God's Grave

[0:00] Mark, and if we read in chapter 15, Mark chapter 15, and if we read again from verse 44.

[0:14] Mark 15 at verse 44, Pilate was surprised to hear that he or Jesus should have already died. At summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead.

[0:26] And when he learned from the centurion that Jesus was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought 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.

[0:41] And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joseph, saw where he was laid. It was once said that every graveyard gives a warning, but every grave tells a story.

[1:07] Every graveyard gives a warning, and every grave tells a story. Every graveyard gives the warning that life is uncertain.

[1:19] Death is sure. Sin is the cause. Christ is the cure. Every graveyard gives the warning that our end is coming. Every graveyard gives the warning our life is short.

[1:33] Every graveyard gives the warning, death is our enemy. Every graveyard gives the warning, we are all in the queue.

[1:45] Every graveyard gives the warning, it is appointed unto man once to die. And after that, the judgment. Every graveyard gives a warning, but every grave tells a story.

[1:59] Every grave tells a story of someone who once lived in this world. Every grave tells a story of a father, a mother, a son, a daughter, a husband, a wife.

[2:11] Every grave tells a story of someone who experienced life and all its blessings. Every grave tells a story of someone who encountered trials in this life. Every grave tells a story of someone who had to face death alone.

[2:27] Every graveyard gives a warning, but every grave tells a story. And you know, last Lord's Day we considered what kind of day it was on the day of God's funeral.

[2:41] And such a statement or such a description may be hard to get our head around, that God himself had a funeral. But this is the wonder of our salvation, that no one else could save us.

[2:54] No one else could deal with our sin. No one else could die our death except God himself. Therefore God had to come in our likeness. He had to come in our nature.

[3:05] He had to come in the person of Jesus Christ. And he had to live our life, bear our sin, and he had to die our death. In order that we could experience the newness of life and the power of the resurrection.

[3:17] But you know, having considered God's funeral last week, this week I'd like us to consider God's grave. Which is an equally difficult concept to get our head around.

[3:30] That God not only had a funeral, he also had a grave. God was laid in a grave. And when he was laid in a grave, the graveyard gave a warning.

[3:42] And the grave told a story. Because the graveyard that God was laid in, it warned us that death is an awful enemy. The graveyard warned us that death is a fierce enemy.

[3:55] The graveyard warned us that death is a solemn enemy. The graveyard warned us that death is the last enemy. But what we see in this passage is that in the graveyard which God was laid in, death became a defeated enemy.

[4:14] Because God's grave tells the greatest story ever told. Every graveyard gives a warning. Every grave tells a story.

[4:25] And the grave of Jesus, my friend, it tells a great story. It's a true story. And it's a story which has been told and retold for centuries.

[4:36] That God's grave was empty. He is not here. He is risen. And you know, when I think about God's grave, I have in mind that if there was ever something that would have been written on the grave of Jesus, if there were words that were ever going to be inscribed on a stone, or you could say a tombstone, or the stone that was rolled in front of the grave of Jesus, if there was ever words that were going to be written, I always have in my mind that I, that it would be the words of John 15.

[5:10] Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Every graveyard gives a warning.

[5:22] But every grave tells a story. And the story of God's grave, it's a love story. It's a love story. Because it's the greatest demonstration of God's love for lost and dying sinners.

[5:36] And because the story of God's grave is a love story, that's where I'd like us to gather around this morning. I'd like us to gather around God's grave and consider just what happened there.

[5:51] Because in the passage, in this passage, I'd like us to see that there were three firsts which took place at God's grave. Three firsts.

[6:03] There was the first grave, the first glimpse, and the first gospel. The first grave, the first glimpse, and the first gospel. So we look, first of all, at the first grave.

[6:17] Look at verse 45. And when he learned, this is Pilate, when he learned from the centurion that Jesus was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought 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.

[6:34] And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of Joseph, saw where he was laid. And as we know, God's funeral, the funeral of Jesus, it was conducted by two members of the Sanhedrin.

[6:50] One was Nicodemus. Nicodemus was the man who had the nighttime meeting with Jesus, but for many years he remained sitting on the fence. And there was also Joseph of Arimathea, the man whom we just read about.

[7:03] And he came out of nowhere. He only appeared at the last minute. And you know, that's how it often is with the disciples of Jesus. Some are like Nicodemus. For years, they're hiding in the shadows, sitting on the fence.

