Written by: Philip Mounstephen - CPAS
Mark 15 v 42-47
This was Preparation Day. (That means the day before the Sabbath day.) That evening, Joseph from Arimathea was brave enough to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body. Joseph, an important member of the Jewish council, was one of the people who was waiting for the kingdom of God to come. Pilate was amazed that Jesus would have already died, so he called the army officer who had guarded Jesus and asked him if Jesus had already died. The officer told Pilate that he was dead, so Pilate told Joseph he could have the body. Joseph bought some linen cloth, took the body down from the cross, and wrapped it in the linen. He put the body in a tomb that was cut out of a wall of rock. Then he rolled a very large stone to block the entrance of the tomb. And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw the place where Jesus was laid.
Notes
John in his gospel tells us that Joseph was a secret follower of Jesus – secret, because he feared persecution. But something’s happened: maybe it was the awesome spectacle of the cross – but now he’s ‘brave enough’ to go to Pilate to ask for Jesus’ body. Usually, the Romans left the body on the cross to rot, as a lesson to others. But Joseph wants to do the best he can for his master – and Pilate lets him, maybe because his conscience is still giving him trouble.
But first he has to check that Jesus is really dead – which the army officer confirms. People used to last longer on the cross, but Jesus has already had the spear thrust into his side – probably piercing his heart, so Pilate tells Joseph he can have the body to bury.
We can learn from Joseph, willing to stick his neck out for Jesus, even when it seemed hopeless or pointless to do so. But Mark has something else in mind too. What he wants us to know is that Jesus really was dead. The army officer said so, and Joseph knew so, because he prepared the body for burial and put him in a rock tomb, which he then sealed. And the two Mary’s saw where he was buried. There really was a death – which means that Jesus really did achieve victory over sin on the cross – and if there really was a death, whatever follows really will be resurrection.
Mark 16 v 1-7
The day after the Sabbath day, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought some sweet-smelling spices to put on Jesus’ body. Very early on that day, the first day of the week, soon after sunrise, the women were on their way to the tomb. They said to each other, “Who will roll away for us the stone that covers the entrance of the tomb?”
Then the women looked and saw that the stone had already been rolled away, even though it was very large. The women entered the tomb and saw a young man wearing a white robe and sitting on the right side, and they were afraid.
But the man said, “Don’t be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who has been crucified. He has risen from the dead; he is not here. Look, here is the place they laid him. Now go and tell his followers and Peter, ‘Jesus is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there as he told you before.’ ”
Notes
The Sabbath is a day of rest – in Genesis we hear how God rested after his great act of creation. This Sabbath in Jerusalem is also a day of rest, after God’s great act of re-creation on the cross: in his death, Jesus makes all things new. And now that’s done, things can never be the same again. There has to be resurrection. Because in his death, Jesus has defeated death, he has to rise again – which he does, after a day’s rest.
The women make their way to the tomb as early as they can – their day only officially started at sunrise: the Sabbath lasted right up to dawn, and they weren’t allowed to go and do the kind of things they wanted to on the Sabbath. But even so they’re too late. The great event has already happened: maybe with the first rays of the new rising sun, the stone rolled away and Jesus stepped out.
And it’s the same Jesus who was crucified who rose. Just as it’s the same women who saw him die (15:40) who hear the good news of the resurrection. We haven’t entered into fantasy land. This is something real that’s happened. Jesus has gone ahead of his disciples to Galilee, just as he said he would (14: 28) – past and present are all connected.
It’s hardly surprising the women are shocked: they’ve turned out to embalm a body, not to find a resurrection. And what are these shocked women told? ‘Do not be afraid’. It’s God’s most common command in the whole Bible. What are you afraid of? Because Jesus is risen nothing really holds any fear any more.
Mark 16 v 8-11
The women were confused and shaking with fear, so they left the tomb and ran away. They did not tell anyone about what happened, because they were afraid.
After Jesus rose from the dead early on the first day of the week, he showed himself first to Mary Magdalene. One time in the past, he had forced seven demons out of her. After Mary saw Jesus, she went and told his followers, who were very sad and were crying. But Mary told them that Jesus was alive. She said that she had seen him, but the followers did not believe her.
Notes
OK, now we’ve got a problem! People can’t agree where Mark ends his story of Jesus. 16: 8 seems an odd place to end, with the women ‘trembling and bewildered’ fleeing in fear, and yet, as the New International Version puts it: ‘the most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16: 9-20.’
So how do we handle it? Let’s start by asking why Mark might have ended at verse 8. Yesterday we were reminded that God’s most common command in the Bible is ‘Do not be afraid’ – and yet here are these women scared witless. And why shouldn’t they be? Maybe God’s most common command is ‘Do not be afraid’ because our most natural, common – and right – reaction to him is to be afraid, to be very afraid indeed. The writer to the Hebrews says, ‘Let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire”.’ (Hebrews 12: 28, 29).
And just as our God is awesome, so is the resurrection incredible. The people Mary tells just can’t believe her. And can you blame them? It sounds like a pretty tall story. Of course it’s true, but we hardly blame them for their uncertainty.
In a way this passage warns us against over-familiarity, over familiarity with God, over familiarity with the resurrection. The one is awesome, the other is incredible. Let’s remember that – and pray that familiarity doesn’t lead us where it usually does – to contempt.
Mark 16 v 12-13
Later, Jesus showed himself to two of his followers while they were walking in the country, but he did not look the same as before. These followers went back to the others and told them what had happened, but again, the followers did not believe them.
