Mark 16

Early on a Sunday morning so long ago a new day dawned. It was not merely the beginning of a new twenty-four hour period. It was the start of a new era. This new era of resurrection began very modestly with an empty tomb, but the fact of this new age is the biggest news sin Adam ate the fruit in the garden of paradise. On that day that we call the fall, the Sabbath rest of mankind in the presence of God was horribly lost. Prior to that moment, Adam walked in direct communion with God in a place of perfect provision, a heaven on earth. As a result of sin, the earth was not the same, and heaven and heaven’s God were largely hidden from mankind. Only in the briefest glimpses could men actually see the reality of God in heaven. Furthermore, to be close to God, even through ceremony and ritual, would be very dangerous for sinful mankind. This horrible fact of the fall has now been corrected. In the resurrection of Jesus a new Sabbath has begun, and the fulfillment of Sabbath in an era of resurrection is now a certain fact.

Nonetheless, it is also a fact that the beginning of this era was modest. It did not come with trumpets, but with some women travelling through the earliest hours of the morning to show their love and respect for a man that they expected to be dead. They brought with them the customary spices in order to properly anoint his body for burial. They came with an item of concern, for they knew that there was a stone covering the opening to the tomb, and they were concerned that there would be no one there who would be able roll away the stone for them so that they could complete their task.

When they came to the tomb, they must have been very confused to see that the stone had been rolled back. Then they saw a young man in a white robe, a young man who was aware of the greatest news ever to be heard by human ears. This angelic messenger is aware of their errand. He knows that they are likely to be very afraid. He knows that they are seeking Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. The angel speaks to their amazed ears: “He has risen!” He invites them to see the empty tomb. He tells them that Jesus is not in that tomb anymore. This is a truth that needs to be ever in our hearts and minds if we are to live well in the first stage of this resurrection era.

The women are then given an instruction. They are to tell this news to the disciples. This is a great task. It is a privilege. Everything that Jesus promised is happening, just as He told them. He did die. He suffered and died. He died on a cross. But He is risen. He is going to Galilee. Throughout the Lord’s ministry there were many occasions when people were instructed not to tell, not to tell about healings, not to tell that Jesus was the Christ, not to tell about the coming events. Now these women are to tell, first to the disciples, but very soon, the disciples will tell the world about the resurrection, even at the cost of their lives.

The chapter probably ends with verse eight. It seems hardly to be a triumphant way to end a book that started with the words, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” There is a day coming when no one in the kingdom of God will ever be afraid again. That day will be with us when Jesus Christ returns in glory. The resurrection age has begun, but the ending to Mark’s gospel shows us how modestly this greatest of all ages has begun. This is by God’s choice, and it should not surprise us. When Jesus taught us about the kingdom of heaven, He said it would be this way. Here we have the mustard seed beginning: an empty tomb, an angelic announcement, some fearful and shocked women.

Even today, so many centuries later, we can relate to these small beginnings. We live in a world where the church is still persecuted by powerful people who are against it. We face horrible loss and much misery. We beg for a crumb from heaven’s table. Elderly people suffer in sickbeds longing for their release from this world. Yet the news of the resurrection is proclaimed throughout the world. Millions upon millions of people have been born again, and now feel something within themselves of the external truth of what it means to be alive in Christ.

The church cannot be stopped. The life of faith is real. We do lay hold of the fringe of our Lord’s garment by faith, and people are taken to the present heaven at just the right time. But there is a day coming, we are solemnly assured, when a united heaven and earth will be our daily experience. This is what the resurrection era beginnings tell us. We have these beginnings in the fact of the resurrection of Christ and the living testimony of faith. More than this, we have the prophetic word made sure to us. We have the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit. For this reason, though we are not yet rid of fear and doubt, we do walk by faith, and we walk in the knowledge of the One who died for us and who rose again as the beginning of a new era.