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Yeshua is the Most Important Man Who Ever Lived. The Most Important Man brought the world the Most Important Message, a message that must be believed for human beings, who are alienated from God and headed to Hell, not Heaven, to death, not life, to be reconciled to their Creator and live forever.
Everything Messiah did, everything He said, every interaction with others that has been recorded for us in the divinely inspired book of Mark, is extremely important. We want to understand as much as we can about the Most Important Man and His Most Important Message. We want to line up our thoughts and lives with the Most Important Man and His Most Important Message. We want to tell as many people as we can about this Most Important Man and His Most Important Message.
We’re at the end of Messiah’s most amazing life and ministry – and also at an another amazing beginning. After living a perfect life; resisting every temptation; doing amazing miracles; giving us the greatest teaching; after having observed His last Seder; eaten His last meal; drank His last wine; after giving the bread and the wine new meaning about Himself and His greater redemption; after praying in the garden and having been disappointed by His disciples, betrayed by one of His disciples and abandoned by the rest; after being arrested and tried before the Jewish leaders and condemned to death for speaking the truth – that He is the Messiah and the Son of God; after being beaten and humiliated by them; after being tried by the Roman governor and sentenced to death; after being whipped and beaten and mocked by Roman soldiers; after being nailed to a cross; after being insulted by people near the cross, including Jewish leaders and those being crucified with Him – Yeshua died and was buried on Passover. It was also the day before the Sabbath. Some of the women who followed Yeshua had seen exactly where the body of Yeshua had been buried.
Mark tells when the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Yeshua’s body. This is an expression of love and devotion. Even if Yeshua had been rejected by the leaders of Israel and Rome, and been mocked, spit upon, humiliated, beaten, whipped and crucified, these loyal women still loved and appreciated the young Rabbi – even in death.
Who is Yeshua? Someone who is worthy of our expressions of love and devotion.
The love and devotion of these women will cause them to encounter an angel, which is a very blessed thing, and be among the very first human beings to find out about one of the greatest events in history. What a special honor!
Who is Yeshua? Someone who responds to our love and devotion by blessing us and honoring us.
Their love and devotion is further seen by them rising very early after the Sabbath was over to anoint Yeshua’s body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” On the way to the tomb, they realized the stone was too heavy for them to move and would need help to move it.
When they got to the tomb, they discovered the stone had already been moved. And something had happened that radically change the situation so that Yeshua’s body no longer needed anointing. That “something” is one of the very greatest and most significant events in the history of the world. But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe (white being the color of purity. This is one of the good and holy angels) sitting on the right side.
Yeshua’s body was gone and a stranger dressed in white was sitting there and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Yeshua 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.’”
Who is Yeshua? Someone who was crucified, was buried and whose body was no longer in the tomb because He has risen! Yeshua is only human being who died and was buried and who came back to life in this way – risen and transformed into a glorious state, never to die again.
Who is Yeshua? Someone who, after His resurrection, was seen by angels, testified to by angels, and served by angels.
Yeshua is Someone who sent eyewitnesses to His disciples, telling them about His resurrection.
Who is Yeshua? A true prophet who predicted He would die, come back to life and meet His disciples in the north – which He did, spending time with them, teaching them, preparing them to take over His mission of world evangelism and take over the leadership of His Community.
Who is Yeshua? Someone who had this angel say to these women: Go, tell His disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see Him.” Peter, who had denied Yeshua three times, is singled out for inclusion in the future plans of the Messiah. Yeshua is Someone who is able to forgive and restore disciples, even someone like Peter, who sinned a great sin by denying Him three times.
Mark gives us the reaction of the women to the empty tomb and the presence and pronouncement of the angel. Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses end the book of Mark here, which makes it a very abrupt ending. While verses 9-20 may have been added by others and therefore may not have the same level of inspiration and authority as the rest of Mark, they are true and worth our consideration.
When Yeshua rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had driven seven demons. Women were not considered to be reliable witnesses, so the fact that this history includes the detail that Yeshua first appeared to a woman makes this even more believable. This is not a detail which someone would make up. Why do I say that? If you were concocting a story to create a new religion, you would come up with an unimpeachable witness as the first witness to the resurrection – not a woman who had seven demons.
She went and told those who had been with Him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Yeshua was alive and that she had seen Him, they did not believe it. While the rest of the nation was celebrating Passover and happy, the disciples were mourning and weeping. This was the worst Passover of their lives, on which their beloved Messiah was betrayed by one of them, abandoned by all of them, arrested, tried, tortured and crucified. And in spite of Yeshua’s repeated teachings that He would die and come back to life, they still were not able to believe He had – even after receiving this eyewitness testimony.
This unflattering detail about the lack of faith of the disciples also shows that this story was not made up. This is not a detail that would be included if this story had been invented. To make the story easier to sell, you would want to show that the leaders of the new religion were men of great faith, not men of little faith.
