My Walk Through the Book of Mark by Annette Godtland

He Is Risen (Mark 16:1-8)

1Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" 4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away--for it was very large. 5And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.

6But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. 7But go, tell His disciples--and Peter--that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."

8So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

This is the third day. The day Jesus was crucified, the day He died, Joseph went to Pilate to ask for Jesus' body. It said something about because it was Preparation Day, that is the day before the Sabbath. Now the women had waited till after the Sabbath had past. I wish I understood the culture of the time more. I wonder if there is something about the Sabbath that said they couldn't bury a body on the Sabbath or anoint a body on the Sabbath. Both Joseph and the women seemed to go out of their way to avoid doing either on the Sabbath. Regardless why none of this was done on the Sabbath, it did fulfill Jesus' prediction of Him being raised on the third day.

The women were going to anoint His body. They knew the tomb had been sealed. They witnessed it themselves. But they still must have felt it was important to anoint His body, even though they had no idea how they would be able to get the stone out of the way so they could enter the tomb. How important was anointing the body in their culture? They probably hadn't remembered, but in Mark 14:8 the woman poured the costly perfume over Him and Jesus said she had come beforehand to anoint His body for burial. So Jesus' body had been anointed.

I've heard so many times that the man sitting here was an angel. He had just been sitting there waiting. He tried to calm the women and explain the good news. He is risen! He instructed them to tell His disciples to meet Jesus in Galilee. In Mark 14:28, Jesus said after He had been raised, He would go before them to Galilee. The angel made a special point that they should tell Peter about meeting Him in Galilee. Peter's last experience with Jesus was denying Him. Jesus didn't hold that denial against Peter. He still wanted to meet with Peter, just as much as all the other disciples. The sheep had scattered. He wanted to bring them back together again. And He would be there before them, guiding them along their way.

These are the women who saw Jesus die. They saw Him buried and sealed in the tomb. They found the tomb opened and a man sitting there told them He was raised. Did they believe him? It was so impossible could they believe it? Actually, I think they did. For it said they trembled and were amazed. Amazement implies believing. Jesus had told them he would die and be raised on the third day. They witnessed it all.

But what surprises me is that they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. I hate to be stereotypical here, and maybe the culture of the time was different than what I would expect today, but imagine a group of women who just saw the most amazing thing anyone could have imagined. Would they really be able to leave this and tell no one? It's not even as though they were warned to tell no one. In fact they were told to spread the news!

Why were they afraid? Were they afraid no one would believe them? Were they afraid they would stir up the chief priests and scribes again who thought they were finally done with Jesus? Were they afraid for their own safety if they spread the kind of news that the chief priests and scribes didn't want to hear? Or was it a cultural statement of the time? What were women in this society? Were women such servants that they were not allowed to speak up about things of great importance?

They came to the tomb to simply minister to Jesus' dead body. They left with the awesome assignment to tell others what had happened. I guess the huge disparity between what they were expecting to do and what they were told to do was so great that it would make anyone nervous.

Does God ever ask us to do something that is beyond anything we ever dreamed we would be able to do? Do we live in our own comfortable little worlds where we know what we need to do and how to do it? Do we balk when we are asked to do something beyond our comfort level? Can we do what we are asked to do, or are we also sometimes afraid to do it? Yes, I think God challenges us to do more than what we currently do. But don't let fear stop you. Keep in mind, He will send Jesus before us.