Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature

 

 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 demons; 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.   My study Bible explains that because Christ died so close in time to the Sabbath, the burial customs of the Jews could not be completed.  Therefore, these faithful women go as early as possible to complete the rites of burial.   Some patristic writers teach that Mary the mother of James was the wife of Alphaeus, and this James was one of the Twelve (Luke 6:15).  But most hold that this is the Virgin Mary, as she is in fact the stepmother of another James, called "the Lord's brother" (see Matthew 13:55, compare to Mark 15:40, 47 from yesterday's reading).  Many teach that Salome was the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James and John.

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.  We understand that the stone had been rolled away not to accommodate Christ's exit from the tomb, for as in His resurrected body, He needed no such accommodation (John 20:19).  Instead, this was specifically to allow the witnesses -- and us readers -- 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 reveals a special care for the one who had denied Christ.  Theophylact comments that Peter would have said of himself, "I denied the Lord, and therefore am no longer His disciple."  This command given by the angel is a promise that Peter is forgiven.  That they said nothing to anyone doesn't mean they never spoke of this, but that they kept silent until Christ's appearance to them (see subsequent verses).

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.   My study Bible notes that verses 9-20 (that is, these verses and the rest of today's reading) do not appear in two early manuscripts of Mark's Gospel.  But nearly all other manuscripts ever discovered have them.  They are thus canonized Scripture and are considered by the Church to be inspired, authoritative, and genuine.  Note that Jesus appeared in another form to two disciples:  the specific emphasis is on the Lord's resurrected body, which transcends not only physical space and time, but also appearance.  My study Bible points out that He was sometimes recognizable to His disciples and at other times He was not.  It's interesting to note that the rest of the disciples did not believe these early reports from Mary Magdalene and the two disciples (see 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; it is the Lord's final commandment given on earth.  My study Bible says that it is to be lived out in the Church until He returns again.  To make disciples cannot be done in the strength of human beings, but only in the power of God.  It notes that the power of the Resurrection is not only for Christ Himself, but that it 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 demons; they will speak with new tongues . . . "  My study Bible says that new tongues refers to the capacity to speak in languages that one has not learned in order to edify others in worship (1 Corinthians 14) and to preach the gospel (Acts 2:1-11).

". . . 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."  To take up serpents, my study Bible writes, refers primarily to spiritual battle against demons (Luke 10:19).  Therefore, Christ is promising to deliver believers from the power of sin.  Moreover, this includes certain physical protection as well.  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, while God's grace can protect believers from both physical and spiritual harm, to test God by deliberately committing harmful acts against 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.   The Ascension of Christ (He was received up into heaven) is celebrated forty days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).  This event fulfills the type which was 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.  My study Bible teaches that at the Incarnation, Christ brought His divine nature to human nature.  But 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 -- indeed, human flesh -- to be worshiped by the whole angelic realm.  In some icons and paintings of the Ascension, we may observe that Christ's white robes are tinted red to indicate the shedding of His blood for the redemption of the world and the ascent of that life-giving blood into heaven (Isaiah 63:1-3; see also Psalm 23:7-10).

