Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How the Resurrection Applies to Our Lives | Mark | Mark 16

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome to Tim Minna Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. My name is Patrick Miller. And I'm Keith Simon. If this podcast has been helping you in your walk with God, would you take five seconds to help us? Hop onto Twitter and follow our new Twitter account at TMBT Podcast. If you go there, you can see our latest episodes. You can also follow Keith and I and send us messages. We'd love to follow you back and see what's happening in your life.

Starting point is 00:00:34 Right now we're asking, who is Jesus? In the decades before and after Jesus's life and death, there were dozens of people who claimed to be messiahs, who led messianic movements in Israel. And in every single case, without exception, that leader was killed, oftentimes by execution, and the movement inevitably collapsed. Everybody went home.

Starting point is 00:00:57 That was it. That happened every single time except one. There was one movement whose leader was crucified, but the movement didn't collapse. No, it exploded. In the course of about 300 years, it spread throughout the whole Roman Empire. What made Christianity different? What happened after Jesus died? Well, Mark chapter 16 tells us that Jesus didn't stay dead, that he was resurrected exactly as he said he would be. See, what separated Jesus from every other person claiming to be the Messiah, what separates Christianity from every other religion is the resurrection.

Starting point is 00:01:38 Other world religions are rooted in teachings or ideas or philosophies, but Christianity is rooted in a historical event. Now, if you aren't sure that the resurrection really occurred, you're in good company. Even Jesus' disciples didn't. He had repeatedly told them that he would be crucified and rise on the third day. But on the Saturday after Jesus died, nobody was expecting a resurrection. right? And remember the women who found that Jesus was gone and the tomb was empty? What were they headed to the tomb for? Well, to take spices for a dead body, they didn't expect a resurrected Jesus.

Starting point is 00:02:15 The men, they were hiding. Yeah, they were scared that the authorities were going to come after them. They weren't expecting a resurrection. Some people doubt the historical reality of the resurrection. Others doubt the centrality of the resurrection. If that's, you know, you know, you, if you aren't sure that the resurrection really makes all that much difference, you might want to listen in on a conversation that happened several years ago between Marilyn Sewell, who you've probably never heard of, and the late Christopher Hitchens, who I'm sure you have heard of. He was the author of the best-selling book, God is not great, why religion poisons everything. But Hitchens was known for far more than that. He was a public intellectual of the very first rank. Anyway, so,

Starting point is 00:03:02 Sewell is interviewing Hitchens for her radio program, and the following exchange took place during the interview. So here's Sewell. The religion you cite in your book is generally the fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I'm a liberal Christian, and I don't take the stories from the scripture literally. I don't believe in the doctrine of atonement. Do you make any distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion? So let me translate what Sewell is saying. Hey Christopher Hitchens, you're a really smart guy, and you go after Christians pretty hard. I kind of think you might be right.

Starting point is 00:03:39 Do you have any kinder words for me? Because I'm not one of those crazy Christians that actually believe what the Bible teaches. I don't actually believe in the cross. I don't actually believe in the resurrection. Well, listen to Hitchens' response. I would say that if you don't believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead, and by his sacrifice, our sins are forgiven, you're really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Starting point is 00:04:10 Sewell wanted no part of that discussion. So her next words were, let me go someplace out. I mean, do you hear what Hitchens is saying? He's saying, you can call yourself anything you want. If you want to call yourself a Christian, go for it. But if you don't believe that Jesus is the son of God, that he's the Messiah, who died on the cross of your sins and was raised from the dead, then you're not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Starting point is 00:04:32 Talk about nailing it. It's one of the ironies of our time that an outspoken atheist grasped the central tenets of Christianity better than many who call themselves Christian. Even though he didn't believe the resurrection actually happened, Hitchens understood that the resurrection of Jesus is of massive importance. He gets that if the resurrection truly happened, it's extremely relevant to how we think and live.

