Hallelujah! Christ is risen!
Today we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. After spending the past seven weeks in the Gospel of Mark we have finally arrived at the moment we have all been waiting for. But wait? There are only eight verses?
Some of your Bibles might have a notation that the earliest manuscripts don’t include verses 9-20, but even if you keep reading through to the end of the chapter, the account of the resurrection according to Mark is rather brief and anticlimactic. Mark has been rushing us through the story of Jesus’ life and ministry, pausing and taking four chapters to explain the accounts of His final week, and then it just ends. Well I don’t think anyone is disappointed. I mean the news that the tomb is empty is short, but it is ever so sweet.
So what do we say at this point? I do think it is interesting how Mark is so few on words but then includes amazing details to the story. As these three women come down to the tomb with spices to tend to the body of Jesus, Mark records for us this interesting thought they had, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” It’s one of those detail that you just sort of gloss over until you realize how significant it is.
These women were walking up to an empty tomb and they thought that there biggest problem would be with the stone across the entrance. It’s amazing how often we come to God with our problems without even realizing the possibilities before us. We spend a lot of time worrying about the future, but we forget that we are dealing with God.
Jesus tells us not to worry about tomorrow, because we don’t know what a day might bring forth, yet we spend an awful lot of time focused on things that are completely out of our control. The resurrection is an echoing proclamation that we should no longer be anxious. Jesus has conquered death. Satan has been defeated. What do we have left to fear?
As we celebrate the empty tomb, let’s remember this significant detail that Mark includes in the narrative. Don’t worry about all of the objections that your friends, neighbors, family, and coworkers might have about the gospel. Share the good news of what Christ has done in your life and see the power of the gospel at work as it transforms lives.