Notes
Did Mark end his Gospel at verse 8 or at verse 20? If you were with us yesterday, you’ll know (if you don’t already!) that it’s an open question. So we need to tread a bit carefully with the last 12 verses. That said, there’s a lot here for us – it reads like a condensed version of a number of the other resurrection appearances from other gospels. So for instance today’s passage points us to Jesus’ meeting with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24: 13 – 35.
Who is that they met? Well, Jesus of course – ‘but he did not look the same as before’. In Luke’s story they don’t recognise him until he ‘took bread, gave thanks for it, broke it, and gave it to them.’ It’s not just that they’re being thick – instead it points to something important about resurrection life. Jesus is the same – so he can eat a piece of cooked fish (Luke 24: 42) – and yet transformed – he comes into a locked room (John 20:26). He is more, not less, than he was before. And nor is he the same – this is resurrection, not resuscitation. Resurrection life is on a whole new plane.
And that’s true not just for Jesus , but for us too – because he has been raised, resurrection life is ours too. Yes, there will be a whole new order of life in heaven (1 Cor. 15: 42 – 44) but that process has started already: because we have risen with Christ, ‘we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit’ (2 Cor 3: 18) Praise and thank him for that.
Mark 16 v 14-16
Later Jesus showed himself to the eleven apostles while they were eating, and he criticized them because they had no faith. They were stubborn and refused to believe those who had seen him after he had risen from the dead.
Jesus said to his followers, “Go everywhere in the world, and tell the Good News to everyone. Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved, but anyone who does not believe will be punished.
Notes
I don’t suppose the first thing the disciples wanted to hear from their risen Lord was words of criticism. But that’s what they get: an ear bashing from Jesus. After all they’ve had two chances to believe – the first from the two Mary’s (v. 11) , the other from the two unnamed disciples (v. 13) , and what’s more, Jesus had told them himself that he would rise again (Mark 14: 28).
Their problem is that they are ‘stubborn and refused to believe’. There’s a big difference between a steady and determined refusal to believe and uncertainty and doubt. It’s the former that makes Jesus angry, he has every sympathy with the latter. The apostles have had a choice – to believe or not, and they’ve made the wrong choice – and get the wrong side of Jesus’ tongue as a result.
But at least it’s not the end. Jesus nonetheless gives them a fresh task – and the task is to go into the world and to make clear to people the same option – of belief or unbelief. Everything hangs on the decision – whether to be ‘saved’, or to be ‘punished’. The risen Jesus makes sitting on the fence impossible.
Just remember – the people Jesus tore off a strip were people who’d followed him for years. That length of discipleship guaranteed them nothing. It’s the willingness to believe and trust and obey now that counts. If you lack it, pray for it!
Mark 16 v 17-18
And those who believe will be able to do these things as proof: They will use my name to force out demons. They will speak in new languages. They will pick up snakes and drink poison without being hurt. They will touch the sick, and the sick will be healed.”
Notes
This last section of the gospel is very concerned about the fault line between belief and unbelief – and here Mark sets out to tell us what life on the belief side of that line is like. He lists four areas in which his followers will exercise authority in his name: the spiritual (‘they will use my name to force our demons’); in communication (‘they will speak new languages’); in the natural world (‘they will pick up snakes and drink poison without being hurt’); and in the area of health (‘they will touch the sick and the sick will be healed’). Read Acts – the sequel to the gospels – and you’ll find exactly that going on: apart from the poison drinking each of the things Jesus mentions happens there.
If we take it a bit further, we can see that every area of life is covered – the personal, relationships, creation and the spiritual realm. Whether or not it’s advisable to go round picking up snakes (some Christians in the States do of course – though you won’t find me trying) the point is that the Resurrection of Jesus touches every area of life. Followers of the risen Jesus can serve him in all these areas – indeed we must serve him in all these areas: we must claim them for him, they are his territory, his by right. What steps can you take today to do that?
Mark 16 v 19-20
After the Lord Jesus said these things to his followers, he was carried up into heaven, and he sat at the right side of God. The followers went everywhere in the world and told the Good News to people, and the Lord helped them. The Lord proved that the Good News they told was true by giving them power to work miracles.
Notes
There are two directions here – upwards and outwards. The upwards move is of course Jesus being carried into heaven, to ‘sit at the right side of God’. In other words, the risen Jesus sits in a permanent place of power and honour. Ascension Day will pass unmarked in a few weeks for most of us, but the idea of Jesus being ascended is really important – it sets the seal on his authority, he sits down because his work is finished and completed. It should give us tremendous confidence. And because Jesus has moved upwards like this – we can move outwards: the second direction.
Mark tells us that Jesus’ followers – and that includes us - ‘went everywhere in the world’ – outwards from Jerusalem, the gospel has spread to the four quarters of the world. And that’s exactly where it belongs: because Jesus is seated at the right hand of God exercising authority over heaven and earth, then the Good News must be spread the world over. Jesus supreme authority means that we can spread the good news across the whole world – and as our passage says, he’ll help us do it – but it’s more than that. Because Jesus is Lord of all we must spread the good news across the whole world: that’s his due.
And that’s the end of the gospel. Except of course it isn’t. Our passage invites us to see ourselves in it, among the followers spreading the Good News. The story of Jesus, his Good News of the Kingdom is still being played out. What part are you playing in it?
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