[7:16] Others are like Joseph. They just appear from nowhere. But you know, it doesn't matter how they came. And to some extent, it doesn't matter when they came.

[7:27] All that matters was that they came at all. They came and took up the call to be a disciple of Jesus. But what always intrigues me about both Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea is that they were both colleagues and members of this Jewish parliament.

[7:45] They were Pharisees. They were friends. They were neighbours. And yet, without knowing what was going on in each other's heart, they were both secretly seeking Jesus.

[7:56] But when they were confronted with his death, it prompted them to make this step and come out on the side of the Lord. When they were confronted with the death of Jesus, it prompted them to come off the fence and publicly make themselves known as a disciple of Jesus Christ.

[8:15] It wasn't an easy move to make to come out on the side of Jesus, but no one ever said it would be easy. And they could, these men, they could have come up with many, many excuses as to why they should remain secret disciples.

[8:29] They were respected members of the Jewish council. Both Nicodemus and Joseph, they held prominent and powerful positions. They were part of, as we said last week, they were part of the Jewish parliament, which was an assembly of powerful Jewish men who established laws within the land of Israel.

[8:49] But they were also part of the same parliament who was responsible for the lies about Jesus, the sham trial of Jesus, and they were responsible for the death of Jesus.

[9:01] And so for Nicodemus and Joseph to come out on the side of the Lord as members of the parliament that had put Jesus to death, it was a bold move. It was a difficult step to make.

[9:13] But you know what comes across so clearly by their actions is that they didn't love their position, their prominence, or their power more than Jesus. They didn't love their reputation and what others thought of them more than Jesus.

[9:27] And for them, enough was enough. They had hidden their love for Jesus and their desire to be a disciple of Jesus for long enough. And it was now the time to put aside all these excuses and all the barriers that were holding them back and come out in the side of the Lord.

[9:44] And for Joseph of Arimathea, that moment came when, as we saw last week, when he came to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, and he asked for the body of Jesus in order to bury him.

[9:58] And undoubtedly, when Joseph appeared in Pilate's headquarters, he was risking his reputation. And his position as a member of the Jewish parliament, well, it was going to be put into question.

[10:12] But Joseph, he didn't care about his reputation. He didn't care about what other people thought of him. All that mattered to Joseph was that he loved Jesus and he wanted to do for Jesus what he could.

[10:25] When Joseph went to Pilate, he wasn't thinking about himself. He wasn't thinking about what others thought of him, even what others would say about him. Joseph was only thinking about the fact that he loved Jesus and that Jesus loved him.

[10:42] Joseph's desire was to serve Jesus by giving him his best. And you know, there are many people and you're in here this morning and you're just like Joseph and Nicodemus.

[10:57] I know that you can see yourself in them so readily. The secret disciple hiding in the crowds, sitting on the fence, staying in the shadows, loving Jesus from a distance.

[11:09] Just from a distance. But the question I have to keep coming back to is, are you really like Joseph and Nicodemus? Are you really like them? Because when they were confronted with the death of Jesus, it caused them to come out on the side of Jesus.

[11:24] It caused them to put aside their position, their power, their prominence within their own community and what people thought of them and it caused them to publicly make themselves known as a Christian.

[11:37] But more than that, because they put their reputation and what others would think about them or say about them, because they put it to one side, Joseph and Nicodemus put themselves forward to serve the Lord in whatever way they could.

[11:53] And so, are you really like Joseph and Nicodemus? Are you really like them? Are you willing to come out on the side of the Lord? Because secret disciples or private disciples, they actually stunt their spiritual growth when they refuse to come out on the side of the Lord.

[12:16] And it's hard to think that anyone would want to stunt their own spiritual growth because they're worried about the opinions of others. But you know, this not only applies to private disciples, it also applies to public disciples.

[12:31] Public disciples stunt their spiritual growth when they don't put themselves forward and serve the Lord in whatever way they can because they're worried about what other people think.

[12:44] Solomon was right. The fear of man is a snare. it's crippling. It's restricting. It's immobilizing.

[12:56] It's a hindrance to our Christianity. It's a hindrance to our growth. It's a hindrance to the gospel. And that's sad. It's sad to think that there are people in here who are terrified about what other people think of them or say about them or even will say to them.

[13:14] And it's sad because Christianity, it's not about us. It's about our relationship with Jesus, yes, but Christianity is all about Jesus Christ.

[13:26] And so the reason we fear others is because our focus is upon self, not upon Jesus. The reason we feel so weak is because our strength is in self, not in Jesus.

