BEFORE WE START
For the last several weeks, we've been following Jesus. We've watched Him call ordinary people. We've watched those people struggle to understand Him. We've watched them learn to trust Him. We've watched Jesus teach them what it means to serve, to love, to have faith, and to follow, and then last week, we walked with Jesus toward the cross.
But if you've been around church for very long, you already know something the disciples didn't understand yet.
The cross wasn't the end.
Mark 14 begins with Jesus being betrayed and arrested. Peter denies knowing Him. Jesus is beaten, mocked, condemned, and then He's crucified.
The One they followed is dead. . .at least, that's what it looked like.
And for the disciples, I imagine it felt like everything they had believed was falling apart.
They had left everything to follow Jesus. They had trusted Him. They had watched Him do things nobody else could do. They believed He was the Messiah, and now He's hanging on a cross.
Maybe you've had moments like that. Not literally, of course. But moments when you thought you knew what God was doing—and suddenly everything changed.
Moments when you prayed and the answer wasn't what you expected. Moments when you wondered if God was really there. Moments when the thing you were trusting God with seemed to completely fall apart.
The disciples knew that feeling. But what they didn't know yet was that God wasn't finished.
Because on the third day, everything changed. Jesus wasn't in the tomb. He was alive.
And that's where FOLLOW reaches its destination. Because we're not following a dead teacher. We're not following a good man whose story ended on a cross. We're following a risen King.
READ IT
Read Mark 14–16 in your Bible. As you read, pay attention to the final moments of Jesus' earthly ministry, but don't rush through them.
Notice the betrayal. Notice Peter's denial. Notice the cross. Notice the silence of the tomb. And then notice what happens when the women arrive at the tomb on the first day of the week.
Take a closer look at these passages:
Mark 14:32–42 — Jesus prays in Gethsemane.
Mark 14:43–50 — Jesus is betrayed and arrested.
UNDERSTAND IT
Mark 14 begins with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane. He knows what's coming. The cross is no longer something on the horizon, it's here, and Jesus is deeply troubled.
He prays. He asks the Father if there is another way. And yet, He ultimately surrenders Himself to the Father's will.
Then Judas arrives with an armed crowd.
Jesus is arrested. His disciples scatter.
Peter, who had confidently said he would never abandon Jesus, eventually denies three times that he even knows Him.
And then Jesus is taken away.
He's mocked. He's beaten. He's falsely accused. He's condemned. And finally, He's crucified.
It's difficult to read Mark 15 without slowing down.
This isn't simply the death of a religious leader. This is Jesus—the Son of God—giving His life.
Mark tells us that darkness came over the land. And when Jesus finally died, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. That's not a random detail. The curtain separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple. It represented a barrier between a holy God and sinful humanity. And now that curtain is torn. Through the death of Jesus, the way to God is being opened.
Jesus didn't simply die as an example of love. He gave His life for sinners. He took the punishment we deserved. He accomplished what we could never accomplish for ourselves. The cross wasn't Jesus losing. The cross was Jesus giving Himself.
And then Mark 15 ends quietly.
Jesus is dead, His body is placed in a tomb, a stone is rolled in front of the entrance, and that's it. For a moment, it looks like the story is over.
Imagine being one of the disciples. You don't know what we know. You haven't read the next chapter. You don't know Sunday is coming. You only know that Jesus—the One you left everything to follow—is dead.
Maybe that's why Mark's account feels so powerful. Because it lets us sit in that moment, in the silence, the confusion, the grief, the disappointment, the questions, and then comes Mark 16.
Early Sunday morning, several women go to the tomb. They're carrying spices and are expecting to find Jesus' body. Instead, they find the stone rolled away.
They enter the tomb and discover that Jesus isn't there.
Then they hear the words that change everything: He has risen.
Jesus is alive. The tomb is empty. Death didn't have the final word.
And this is where everything we've been talking about in FOLLOW comes together. Remember when Jesus first called those fishermen? He said two words: Follow Me. They followed. They didn't have all the answers, they learned to trust Him. They watched Him serve. They learned that His kingdom wasn't like the kingdoms of this world. They learned that following Him could be difficult. They watched Him walk toward the cross. And now they are confronted with something they never could have fully understood on their own: Jesus has defeated death.