How do you carry out Christ's Great Commission?  He commands the disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature," adding that "he who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned."   In order to properly take in this second statement, it is necessary to read John 3:18, and understand that a lack of faith in Christ sets up a personal barrier against the salvation Christ offers.  But how do we go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature?  In the Greek, this command literally reads that the disciples should go into all the world and preach the gospel to "all the creation" (πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει).  This is affirmed in the statements in John's Gospel, in which we're taught that Christ came into the world "for the life of the world" (John 6:33, 51).  There is, in effect, nothing left out of this salvation plan.  In fact, in the Greek for "all the world" (in Mark 16:15 as well as the two verses from John 6) the word used for world is κόσμος/kosmos, which effectively embraces the whole created order, as while it is a word used to indicate "the world" as we understand it, it is also the word for literally all of creation -- that is everything created by God, an entire universe of all things visible and invisible, as the Creed states.  What that seems to indicate regarding this Great Commission is that God's redeeming mission, and the power of the Resurrection, will leave absolutely nothing out of this redemption.  Only human beings have the power to reject this for themselves, but the nature of this healing, transforming, redeeming gospel mission is to be complete in every respect imaginable.  The Creator has come into the world as a human being in order to restore all of creation to communion with God, to heal what is broken -- and that brokenness, apparently, goes way beyond only the minds and hearts of human beings.  It is something we need to understand in its fullness, both the effects of sin reaching into all levels of life, and the power of redemption which will not stop until it is fully complete for the entire creation.  And so, this gospel message of redemption is truly for all the world, all the cosmos, everything understood to be created by God, and not simply for individual human beings.  It is individual human beings who have the power through their will to reject it; but its fullness is intended for much more than we can possibly imagine.  Jesus also mentions baptism in this Commission, and if we think about baptism, it is about much more than the power of God coming to faithful human beings.  It is also about the transformation of the elements of this world into carriers of salvation.  Water is blessed in order to bring us to participation in Christ's death and Resurrection.  Oil becomes the oil of chrismation, a vehicle for the Holy Spirit.  The very elements of creation, through the Incarnation of Christ, have become those things through which the good news of the Gospel, and the power of God, carry God's power in sacrament and mystery.  This is why, in our churches, the tradition is to bless everything, from houses to objects we make use of, to gardens, to new endeavors, in order to be effective means of salvation in our use of them.  Christ's mission into the world, and His death and Resurrection -- which are necessary in order to send the Holy Spirit -- is for every single element of creation, without exception.  The ultimate sign of salvation and redemption is the Cross itself -- through Christ's Passion, death, and Resurrection it became the symbol of salvation, transformed from the horrific instrument of the worst kind of punishing death.  So it can be in our lives through God's work in us and among us:  the things that were once used to harm or bring pain can be transformed into something entirely different.  Forgiveness works in the same way:  we give up to God our pain and hurt and harm, so that God may work through our circumstances and set us on a right path, Christ's good road, instead.  Everything about Christ's mission, in short, is redemptive, healing, salvific, and nothing is left out of this plan nor out of the Great Commission with which He left this world in order to send the Holy Spirit.  Let us use the tools and instruments we're given, the sacraments and mysteries, the helpful vehicles which convey faith such as icons or holy water, the blessings which belong everywhere, and most especially the power of prayer, for Christ reaches out all the time (Revelation 3:20-22), and the Lord is still working with us and confirming the word through all kinds of accompanying signs.

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature

Pantocrator (Almighty), 6th century, St. Katherine's Monastery, Sinai

 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 demons; 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 16:9-20

Yesterday we read that 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.  Two early and important manuscripts do not contain the verses in today's reading (Mark 16:9-20) as part of Mark's Gospel.  But nearly all other manuscripts ever discovered have them.   My study bible reminds us that they are canonized Scripture and are therefore considered by the Church to be inspired, authoritative, and genuine.  Let us note Christ's first appearance to a woman, Mary Magdalene.  She is titled Apostle to the Apostles because of this event.  Yet, they did not believe.  It is a testament to the power of her faith, for which she rightly known as a saint.

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.  My study bible points out that the Lord's resurrected body transcends not only physical space and time, but appearance as well -- as He appeared in another form.  He was sometimes recognizable to the disciples, and at other times He is not.  This perhaps refers to the appearance documented in Luke's Gospel which occurred while two disciples were walking on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35).  At that time, they did not recognize Him, but He was suddenly known to them as He took bread, blessed it, and broke it. 

 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."  This is called the Great Commission (see also Matthew 28:19).  It is Christ's final commandment given on earth, and to be lived out in the Church until He returns again.  My study bible says of the command to make disciples (in Matthew's Gospel) that it cannot be cone in the strength of human beings, but only in the power of God.  It notes that the power of the Resurrection is not only for Christ Himself, but is given to all believers for Christian life and mission.

