Mark 16:1-8
What if Jesus did not rise from the dead?
What if the tomb was not empty?
What if Jesus died on the cross and stayed dead, and his corpse was found on Sunday morning, the women anointed his body and then they went home?
Well, we would not be here for one thing. The religious leaders would have been right: Jesus was a false prophet who blasphemed God and was rightly put to death.
If Jesus did not rise the disciples would have remained a frightened band of fishermen who followed for a time a charismatic and seemingly powerful leader – who was found out as a fraud. They would have gone back to their day jobs, maybe had a reunion to talk about the good old days. But never would we have had Pentecost Sunday. Never would we have had the church, and certainly not a church founded on the message of the resurrection.
We know that from earliest times this was the message of the church: that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. This is our core message. Without the resurrection there is no church.
With a dead Jesus there are no apostles, there is no Jerusalem church, there is no fearless standing before councils and judges, there is no meeting with Paul on the Damascus road, there is no miracles, no massive spread of the gospel, there is nothing.
This is the key. Mk 16:6 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.
1. Jesus was died and was buried and no-one expected him to rise
2. Jesus rose from the dead
3. The ending of Mark is v8 but someone added to v16 later.
Let’s go:
1. Jesus was died and was buried and no-one expected him to rise
Mk 16:1–3 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?”
We continue where we left off last week. Jesus was nailed to the cross, darkness covered the land, and Jesus faced the judgement that we deserve, dying in our place. “My God, my God why have you abandoned me” he cries. A cry of facing God’s judgement because he’s bearing our sin and paying for it with his own death. He who knew no sin became sin for us. The righteous one died for us the unrighteous so that we could receive his righteousness. Amazing! But it’s also a cry from the Psalms, Psalm 22, where the King of Israel, King David, cries out to the Lord in v1 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me. But then continues with these amazing prophetic words:
Ps 22:14–18 My life is poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, melting within me. 15 My strength has dried up like sunbaked clay. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have laid me in the dust and left me for dead. 16 My enemies surround me like a pack of dogs; an evil gang closes in on me. They have pierced my hands and feet. 17 I can count all my bones. My enemies stare at me and gloat. 18 They divide my garments among themselves and throw dice for my clothing.
Jesus is the King on the cross, the King of Israel suffering and dying for the whole world, so that we who were outside can now be inside, included, sons and daughters of the Living God. And immediately we see that: the Roman soldier who put Jesus to death sees how Jesus dies and declares “Truly this man was the Son of God!” The first man to believe in Jesus is the one who put him to death. You have got to love the mercy of God! If that man can be saved, even you can be saved, even I can be saved! There’s hope for EVERYONE.
But at this moment in the story, that hope seems very far away. The disciples don’t even seem to be there, so crushed are they. 15:40 just speaks of some women who were there watching him die from a distance. They knew him, they saw him die. They saw Joseph of Arimathea come and take down his body and lay it in a tomb. They knew where the tomb was, but because it was Sabbath and preparing a body for burial was work so they had to wait.
Jesus really died. Everyone knew he was dead. Pilate even double-checked his death because people normally took days to die on a cross – Jesus gave up his own life after a few hours. So he double-checks with the Roman officer in charge – is he really dead? Yes, says the officer. Everyone knew he was dead. They didn’t make a mistake! Some people foolishly claim that “it wasn’t Jesus on the cross” or “he didn’t die, he just fainted”. But that’s nonsense. The religious leaders hated Jesus so much they got him crucified. The Roman soldiers were experts in crucifixion. They wouldn’t be fooled by someone fainting, and they wouldn’t crucify the wrong person because if Jesus had escaped their own life would be forfeit.
No, Jesus died. He was dead. Truly dead. And he was buried. Even the Christians thought he was dead. They thought it was the end. Look at verse 1 of chapter 16: 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.
They went with burial spices! Not party balloons, whistles, streamers and a banner saying “Welcome back Jesus!”. There was no band coming with them to say tadaa! as Jesus came out.
And there discussion on the way to the tomb wasn’t A Great Discussion of Faith and Belief “oh won’t it be good to see the risen Lord Jesus again. How wonderful”. Nobody believed his words that he would rise again – or if they did they would have thought he meant spiritually. When people die they stay dead! Nobody had ever heard, even thought of, someone coming back from the dead. It was just stupidity. Ludicrous. So 3 On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”
How are we going to get into the tomb so we can anoint his body. Again notice no disciples are there. Peter had denied Jesus! These guys were finished. They couldn’t even be bothered to help the women anoint the body. There was no big conspiracy to steal the body and make it look like Jesus was risen. Jesus had been arrested and lead away in front of them. He’d been murdered and they’d done nothing about it. They had abandoned him, ran away, failed. They couldn’t even face giving Jesus a proper burial.
So the women go alone, even though they had no idea how they were going to move the big stone out the way.
Jesus really did die, and really was buried, and nobody, not even his closest followers, expected him to rise. In fact confronted by the empty tomb, the women are… happy? Overjoyed? Vindicated? No. Shocked v5. Frightened v8. Trembling v8. Bewildered v8.
Dead men don’t rise! Jesus died. Jesus was buried. But Jesus was innocent, sinless, and death could not hold him. So just as he promised:
2. Jesus rose from the dead.
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.”
