Of all the events recorded in the life of Jesus, none is more significant than His resurrection from the dead. The biblical authors are so clear on this that the Apostle Paul explicitly states that
1 Corinthians 15:14 NASB and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.
Jesus’ teaching, His miracles, and even His death on the cross mean very little if He did not rise.He might be remembered as a wise teacher and good example to follow, but so is Buddha. He may offer useful counsel for your relationships. But He also made outrageous claims about Himself, & if those claims are false, His teaching becomes suspect.
But if He rose after being clearly dead, He stands in a category no other religious teacher can occupy. Some have tried to place Jesus beside the pagan myths of dying and rising gods. Even skeptical scholars now judge those parallels weak, late, & irrelevant to the Jewish & historical claim about Jesus.
The resurrection of Christ took place within a public chain of testimony that could not be ignored in the first century. Jesus truly died, He was truly buried, and His tomb was known. And when that tomb stood open for all to see on the first day of the week, the evidence did not remain mute. The empty grave stood open before them, and the angel’s message still rang in their ears that morning. Soon the witnesses would have to reckon, not with rumor or memory, but with the risen Christ Himself. In his monumental 4 volume work “On the Resurrection” (2024), resurrection scholar, Gary Habermas, writes that 80.1% of the scholars he counted favor the historicity of the empty tomb, while 19.9% reject it. The empty tomb of Christ is well attested.
The Bible gives us four biographical accounts of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Each records the resurrection from a distinct vantage point, yet all four converge on the same central reality: Jesus truly died, Jesus was truly buried, and on the first day of the week His tomb stood empty. Turn in your Bible to the shortest of those four accounts, the Gospel of Mark 16:1. Let’s look at the first quiet movements of the first resurrection morning. Mark tells us that the “Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome” came to tomb of Jesus “When the Sabbath was over.”
Mark 16:1 NASB When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him.
Jesus was crucified on Friday morning around 9am and died around 3pm. Because the Jewish Sabbath officially began at sunset that Friday the work of burying His body be completed by sunset. The law required that no work could be done after the Sabbath had begun. The Roman soldiers broke the legs of the two men crucified beside Jesus to speed their deaths. Sunset was approaching, and the bodies had to be taken down. However, the Lord was already dead, so they took Him down and placed Him in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb. The Gospel of John says that Nicodemus joined him in preparing the body for burial. They wrapped Him in linen & covered Him with about one hundred pounds of myrrh & aloes. So, when these women come to the tomb early Sunday morning, they came expecting death.
The Risen Christ Was Not Expected.
The historical death of Jesus by crucifixion is a near-unanimous fact among critical scholars. No modern scholar who is taken academically seriously hypothesizes otherwise. This fact is historically attested by multiple ancient sources outside of the Bible, even hostile towards Christianity. The idea that somehow Jesus appeared dead but actually survived crucifixion is laughable. So, when these women are coming to the tomb they are they are expecting death. Their love for Jesus is clearly seen in their care to honor His lifeless body.
Many women were involved throughout Jesus’ ministry. He healed them, taught them, and elevated them in a culture that gave them very little social standing. These women were devoted followers who had stayed with Him through the cross and burial. They were not returning because the burial had been improperly done but wanted to do more to honor Him. So, they “bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him” as a personal expression of affection and devotion. Their love for Jesus moved them to act at the earliest opportunity.
Mark 16:2 NASB Very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
It is no small detail that the resurrection is first announced on the first day of the week. From that point on, the earliest Christians began to gather on Sunday rather than the old Sabbath. Christ’s resurrection made that day the church’s marker of new life in Him. Acts 20:7 shows believers gathering on the first day of the week 1 Corinthians 16:2 shows the same pattern. 2nd century writers such as Ignatius, Justin Martyr, & Barnabas bear witness to this practice. They show that it spread early and widely across the church.
As soon as the Sabbath had passed and the first light of day had come, they went to the tomb. But they faced a logistical problem as they approached.
Mark 16:3 NASB They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
They were not looking for a risen Lord; They were looking for a body behind a stone. Even though the Lord repeatedly promised that He would rise none of His disciples are anticipating it. His enemies fear the possibility, but His disciples are clueless.
