Mark 16 Christ the Conqueror
Good morning! We have reached the end of the Gospel of Mark! It has been a wonderful journey to walk along with Jesus and His disciples through this Gospel. Mark has painted a vivid and powerful picture of the life and ministry of Jesus on earth.
As I’ve said before, Mark most likely wrote this Gospel as a record of Peter’s perspective of Jesus’ earthly ministry. As such, he is careful to show… How can I put this politely… the humanity and frailty of the disciples.
Here in chapter 16 that humanity is on full display in the midst of history’s greatest event, the resurrection of Jesus. But in the midst of their unbelief Jesus Himself displays, for them and for us, the only solution to the problem of unbelief.
Let’s pray.
I want to take this chapter a chunk at a time instead of reading through the whole thing as they are neatly divided for us and each display the overwhelming problem of unbelief.
Now before I read the text, I have to remind you that Jesus had told the disciples that He would be killed and raised from the dead at least three times recorded in Mark’s Gospel. In fact, He had told them specifically that He would be killed and IN THREE DAYS he would rise again.
Jesus was crucified Friday and was buried late Friday afternoon. He was in the tomb all day Saturday, and our text picks up after sunset Saturday briefly and into early Sunday morning.
When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3 And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” 4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” 8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Now let’s break this down.
Here we have three ladies, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome. Saturday night, once the Sabbath was over, remember that the Jewish Sabbath went from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday… Saturday night these ladies bought some perfumes and spices to anoint Jesus’ body early the next morning. Then, very early the next morning they set out for the tomb.
This tells me a few things about these ladies.
First, it tells me that these ladies loved Jesus. They wanted to honor Him with this act of love, anointing His body with fragrant oils and spices to mask the odor of decay. They were motivated by a great affection for the Lord Jesus.
Secondly, it tells me that they weren’t great at planning things out. The thought ahead and got the spices after the Sabbath was over Saturday night, but they hadn’t thought ahead to get help to roll away the stone. Mark is the only Gospel writer to point out this fact that they hadn’t thought about the stone. But God worked it out, He always does.
It would be easy to stop there, to focus on the devotion of these women, to focus on the idea that if we are zealous for God and want to do good for Him that He will roll away the stone, that He will clear the obstacles from in front of us.
But to stop there would be to ignore the third glaring truth of these verses. These loving ladies believed that Jesus was still dead.
They loved the Lord Jesus, they just didn’t believe what He said.
This is a sermon unto itself! Lots of us say we love the Lord, lots of us are eager to do things for Him, but how many of us are concerned with knowing His Word, and trusting what He said?
These ladies who are known for their love and devotion displayed the sin of unbelief.
Yet even in their unbelief they had the wonderful privilege of seeing that stone rolled away and got to converse with angels.
4 And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”
What were their instructions? Go tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you into Galilee. There you will see Him, just as He told you.
And of course, like all good faithful, loving, devoted, followers of Jesus, they did exactly as they were instructed, right? Nope.
8 And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Peter was mentioned here specifically and separate from the disciples not because of his greatness or preeminence among them but because of his failure. He was separated here because he denied the Lord and had yet to be restored, an account you can read in John 21.
Now, you may have a note in your Bible about the verses that follow, and why they are set apart as they are is a fascinating conversation, you can trust that these verses that follow are consistent with the rest of Scripture and are, in fact, canon, they are Scripture, they belong here and you can trust them.
9 [[Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. 11 But when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
This appearance to Mary Magdalene happened right after the group of ladies saw the angel and the empty tomb. She apparently lingered a little longer after the other ladies freaked out and took off.
What’s the most interesting is the reaction to her report of seeing Jesus alive. They wouldn’t believe it. The scholars say that this is most likely because in the First Century the testimony of a woman was not considered valid, and that may very well be the case, but the text literally says that they refused to believe her.
And why would they? Not because they just wouldn’t believe her because she was a woman, they obviously didn’t believe Jesus either, He told them that He would rise on the third day and here it was day three! Here’s Mary, whom they all know, reporting to see the risen Lord and they refuse to believe.
Mary wasn’t the only one that they refused to believe.
12 After these things he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country. 13 And they went back and told the rest, but they did not believe them.
This account of Jesus on the road to Emmaus is recorded in much greater detail in Luke’s Gospel.
The women didn’t believe the angels, the disciples didn’t believe Mary, maybe now that there were two males, two official, legal witnesses they’ll believe that the Lord had risen?
Nope, they didn’t believe them either.
The disciples had nothing, nothing but dashed hopes of the redemption of Israel, they were walled in on every side by barriers of unbelief.
They were afraid. They didn’t understand. They didn’t listen. They didn’t act. All because they didn’t believe.
They were all alone, mourning and weeping, and without Jesus in their unbelief.
Announcements of the angels, of the women, of the two disciples from Emmaus, were not enough to overcome their unbelief.
But do you know what was? Jesus.
14 Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19 So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.]]
JP Lange wrote, “The circle of disciples becomes a believing church only when Jesus Himself reveals Himself personally in their midst. This, indeed, is the thought underlying the entire Gospel of Mark.”
We just can’t do it without Jesus.
Christ is the conqueror!
He conquered sin by His death on the cross. He conquered death by rising from the dead. And He conquers unbelief by His presence.
He smashed all the barriers of unbelief that surrounded the disciples when He walked into the room. He commissioned them to no longer be disciples only but to be Apostles, ones who are sent, to preach the Good News to every creature, to the whole world.
And He promised to be with them, to empower them to cast out demons, to preach in languages they didn’t know before, He promised to protect them from harm, and to heal the sick.
He promised that these signs would accompany them and confirm their message as they preached the gospel, and He was true to His Word.
On the Day of Pentecost He sent His Holy Spirit to fill all those who believed so that those who follow Jesus would never be walled in by barriers of unbelief because He will always be present with us by His Holy Spirit.
If you are left wondering, “How do I get that? How do I get in on that?”
Jesus answered that Himself, 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.
Faith in Jesus is the only way, faith in Jesus is the only standard by which mankind will be judged. Baptism follows along as an outward sign, but it is only by faith that we can be saved.
And what is faith? FORSAKING ALL I TRUST HIM Amen.