The disciples were mourning and weeping because they believed Yeshua was dead and they had failed Him. When they finally realize He is alive, their mourning and weeping turns into an amazing joy that will be with them for the rest of their lives, a joy that will sustain them through great hardships. May we, and all of our brothers and sisters around the world, be filled with that same joy. Amen?
Afterward Yeshua appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country – no doubt the two on the road to Emmaus.
Who is Yeshua? Someone who has a standard post-resurrection form, but can appear in a different form – if He wants to.
These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. The disciples still were not able to believe Yeshua had been resurrected – even after receiving eyewitness testimony from two more – another unflattering detail. Again, this is not a detail that would be included if this story had been made up. The story is true.
If the Eleven were here and able to speak to us today, I’m sure they would say: Brothers and sisters, we were so foolish then. We had so little faith – in spite of what the Son of God said to us and in spite of the prophecies in the Word of God about the resurrection of the Messiah, prophecies that we should have known and understood, and in spite of the eyewitnesses sent to us! Please don’t be like us the way we were then! Believe every word Yeshua says – even if it seems impossible. Know and believe every word of the prophets. Believe the witnesses to the resurrection!
Finally, after these eyewitnesses were sent to them, and their testimony rejected, the resurrected Messiah Himself appeared to them. Later Yeshua appeared to the Eleven as they were eating.
Who is Yeshua? Someone who graciously appeared to the Eleven, forever ending their doubts.
Yeshua’s resurrection is one of the very greatest events in the history of the world.
Yeshua’s resurrection is one of the most important and most significant events in the history of the world.
Yeshua’s resurrection is God’s seal of approval on everything Yeshua did and taught since God would not allow a sinner, a liar, a false prophet, a false Messiah to be resurrected.
Yeshua’s resurrection validates Him and His life and His ministry and miracles. Yeshua’s resurrection is God’s declaration to the world that Yeshua is flawless, blameless, sinless, perfect.
Yeshua’s resurrection lets the world know that every word He spoke, every teaching He gave, every promise He made is true and accurate and reliable and trustworthy.
Since He spoke only the truth, that means that when Yeshua claimed to be the king of the Jews, He is the king of the Jews. When He claimed to be the Messiah, He is Messiah. When He claimed to be the Son of the Blessed One, He is the eternal Son of God. When He claimed to be the only one who can save us, He is the only one who can save us.
Yeshua’s resurrection makes Yeshua unique and puts Him and His teachings on a level far higher than any of the prophets of Israel or the leaders of any other religion. Buddha, are Mohammed and Darwin are dead. Marx, Lenin, Freud and Einstein are still in their tombs. Only Yeshua is alive!
Yeshua’s resurrection sets Christianity apart from all other religions, philosophies or ideologies.
Yeshua’s resurrection guarantees our resurrection. When we are joined to Him because of our faith; when we are united to Him because we have transferred our loyalties to Him, His resurrection becomes our resurrection; His life becomes our life; His eternal life becomes our eternal life.
Yeshua’s resurrection guarantees our resurrection because by living a perfect life, dying as our substitute and rising from the dead, Satan and the fallen angels are able to be defeated; sin is able to be forgiven; the sin nature is able to be conquered; death and Hell can be overcome; eternal life can be offered.
Yeshua’s resurrection is the basis of our sure hope of being resurrected and living forever; and it also gives us a new kind of power now – power to overcome our old nature; power to live the way we should, serve God the way we should, witness the way we should.
Yeshua appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; He rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. Yeshua is Someone who loved His disciples enough to correct them. He is Someone who loves us enough to correct us – and He will, through our conscience, and through exposure to the Word of God; and through people; and through our failures, and maybe even our successes.
Yeshua is Someone who rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe reliable eyewitnesses who testified about His resurrection. And like the Eleven, we have many reliable eyewitnesses. We have the testimony of the eyewitnesses recorded for us in the divinely inspired and true writings of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John; Paul, Peter and others.
Yeshua is Someone who is very gracious and merciful. He forgave His disciples for abandoning Him in His greatest time of need. He forgave Peter for denying Him. And Yeshua is Someone who will be gracious and merciful to us when we fail Him – which regrettably we do, all too often. But we must, with remorse and repentance return to Him – as did Peter and the others.
Yeshua is Someone who wanted His disciples to have faith in Him, loyalty to Him, and confidence in Him – which they did from that day until they died. And Yeshua is Someone who wants us to have that same kind of faith, trust and loyalty – and we can, by getting close to Him and staying close to Him by constant exposure to the Word of God, and by prayer and by practicing the other spiritual disciplines.
Yeshua is Someone who turned their mourning into joy, their fear into fearlessness. Yeshua is still Someone who can still transform people from sadness to joy, from fear to fearlessness – when we know He is alive, and our living Lord, our living Savior, our living Redeemer.
Yeshua rebuked them, and forgave them, and then gave them very important instructions, instructions which apply to us as well. He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation.”
Who is Yeshua? Someone who is concerned about the salvation of the world. Someone who alone has the true message of salvation. Someone who wants His mission of bringing salvation to the world to continue through His Community. Someone who wants us to be concerned about and participating in world evangelism.
