Maundy Thursday Sermon - Mark 15:40-47 – The Kingdom of God

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard
Maundy Thursday Sermon - Mark 15:40-47 – The Kingdom of God
Eagle Rock Presbyterian Church
April 9, 2009

Listen to this sermon.

Our Lenten journey with Jesus is nearing completion. The anointing that we witnessed at Bethany was an anointing for his death, which has occurred. Judas’ plan to betray Jesus was successful. Jesus’ talk of his broken body and spilled blood at the Last Supper has come to pass. Jesus’ prayer that the cup may be taken from him was ignored by God whose will was accomplished through Jewish leaders, the crowd and the Roman Governor Pilate. Jesus has died on a cross. Tonight we will see those people who truly loved Jesus and stayed with him until the end. But remember to come back next Sunday as we see the exciting and unexpected ending to the Gospel of Mark.

But before we begin this final leg of our journey, please pray with me. Father in heaven we ask that your presence be with us here tonight. Sent your Holy Spirit into our hearts so that we may understand what you are speaking to us through the Gospel of Mark. Help us as we grieve the death of our Lord whom we love so much, and prepare us for the Glory of Easter to come. We pray this in the name of our crucified Lord. Amen.

Mark 15:40-47 40 There were also women looking on from a distance; among them were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. 41 These used to follow him and provided for him when he was in Galilee; and there were many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem. 42 When evening had come, and since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself waiting expectantly for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Then Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had been dead for some time. 45 When he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Then Joseph bought a linen cloth, and taking down the body, wrapped it in the linen cloth, and laid it in a tomb that had been hewn out of the rock. He then rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where the body was laid.

The crowd that has so enthusiastically supported Jesus as he entered Jerusalem is long gone. Their Passover celebration is over and they are preparing for the Sabbath. It is late Friday afternoon and it is getting dark. All work must be done before sunset when families will gather for dinner and a day of rest.

Jesus’ disciples have fled. We don’t know where they are. A later account in John’s gospel puts them back in the upper room with the doors locked. Their hope for a Kingdom of God was dashed when Jesus was arrested. They now fear for their own lives.

But Mark tells us, here at the end of chapter 15, about some people who love Jesus so much they still have hope that the Kingdom of God will come. And with the death of Jesus this hope is all they really had.

When God interrupts our lives with the death of a loved one sometimes all we have left to cling to is hope. I was in my twenties and just starting out in life when my mother died. I remember the events as if they happened yesterday. My mother fixed what turned out to be our last family meal. Her mother, my grandmother, was visiting us for Christmas and we were planning to take her home after the New Year. On the way to my grandmother’s house we planned to visit my mother’s relatives, of which there were many. That night my mother went to the hospital with chest pains, and I wished her goodnight in the Cardiac Care Unit. The next morning I arrived at the hospital at 6AM to find that she had died. My job was to call the relatives to say that our plans had changed and they were to go to there old hometown for my mother’s funeral.

With this experience I have a pretty good idea what Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James the younger were feeling. And I suspect that you know what they were feeling as well. They had cared for Jesus for so many years and now he was gone. Overwhelmed with grief all they could do was to silently watch what was happening, pondering all of it in their hearts.

Joseph of Arimathea was also dealing with grief, but Mark tells us that his hope in the Kingdom of God was greater than his grief. Joseph, we are told, at risk to his own position on the Sanhedrin and a leader of the Jews went to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. He did not want the Roman soldiers to the dump the body in a mass grave as they usually did. So he asked Pilate for permission to bury the body himself before the sun set and the Sabbath began. As soon as Pilate had determined that Jesus was dead Joseph took Jesus off the cross, wrapped it in a linen shroud, and placed him in a tomb fit for king. Joseph’s hope in the Kingdom of God was so great he risked his own life for Jesus.

The examples of both the women and Joseph of Arimathea show that the true followers of Jesus were not members of the crowd that saw Jesus’ miracles. The true followers of Jesus were not even the disciples who had listened to his teachings and following him from Galilee. No, the true followers of Jesus are those who cared for his body. And those who care for the body of Christ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

We understand that the body of Christ is the church. So those who care for the church, the body of Christ, are the true followers of Jesus and will inherit the Kingdom of God. This means that you who serve the church are the followers of Jesus Christ and God’s Kingdom is for you.

Serving the church means that you do what is necessary to help the church grow and thrive. For some, that means taking care of the facilities. We have a wonderful group in this church call the Retreads. This week they repaired the brick walkways and the sprinkler system and setup the chairs for this service. Others in this church teach ESL, tune the piano, bring soup for our Lenten services, donate food and supplies for our evening meal, cook, cleanup, lead music, print bulletins, and do many other things that often go unnoticed. All of these serve the church, not because of some material reward, but because of their hope in the Kingdom of God.

When my mother died I was only an occasional churchgoer. I stopped attending church regularly when I went to college and when she died some ten years later I was still avoiding church. Shortly after her death I began to attend church regularly again and started to look for a church to join. God used the grief I was experiencing to rekindle in my spirit love for Jesus and a desire to help his church.

So if you, this evening, are grieving over the death of a loved one, or the loss of a job, or the loss of a home, or the loss of your health then you have come to the right place because we are in the hope business. We believe that God uses grief to bring us closer to Jesus Christ, so that in our sadness we can find the love of Jesus Christ in our hearts. And when we experience this love, which can only come from God, then we develop a desire to love Jesus more by caring for his church.

As the sun was setting Joseph of Arimathea and the women had done everything they could to care for the body of Christ. So a stone was placed at the entrance of the tomb and they went home to observe the Sabbath. So tonight when we turn off the lights and lock the doors of the church I urge you to go home to rest and pray. You have been on a very difficult journey carrying Jesus’ cross for the last six weeks and you need a Sabbath rest. On Sunday morning you will have ample opportunity to serve the body of Jesus Christ once again. Just come back to this room on Sunday morning. The doors will be open and the lights will be on, and we will celebrate our hope in the Kingdom of God. Amen.