[13:41] The reason we're looking to the left hand and to the right is because our eyes are actually upon self and not upon Jesus. But my friend, we need to be like Joseph and Nicodemus who fixed their eyes upon Jesus and kept their eyes upon him and him alone.

[13:59] We need to come out on the side of the Lord and serve the Lord in whatever way we can. And you know, this is what I love about Joseph of Arimathea. He put aside the fear of man and came out on the side of Jesus and then he did what he could for Jesus.

[14:19] He couldn't lead people like Moses did. He couldn't be a king like David was. He couldn't prophesy like Isaiah. He couldn't preach like John the Baptist. He couldn't teach theology like the Apostle Paul.

[14:31] Joseph couldn't do any of these things for Jesus. But Joseph did what he could for Jesus. Joseph did what he could for Jesus. And what Joseph did for Jesus was give him his most personal possession.

[14:47] His own grave. He gave him his own grave. Joseph gave Jesus his own grave. Matthew tells us in his gospel that Joseph that he was not only a disciple of Jesus he was a rich man.

[15:04] And when he received permission to bury the body of Jesus he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and he laid it in his own new tomb which he had hewn out of the rock.

[15:17] And as you know the Jews they cut burial tombs in the limestone hillside of Palestine. And they cut these tombs for their families. And these tombs they were you could say they were about six foot by nine foot.

[15:32] And on average inside the tomb they would have about six shells. Three on either side. But when Joseph did what he could for Jesus he gave him his own grave.

[15:44] And it was a grave in which no one had ever been laid before. Jesus was the first to be laid in Joseph's grave. Joseph gave Jesus his own grave.

[15:58] And this not only highlights the fact that Joseph was actually prepared for his own death but it should also indicate to us that Jesus entered Joseph's grave first.

[16:13] Jesus entered Joseph's grave first. And I want to stress that point because it's a beautiful thought because that is the case for everyone who commits their life to Jesus Christ.

[16:30] My friend the Christian can say today Jesus has entered my grave first. Jesus entered my grave first. Because when Jesus came into this world he not only lived the life we could not live he also died the death we deserved to die and in dying our death he entered our grave before us.

[16:53] And he prepared the way for us by removing the sting from death and conquering the power of the grave. And you know although death is very very hard to deal with and we all naturally shrink from it and funerals I find them the most painful and hard things to do.

[17:15] But this is the beautiful thing about the death of a Christian that their grave belongs to Jesus. Their grave belongs to Jesus because Jesus entered that grave first.

[17:28] Jesus entered that grave first. And you know I hope that we'll all be like Joseph. All like Joseph.

[17:39] Not only in the fact that we come out on the side of Jesus and that we do what we can for Jesus but also in the fact that we are prepared for our own death by ensuring that Jesus enters our grave first.

[17:56] Jesus entered our grave first. And so the first of three firsts in the passage is that there was the first grave. But the second of three firsts was the first glimpse.

[18:08] The first glimpse. If you look at chapter 16 and verse 1. Mark tells us here that on the first day of the first day of the week there were three women who were given the first glimpse of God's empty grave.

[18:49] Because as we read Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome, they brought spices to the tomb of Jesus in order to anoint his body.

[19:01] They didn't come to embalm the body of Jesus in order to prevent bodily decay like that's what the Egyptians did. But the women, they came to perfume the decaying body of Jesus as this act of devotion.

[19:17] Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, they had done what they could for Jesus by giving them, giving him a burial. And these women, they came to do what they could for Jesus by anointing his body as an act of devotion.

[19:32] both men and women did what they could for Jesus because they knew that Jesus had done everything for them on the cross at Calvary.

[19:44] And the same is true for every believer, whether we are male or female. We ought to do all that we can for Jesus because he has done everything for us and much, much more.

[19:59] But what we ought to notice from this passage is that this is the third time which Mark has mentioned these women who followed Jesus. Because you could say that there have been three scenes in which we've witnessed them in the past few verses.

[20:17] And each time these women, each time these scenes were given to us, these women were present. Because back in verse 40, in verse 40, you could say that these women, they were at the horror scene of Calvary.

[20:32] They were looking on from a distance. And Mark says it was Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and the younger of Joseph and Salome. There was the horror scene of Calvary.

[20:42] Then down in verse 47, there was the hurtful scene of Jesus' funeral. They were there, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.

[20:54] And then in verse 1 we're told that they come to this hopeful scene, hopeful to anoint the body of Jesus. And who was there? Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome.