Yeshua is Someone who wants us to be aggressive in our proclamation of the Good News. He is Someone who wants us to take the initiative and go and proclaim, not wait for people to come to us. Someone who wants us to tell all creation, everyone we can, about Him and how He can save us.
Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation. Whoever believes (who understands who Yeshua is, especially that He is alive, and transfers his loyalties to Him) and is baptized (he shows he believes by undergoing the initiation ceremony into Messiah’s Community, with immersion being the preferred method) will be saved – saved from joining the rebellion of Satan and the fallen angels; saved from the terrible consequences of the Fall; saved from sin and having a fallen nature; saved from death and saved from Hell; saved to live forever.
But whoever does not believe will be condemned. Being condemned is our default position. The sentence has already been given. The Lord said: In the day you eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, mot tamoot – dying you will die. You will surely die! Humanity has already condemned – condemned to die the first death, physical death, followed by dying the even worse second death, which is Gehenna, Hell, the Lake of Fire. The moment we sinned and joined the rebellion of the fallen angels, we were condemned. To remain condemned, all we need to do is – nothing. To avoid condemnation we must believe. Believe and be saved. Do not believe, do nothing and be condemned.
And these signs will accompany those who believe: In My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well. And these signs have accompanied the followers of Messiah, especially at the beginning – indicating that they were close to God and empowered by God and their message is true should be believed.
After the Lord Yeshua had spoken to them, He was taken up into Heaven and He sat at the right hand of God.
Who is Yeshua? The Lord. Adonai. The same Lord who was in the beginning. The Lord in control of all people, all angels, all forces, all things.
Yeshua is Someone you must end your rebellion against and make your Lord before you leave this world, or suffer His rejection – something you really don’t want to experience.
Yeshua is Someone who completed His mission and returned home. He ascended to Heaven, from where He came.
Yeshua is Someone who will bring us to Heaven, which will be our home – if we end our rebellion against Him and His Father.
Yeshua is the King of Heaven and the Son of the High King of Heaven, who is alive now, in Heaven, at right hand of God the Father, ruling the universe and the ages to come with Him. Yeshua is Someone worthy of the highest honors and greatest respect.
Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed His word by the signs that accompanied it.
These Messianic Jewish men turned their world upside down. And we are to do the same thing – go out and proclaim the Good News about the risen Lord to everyone, everywhere, with as much power as God will give us.
So, who is Yeshua according to this last chapter of the divinely inspired book of Mark?
Yeshua is Someone who is worthy of our expressions of love and devotion and who responds to our love and devotion by blessing us and honoring us.
Yeshua is the only human being who died and was buried and who came back to life – transformed into a glorious state, never to die again.
Yeshua a true prophet who predicted He would die, come back to life and meet His disciples in the north – which He did, spending time with them, teaching them, preparing them to take over His mission of world evangelism and take over the leadership of His Community.
Yeshua is Someone who, after His resurrection, was seen by angels, testified to by angels, and served by angels.
Yeshua is Someone who sent eyewitnesses to His disciples, telling them about His resurrection.
Yeshua is Someone who graciously appeared to the Eleven, forever ending their doubts.
Yeshua is Someone whose resurrection communicates to the world that Yeshua is faithful and true, flawless, blameless, sinless, perfect since God would not allow a sinner, a liar, a false prophet, a false Messiah to be resurrected.
Yeshua is Someone who wants His disciples to have faith in Him, loyalty to Him, and confidence in Him – and we can, by getting close to Him and staying close to Him by constant exposure to the Word of God, and by prayer and by practicing the other spiritual disciplines.
Yeshua is Someone whose words are true and must be believed.
Yeshua is Someone who is gracious and merciful and loves us enough to correct us – and He will, through our conscience, and through exposure to the Word of God; and through people; and through our failures, and maybe even our successes. We need humble ourselves to be open to His correction.
Yeshua is Someone who can still transform people from sadness to joy, from fear to fearlessness.
Yeshua is Someone who is concerned about the salvation of the world. Someone who alone has the true message of salvation. Someone who wants His mission of bringing salvation to the world to continue through His Community. He is Someone who wants us to take the initiative and go and proclaim, not wait for people to come to us. He is Someone who wants us to tell all creation, everyone we can, about Him and how He can save us. Yeshua is Someone we can trust to give us the power we need to accomplish our task.
Who is Yeshua? The King of Heaven and the Son of the High King of Heaven, who is in Heaven at right hand of God the Father, ruling the universe and the ages to come with Him.
Yeshua is Someone worthy of the highest honors and greatest respect.
Yeshua is Someone who will bring us to Heaven, which will be our home – if we end our rebellion against Him and His Father.
Yeshua is the Lord in control of all people, all angels, all forces, all things. Yeshua is Someone you must end your rebellion against and make your Lord before you leave this world, or suffer His rejection – something you really don’t want to experience.
Yeshua is so much! So amazing in so many ways! May God enable Yeshua be all these things to us and may we respond faithfully to all He is and become all that we should be!