That is important because the followers of Jesus were not prepared to invent a resurrection. They were not standing outside the tomb with countdown clocks. If the disciples fabricated the empty tomb they were knowingly preaching a fraud. Yet those same disciples are widely understood to have been radically transformed by what they proclaimed. In at least several cases, they were willing to suffer and die for it. Liars do not make good martyrs. Furthermore, I wouldn’t explain the conversion of skeptics like Jesus’ half brother James and the Apostle Paul. When these women arrive, they discover “that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.”
Mark 16:4 NASB Looking up, they *saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large.
The problem that had filled their minds on the way to the tomb had already been solved before they got there. They were still thinking about how to get to Jesus’ body, while God had already acted in power. The stone was not rolled away to help Jesus get out, but because the witnesses needed to see in. And what do they find when they look in?
Mark 16:5 NASB Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed.
Mark and Matthew report one angelic figure, while Luke and John report two. A report that highlights one does not automatically contradict a report that mentions both. Angels function as God’s appointed messengers throughout redemptive history. They announce births, judgments, deliverances, and decisive turning points in His plan. Human witnesses can testify to what they saw but angels testify to what God has done. When the women entered the tomb and saw what they could not explain, thus..
The Risen Christ Was Announced.
The announcement of the angel entirely contradicts what they expect, thus “they were amazed.” They are immediately distressed by this news. People who had watched Jesus suffer and die would not stroll into the tomb with composed triumph. Fear, bewilderment, and shock fit the scene. The first witnesses do not sound like people performing a polished religious script. Their alarm exposes how unprepared they were for resurrection. These are not women primed by wish-fulfillment or religious excitement. They came expecting a corpse, not a risen Lord. The angel does not comfort them with sentiment; He comforts them with truth.
Mark 16:6 NASB And he said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him.”
Most secular people assume ancient people were gullible about miracles, while modern people know better. But that misses the real historical question. In the decades around Jesus, other royal and prophetic movements arose across the region. When their leaders were killed, the claims usually died with them; That is the normal pattern.
But after Jesus was crucified, His movement did not collapse. It did not quietly preserve the memory of a fallen teacher. It went on proclaiming that He had been raised and was still the Christ. And it did so under circumstances that should have destroyed it. Jesus died by crucifixion, which even skeptical scholars treat as historically certain. His disciples were not expecting resurrection. The first witnesses were women in a culture where women’s testimony carried less public weight If Christians had invented the empty tomb story, they wouldn’t have made women the 1st witnesses. All four Gospels keep the women at the tomb’s front, which suggests they preserved what they believed happened. Even 2nd century antagonist Celsus attacked the story by mocking Mary Magdalene, which shows early critics saw this feature as awkward. And yet this movement survived and spread. The question is not whether Christianity needs an explanation. The question is which explanation best fits the evidence. Mark gives the answer in the angel’s words: “He has risen; He is not here.”
The angel’s words could also be translated, “He has been raised.” That means the resurrection was not just something that happened to Jesus but that God acted by raising Him. And that means the resurrection is not only a miracle but also a verdict. On Friday, Jesus was condemned, rejected, mocked, and executed like a criminal. If that had been the end of the story, then we could say He was brave, loving, and perhaps even inspiring. But we could not say He was right or that His claims were true. We could not say His death actually has any redeeming value upon our lives. But when God raised Him from the dead, God overturned the verdict of men. Men said, “Reject Him.” God said, “Receive Him.” Men said, “He is condemned.” God said, “He is vindicated.”
“He has been raised” means that God has publicly declared that Jesus is exactly who He claimed to be. It also means that His death was not a tragic failure. Jesus said He was giving His life for sinners. The resurrection is God’s public declaration that His death accomplished what He said it would accomplish.
And this matters far more personally than many people realize. Every person is trying to secure some kind of verdict over his life. We want to know that we are acceptable. We want to know that we are enough. We want to know that our life has not been a failure. Secular scholarship confirms something the Bible exposes very clearly: human beings ache for acceptance, worth, and significance.
Mary Shelley (1797-1851) understood this ache long before modern psychology gave it names. In Frankenstein (1818), the creature does not begin as a monster in the usual sense. He begins as a forsaken being who wants to be received. He watches human life from a distance. He learns language. He admires beauty. He longs for friendship. He wants someone to look at him and say, “You belong here. Your life has value. You are not a mistake.” But everywhere he turns, he meets revulsion, fear, and rejection, even from the one who brought him into existence. And as that longing for acceptance is starved, it does not simply disappear; It curdles. The ache hardens into resentment, and the resentment eventually erupts into vengeance.
