Chapter 16

The *resurrection 16:1-8

v1 When the *Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Salome and Mary, the mother of James, went out. And they bought spices (substances that have a beautiful smell). They wanted to put them on Jesus body. v2 Very soon after dawn on Sunday morning, the first day of the week, they went to the grave. v3 They were discussing who would roll the stone from the entrance. v4 But they looked up. And they saw that someone had already rolled back the very large stone. v5 So they went into the rock grave. There was a young man, who was sitting on the right side. He was wearing a long white coat. They were astonished. v6 He said, Do not be so surprised. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, whom they killed on a *cross. He is not here. He has risen. Look at the place where they laid his body. v7 Now go. And tell his *disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, as he told you. v8 The women ran away from the grave. They were trembling and astonished. They said nothing to anyone because they were afraid. Verse 1 The women went out to buy special substances as soon as the *Sabbath ended at sunset on Saturday. Verse 2 The first opportunity to see what they were doing was at dawn on Sunday morning. Verses 3-4 They remembered that there was a heavy stone at the entrance to the rock grave. It would be too heavy for them to push back. But they arrived at the grave. Then, they discovered that there was no problem. Someone had already rolled the stone aside. Verses 5-6 They were astonished to find a young man in white clothes who was sitting on the right side of the cave. He was an *angel. He told them that they were looking in the wrong place for Jesus. He had risen. They could see for themselves the empty place where his body had been. Verse 7 They must tell his *disciples and Peter that they would see him in Galilee. The special message for Peter was to show that Jesus still included him in his love. Peter had said that he did not know Jesus. And Peter would have given him the first sign of hope after he had said that. Jesus had said that he would go to Galilee (14:28). Verse 8 This verse is a rather sudden end to Marks *Gospel. Mark might have written about how Jesus *kept his promise to meet his *disciples in Galilee. So later writers added other ends for the book. There is a short one, and a longer one. Mark may not have had time to complete his *Gospel. Perhaps he became ill. Perhaps he died, or the *Romans killed him. If he had finished it, perhaps the end of the *scroll wore out. Then perhaps it tore off. Or, perhaps his book had the same shape as a modern book, and the last page became separated. (The first Christians were among the first people to use such books.) It is possible, however, that Mark intended to end at verse 8. All through his *Gospel, he had described how Jesus astonished people by his words and actions. Jesus *disciples, too, had a feeling of fear. And they greatly respected Jesus for his power (4:41). The *resurrection was the most astonishing event of all. Mark perhaps thought that it was not important to write about Jesus appearances to his *disciples. He had given the most important fact, He has risen. The fear of the women was a suitable reaction to such an astonishing act of God. The reaction of all Christians should be similar. Verse 8 therefore can be a suitable end to Marks *Gospel.