There was Evening and Morning
Mark 16:1-8
April 5, 2026 anno Domini
“There was evening and and there was morning the first day.”
That’s how God orders time. Evening comes first, then the day. That’s not the way we look at our days. Right now is Sunday morning and when the sun goes down it will be Sunday evening. But according to God’s creation the day begins with darkness and rest, when the sun goes down. For God the order is darkness then light, rest then work. That’s also reflected in the creation of man – God did not create man until everything else was done – sun, moon, stars in place. Check. Sky and sea. Check. Land and vegetation. Check. The garden is good to go. Check. Once God finished everything, He created Adam and Eve, and their first full day of existence was — the Sabbath. A day of rest in all that God did.
I’m not sure when, where, or how it happened, but you and I look on our days differently. I’m guessing its due to sin. All of our confusion is. For us the day begins with my work and ends with my rest. Even our lives are ordered that way – I am going to work hard so I can rest in retirement. If you don’t have Christ, if you live in the darkness and have not witnessed and believed in the resurrection, well, then you’re going to work like crazy, get all that you can get, and suffer greatly as you lose it all to decay and death, because one day the lights are going to go out on your life and your day will be over. You sin, you suffer, you die. Today Jesus changes all that and would change it for you.
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all begin their accounts of the resurrection with time references. They all talk about the Sabbath. They all speak about how the women came to the tomb on the first day of the week, but they did not write “the first day of the week,” they wrote “on the first of the Sabbath.” That’s how the jews numbered their days. Not Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, but every day of the week was referenced to the Sabbath – the day of the Lord. The first of the Sabbath, the first day of the week, is today. Sunday.
In addition to the day, every Gospel writer mentions the time – toward the dawn, very early, at early dawn, while it was still dark.
Your creation by God the Father and Your salvation by His Son are meant to order your days and your time differently. If you are going to live, if your work is going to mean anything, if you want purpose to your days, if you want hope and a future to live, then it begins with rest, with the Sabbath rest of Christ in the tomb.
If you were in church this past week (and you should have been), then you know who’s been doing all the work of your salvation. Holy week is God’s week, the eight most important days in human history since the creation of the world. And like Creation it is God alone who works and gives life.
Last Sunday Christ came into Jerusalem as the King of the Jews. He came as a King to fight for His people, to win you back from His enemies, to expand His empire so that you might be safe and secure in His Kingdom, in Christendom.
On Thursday He spoke His will. He gave His last will and testament to His disciples. His will is, “Do this in remembrance of me.” It was as if He were saying, “Here’s what I’m giving you from all my treasures – under this bread I give you my body, under this cup I give you my blood. Take eat. Take drink, for the forgiveness of sins.” You will find no greater treasure on earth than the body and blood of Christ. Jesus promises. This is the one food on earth that will cause you to live forever. You can believe it because the Guy who made that promise, who sets the table, who gives this to you, is the One who rose from the dead.
On Friday Jesus worked salvation for us. He bore our sins in His body on the tree. The spotless, sinless Lamb of God, offered up Himself in our place. How often when someone you love is suffering do you want to take their place, but you can’t do it. And even if you could it would make no difference. But not today, because today God has taken our place. This is the demonstration of God’s love for you. His Son, your brother, Jesus of Nazareth suffers for you, His brothers and sisters. The Son of God became man for us men, for humanity, and for our salvation. He endured hell in those hours on the cross. He gave His life over to death, but before He died, He declared the job done, sin forgiven, hell suffered, death dead. It is finished. And with that – the work of salvation accomplished, Jesus could rest.
Jesus is resting, but the women who came to the tomb, are frantic. That’s how it is when you don’t know Jesus has finished His work. Imagine what those women were enduring, especially that one Mary who was there, the mother of James, who also was likely the mother of Jesus. She saw the new tomb where Joseph and Nicodemus buried her son, just in time for the Sabbath to begin. Do you think she slept? Do you when you’re worrying about your children or grandchildren? And the next day was the Sabbath. Nothing could be done. No work was allowed. Then as the sun went down the markets and bazaars briefly opened so people could get ready for the new week. Quickly, with Mary Magdalene and the others they bought the spices they needed to finish the burial process. Another sleepless night – you know what that is like – when life and death surround you.
They were frantic, distraught, restless, but Jesus was resting because His work was finished. The only way for you not to be frantic is to join those woman, on the first after the Sabbath, before dawn, very early. Because there at the tomb Jesus brought them into His rest and His work. The evening was over and now the first day of the new creation began.
My favorite Gospel account of the resurrection is from Saint Mark, because the appointed reading ends with verse 8. The women find the stone rolled away. Looking inside they find the tomb empty, save for a young man dressed in white. He proclaims the resurrection to them, “You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.” Then the account ends, “And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.”
I like Mark’s ending because it leaves the message with us – you’ve heard it this morning. The tomb is empty. The word from the heavenly messenger is “Jesus is Risen.” That means His work worked. His death forgave your sins. It is His body and blood under the bread and wine. Eat that. Drink that, believing Him and you will live forever. Now we know from the rest of Mark and the other Gospels the women did not keep silent. They told the disciples. And Jesus gave them more than an empty grave and a sermon – even though that should be enough. He appeared to Mary Magdalene, to Peter and the Apostles, and at one time to over 500 people.
Life, real life, can only begin with rest. As Adam and Eve rested in God’s creation, so now the Lord invites you to rest in Christ. His death worked. He rose from the dead. He sits at God’s right hand. Now you can live and you can work and you can look forward, because He’s got this. He’s got you. You’re forgiven. You’ll pass through death to life. Your body will be raised on the last day just as His was. It’s creation all over again, a new creation. There was evening and there was morning and the women found the tomb empty and Jesus raised from the dead, and it was very good. In the name of Jesus. Amen.