Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?

 

 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.  Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.  And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"  But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away -- for it was very large.  And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He is risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him.  But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."  So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed.  And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.  

Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.  She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.  And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.  After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.  And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.  And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will follow those who believe:  In My name they will cast out demon; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.  Amen. 

 

- Mark 16:1–8 (9–20) 

 

Yesterday we read that, at Christ's crucifixion, there were also women looking on from afar, among whom were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the Less and of Joses, and Salome, who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.  Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.  Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time.  So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.  Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen.  And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.  And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.

 

 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.  Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.  As Christ died so close in time to the Sabbath, the burial customs of the Jews could not be completed.  So, therefore, my study Bible explains, these faithful women went as early as possible to complete the rites of burial.  Mary the mother of James is taught by some in patristic commentary to be the wife of Alphaeus, and this James was one of the Twelve (Luke 6:15).  But most hold that this is the Virgin Mary, who was in fact the stepmother of another James, called "the Lord's brothers (see Matthew 13:55; compare Mark 15:40, 47 from yesterday's reading).  The Virgin Mary appears in certain icons of the Myrrhbearing Women.  

And they said among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away -- for it was very large.  The stone had been rolled away not to make way for Christ's exit from the tomb; in His resurrected body, He needs no such accommodation (John 20:19).  It was, instead to allow the witnesses -- and we who hear and read the Gospel -- to look in and see that the tomb was empty.

And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.  But he said to them, "Do not be alarmed.  You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified.  He is risen!  He is not here.  See the place where they laid Him.  But go, tell His disciples -- and Peter -- that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you."  So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed.  And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.   My study Bible comments that the specific mention of Peter is a revelation of a special care for the one who had denied Christ.  According to Theophylact, Peter would have said to himself, "I denied the Lord, and therefore am no longer His disciple."  But the command of the angel is a promise that Peter is forgiven.  That they said nothing to anyone does not mean the women never said anything; only that they kept silent until Christ appeared to them (verses 9 - 11).  

Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons.  She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept.  And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.  After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country.  And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.  That Christ appeared also in another form shows that His resurrected body transcends not only physical space and time, but also appearance as well.  My study Bible notes that He was sometimes recognizable to His disciples, while at other times He was not.  This second reference would seem to be to the disciples on their way to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35).

Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.  And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."  This is called the Great Commission, and it is our Lord's final commandment given on earth.  It is meant to be lived out in the Church until Christ returns again, my study Bible tells us.  To make disciples cannot be done in the strength of human beings, but only in the power of God.  It notes further that the power of the Resurrection is not only for Jesus alone, but is given to all believers for Christian life and mission.  

"And these signs will follow those who believe:  In My name they will cast out demon; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."   My study Bible says that new tongues is a reference to the ability to speak in languages one has not learned in order to edify others in worship (1 Corinthians 14) and also to preach the gospel (Acts 2:1-11).   To take up serpents is primarily a reference to spiritual battle against demons (Luke 10:19).  Therefore, my study Bible says, Chris tis promising to deliver believers from the powers of sin.  Moreover, it notes, this would include certain physical protection also.  St. Paul was bitten by a serpent and suffered no harm (Acts 28:3-6), and according to tradition, Barsabas Justus (Acts 1:23) was forced by unbelievers to drink poison and survived.  Nonetheless, as god's grace can protect believers form both physical and spiritual harm, to test God by deliberately doing harmful things to oneself is a grave sin (Deuteronomy 6:16; Matthew 4:7). 

So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.  And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.  Amen.  My study Bible notes that the Ascension of Christ is celebrated forty days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).  This event is a fulfillment of the type given when Elijah ascended in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11), and it marks the completion of Christ's glorification and lordship over all creation.  At the Incarnation, it says, Christ brought His divine nature to human nature. In the mystery of the Ascension, Christ brings human nature to the divine Kingdom.  He reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit in His glorified body, revealing His glorified human nature -- even human flesh -- to be worshiped by the whole angelic realm.  In some icons of the Ascension, His white robes are tinted red to show the shedding of His blood for the redemption of the world and the ascent of His life-giving blood into heaven (Isaiah 63:1-3; see as well Psalm 24:7-10).   

 

Of these final verses in Mark's last chapter (Mark 16:9-20) it should be noted that there are two early manuscripts that do not contain them, but nearly all other manuscripts ever discovered do contain them.  They are canonized Scripture and, as my study Bible notes, are considered by the Church to be inspired, authoritative, and genuine.  We might also note here that Mark's Gospel is considered to be the first one written, and is also the shortest of them.  As we've read, we've seen the word "immediately" crop up many times, as it is very fast-moving, and unlike the other two Synoptic Gospels of Matthew and Luke, does not contain various elements reported there, such as Christ's birth, or the Sermon on the Mount.  But an interesting thing to note is that out of only 16 chapters, the last six concern themselves with the events that happened in Jerusalem.  What's significant about that is that it teaches us what was considered to be of most importance to our earliest Christian faithful in the Church.  These events of Passion Week, Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection form the great teaching of our faith in terms of the significance of the events of Christ's life and what they mean for us -- the gift of life that imparts to us the things Christ brings into the world in His divinity, and the Ascension in which He takes our humanity with Him into heaven, thus forming and including us in the great communion of saints both in heaven and on earth, together at once.  What this means for us is that we do not worship alone and isolation, but that we worship together with the angels and saints and faithful of all ages -- even as my study Bible comments on the changing form of Christ's resurrectional body:  that it transcends time and space and even appearance.  And we are to understand that all of these elements contained in Christ are a part of our communion, even as we partake from His cup in the Eucharist.  What remains most touching to us, however, are those who are faithful in their smallness and meekness and who come to mean so much through their faith:  the Myrrhbearing Women such as Mary Magdalene and others (even including Christ's Mother), the disciples who at first do not believe but then return to faith and to their apostolic mission, Peter who's given special mention by the angel at the tomb, Joseph of Arimathea who takes courage and goes to Pilate asking for Christ's body, the disciples on the road to Emmaus, even the centurion who comes to faith at the Cross and is known to us as a saint -- and so many more who are unnamed and unknown to us.  For we are taught that it is through the small that God works in the world, even through weakness.  St. Paul writes, "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;  and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption— that, as it is written, 'He who glories, let him glory in the Lord'" (1 Corinthians 1:26-31).  In an era of stupendous achievement, great armies and technologies, unimaginable world telecommunications, and power and control mechanisms that shape the world in ways like never before, let us each remember these words of St. Paul's and what we read in this short Gospel of those who would also shape the world even through their meekness and smallness.  For the power of God remains as it was, with Christ who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption -- for nothing else even in such an era can do this for us.  And let us remember that even today there are those small and meek around the world who suffer for the faith of Christ.  Let us therefore glory in the Lord.  The women in today's reading ask, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"  And rightly so, for it is rolled away for us.