“The Stone Rolled Away”
1 Cor 15: 1-11, Mark 16:1- 8
April 16, 2006
The Rev. Kong Namkung

A 2^nd grade teacher was teaching about the resurrection and one student asked, “What did Jesus say right after he came out of the tomb?”  The hand of one little girl shot up, and she said “I know what he said, “Father.”’  The teacher asked the student who first asked the question, “What do you think?”  The girl exclaimed, “Tah-dah!”

A woman asked her neighbor, “Is your husband a faithful church attender?”  “Oh yes, absolutely!” said the neighbor. “He has not missed an Easter service since 1945!”  

Today one of the Bible verse comes into my mind, “This is the day that the Lord has made and let us be glad and rejoice in it.”  Today is Easter!  I want to tell you what Easter is not. Easter is not all about the Easter bunny, hiding spring colored eggs over every inch of a field for little children, buying a band new Easter suit, a new Easter dress, a new Easter hat, or some new Easter shoes, the Easter madness sale at Sears or J.C Penny, or about a short family vacation.

But Easter is the Resurrection Day.  It is the most powerful day in human history.  It is the most influential day for human beings.   It is the day of celebration.  Jesus died on the cross with all our sins last Friday around 3:00 PM about 2,000 years ago.  3 days later early this morning Jesus rose from the dead.  What Jesus did for us is unlike anything that anyone else will ever do for us in our lives.   When Jesus was buried in the tomb, Roman soldiers rolled a huge stone in front of the tomb so that nobody could enter or exit it.  The stone blocked all traffic.

The stone represents a burden that cannot easily be moved.  Jesus had died and his death was a burden to all of those who loved him, especially his mother, and including his 11 disciples and some women, who followed him and supported him. 

Some of us are weighted down by the stone that has been cast upon us. Some of us are bearing the stone of financial difficulty.  Some of us are bearing the stone of depression.  Some of us are bearing the stone of guilt. Some of us are bearing the stone of a broken spirit and heart.  Some of us are bearing the stone of ill health.  Some of us are bearing the stone of a broken marriage, a broken family, or being spiritually, morally, mentally, and physically.  Being broke is a heavy burden.  One or another most of us have a stone that is burden.

1.     A stone is heavy.

Proverbs 27:3, “A stone is heavy, and sand is weighty, but a fool’s provocation is heavier than both.” 

I carried some stones when I was in the Korean army to make a fence around our company, which was located on a mountain.  I carried them on my back.  As soon as I put down the stones, I felt like I could fly.  

With this heavy stone on our back we can sometimes be unbearable to deal with.  Many times we feel that our stone is too heavy to bear and that is how the enemy wants you to feel.  

2.     A stone causes stumbling.

Isaiah 8:14, “He will become a sanctuary, a stone one strikes against, a rock one stumbles over-a trap and a snare for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 

A stone can trip you up. You may think you are doing fine and you can walk anywhere and everywhere.  You may even think that you are so close to Christ that nothing can get next to you.  But all of a sudden, you trip because of a stumbling stone in your path. If you trip, don’t fret, just try to catch your balance and keep on going.  If you trip, don’t give up on what you set out to accomplish.  Even if you stumble and fall, get back up on your feet, dust yourself off, straighten out your clothes and walk again.

For example, if you have a financial difficulties, do not let it stumble your faith.  But the faith in Jesus Christ helps you to keep balance in your life. 

3.     Stones are burdensome.

Zechariah 12:3, “ On that day I will make Jerusalem a heave stone for all the peoples; all who lift it shall grievously hurt themselves.  And all the nations of the earth shall come together against it.”  

They are not meant to be easy or to accommodate your lifestyle.  They are not meant to fit into your scheme of things and bring efficiency to your life.  But they are meant to alter the way you do thing, the way you see things, to get in your way, to hinder you, and even stop you from accomplishing anything that God wants you to do.  They are burdensome.

Solutions:

1.     Cast your burdens on the Lord.

A Psalmist says in Psalm 55:22, “Cast your burdens on the Lord, and he will sustain you, he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” 

Do not carry the heavy stone with you on your back.  Let Jesus take care of you and I am sure he will take care of the stone when you let him. 

2.     Do not let the stone stop you

Mark 16: 3, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”

The women, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome had a huge stone that blocked their way to Jesus.  In spite of the difficulty, they began their journey toward the stone. 

I know that some of you have more bills than your income, have a car problem, have a marriage problem, and feel that your family has fallen apart, deep loneliness, then you say to yourself, “Do not let the stone stop you.” 

3.     Trust Jesus

The angel of the Lord said, “Do not be alarmed!”  (Mark 16: 6)  When facing the stones of life, we must understand that God can take care of them. 

Matthew 16: 18, “And I tell you, on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.”

1 Corinthians 10: 1-4, “I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink.  For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.”

Romans 9:33, “Whoever believes in him, will not be put to shame.”

Jesus is the Rock of Ages: Rock of Ages, cleft for me, let me hide myself in thee, let the water and the blood, from they wounded side which flowed, be of sin the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure.

4.     Have the hope of receiving a reward.  

Revelation 2:17, “Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.  To everyone who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give a white stone, and on the white stone is written a new name that no one knows except the one who receives it.” 

The women did not roll away the stone. In fact they could not roll the stone away with their own ability.  God sent an angel and the angel rolled away the stone for them. God rolled the stone of death out from the front of the tomb.  The stone cannot hold Jesus in the tomb.  Jesus, who came out of the tomb, has all power in his hands.   Jesus has power to roll your stone away.  Jesus has power to pick you up.  Jesus has power to turn you around, and he will place your feet on the solid ground because he conquered death.  Amen

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1 Corinthians 15:1-11

15:1 Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. 2 By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.

3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them — yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. 11 Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed.  NIV

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Mark 16:1-8

16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"

4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

6 "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. 7 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.'"

8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.  NIV

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