magdalene, Mary the brother 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 to 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.

Each of the Gospels focus on different women who were a part of this group, or a different

combination of women who were a part of this group who goes to the tomb.

And this is something that opponents of Scripture will actually say is a contradiction, but

it isn't.

Mary Magdalene is listed in all four Gospels, but only Mark lists Salome, likely because

he introduced her a moment ago as being one of those who was observing the cross.

Luke will, for example, list a woman named Joanna, likely because the man Theophilus,

to whom Luke is writing, is familiar with either her or someone connected to her.

So, the most sensical way to understand this difference is to understand that each gospel

writer is writing his account as an eyewitness for a purpose, and he will simplify or give

detail only as it serves that purpose and only as it serves his audience.

For example, if you asked me who was at the New Year's Eve party last night, out of the

20 people present, I might list three or four who I know that are mutual acquaintances between

you and I.

If someone else asked me, I might list two others that that person was familiar with.

So that's how these eyewitness accounts work.

The women that mark lists are concerned about the stone being rolled away because they're

it was created to keep people out. We're talking about an enormous disc-shaped stone on a kind of

track that would have been rolled into place and would have been very difficult to remove. That was

its purpose. It was designed to keep ritual impurities of the dead in and to keep grave robbers

out. And they arrive fully expecting Jesus to be dead because on Friday night, he absolutely was.

Mark refers to him as a corpse, and he has been verified dead by a Roman centurion who

is a soldier who specialized in crucifixion and death.

There are people who contend today that Jesus was never dead, but the eyewitness testimony

of everyone present makes it clear that he was.

Add to that that there is not a single record of anyone ever surviving a Roman crucifixion.

So what we are talking about here is not a resuscitation from almost dead, but truly a

resurrection from the dead on the third day, just as he said. There's this kind of funny interaction

here in which they walk in and they see the body that's gone, and an angel is there and Mark says

they were alarmed, and the angel says, don't be alarmed, because that's how people respond to

angels in Scripture most often. He tells them that while they were looking for Jesus the crucified,

he is now Jesus the risen. They're looking for a corpse in a tomb, and they should be looking for

a resurrected Jesus in Galilee, where if you remember, he told them he was going to meet them.

They're given this instruction then to go tell the disciples to go meet Jesus where he said to

go in the first place. And I'm not entirely sure why the angel singles out Peter here, perhaps

because Peter isn't with the others, or perhaps as an even Peter kind of reference because of his

noted failure and denial of Jesus. Either way, none of the followers of Jesus have done what

he told them to do. They are all hiding in Jerusalem. They are not waiting in Galilee,

anticipating his return. So the truth that we're left with from this interaction with the angel

is that Jesus was dead and now he's not. He has been raised physically, bodily from the dead,

and God has done it just as God rolled away the stone and God sent the messenger to tell them

that it was so. And they will see him again. And how do they respond? Initially, they say nothing.

They're afraid.

And this is actually where Mark ends.

I'll get to some thoughts later on those additional verses that you might have, depending on your translation.

But let's talk about why this part, or this passage, ends here with the women.

I think I always had this picture of the resurrection that was primarily influenced by pastel decorations and long musical numbers in church and brightly colored Easter outfits.

the actual resurrection, though, of Jesus, while it is full of joy and victory and triumph over the

grave, the response of his followers, the initial response, is actually pretty lackluster.

This response of initial fear and silence at the end of Mark may stand out against

my Easter Sunday memories, but it's actually very much in line with the timeline that we get from

all four Gospels. Maybe that's a reason why most people don't preach the resurrection out of Mark

on Easter Sunday, because of the way that it ends. The actual timeline, if you piece it together from

all four Gospel accounts, looks something like this. None of the twelve show courage, and they

quickly go into hiding where they remain. The women watch to see where he's buried, and they sneak out

first thing Sunday morning to buy the spices and to anoint the body properly. They all expect to

find him dead. The women see the empty tomb. They get a message from an angel that Jesus is alive.

