Mark 16:1-8 The Resurrection Creates Reverence Before Joy

Mark 16:8  “. . . they were afraid.”

Scholars of the New Testament generally prefer to study each Gospel account of the resurrection independently so that the unique emphasis of each Gospel writer receives the full recognition it deserves. By working with one account the reader can get insights that may be missed when the action of the passages are harmonized. (Still, I have always appreciated harmonies and typically preached them. You’ll find one recommended below.)

Mark’s record of the resurrection taken alone especially challenges the reader because it is so sparse. When one realizes that the earliest manuscripts of the New Testament do not contain verses 9-20 the material becomes even briefer. The reader is left with just eight verses. Matthew, with twenty-four verses, devotes three times as much material to the resurrection account as Mark. Luke and John each give more than fifty verses to the resurrection.

To follow the scholarly canon of interpretation so that one reads Mark without reference to the other Gospels does create a unique picture. In fact, Mark’s account of the resurrection reports a response from the first witnesses to the empty tomb that seems the very opposite of what one would expect. 

With love for Jesus and a desire to honor him in his death Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome all came to the tomb Sunday morning after the crucifixion to anoint Jesus’ body. In addition to the grief they must have felt they were concerned about the stone that had been rolled in front of the tomb. They worried about how they would move that stone to have access to the body.

Of course, the stone had been rolled away and when they looked in the tomb they saw a young man. Their first response was “alarm.” (v. 5) So, in addition to the grief we assume they felt, and the worry they expressed about the large stone in front of the tomb, they now saw a figure in the tomb that caused them to feel alarm.

The young man--messenger of God, angel--sought to comfort them. He said, “Don’t be alarmed.” (v. 6) He gave them the good news that Jesus had been raised from the dead and charged them with the responsibility of telling the disciples that Jesus would see them.

The text says that these three women were “trembling and bewildered.” They “fled” from the tomb. “They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” (v. 8)

So, all the reactions of these first witnesses are the opposite of the ones we generally associate with Easter. They felt grief; worry, alarm; they trembled; they were bewildered; they were afraid. They fled, and they said nothing. Mark’s singular contribution to the resurrection account creates disequilibrium. There is something frightening in this Gospel account.

To apply Mark’s message we would do best to consider how the resurrection caused fear to the first witnesses and appropriately causes a disturbance in our lives, too. In fact, a too easy embrace of the account of Easter could trivialize the message that the New Testament intends to communicate. The resurrection creates fear of the Lord or the terror of holiness. (Think of Isaiah chapter six.) The resurrection requires reverence. 

The resurrection stands against every effort to reduce Jesus. He does not fit in any of the categories that historians typically use. He is more than a teacher, more than a prophet, more than a healer, more than a distributor of food to the multitudes. He is more than an upset to the religious and political establishment. 

The three women described by Mark give us a witness that we do well to receive. They felt reverence. Before we speak of Jesus we, too, want to feel that reverence. We want all of our reductions of Jesus challenged. We want to be quiet, to say nothing, until we can yield before him in reverence, acknowledge his holiness, his otherness, his Lordship.

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Harmonization of the Easter Accounts. For those who would like to read a serious effort at harmonization of the Easter accounts, take a look at Easter Enigma by John Wenham. The subtitle of this book is “Are the Resurrection Accounts in Conflict?” Wenham answers, “no!” Published by Zondervan in 1984 it’s an old book but helpful as it enables us to read the four accounts of the resurrection as one narrative.

Mark 11:1-11 "A Reflection on the Intentions of Jesus"

Mark 11:1   “ . . . Jesus sent two of his disciples . . . ” (NIV)

As recorded in Mark 11 Jesus had prepared for his entry into Jerusalem. He had made prior arrangements with the owners of a colt to provide the animal for his use. He had given the owners a password, so to speak, “The Lord needs it,” so that the disciples could readily obtain the colt. 

Jesus purposely rode the donkey, considered a royal animal in that day, in order to fulfill prophecy (Zechariah 9:9). The people of Jerusalem understood the symbolism and responded with the spreading of coats and fronds on Jesus’ path. They received him as a king (v. 10) coming in triumph.

