Day 46 – He has risen!
Mark 16:1-8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Owen Lynch writes:
It’s early in the morning, the women are returning to complete the burial, they are utterly unprepared for what they are going to experience. Earlier in his account, three times Mark records Jesus telling his disciples that he will die and three days later will be resurrected! Either Mark is lying or the disciples simply didn’t understand what Jesus meant, because if they did, don’t you think they would have been at the tomb, waiting to see if Jesus came back to life?
Nothing like it! The male disciples have all deserted Jesus and left Jerusalem and returned to Galilee. They didn’t even stay to be with Jesus as the Romans crucified him - but the women did! Notice that during the most challenging events in Jesus’ life, it was his female friends who stood by him! In my opinion there can be no justification for the anachronistic nonsense of people who use the Bible to justify the subjugation and oppression of women [there, I am just putting that out there!!]
But even the women didn’t expect Jesus to be resurrected - they are heading to the tomb to anoint the dead body with spices and complete the burial process.
So when they see the open tomb, the young man dressed in a white robe sitting in the tomb, they are freaked out! Trembling and afraid they fled the tomb. This is not the reaction of two women who were expecting to see an empty tomb!
So what might we reflect on? Perhaps we should reflect on the heroism of the female disciples and the cowardice of the male disciples? If you put yourself in their position, would you have stayed like the women, or fled like the men?
Perhaps, we should reflect on the reality that the resurrection was completely unexpected, despite Jesus telling his disciples three times that it would happen! How do you respond to the resurrection of Jesus now?