And while they have a mixed feeling of excitement and being terrified and also some joy over the

message, they are still so afraid that they don't immediately proclaim the message to anyone.

We know that Jesus himself appears to Mary Magdalene before she makes it out of the garden,

at which point they finally do go and tell the disciples.

Now, most of the disciples at this point dismiss their testimony as foolishness, but Peter and

John run to the tomb because they have to see for themselves, and they find it empty.

Jesus then appears to them in Jerusalem because apparently they still haven't left for Galilee

as instructed.

Thomas isn't there the first time around, and he doesn't believe what they say until

eight days later, when they're still in Jerusalem, by the way, Jesus appears to them and Thomas

as well.

Finally, they leave Jerusalem.

They go to a mountain in Galilee where Jesus meets them.

Does any of this sound like a group of people who have been told repeatedly for months that

Jesus would rise and they were to meet him in Galilee?

none of them are exercising a faith without sight. Which is why Jesus said,

blessed are those who do not see and still believe. Blessed are those who take Jesus at his word

and act on it in faith. Which is exactly what Mark is calling his hearers to do in this gospel.

Which is why I believe what feels like an abrupt end to Mark is actually having exactly the effect

on us that he and the Holy Spirit who inspired it intended. Because the question that we're left

with is, how am I supposed to respond to this news? The early church in Rome, who this was

written to initially, was familiar with the events of the early church. They were familiar with what

had happened and was recorded in the book of Acts because many of them had lived through it or lived

at the same time. They had heard about Pentecost. They had heard about the coming of the Holy Spirit

to the Gentiles and the Jews alike from people like Peter. And this was all recent history to

them. But the question for them in the middle of persecution was not whether all of this had

happened. It was, if I believe Jesus is the Son of God, and I believe he was the suffering servant

died for my sin, and I believe that he rose from the dead on the third day, then how must I respond

to that truth? Because it is a truth that requires a response. The questions they were asking have not

changed all that much over time and are strikingly similar for us. If I believe this gospel of Jesus,

How am I being called to respond courageously, to be identified with the name of Jesus, to

be called a Christian, both when it is convenient and when it costs me much?

If I believe the gospel of Jesus, am I responding with bold proclamation of it?

We're going to be looking at the letter that Paul wrote to the Philippians in a few weeks,

being instructed by the word of God, just how we are called to boldly proclaim the gospel.

So, while Luke endeavors to give us an ordered account from first to last, and Matthew wants

the Jews to see the total fulfillment of prophecy in Jesus, Mark wants us to see Jesus for who

he is and then leaves the response to us.

All throughout Mark, we've seen people respond in different ways to Jesus.

But now that we have the full picture through the lens of his death and also the news of

his resurrection, how are we being called to respond in faith to the gospel? And the answer

to that probably relies a lot on the work of the Holy Spirit in you. We can look at these confused

disciples and the way that they respond to the resurrection and the fear that's still present,

and we can clearly see that they needed a helper who would both comfort and empower them. Just look

at the disciples before and after they are filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost,

And you'll see how much people like them and people like you and I need the work of the Holy Spirit in us.

We need to be comforted.

We need to be empowered for the work that Jesus has set before us.

We need Him particularly to work in us, convicting us of sin and encouraging us to repent of that and turn to Jesus.

So, how is the Holy Spirit working through the gospel of Mark in you?

How is he calling you to respond?

To take a step forward in faith and submit to Jesus as your Savior?

Maybe to take a step forward in faith and be obedient to the instructions of Jesus where you have resisted it before.

Whatever the next step is, you can trust that the Jesus who calls you is willing and able

to see you through every step of your life in this world and into the eternal kingdom

of the Son of God.

Ekklesia is a church of house churches gathering weekly in Council Bluffs, Iowa, and in homes

throughout the week.

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