Starting point is 00:04:58 In the show notes, I'll link to a very short article that I wrote listing out some of the reasons that I think it makes sense to believe that Jesus really did rise from the dead. Honestly, I think that when you look at the evidence, it's a very strong case. But instead of going down that road together, instead right now, I want us to think about how the resurrection applies to our life, specifically from Mark 16. So here's what verses 6 and 7 say. This is the angel talking. Don't be alarmed, he said. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who is crucified. He has risen.

Starting point is 00:05:37 He is not here. See the place where they laid him? But go tell his disciples and Peter, he is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him just as he told you. Now, what stands out in that verse is that Peter is mentioned twice, once because he's one of the disciples, and the second time he is specifically referred to by name. He's the only disciple that is specifically referred to by his name.

Starting point is 00:06:03 My wife and I have four kids, and the youngest is Luke. So imagine if my wife said to me, hey, go call the kids and Luke for dinner. It sounds odd, but that's exactly what is happening in this story. Go tell the disciples and Peter. Clearly, there is some point being made about Peter. But what's the point? Well, Peter was one of Jesus' very first disciples. In a lot of ways, he was the leader of the 12. He was part of the inner circle. He had seen some miracles that even other disciples hadn't seen.

Starting point is 00:06:35 He'd seen Jesus transfigured. He'd seen Jesus bring a young girl back to life. He'd seen Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead. He'd seen so much. He'd heard so much that it was really striking that Peter denied Jesus three times before his death. Here's this great leader, and when he had a chance to stand up for Jesus, he lied about his relationship with Jesus. He bailed on Jesus. And after he had done that, Peter felt like such a loser, like such a failure, like such a sinner, that he just ran off and cried and wanted to be by himself. So what's so amazing about the verses in Mark 16 is that when Peter was at his lowest, Jesus reached out to him by name. Go tell the disciples, and Peter, go tell the disciples, especially that guy who thinks he's really blown it, go tell the disciples

Starting point is 00:07:28 and especially the one who committed the great sin, tell him, tell Peter that Jesus is alive and wants to restore his relationship with him. See, there's a message in here for us. No matter what you've done, no matter how badly you've sinned, Jesus Christ offers you hope. Go tell the one who feels like such a loser and a sinner that I'm alive. Now, a lot of us, we don't have that impression of Jesus. Maybe you've got a different picture of Christianity. Maybe you have one that is more self-righteous or more condemning. There's a sharp contrast between how Jesus treated moral failures and how his followers

Starting point is 00:08:08 treat them. We tend to reject failures, but Jesus never rejects those who come to him in faith. Jesus reached out to Peter at his lowest moment. But Jesus also appointed the Samaritan woman. the one with five failed marriages as his first missionary, Jesus offered forgiveness to tax collectors and prostitutes. In fact, Jesus said to the religious authorities, I tell you the truth,

Starting point is 00:08:35 the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. C.S. Lewis said about that verse, prostitutes are in no danger of finding their present life so satisfactory that they cannot turn to God, the proud, the avaractes. which just means greedy. The self-righteous are in danger of that. See, sometimes it's the failures and the losers who know that they've really blown it that are the quickest to trust in Jesus. So one of the core messages of the resurrection, one of the core messages that Mark 16 is trying to communicate to us,

Starting point is 00:09:13 is that there is hope and grace and forgiveness available to all who put their faith in Jesus. because Jesus rose from the dead, there is hope for you no matter what you've done. Because Jesus rose from the dead, there are no hopeless people. There are no hopeless problem. Thanks for listening. If you've enjoyed this content, please subscribe and give us a rating. That helps others find this podcast more easily. Also ask yourself who you could share this podcast with.

Starting point is 00:09:46 Texting an episode to a friend or family member is a great way to help them grow spiritually. If you want to go deeper, check out our show notes for book recommendations.

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How the Resurrection Applies to Our Lives | Mark | Mark 16

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