Mark 16: He has risen!

Captain Ruth Hammond explores the unexpected.

Key texts

• Mark 16:1–8

I have never read the book Great Expectations, but I know I carry certain expectations in my life, some greater than others. When I flick the light switch, I expect the light to come on. I expect the sun to rise each morning. Expectations we have of other people, or the direction of our own lives, are more complex. In life, however, our expectations are not always fulfilled.

Pause and reflect

• What expectations do you hold about yourself, other people or the world?
• What expectations do you hold about your journey with Jesus?

At the beginning of our study passage we meet three people – Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome. All three were devoted disciples of Jesus, who had spent considerable time in his presence, hearing his teaching, learning from him and supporting his work. All three loved him deeply. All three were witnesses to his crucifixion and death.

Heading to the tomb that morning, these women were expecting to find Jesus’ body and to carry out the final loving act of anointing his body with spices. They were also expecting some difficulty.

As they made their way in the early morning light, they weren’t sure how they would even get into the tomb. The stone that had been rolled across the entrance was huge and heavy. Who was going to move it?

I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think they might have been expecting trouble from other people as well. Jesus’ ministry and message was countercultural and controversial, and his death was extraordinary. He had divided people’s opinions and there were plenty around who might want to cause trouble for these women if they saw them at Jesus’ tomb.

When they reached the tomb, the women discovered a totally unexpected scene. The large stone had been rolled away. On entering the tomb, they did not find Jesus’ body. Instead, a young man dressed in a white robe was sitting there, waiting to speak to them. They were alarmed (see v5).

Pause and reflect

• Imagine yourself in their sandals. How would you have responded to this unexpected scene?

Noting their alarm, the young man delivered amazing and unexpected news: ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here’ (v6).

Unexpected news? The truth is that Jesus had repeatedly told his followers that this was going to happen. He told them just after Peter declared him as Messiah (see Mark 8:31), he told them again shortly after the Transfiguration (see Mark 9:30–32) and again just a few days before, as they travelled into Jerusalem (see Mark 10:32–34). The disciples didn’t understand.

We could argue that these women might not have been privy to these revelations of Jesus. However, I struggle to imagine that some discussion of these strange words hadn’t made its way to many, if not all, his followers.

As much as Jesus expected this outcome and told people it was going to happen, for even those closest to him, ‘he has risen’ were words they least expected to hear that day.

Pause and reflect

• How good are you at picking up messages Jesus gives you?
• Can you recall a time something suddenly clicked and then you realised what Jesus had been telling you all the time?

Those closest to me know how much I struggle when a television programme, book or film finishes on a cliffhanger. I don’t like being left with questions about how things end for the characters I have invested in.

The ending of our study passage, in what is thought to be the earliest Gospel, also leaves me in that place.

The women hear the unexpected news that Jesus has risen and are then instructed to go and tell the disciples. They go and do the complete opposite! They flee from the tomb, saying nothing to anyone because they were so afraid. This is hardly a surprising reaction, especially given their expectations at the start of the day. The women were also told to expect to see Jesus (see v7) but we never find out if they do because that’s where the earliest manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel end.

Tom Wright, in his commentary Mark for Everyone, suggests that this abrupt and incomplete ending actually encourages us to explore for ourselves our own faith that Jesus has indeed risen from the dead. If we’ve followed the story of Jesus through the Gospel of Mark – discovered his authoritative teaching, his amazing miracles, his gentle responses to the marginalised, the statements he made about what he had come to Earth to do and what he calls us to do – when it comes to Jesus’ resurrection we have to ask ourselves: what is my response and how is it going to show in my life?

From the other Gospel accounts, we know that this is not where the story ends. We learn the disciples are told and that Jesus meets with them, shares food with them, teaches them and instructs them to tell his good news to the world. Gradually, those who didn’t expect and couldn’t believe are instead filled with the awe and wonder of what they have witnessed. They open their hearts and minds to expectations beyond their wildest imaginations.

When Jesus rose from the dead, he blew all expectations out of the water! What are our expectations of what Jesus, who defeated death, can do in and through us? Are we ready to experience the ‘immeasurably more’ (Ephesians 3:20) that God can do?

Jesus has risen! He has risen indeed!