You can imagine their confusion as they approached the tomb. “Why is it open, what’s been going on? Has someone stolen his body? Couldn’t the religious leaders leave him alone? Have they desecrated his body too?”
Perhaps that’s what they were thinking. So you can imagine their surprise when they look in the tomb to find… an angel! What is going on???! I mean they were used to being surprised by Jesus but this? This? THIS? An empty tomb – where is his body? And then the angel speaks: “Don’t be alarmed. Too late, mate, I’m panicking! You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. Duh! He isn’t here! Well, we can see that, where is he? He is risen from the dead! What? 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.”
You can imagine their heads spinning. He is risen. We will see him in Galilee. What. I can’t believe it. Am I going mad? Mary, Mary – did you just see and hear what I did? Did that angel just say that Jesus is alive???
8 The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.
Total confusion, total disbelief. This can’t be happening. They just couldn’t believe. This was too good to be true. Too impossible. So trembling, confused, frightened, they leave the tomb.
And walking back, Salome turns to the two Mary’s and says “I don’t know what’s going on but one thing I do know: at least we can get our money back for these burial spices”
This is the point: Jesus rising from the dead is an incredible, unbelievable event. It is THE event which marks Jesus out from all others and authenticates his ministry: it is the big stamp which says Jesus is Something Special.
Without the resurrection he is nothing. With the resurrection he is the Messiah, the Living God, the Son of Man, the Lord of All, and our Saviour. Without the resurrection we have no faith. With the resurrection we are saved.
Those words “He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!” are the most important in human history. Jesus really is who He says he is. Our sins really are dealt with. Anyone really can be saved. The way to God really is open. Halleluja! Forgiveness has been bought for everyone.
And notice that Jesus’ message through the angel speicifically mentions Peter. Peter who had betrayed him three times. Peter, the Rock, who had failed to pray, failed to stay awake, and who ran away from Jesus when he should have stood by his side. Jesus specifically mentions him v7 Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee.
Messing up and failing God is something we all do. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Isn’t it wonderful to know that Jesus knows this? That this is why he died and rose again. Because we mess up so he did what we can’t do. Hey Peter, you’re still a disciple. Peter’s there thinking “I’m no longer a disciple, I’m not worthy. Here’s a message for the disciples, well that’s not for me.” And then he hears “the disciples, including Peter”. Fantastic. Remember that, Christian, when you’re down in the dumps because of your sin and can’t believe that Jesus still accepts you. He does, just like he accepts Peter. What an awesome God we serve.
Christ died.
Christ was buried
Christ rose from the dead!
And he will come again. Amen!
Now, let’s look briefly at the ending to Mark’s gospel.
3. The ending of Mark is v8 but someone added to v16 later.
v8 The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.
And that’s the end of Mark’s gospel. A bit weird isn’t it? Actually, it does have a very real feeling doesn’t it? I mean, if you were going to make this up, wouldn’t you expect Mark to report that they were rejoicing, singing the Hallelujah chorus! Instead they’re frightened out of their wits, just like we would be!
But it is a weird ending. A bit too abrupt. And it’s clear that the next verses are later additions. The language is different, the style is different, it’s obviously a brief summary of what happened afterwards to give Mark a proper finish.
So what happened? Did Mark just end with a bang so we’d have to make up our own minds? Did we manage to lose the actual ending? Or did Mark end it like that so that one of the witnesses to Jesus could come forth at that point and say exactly what happened?
We just don’t know. But the point is that the tomb was empty, and that Jesus had risen from the dead. That is the end of Mark’s gospel, at least the end of the original manuscript - what we would call the inspired, authenticated by the apostles, manuscript. Nothing of v8-16 is wrong or heretical – but they are not original, and therefore should be seen not as the word of God, but as extra material or a commentary. Helpful, but don’t build a theology around it!
The short ending is 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.
Yup, nothing wrong with that. That’s what happened. Although very not Mark to call the Good News the “sacred and unfailing message of salvation”. But that is what happened as we know from Matthew, John, Luke and Acts. And the next verses are the same. We know Jesus met Mary from John’s gospel. We know from Luke and John that the disciples didn’t believe the women at all.
V12 is the road to Emmaus from Luke 24 “weren’t our hearts burning as he taught us”.
And so on. You can find everything else in the other gospels or in Acts. The verse that has caused some stupidity is v18, obviously recalling Paul after the shipwreck on Malta in Acts 28, where he’s bitten by a poisonous snake and nothing happens to him. It’s a summary of acts written by a helpful editor – not a promise from Jesus’ lips that we can fiddle about with snakes and not be bitten, as some rather foolish people have done. Don’t build a theology from one verse, particularly a verse which is not in the original manuscript and was probably added by a “helpful” Christian fellow in the late 150’s.
And that’s the end of Mark’s gospel. We have seen and experienced Jesus. He has proven to us that he is the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. We have seen that his death brings us new life.
And we are challenged to follow him. To pick up our cross – put ourselves to death – and live for him. For his death brings life. And if we follow him by turning away from our selfish, me-centred lives, - putting ourselves to death – we will find true life.
Jesus demands all, but he gives much more.
Will we give up all we have to get all he has?
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