Shelley’s story is fictional, but the nerve it touches is real. Human beings are not built to live without some sense that they are wanted, valued, and significant. And when people cannot secure that verdict, or when they lose it, they often do not remain neutral. They grow bitter and become defensive. They begin to strike back at a world that, in their minds, has refused to tell them that they matter.
Social psychologists say we have a deep need to belong. Researchers on self-worth say we keep tying our value to approval, appearance, performance, and success. Scholars of meaning say people need to know that their lives have value and matter. In other words, we are all looking for a verdict over our lives. Some people look for that verdict in success. Some look for it in morality. Some look for it in relationships, reputation, beauty, intelligence, or approval. But all of those verdicts are fragile. Most of them depend on performance and they can be taken away as fast as they were given.
The resurrection speaks directly into that anxiety. When God raised Jesus, He was not only speaking about Jesus but also for all who belong to Jesus. If the Father has vindicated the Son, then everything about our standing before Him has been settled. Those who trust the Son no longer have to spend their lives trying to justify themselves. They no longer have to build their identity on others’ opinions, personal performance, or hidden failures. The resurrection means that the final verdict does not rest in human hands; It rests with God.
What does it say about the human heart that we can be crushed by the disapproval of people, yet remain largely unmoved by the disapproval of God? God is not a distant evaluator; He gave you life and has carried you through every breath you have ever taken. He has fed you, clothed you, preserved you, shown you patience, & filled your life with mercies you did not even notice. More than that, when you sinned against Him, He did not respond by destroying you.; He sent His own Son. So the question is not merely, “Why does God’s opinion not matter to you?” The deeper question is what this reveals about your heart. How can the opinion of the One who made you, sustained you, and gave His Son seem so small? Why do the opinions of people who did none of those things still rule your life?
We can lose sleep over strained friendships, poor reviews, awkward moments, and even a bruised reputation. We can replay it for days and feel crushed because someone thinks poorly of us. Yet how often do we feel that same weight over grieving the God who gave us our life? How often do we lie awake because we have dishonored the One who has never wronged us? That is not a small defect; it is the soul profoundly disordered.
Without the resurrection, you could still admire Jesus, praise His courage, and even be moved by His sacrifice. But you could not say with confidence that sin had been forgiven or that peace with God had been secured. The resurrection changes that. God raised Him, and by raising Him, God declared that Jesus’ death was effective, accepted, and complete.
So when the angel says, “He has been raised,” he is saying more than, “Jesus is alive again.” He is saying, “God has acted. God has spoken. God has vindicated His Son.” And that is why Christians do not treat the resurrection as a nice ending to a sad story. They treat it as God’s public declaration that Jesus is Lord and that His death truly saves. They also hear in it the end of every attempt to rescue themselves from failure.
Beneath all our craving for approval lies a harder truth. Our greatest problem is not that other people have misunderstood us, overlooked us, or refused to value us. Our greatest problem is that we have sinned against God and treated His opinion lightly. We have denied Him in thought, word, and deed. Which means that if acceptance is ever to come to us, it will have to come by grace. The good news of the resurrection is that…
The Risen Christ Summons Failures.
If the resurrection is God’s public vindication of His Son, then the next question presses itself upon us: What will the risen Christ do with those who failed Him most? The angel answers that question immediately.
Mark 16:7 NASB "But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.'"
That line is full of grace, but you do not feel its sweetness until you first feel the weight of Peter’s failure. Peter had every reason to think the invitation did not include him.
Mark 14:27-31 NASB: And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, because it is written, ‘I WILL STRIKE DOWN THE SHEPHERD, AND THE SHEEP SHALL BE SCATTERED.’ 28 “But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” 29 But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.” 30 And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.” 31 But Peter kept saying insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing also.
Then the pressure came, and Peter collapsed exactly where he had boasted he would stand. After following “at a distance” into the courtyard of the high priest (v. 54), he was confronted first by a servant girl, then by others standing nearby. And each time he denied the Lord more strongly.
