Mark 16
Mark 16:1-20 (NLT)
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.
[Shorter Ending of Mark]
Then they briefly reported all this to Peter and his companions. Afterward Jesus himself sent them out from east to west with the sacred and unfailing message of salvation that gives eternal life. Amen.
9 [Longer Ending of Mark]
After Jesus rose from the dead early on Sunday morning, the first person who saw him was Mary Magdalene, the woman from whom he had cast out seven demons.
10 She went to the disciples, who were grieving and weeping, and told them what had happened.
11 But when she told them that Jesus was alive and she had seen him, they didn’t believe her.
12 Afterward he appeared in a different form to two of his followers who were walking from Jerusalem into the country.
13 They rushed back to tell the others, but no one believed them.
14 Still later he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were eating together. He rebuked them for their stubborn unbelief because they refused to believe those who had seen him after he had been raised from the dead.
15 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.
16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned.
17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.
18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.”
19 When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
20 And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.
While Jesus’ death on the cross was well-documented, with many first-hand observers, His resurrection was observed by no one other than at least one angel. After His many times of telling it, you might have thought there would have been at least one of His disciples with a sneaking suspicion that something was afoot on the third day. For all who cared to listen, He clearly stated that He would rise again. (10:34) Yet, not only was there no welcoming party for Him, but this passage indicates none of them readily believed. The women were too frightened to speak of it; some didn’t even recognize Him while walking with Him for miles. It must have been that this wasn’t the only thing that just sort of sailed over their heads as info they couldn’t understand. Or, maybe this minor detail just got lost in the overwhelming circumstances of His tragic death, something that surely inspired much more fear than confident recollection of His words. This was just so far beyond their conditioned responses, even though it was as clear as could be. In His apparent absence was an apparent abandonment of His declarations.
While it is easy to assess the disciples’ failure to believe, the passage also reveals just how easy it can be for even those closest to His physical presence to let go of His clearly spoken promises in the face of overwhelming circumstances. A sudden loss of resources, destructive accident, terminal report, personal rejection, or failure of morals can prompt a complete disregard for the promise of His love, mercy, and restoration. What is seen with the natural eyes and felt with the soul’s emotions can ultimately minimize His clearly stated promise of presence and salvation. Rather than meeting Him in the morning with a celebration of resurrection life that is one with Him, we may not even recognize Him as He walks faithfully beside us. For even the most seasoned of us, those who have been abiding with Him the longest, there is an opportunity in every tragedy to run back to His promises and the place of refuge they secure in His presence. There is a triumph of His words over any circumstance for the heart that embraces what He has clearly spoken over any other experience of life.