These preparations made by Jesus reveal his intention. He planned his royal entry; he was not swept up into events by a frenzied crowd. Later, he was not taken into custody because the arresting party was a superior force (Matthew 26:53), and he did not go to the cross because Pilate had authority over him (John 19:11). Each step in the passion account revealed the intention of Jesus to fulfill the plan of salvation which became clear to his disciples only at his resurrection from the dead, but it had been set forth in the providence of God before time began. (Ephesians 1:4)

As disciples of Christ we enter into this intention. We become part of the divine plan. Our obedience to the Lord, hour by hour, day by day, year by year, leads us into a future secured by the power of God who loves us and provided for our salvation through Jesus Christ--our Lord and King, triumphant over evil, sin and death. “Hosanna!”

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Pilgrim’s Progress. Christian in the “valley of the Shadow of Death” came upon things that “cared not for Christian’s sword . . . forced him to put up his sword and betake himself to another weapon called, ‘All Prayer.” . . . poor Christian was so confounded that he did not know his own voice; and thus I perceived it: Just when he was come over against the mouth of the burning Pit, one of the wicked ones got behind him, and stept up softly to him, and whisperingly suggested many grievous blasphemies to him, which he verily thought had proceeded from his own mind.” (Pilgrim’s Progress, by John Bunyan, Oxford Edition, p. 52)

An Observation Following Illness. Every person is irreplaceable, but every person’s work is eventually, most times sooner than later, replaceable. So, when healthy, remember that we most work for eternity as we invest ourselves personally, giving ourselves to people, not things.

John 12:20-33; 12:42-43 A Reflection with Some Personal Additions

John 12:29 Some said, “. . .it thundered.” 

Gentiles came to see Jesus. (20) Their inquiry was the sign that the ministry of Jesus would soon overflow his homeland and sweep through the world. However, for that great movement to start Jesus had to die. Like a kernel of wheat that dies by falling to the ground and then lives by producing many seeds, so Jesus accepted his death on the cross.

His crucifixion was the event set by God to drive evil from the world. Lifted up on the cross Jesus promised to draw the people of the world to God and away from evil. The cross of Christ defeated sin which is any action, word or thought that takes us away from God and takes us to our death. Jesus who was himself the fullness of God in flesh died so that sin could do its worst to him, but  then in the resurrection Jesus defeated death and the power of sin, and he fulfilled his promise to lift all who would look to him out of the clutches of evil and give them eternal life.

This mission of Jesus to enter that darkness away from God troubled his soul (27), but he took his cross so that the light of God would shine in the world, into every dark corner until God’s glory could be seen by all. So, Jesus prayed, “Father, glorify your name!” A voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it and will glorify it again.” (28)

Some heard the voice. Some said it was thunder. (29) Amazing but true, some people were in the presence of Jesus and could not hear or see that the kingdom of God had come upon them. Those who believed were blessed by God’s grace. Those who only heard “thunder,” as it were, would have done well to have prayed for grace. Yet, worst of all, some believed but chose not to obey. (12:42-43) Troubled by the cross or fearful of criticism or anxious that they might be expelled from leadership, some who knew better chose to walk away. Through the centuries some believers, even Christian leaders, have lost their way. They have heard the voice of God and called it thunder. 

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Books. Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul, Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty by John M. Barry. The author shows the development of the two understandings of America that were born in tension in the 17th century and continue to live in tension today: America as a Christian nation and America as a secular state that protects freedom of religion. This book is very heavy on history but worth the effort to read. If one wanted to take a short cut it would be possible to read the last 100 pages and still get much to make one think.

Trivial Prayers. “Praying frequently, then, really means learning to live our whole lives with God, praying to him out of the very stuff of our lives. Often this will mean that our prayer will seem very trivial, because much that happens to us is trivial. It is in fact an excellent lesson in faith and in humility to have to pray trivial prayers.” (Prayer, Simon Tugwell, p. 7)

A Reflection on John 3:14-22 with Some Personal Additions - - "Release from Condemnation"

John 3:17 “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn . . .” (NIV)

I grew up going to Sunday school and Vacation Bible School, so at an early age I learned John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (KJV)  Whenever I read the story of Jesus and Nicodemus I am drawn inevitably to this verse as the climax of their encounter. But not everyone is.