[21:08] And every time Mark tells us, he tells us who these women are. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph and Salome. And so in three scenes, the horror scene of Calvary, the hurtful scene of Jesus' tomb or the funeral and the hopeful scene of Jesus' grave.

[21:24] They're all there. And in these three scenes, Mark mentions that these women were present and they witnessed what happened to Jesus. And with this, Mark is affirming, you could say, the legitimacy of what he's writing in his gospel.

[21:41] He's giving the names of eyewitnesses to prove the genuineness of his claims. But what's interesting is that Mark not only defends the accuracy of his gospel, but he does so by mentioning the names of women.

[22:01] And this was, you could say, counter-cultural. Because sad to say, first century Palestine, the opinion of women was invalid and worthless. Whether what they said was true or not, their words were null and void.

[22:17] Because Judaism refused to accept the testimony of women. But as we said, Mark mentions the names of these women for that very reason. to verify the claims of Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection.

[22:33] But because it was the claims of women, for many centuries, even after the gospels were written, people still claimed that the resurrection of Jesus was just based upon the gossip of women.

[22:49] But the opposite was true. The opposite was true because what we've witnessed throughout the gospel of Mark and throughout all the gospels is that time and time again, Jesus, he highlights and he elevates women.

[23:04] He draws attention to women who have been neglected and oppressed by, you could say, domineering men. And when you go through the ministry of Jesus, women are always present.

[23:16] Women are always been addressed and challenged and encouraged. and that's because when the gospel arrived, it sought to break down all the barriers.

[23:28] All the barriers, the barriers of gender, nationality, class, social status, and position. All these barriers that made people feel inferior and worthless.

[23:39] When the gospel arrived, the mission of Jesus was to make us see that we are all precious in God's side. And because we've all been made in the image and likeness of God, regardless of our background or our bank account, the gospel is saying we have dignity.

[23:58] We are people of worth. We are valuable. We are significant. If to no one else, we are significant to God. My friend, the arrival of the gospel sought to remind us that we're all on the same level.

[24:15] We are all sinners, in need of salvation. And so by going to women, Jesus was always affirming to his day and generation that women are still significant.

[24:25] They're not insignificant. They are of value. And time and time again, Jesus met with women who are in need. You remember the woman of Samaria, the woman with the issue of blood, the woman caught in adultery.

[24:40] You've got Jairus' daughter, the Syrophoenician woman, the widow of Zarephath, the Canaanite woman. You've got Martha, Mary of Bethany, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of Joseph, and even the mother of Jesus.

[24:52] Time and time again, Jesus met with women who were in need. And he had compassion on them. And he dedicated himself to them because he saw that they weren't anonymous.

[25:06] Because in Jesus' day, or in Jesus, you could say, in Jesus, they had value. In Jesus, they had worth. In Jesus, they had identity.

[25:18] In Jesus, they discovered why they existed and what their purpose in life was all about. In Jesus, they knew that their chief end was not to survive or to please man, but to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

[25:33] In Jesus Christ, both male and female were given identity. And their identity, it wasn't in gender or nationality, class, social status, or position, but in Jesus Christ.

[25:49] Their identity was in Jesus Christ. And my friend, that's why being a Christian, not oppressive or burdensome or boring, but being a Christian, it's liberating.

[26:02] It gives new life and it gives purpose and meaning to life. because when we commit our life to Jesus, our identity and what we take security in, it's not who we are or what we do or what people think of us or how successful we are or what or if we're a good person or not.

[26:27] When we become a Christian, our identity should be in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone. That's where we should find our worth. That's where we should find our value in Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ alone.

[26:42] And you know, the Apostle Paul, he stressed this to the Galatians. You could say the Galatians, they had an identity crisis. And he said that when you become a Christian, your identity is in Jesus Christ.

[26:56] You're crucified with Christ. You're raised with Christ, he says. You're not under the law. You're not oppressed and segregated and isolated into different groups depending upon your nationality or social status or gender.

[27:11] No, Paul says that when we are in Christ, our identity, he says there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, neither male nor female.

[27:24] He says you are all one. All one in Christ Jesus. all one. One big family.

[27:38] And with this, Paul affirmed why Jesus was dedicated to these women. But it also explains why they were so dedicated to him. And that they had a desire to do what they could for him.

[27:52] They wanted to do what they could for him. And that's what we see with these women at the tomb here. They dedicated themselves to Jesus and they followed him to the last.

