loudandclear

Mark 16:1-8

¹ Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. ² Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. ³ On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” ⁴ But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.

 ⁵ When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, ⁶ but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. ⁷ Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.”

 ⁸ The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.

(((The young man in the white robe was an angel and that is clarified in the other 3 Gospels.  God seems to use an angel as a special messenger at extraordinary events (the birth of Jesus and resurrection of Jesus.)))

(((The angel explains to the women that Jesus of Nazareth is not there, but He is risen from the dead.  He then tells the ladies to tell the disciples AND Peter that He is risen.  It is extraordinary to me that the angel points out Peter directly.  If we recall back a few chapters, we see Peter run away in shame because He denied even knowing Jesus 3 times (as Jesus predicted). Jesus (as explained in other Gospels will heal the brokenness of Peter and set Him up to be a leader of the Church.)))

(((The Book of Mark ends with honestly, a dissatisfying ending by our western literary standards.  The Marys run away afraid and don’t speak to anyone.  Well, we do know that their silence does not last long as the other Gospels record them telling the disciples and many others, but they were afraid?  We have to put ourselves in their shoes for a moment.  The world had never and will never again see anything like the miracle of Jesus’ resurrection.  It changed everything—the entire course of humanity’s history.  They were astonished at the immense power of God that was displayed, not simply afraid of God)))

(((So there it is, the Gospel according to Mark.  The action-packed Gospel.  The Gospel on the go.  Mark hurried to get what he thought the essentials of Jesus’ story was out there to the public.  Jesus is Lord over all.  This is His story—-are you going to join the story by following this Jesus?)))