Mark 14:68-71 NASB: But he denied it, saying, "I neither know nor understand what you are talking about." And he went out onto the porch. 69 The servant-girl saw him, and began once more to say to the bystanders, "This is one of them!" 70 But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders were again saying to Peter, "Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean too." 71 But he began to curse and swear, "I do not know this man you are talking about!"
This was not a momentary slip of the tongue. This was a public, repeated, escalating denial. And it happened at the very hour when Jesus was being mocked, condemned, and led toward the cross.
Luke 22:61-62 NASB: The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, "Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times." 62 And he went out and wept bitterly.
So when the angel says, “Go, tell His disciples and Peter,” Peter would have had every reason to think, “Surely not me. Surely I have placed myself outside that circle. Surely whatever welcome remains for others, it cannot remain for one who denied Him like that.”
And Peter is not hard for us to understand. We do not need a courtyard to deny Christ. We deny His Lordship when we treat His commands as ideals instead of obligations. We deny Him when we edit His words to preserve our reputation. We deny Him when we call delayed obedience wisdom, though it is really disobedience w/ better manners. We deny Him when we let career, romance, family peace, or social acceptance tell us what is finally non-negotiable. We deny Him when we want His comfort, but resist His authority. We deny Him when we speak of grace in order to excuse what He commands us to kill. We deny Him when we confess Him in church, but arrange our private lives as though we answer to ourselves.
That is why the words “and Peter” strike with such force. Peter would have every reason to think himself disqualified. Jesus is, in effect, saying, “My plans for My disciples still include you.” The first movement outward from the empty tomb is not toward the strong, but toward the ashamed. Not toward the self-assured, but toward the failure. Christ does not wait for Peter to climb back to worthiness but summons him in grace.
The angel’s message does not stop at pardon but moves toward reunion. “He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.” The risen Christ is not only alive. He is already acting, leading, and keeping His word. He told them this beforehand, and resurrection morning confirms that not one word from His lips failed. The disciples are about to learn that their failure has not canceled His faithfulness. They broke their word to Him, but He has not broken His word to them. He still means to gather them, show Himself to them, and lead them. The first message from the empty tomb is not, “Start over and make yourselves worthy.” It is, “He is going ahead of you.” And yet Mark tells us that the women,
Mark 16:8 NASB They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Fear and astonishment fits this scene. The resurrection of Jesus is not a small religious idea that can be handled with composure. It is the invasion of God into death itself. Their trembling shows that they knew this moment was too great for them to manage. They stood before a reality they could not master.
Then Mark adds, “and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” He does not mean they remained silent forever. The rest of the New Testament makes that impossible. He means that in those first stunned moments they could not casually chatter about what they had seen. Fear closed their mouths before grace sent them out. And perhaps Mark ends this way because he wants the weight of the resurrection to rest on us. The women were afraid, and the disciples had failed. Peter too had denied the Lord. Still the risen Christ was alive, speaking, gathering, and going ahead of His own.
So how should you respond to Him? You do not simply agree that the resurrection happened. You do not merely admire Jesus more than you did before.
The Risen Christ Must Be Received.
To receive Christ means you stop hiding from Him. These women came to the tomb with confusion, fear, and very low expectations. Peter would soon come with shame. None of them came with strength; None of them came with a good record. And yet the risen Christ was already moving toward them. That means you do not wait until you feel worthy to come. You come because you are not worthy, and because He is alive.
Second, you stop negotiating with Him. Many people are willing to have Jesus as an inspiring figure, a moral guide, or a source of comfort. But the resurrection does not leave that option open. If He has been raised, then He is Lord. You cannot keep Him as an adviser while remaining your own master. To receive Him means that you yield to Him. You stop acting as if you can keep a part of your life for yourself. You place your whole life in His hands.
Third, you trust what His death accomplished. The resurrection means that His death was not a tragedy; it was an achievement. He died for sinners and rose in victory. So, to receive Him means that you stop trying to make yourself acceptable before God. You rest yourself on Christ alone. You tell Him the truth about your sin, bring Him your guilt, your fear, and your failure. And you entrust yourself to the One who died and rose again. So the call of this passage is very simple. Do not stand at a distance from Jesus; Do not keep Him in the past. Do not reduce Him to an idea, an example, or a tradition. Come to Him; Turn from your sin; Trust Him as He is offered in the gospel. The risen Christ does not merely ask to be admired. He summons you to belong to Him.