Some years ago a young man came to me for baptism. He had made a profession of faith elsewhere and now wanted to join the church. As we talked about his faith we reviewed John chapter three. For him it was a first reading. I expected him to focus on verse 16 as I always had, but he was touched by verse 17 and the good news that God and Christian faith were not about condemnation.

Of course, the passage does teach that condemnation exists, but this condemnation we bring on ourselves as we turn away from God. The clear message of John 3 as my young friend realized and helped me to see in a new way is that God does not want to condemn but to save. We condemn ourselves, and alone we cannot lift the weight of our mortality and moral failure.

Paul, the greatest theologian of the church, struggled with his morals. He failed. He felt condemned. One can almost hear his plaintive cry in Romans 7:24, “What a wretched man I am!” (NIV) Paul asked the fundamental question: “Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?” (24) His moral failure combined with the realization of his mortality brought down a weight of condemnation that he understood himself to deserve.

In words that ring even more loudly than his words of anguish Paul wrote that there is “now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1, NIV) God’s presence in Christ and the message of the cross and the good news of the resurrection and the promise of Christ’s return, all combine to assure us that our sins are lifted off of us. Eternal life will replace mortality, and all will be made right in Christ. “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:17 NIV). That is the message of the church.

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Moral Philosophy. Judy finds great articles and sends them on to me. Here is one she found through our friend Laurie McNeil about a growing distinction that educators are drawing between fact and opinion. The article appears in the New York Times; it was written by Justin P. McBrayer, an associate professor of philosophy at Fort Lewis College in Durango, CO. The subject is "Why Our Children Don't Think There are Moral Facts."

Grandchildren. Sweetie Pie (age 5) and I are writing a book together about one of the adventures of Freddie and Fiona. We make up the story together, but she does the illustrations alone. Judy has told us that it should be published; Sweetie Pie asked what “published” meant, and Judy told her that we could sell the book. Her reply, “I don’t want to sell it. I want to keep it!” (So do I! And honestly, it’s not ready for prime time--not by far, but writing it is great fun for Sweetie Pie and me.)

John 2:13-22 A Reflection on Resurrection with Some Personal Additions

John 2:19  “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

John recorded Jesus’ cleansing of the temple in chapter two as a way of emphasizing at the beginning of his Gospel the message that Jesus was the Messiah, and he had total authority over the temple which he exercised by ridding the courts of cattle, sheep, pigeons and money changers. The officials were running an illicit business by extorting large sums from the people who had come to the temple for Passover worship. As Messiah he demonstrated his zeal for God’s house and his authority over it.

Jesus was challenged by the religious leaders to give a sign that would show his authority for this dramatic demonstration. (18) It is unlikely that any of them could have imagined the answer he would give: “destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” (19) Lacking spiritual insight they took his words to mean that he would build the Temple in the way Herod had worked on it for decades with stone and mortar. 

Not even the disciples of Jesus fully understood his prediction at the time of the temple cleansing. Jesus knew that the temple would be destroyed (Mark 13:2), but Jesus had no interest in the temple’s destruction even though he was accused of plotting its fall. (Mark 14:58) The temple would be destroyed, not by Jesus, but by the Romans in 70 A.D. Jesus did not want destruction. He came to give life.

At the temple cleansing Jesus predicted his resurrection from the dead. He predicted the building of a temple--his body--and his church--which could never be destroyed. After his crucifixion his words came back to the disciples, and they understood what he had meant. (John 2:22) 

No matter how much or how large the buildings that we construct, and no matter how seemingly significant the accomplishments we make, nothing we do will last. We are dust and to dust we return. (Genesis 3:19) Only one can bring eternal life from death. He is the Messiah. He is the Lord. He is Jesus.

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The Persecuted Church. I love the church, and I pray daily for the churches in which I have preached or led a seminar or churches in which I have been a member or churches in which I have family or friends. Also, daily I pray with the help of Barnabas Fund for the Persecuted Church which gives witness around the world. See their website and ministry for prayer guides and information on ways to help.

Movies. Rarely do I recommend movies, but this one I do: McFarland. It is a sports drama produced by Walt Disney Pictures based on the true story of a 1987 cross country team from a predominantly Mexican-American high school. I was inspired. I laughed. I teared up, too. No movie is perfect, but when I left the theater after this one I felt that I had learned something important that made me want to be a better person.