[28:02] They did what they could for Jesus. And Mark tells us that they went to the tomb of Jesus very early in the morning, just after sunrise, which was about five o'clock in the morning.

[28:14] And Mark records that the greatest concern for these women as they made their way to the tomb, you read it in verse three, their greatest concern was who who would roll away the stone?

[28:29] Who would roll away the stone? And one commentator, he made the point that the anxiety of the woman about who would roll away the stone was due in part to the fact that all the men were in hiding.

[28:48] All the men were in hiding. It's an interesting point, isn't it? And that's what I want to stress. That the women had a desire to do what they could for Jesus, whilst all the men were in hiding.

[29:06] And you know, it made me think about our own congregation and the number of women there are who follow the Lord in comparison to the number of men.

[29:18] And that distinction, it's most clearly seen at the prayer meeting on a Wednesday night. Now I know there's a big stigma about the prayer meeting and that when you go, it's a signal that you're now a committed Christian, but that's not true.

[29:35] That's not true because it's when you profess your faith in Jesus Christ by sitting at the Lord's table. That's the evidence that you're a committed Christian, not when you go to the prayer meeting.

[29:46] prayer meeting. But what always gets me is the number of women at the prayer meeting in comparison to the number of men. And you could say that the women who are there, they have expressed a desire to do what they can for Jesus whilst all the men are in hiding.

[30:06] And I mentioned this a few weeks ago at the prayer meeting, that we need to pray for the husbands of all these women at the prayer meeting. we need to pray for the men who are in hiding.

[30:18] We need to pray for them that they'll come and pray for them that and encourage them and even challenge them to come out in the side of the Lord because evidently there's a separation in their home and in their family.

[30:35] Where the women have a desire to do what they can for Jesus whilst the men are in hiding. But why are the men in hiding?

[30:47] Where are the men? What are they doing? Why aren't they coming? What's keeping them back from committing themselves to Jesus Christ?

[31:01] What's holding you back? What's keeping you? What's stopping you from coming out on the side of the Lord? And of course I'm not just highlighting the men.

[31:13] There are also women in our congregation who are in hiding. And it's about time they came out of hiding. In fact there's no reason why and there's no excuse good enough as to why we should be in hiding instead of doing what we can for Jesus.

[31:33] There's no reason why. I look at some of you and I think well what is stopping you? What's holding you back? What's keeping you? And in reality there's nothing.

[31:49] The only thing that's stopping you is yourself. Why are you in hiding? Don't be in hiding. Come out on the side of the Lord.

[32:01] And so this commentator he makes the claim that the anxiety of the woman about who would roll away the stone was due in part to the fact that all the men were in hiding. But that anxiety we see here it was short lived.

[32:14] Because when they arrived at the tomb of Jesus the stone was already rolled away. And their first glimpse of God's grave became an opportunity for the first gospel.

[32:28] And so there are three firsts in this passage. The first grave. The first glimpse. And lastly and briefly we see the first gospel. The first gospel.

[32:42] You look at verse 4. 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.

[32:54] 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.

[33:06] 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.

[33:19] For trembling and astonishment had seized them. And they said nothing to anyone. For they were afraid. On the way to the tomb. You could say these three women were anxious about how they were going to open the grave.

[33:34] But their anxiety had soon changed as it says to alarm. When they saw that the stone had been rolled away. And this word alarm that Mark uses. It expresses a mix of emotions.

[33:47] These women had a mix of emotions as they approached and entered the tomb of Jesus. Because the word alarm it means you could say both fear and wonder. Amazement and distress.

[33:59] All this mix of emotions. And we can imagine that there was a mix of emotions because they expected to find a sealed tomb. But it was wide open. They expected to find a new tomb with just a single corpse inside it.

[34:14] But they found an empty tomb. And an angel clothed in white robes. They came to the tomb in alarm. Full and mixed with emotions.

[34:25] But as they approached they were told by God's messenger. Do not be alarmed. Do not be alarmed. And thinking about it.

[34:36] How often is that the case for us? We approach something. We anticipate something. We're thinking about something. And we're being crippled with fear because of it.

[34:48] And it's like this big stone in our way. That we can't imagine getting round it. And the closer we come to the obstacle. We conjure up all these scenarios in our mind.

[34:59] And all these possible outcomes. We may even lose sleep over it. And yet in our time of need. When it comes. Grace is given. The fear is removed.

