Today, we continue our study of the last chapter in the Gospel of Mark, Mark 16. In the first five verses of this chapter we considered how three women had gone to the borrowed tomb where the Lord Jesus had been laid. They went there to apply spices to the dead corpse of the Lord Jesus, not expecting what He had told the disciples what would happen: that He would be raised from the dead.
So, when they arrived at the borrowed tomb in which the Lord Jesus had been buried, they discovered that His body was not there. Instead, two angels met them there and gave them further instructions. Today, we will consider the conversation that took place at that point.
When the rooster crowed and Peter remembered what the Lord had predicted, he went out into the darkness of the night and wept uncontrollably, like a baby. This was the worst moment ever in the life of Peter, and yet, it was the best of moments for him. Like Peter, we see what is real through the roughest moments of our lives. It is during these unwanted times that we are more likely to be more and more convinced that we need a savior. Even though we are "born again" we still need a savior. We never get to the place where we no longer need a savior. And failure, such as that of Peter's, is a reminder that we desperately need the Lord Jesus every moment of every day.
We are at our best when we are most dependent upon the Lord. Dependence is the key. In his book, Confessions of a Struggling Christian, Robert Tombs wrote, "God loves dangling Christians." This is the beauty of Christianity. If you have trusted the Lord Jesus as your savior, you can know Him intimately, not just as a figure of history, but in that intimate, personal, real, way. And our troubles aid us in our pursuit of Him. Like Peter, we find ourselves most prepared to go deeper with the Lord on the heels of our biggest failures.
In v.6 of today's passage we read, "But 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.'"
One of the two angels was quick to tell the ladies that the Lord Jesus had risen from the dead. The Lord Jesus had been crucified and He was dead. That's a historic fact. The three words, "He is risen," is actually one word in the Greek. That one Greek word provided the greatest miracle in all of human history.
The word "see" means to perceive, to experience, and to encounter. The angel directed the women to the empty tomb knowing that they would see nothing. As a result they were perplexed. They were perplexed until the angel gave them more revelation. It is one thing to see with our eyes and it is quite another to see with our hearts. These ladies were the first to witness the resurrection of the Lord Jesus because they were the ones who saw what the Lord Jesus was doing with their hearts.
In v.7 of today's passage we read, "But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."
The angel was quick to tell the women to go tell the disciples, especially Peter, that the Lord was risen. The last time we saw Peter, he was standing in the courtyard of the high priest during the trial of the Lord Jesus. A servant girl identified him as a follower of the Lord Jesus. Then, Peter denied knowing the Lord three times, as the Lord had predicted.
When the rooster crowed and Peter remembered what the Lord had predicted, he went out into the darkness of the night and wept uncontrollably, like a baby. This was the worst moment ever in the life of Peter, and yet, it was the best of moments for him. Like Peter, we see what is real through the roughest moments of our lives. It is during these unwanted times that we are more likely to be more and more convinced that we need a savior. Even though we are "born again" we still need a savior. We never get to the place where we no longer need a savior. And failure, such as that of Peter's, is a reminder that we desperately need the Lord Jesus every moment of every day.
We are at our best when we are most dependent upon the Lord. Dependence is the key. In his book, Confessions of a Struggling Christian, Robert Tombs wrote, "God loves dangling Christians." This is the beauty of Christianity. If you have trusted the Lord Jesus as your savior, you can know Him intimately, not just as a figure of history, but in that intimate, personal, real, way. And our troubles aid us in our pursuit of Him. Like Peter, we find ourselves most prepared to go deeper with the Lord on the heels of our biggest failures.
In v.8 of today's passage we read, "So 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."
The Greek word translated "trembled" describes the adrenaline rush that coursed through the bloodstream of these young believers. They literally were visibly shaking. The Greek word translated, "amazed," is the word from which we get our word "ecstatic." What they understood with their minds had a visible impact on their bodies.
The message that the Lord Jesus had risen should not have surprised them, because the Lord had told them that He would go before them to Galilee when He had risen from the dead. This is what later filled them with hope, the words of the Lord Jesus that He would meet them in Galilee. This is the role of God's Word in our lives. It is the Word of God that buoys our souls with the hope of heaven in this world of skeptical tsunamis.
The resurrection of Christ is the key to our resurrection, and what is unique to Christianity is that we who believe in Christ are promised to be raised from the dead – physically and bodily, as He was. There is no such promise like that in Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, or any other world religion or philosophy. What is unique to Christianity is the promise of a physical resurrection into a form that will be perfect, joyful, and eternal.
I find it quite instructive that there is no account of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. There’s no description of what happened for no one saw it. How it happened is humanly incomprehensible and supernatural.
In John 21:15-17, forty days after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you love me?" Peter responded, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Then the Lord Jesus gave to Peter his calling: "Feed my sheep."
This was why the angel sent that personal word to Peter that morning. Peter needed a small reminder that when we are walking with the Lord, we will gain His heart for the welfare of others. In 1 Peter 1:8, Peter wrote, "Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him & rejoice with unutterable & exalted joy." And, that kind of joy can not be kept to ourselves.
In John 21:15-17, forty days after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus asked Peter three times, "Do you love me?" Peter responded, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." Then the Lord Jesus gave to Peter his calling: "Feed my sheep."
This was why the angel sent that personal word to Peter that morning. Peter needed a small reminder that when we are walking with the Lord, we will gain His heart for the welfare of others. In 1 Peter 1:8, Peter wrote, "Without having seen him you love him; though you do not now see him you believe in him & rejoice with unutterable & exalted joy." And, that kind of joy can not be kept to ourselves.
