The Word Made Fresh
1When the sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome purchased spices to anoint Jesus’ body. 2Then, at sunrise on the first day of the week, they went to the tomb. 3They had wondered aloud, “Who will roll the stone away from the mouth of the tomb?” 4But as they approached they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away from the entrance. 5Looking in, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, wearing a white gown, and they were frightened. 6But he told them, “Don’t be afraid. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified, but he has been resurrected and he is not here. Look for yourself – there is the place where his body was laid. 7Go now, and tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee and you will see him there, just as he told you.”
8They left the tomb and ran frightened and amazed, but they didn’t tell anyone.
9After he had risen on the first day of the week, Jesus first showed himself to Mary Magdalene (the woman he had rid of seven demons). 10She then went to his followers and found them mourning and weeping. 11She told them the news that she had seen Jesus alive, but they wouldn’t believe it.
12Later that day Jesus appeared in another guise to two of his followers as they were leaving the city. 13They returned and told the others, but no one believed them.
14Then he appeared to the eleven disciples as they were sitting at table together. He scolded them for their stubbornness and lack of faith, because they had not believed those who had seen him after the resurrection. 15Then he said, “Go throughout the land and announce the good news. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be denounced. 17Those who believe will be able to use my name to cast out demons and speak in new languages. 18They will pick up snakes without harm, and if they drink poison it won’t hurt them. They will touch the sick and heal them.”
19After he had spoken to them, the Lord Jesus was lifted up into heaven and was seated at God’s right hand. 20The disciples went and announced the good news everywhere. The LORD worked with them and confirmed their message by bringing about signs to accompany them.
Commentary
1-8: Mark’s account of the resurrection has some interesting differences from the other gospels which you may want to explore; for our purposes in this commentary on Mark’s gospel, we’ll stick to Mark’s account. Three women, the same three who were named as witnesses to the crucifixion (15:40), purchased the burial spices on Saturday evening after sundown and brought the spices to the tomb early Sunday morning. The stone that had sealed the tomb had been rolled back, and they entered the tomb. They were startled to see a white-robed “young man” sitting there who told them Jesus had been raised. He tells them to go and inform the disciples and Peter that Jesus is going ahead of them to Galilee, which is a repeat of the instructions he has already given them (14:28). Perhaps Peter is singled out because of his insistence that he would die with Jesus and his spectacular failure in Caiaphas’ courtyard. Mark reports that the women are so unprepared for such news that they fail to tell anyone.
At this point contemporary scholars make much of the fact that in more recent manuscripts the gospel ends here. A shorter ending appears in some sources that simply alludes to the disciples being sent out into the world to proclaim the good news.
As for the more traditional and familiar ending for Mark’s gospel, we see that it attempts to correct an abrupt and unsatisfying ending at verse 8 by adding information included in the other gospels:
9-11: This appears to be a summary of John’s resurrection account (John 20:1-10).
12-13: This one mentions an incident reported in Luke’s gospel (Luke 24:13-35).
14: This looks like the appearance to the disciples a week later as mentioned in John’s gospel (John 20:26-29).
15: And this calls to mind the “Great Commission” (Matthew 28:19).
16-18: These verses seem to summarize some of the incidents reported in the book of Acts.
19-20: Yet another broad summation of “the rest of the story.” In any case, it is unlikely that Mark’s gospel would have ended at verse 8, and it is unfortunate that the original ending was lost. If the women never told anyone about the resurrection, and if Jesus did not appear to any of them, there would have been no reason for Mark to write his account in the first place, let alone begin his tale with, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” It has been obvious throughout that Mark believed Jesus was indeed resurrected.
Takeaway
Jesus is alive! He has been raised from the dead! It is almost impossible for us to imagine the emotional rollercoaster the disciples and other followers of Jesus experienced. But the witness of the people who were there on the scene can’t be ignored. The resurrection of Jesus, and the records left by those who were there, is the surest evidence we have of life beyond the grave.