[35:10] And in a sense the stone it's just rolled away. The obstacle which seems impossible to overcome. It's pushed aside by the Lord. And the way is made straight for us.

[35:23] And when things like that happen. When they happen to me. I'm always reminded of what Jesus said to the disciples after the storm. Remember how they were in the boat and they survived the storm.

[35:36] Jesus says to them after it all. Why did you doubt? O ye of little faith. Why did you doubt? But what we see here in closing is that to these fearful doubting confused anxious women the messenger of God preaches the first gospel message from the empty tomb of Jesus.

[36:01] You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He has risen. He is not here. See the place where they laid him. The first gospel message is a message of good news.

[36:16] That the crucified saviour has been raised from the dead. But as the angel makes perfectly clear the first gospel message is not to stay in the tomb.

[36:28] The message of new life is not to stay among the dead. No the angel says go. Go and tell the disciples. Go and tell them that this crucified saviour is now risen.

[36:44] And go and tell Peter. Tell Peter. Make sure Peter knows that the one he denied is now alive. Tell Peter. Go and spread this gospel message the good news that Jesus is not here.

[36:59] He is risen. And you know this first gospel message it was not only good news. it was a call to discipleship. It was a call to nail their colours to the mast and tell people that Jesus is alive.

[37:16] But what we see is that these women they didn't walk away from the empty tomb the same way that they arrived. Because they came to the tomb in anticipation full of emotions and yet they left trembling.

[37:30] They came in anticipation and they left trembling. And in a sense that's what it should be like for us when we come to church. We should come to church in anticipation.

[37:43] Anticipation to meet with Jesus. To meet with the Lord. To have the gospel preached to us. To have ourselves filled up for the week ahead. We should come with anticipation but we should leave trembling.

[37:58] Leave trembling because we are being given the solemn responsibility to go out of here and to the week ahead and tell people that Jesus is alive.

[38:13] Tell them that he's not here for he is risen and he's able to save to the uttermost. We should leave here trembling. My friend when we look at this passage we see that Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, these women who came came to God's grave, they came to do what they could for Jesus and they left the tomb of Jesus doing what they could for Jesus.

[38:43] so we too must come to church to do what we can for Jesus to worship him, to glorify him, to learn from him and we are to leave here today and every Lord's Day doing what we can for Jesus because it's all about him.

[39:07] It's all about Jesus and so there are three firsts in this passage. The first grave, the first glimpse and the first gospel.

[39:21] It was once said that every graveyard gives a warning but every grave tells a story and God's empty grave tells the story of of love.

[39:38] a love story but as we leave the grave today we are to do what we can for the one who loved us and gave himself for us.

[39:52] We are to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness knowing then that all other things shall be added unto us.

[40:04] May the Lord bless these thoughts to us. Let us pray. O Lord our gracious God we give thanks for the privilege of knowing that the tomb is empty of knowing that Jesus is not here for he is risen that he has risen and defeated death and the grave that he has ascended up on high and that his desire is to lead the captives free and Lord we pray that we would keep our eyes upon this Jesus whoever sits at thy right hand making intercession for us help us Lord to keep our focus upon him to know that there is no one else to look to for it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man it is better to trust in Jesus than to put confidence in ourselves or help us Lord we pray to keep looking to him to keep going with him to keep having him beside us every step of the way that he promises to us that he will never leave us and he will never forsake us undertake for us then we pray as we leave here and go into the week ahead that we too would do as the psalmist said that we would tell it to the generation following that this God is our God and he will be our guide even unto death go before us we pray for

[41:32] Jesus sake amen we shall conclude by singing in psalm 68 psalm 68 in the Scottish Psalter page 303 psalm 68 singing from verse 18 down to the verse mark 20 and as you can see from these verses verses 18 to 20 they focus very clearly upon the resurrection and why Jesus rose from the dead he has led the captives free so psalm 68 from verse 18 thou hast o lord most glorious ascended up on high and in triumph victorious led captive captivity thou hast received gifts for men for such as did rebel yea e'en for them that god the lord in midst of them might dwell down to the verse mark 20 of psalm 68 to god's praise thou hast the lord most glorious ascended up on high and in triumph victorious led captive captive in triumph thee thou hast received gifts for men for such as did repel yea e'en for them that called the lord in midst of them might dwell blessed be the lord who is to us of our salvation god who daily with his benefits us plenteously doth lord he of salvation is the god who is our god most strong and unto god the lord from death the issues to be all the grace of the lord jesus christ the love of god the father and the fellowship of the holy