Mark 16:1-8 – He is Risen!

Here we see three devoted women who stayed till they knew where the Lord’s lifeless body was laid. Since it was nightfall, there was no time to embalm the body of Jesus before it was placed in the newly hewed tomb. They saw the huge stone rolled over to cover the tomb. And they left the scene, since night had approached. As darkness filled the atmosphere, sorrow filled their hearts. So on Sunday morning, the first day of the week, still sorrowing, they woke up very early. They brought spices and hurried to the tomb of Jesus with the intention to anoint His body which was not embalmed. And as they were going, they recalled the huge stone that was rolled to cover the grave. So naturally they expressed their worry by asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” They did not have the faintest idea that the Lord could have arisen.

The two words “Looking up…,” in verse 4, suggests that they were probably despondent as they thought about that gigantic stone. They were being very human. Let us not forget that if God could raise Christ from the dead, what is there in life that could be so huge that He cannot do, to roll it away for us. On looking up they saw that the extremely large stone had rolled away from the entrance. Their hearts began to be gripped by another fear. “Who could have stolen the body?” Is this not a common phenomenon with us? We always think the worst and not the best. But little did those women know that He had risen.

As they entered the tomb they saw a young man robed in white, who said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’”  What a marvelous exclamation, “He has risen!” This is the greatest miracle mankind had known and will ever know. To date it remains an irrefutable fact that the grave of Jesus was empty. He was not there that morning when the ladies came to anoint His body. It was not there then and it had not been there since. Why? HE HAD RISEN!

The angel then told them that The Risen Jesus would go ahead of them to Galilee and it would be there that He would meet them. They were so over taken with fear and did not say anything to anyone. As they left the tomb they were trembling in astonishment. Who won’t? On Saturday, the women were despondent and in despair. All hope was gone. On Sunday, their hope revived. They saw an empty tomb, they were told of Christ’s resurrection. They left the empty tomb with great hope.

How are we living life today? Are we Saturday or are we Sunday people? We must not live with a Saturday mentality of pessimism and hopelessness. We are people who must live every day with a Sunday mentality. We must lay hold of the irrepressible hope, and live life with great anticipation of the wondrous glory of the soon returning resurrected Christ!