Who will roll away the stone?

 Read Mark 16

Think this morning about this verse from Isaiah.

Before they call I will answer;

while they are still speaking I will hear.

The Sabbath had ended. Actually, it ended in the darkness of the evening before, but these women who were headed to the tomb where Jesus had been placed would need sunlight.

Joseph of Arimathea donated his tomb.  Actually, revisionists think that it might not have been a donation. As it was just a short weekend stay, it might have just been an Air BnB rental.

But in any case, Jesus was placed in the tomb with some hasty preparation by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus the Pharisee who had come to see Jesus at night. It was a best-effort job that had to be done before sunset and the beginning of the Sabbath.

Obviously, the hasty job by the men did not satisfy the women’s standards so at sunrise they are headed to the tomb in which Jesus was placed. It had been a long and fearful Sabbath. The disciples were afraid and gathered together. What would they do?

For the women, there was no discussion. Before anything could be done, the body of Jesus had to be given proper preparation, and two women named Mary and one named Salome were headed to the tomb. One Mary is Mary Magdalene and the other is likely the mother of Jesus though she is identified as the mother of James—who was the half-brother of Jesus.

Salome was probably Zebedee’s wife. In any case, three women fully equipped with spices, were headed to do things the right way as far as the body of Jesus was concerned.

Then it hit one of them.  Who will move the stone away? It’s a big stone and takes several men. Who will do this?

Who will roll the stone away?

So, the women turned back and went to round up some men for that job. Not!

They kept going and found the stone had already been removed. We will continue with the story. It’s a good one for sure, but let’s stop and consider these women.

They know that they have to do right by their Master when it comes to his final preparations. They know what to do. They don’t know how they are going to get into the tomb, but they keep heading that way. They know their part and they keep moving forward.

There is saving faith—the for God so loved the world stuff—and there is healing faith. Jesus talked about the faith of the mustard seed and about moving mountains.

These gals just needed a big rock moved. They didn’t know how that would happen but they continued on their mission to do what they knew to do. They continued forward expecting to do their part.

That’s faith.

I know what my part is. I don’t know how the rest of this will fall into place. I will move forward to do my part.

But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

The men are all back at their Air BnB in a terrible funk but the women are doing what they know to do.

Before they call I will answer;

while they are still speaking I will hear.

Were these women led by faith? Was it ignorance? Did they just have to get out of that house full of brooding men who didn’t know hat to do next?

Any might be the case. I’m going with faith—plain and simple faith. This is how I live my life every day faith.  I say it was faith.

The women did not fully understand, but they knew their part.

Sometimes, we just need to pay attention to our parts. Sometimes we need to know less about the big picture and just keep our eyes fixed on what God wants us to do.

Sometimes we just pick up our spices and head to the tomb. I know my part.

I think the women knew Proverbs 3:5-6. I think they were just trusting in the Lord and going to that tomb took a lot of trust—the with all of your heart sort of trust.

Now, let’s get to the part that got you up and in here early this morning. The women see the stone rolled away and a young man in a white robe sitting by the entrance.

“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! 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.’”

I will talk more about Peter and some other nuances of this morning at the next service, but for now, be affirmed by these words.

He has risen! He is not here.

He is not here. Jesus of Nazareth is not in this tomb. You won’t be needing those spices after all.

He has risen! He is not here.

Those are our words of affirmation this Resurrection Sunday. Our words of discipleship—our challenge or our charge is this.

Before they call I will answer;

while they are still speaking I will hear.

God has good plans for us. We need to trust him enough to just do our part and not to worry about the rest. It’s ok to be afraid, but know that the spirit of fear did not come from God.

God will help you deal with your fear. Your part—our part is faith. Just keep the faith. We keep on stepping out in faith and doing our part and trusting God to do the rest.

He has risen! He is not here.

There is your affirmation.

Step out in faith. There is your challenge.

Celebrate today like no other day.

Step out from this place in faith, not fear!

Amen.