Empty Tombs

He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

Mark 16:6b

The angel at the tomb didn’t expect the women to take him at his word that Jesus had been raised from the dead. He offered them proof. He invited them to see the place where Jesus had lain so that they might see that He wasn’t dead anymore.

Sadly, we don’t know for sure where the empty tomb is today. We can’t invite our lost friends and family members to see where Jesus laid to prove to them that Jesus was raised. But I believe there are empty graves we should show them and those are the places in our own lives where sin once utterly defeated us and held us in bondage. Every sin that you have been set free from is an empty tomb you can point to as proof that Jesus really was raised from the dead and that He really has breathed new life into you as well.

Are there empty graves in your life? There should be. The tomb of adultery that ruined your marriage ought to now lay empty. Many of us were once laid up in the tombs of drunkenness, of pornography, of addiction, of love for money, and of living for the approval of others. But when we came to Christ, we were set free from those sins and now they are empty tombs in our lives that show Jesus’ glory and power. They are proof that although at one time we were dead in our sins and we have now come alive in Christ Jesus.

This is why Christians shouldn’t hide from our past. We don’t glory in our past sins, but we do glory in the God who saves sinners like us. And one of the ways we declare His glory to the world is by being honest and open about the tombs He saved us from.

So, tell your testimony. Be honest. Be vulnerable about how bad off you were before you met Jesus. Invite people to come see the place where you lay dead before Jesus gave you new life.

A Secret Disciple No More

Later, Joseph of Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus. Now Joseph was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly because he feared the Jewish leaders. With Pilate’s permission, he came and took the body away.

John 19:38

Joseph was a member of the Sanhedrin… the very body of religious leaders who had Jesus crucified! But Joseph didn’t agree with their decision. In fact, Joseph had believed that Jesus was the Messiah, but he had been unwilling to openly associate with Him for fear of what it would do to his reputation. He was a man of high rank, and he knew how much he stood to lose if he associated with Jesus. Joseph had been fearful and cowardly, so he kept his faith a secret.

But Good Friday, the day Jesus died, was the day that Joseph of Arimathea stopped being a secret disciple of Jesus. Mark's Gospel says he “went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body.” (Mark 15:43) Joseph wasn’t related to Jesus. He wasn’t asking to bury a family member. He was a member of the very ruling body that had accused Jesus of treason against Rome. And now Joseph approaches Rome and asks if he can give Jesus a proper burial?! This was a highly unusual request that was sure to draw attention.

More than that, Joseph likely had to publicly go up to Jesus’ cross and take His body down. Surely, word would get back to the Sanhedrin that he had done this. And then how could Joseph deny what he had done when Jesus was buried in his own new tomb?! (Matthew 27:60) He couldn’t.

As the Bible Knowledge Commentary says, there can be little doubt that Joseph’s actions “amounted to an open confession of personal loyalty to the crucified Jesus... He was a secret disciple no longer.”*

Are you a secret disciple of Jesus? You come to church and you believe... but you don’t tell your family or the people you work with or your friends because you are afraid. You're afraid they won’t understand, afraid they’ll make fun of you, afraid they'll cut you off, afraid it will be social suicide for you. 

Are you keeping Jesus a secret? If so, why not make today the day you follow Joseph’s example and openly follow Jesus no matter the cost. No matter the cost to you personally or professionally, go public with your faith. It’s time. Don’t keep your faith in Jesus a secret any longer.

*John D. Grassmick, “Mark,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 191.

Peter Wept

Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

Mark 14:72

Peter had big failures, but he also had big regret. He was not blind to his sin, and he wasn’t too proud to grieve over and repent of it. That is why there was hope for Peter. And that is why I fear there may not be hope for some of our churches. 

You see, we have big failures too. Our churches today are full of big failures, major sins. But there is no weeping. No regret. No repentance like this. When was the last time someone came forward in your church and anointed the altar with holy tears? When was the last time someone wept over their sins? When was the last time you wept over your sin?

It’s not that we don’t sin anymore. It’s not that our failures and our sins aren’t that big. That isn’t it. It’s that we just aren’t that moved by them. We explain them away. We think that sex outside of marriage doesn’t really matter, that divorce doesn’t really matter, that greed and all manner of worldliness doesn’t really matter. And, perhaps worst of all, we think that repentance doesn’t really matter. So, we just move on and expect God to forgive us.

But sin that hasn’t been repented of is a hindrance to your intimacy with God. Many of you aren’t as close to God as you used to be and you can’t figure out why. And it’s because of your sin. Sins that you willingly committed against God and haven’t repented of. It is holding you back in your relationship with the Lord.

So, allow yourself to be broken over your sins. Name them before your God and ask for His forgiveness and see if He won’t restore you to close relationship and usefulness to Him, just as Peter was eventually restored and used in amazing ways.