This changes everything. Because Jesus isn't simply asking us to follow a teacher who lived a long time ago. He's calling us to follow the living Christ. The One who died is alive. The One who was rejected is victorious. The One who was buried walked out of the tomb.
And because Jesus lives, following Him isn't about looking backward at someone who used to be alive. We're following Jesus today.
That matters on Monday morning. It matters when you're sitting in traffic. It matters when you're dealing with a difficult person. It matters when you're afraid. It matters when you're grieving. It matters when you don't know what comes next. It matters when you're tempted to give up. Because the resurrection tells us something we desperately need to remember: God can bring life where we only see death.
The disciples thought the story was over, but God wasn't finished.
The tomb looked like the end. It became the beginning.
And maybe that's something you need to hear today.
Maybe you're looking at a situation in your life and thinking, There's no way anything good can come from this.
Maybe something feels finished. Maybe you've experienced loss. Maybe a relationship has fallen apart, or you've made mistakes you don't know how to recover from. Maybe you've been praying for something for a long time and you're beginning to lose hope.
The resurrection doesn't mean every situation will turn out exactly the way we want. But it reminds us that God is not limited by what we can see.
The disciples couldn't see Sunday from Friday. But Sunday was coming, and sometimes faith means trusting God in the Friday moments because we know who holds Sunday.
There's one more thing I don't want us to miss. FOLLOW doesn't end with the empty tomb. Because Jesus didn't rise from the dead simply so His followers could say, "That's amazing," and go back to life as usual.
The risen Jesus changes the way we live. The One who called Peter, Andrew, James, and John is still calling people.
The One who called ordinary fishermen still calls ordinary people. People with questions. People with failures. People who don't have everything figured out. People like you, and people like me.
The resurrection means the invitation is still open.
And now we know where that road ultimately leads. Not to a dead end. Not to a tomb. But to life.
LIVE IT OUT
You've made it through FOLLOW. But following Jesus isn't something we finish when we reach the end of a Bible study. It's what we do next.
So here's the challenge: Keep following.
Keep opening His Word. Keep praying. Keep learning. Keep serving. Keep loving people. Keep trusting Him when you don't understand. Keep taking the next step when you don't know the whole road. And when you fail—and you will—don't run away from Jesus.
Remember Peter. The same Peter who denied Jesus would eventually be restored and used by God in incredible ways.
Your failure doesn't have to be the end of your story either. Because the story of Jesus is a story of redemption.
So whatever you're carrying today, bring it to Him. Whatever you're facing, face it with Him. Whatever comes next, walk into it with Him. And when you don't know what to do, go back to where this whole study started: Follow Me.
Jesus is still calling. And He's alive.
THINK ABOUT IT
Take some time to honestly consider these questions.
1. What part of Jesus' journey from the garden to the empty tomb stands out to you the most? Why?
2. Why is the resurrection essential to the Christian faith? What would our faith be without it?
3. How does knowing that Jesus is alive change the way you approach your everyday life?
4. Is there an area of your life right now where you've started to lose hope? How does the resurrection speak into that situation?
5. Peter failed Jesus in a significant way, yet his story didn't end with his failure. What does that teach you about God's grace?
6. We've spent six weeks talking about what it means to follow Jesus. What is one thing you want to carry with you from this study?
And here's one final question: Are you still following?
Not just reading about Jesus. Not just believing facts about Jesus. Not just attending church. Are you following Him? Because Jesus is alive, and His invitation is still the same: Follow Me.
PRAY IT
Jesus,
You called me to follow You. And through this study, I've seen more clearly what that means. I've seen You call ordinary people. I've seen what faith looks like when I don't have all the answers. I've seen what it means to serve. I've seen what it can cost to follow You. I've walked with You toward the cross. And now I see the empty tomb.
You are alive.
And because You are alive, my hope is alive too.
Thank You for going to the cross for me. Thank You for taking my sin upon Yourself. Thank You for making a way for me to know God. Thank You that the grave didn't have the final word, and thank You that Your invitation is still open.
Help me keep following when life is good, when life is hard, when I understand, and when I don't. When I fail, remind me of Your grace. When I'm afraid, remind me that You are with me. When I lose hope, remind me that You defeated the grave, and when I don't know what comes next, help me take the next step with You.
I don't know what tomorrow holds. But I know You, and that's enough.
So wherever You lead, I'll follow.
Amen.