"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 demons; 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."   We are to understand that to take up serpents refers to spiritual battle against demons (often encountered in representative images of serpents). (See also Luke 10:19, which gives similar images in the context of "the power of the enemy.")  Therefore, Christ is promising here to deliver believers from the powers of sin, my study bible notes.  Moreover, it adds, this includes certain physical protection as well.  St. Paul was bitten by a serpent and suffered no harm (Acts 28:3-6), and according to tradition, my study bible says, Barsabas Justus (Acts 1:23) was forced by unbelievers to drink poison and survived.  But nonetheless, my study bible also adds, while God's grace can protect believers from both spiritual and physical harm, to test God through deliberately committing harmful acts against 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.  The Ascension of Christ (He was received up into heaven) is celebrated forty days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).  My study bible notes that this event fulfills the type which was given when Elijah ascended in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11), and it also marks the completion of Christ's glorification and lordship over all creation.  At the Incarnation, it notes, Christ brought divine nature to human nature.  In the mystery of the Ascension, He brings human nature to the divine Kingdom.  (In other appearances to the disciples, for example, He carried the scars of the Crucifixion; see John 20:24-29.)   Christ reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit in His glorified body, my study bible says, thus revealing His glorified human nature -- even human flesh -- to be worshiped by the whole angelic realm.  In the Orthodox Vespers of Ascension it is sung, "The angels were amazed seeing a Man so exalted."  In various icons of the Ascension, the white robes of Christ are tinted red in order to indicate the shedding of His blood for the redemption of the world, and the ascent of that life-giving blood into heaven (Isaiah 63:1-3; see also Psalm 24:7-10).

It is quite strange, to modern ears perhaps, to think of Christ's risen flesh as ascended into heaven -- into the divine Kingdom, as my study bible puts it.  But then, we have to think carefully about what heaven is and what it isn't.  It isn't a place up in the clouds in a literal sense, but it is a place whose existence both encompasses this world and is greater than this world.  It is a place, as Ascension would indicate, that encompasses and indeed gave birth to the entire cosmos, as our Lord is the creator of all that exists, of every created thing.  This notion is linked in our text for today, as the disciples are told, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."   In the Greek, it quite literally reads, "to all creation."  So there is nothing that has been created by God which is left out of this gospel, this Resurrection and Ascension.  There is nothing left out of this Kingdom made possible through Christ's Incarnation, and through His death and Resurrection.  It is for all, for everything made that was made (John 1:3).  Therefore, it is within this context that we must think of Christ's risen body ascended into heaven.  To be sure, this is not precisely the same Jesus in the flesh the disciples knew.  As we note, frequently the disciples do not recognize Him.  Jesus, both human and divine, has been glorified.  As my study bible put it, the Lord's resurrected body transcends not only physical space and time, but appearance as well.  And it is thereby that we must consider this intersection of heaven and earth, of the heavenly kingdom and the worldly kingdom, because they exist not in parallel stages like different floors in a building, but rather in dimensions that may at times intersect one another.  Mystical experience is one such intersection, where things that are not necessarily "earthly" are nevertheless perceived by earthly creatures such as human beings, who, through Christ's Incarnation and Ascension, we are assured are created to be able to dwell in and participate in that heavenly Kingdom.  We can't make a dividing line that predicts what is earthly and what is heavenly because they do, in fact, intersect one another, just as all was "intersected" in Christ.  We don't know the power of our prayers, for example, but I would venture to say that most who read this blog have some concrete idea or experience of their own of that power of prayer.  We may not be able to measure with mathematical precision what the power of faith can do, and what our communion is all about, but I would venture a guess that many who will encounter this writing have had such experience of communion and faith.  God comes into our lives in ways which we cannot quantify -- and just the same, we must understand that humanity, in the Person of the risen Christ, broke through into the heavenly realms as well, establishing the place of mankind as belonging there, and worthy of service of the angels to help us do so.  In short, the Ascension teaches us mysteries even more puzzling and unquantifiable than those which we have encountered in the whole of the Gospel, for it is here where we are given to understand that we are not separate from this Kingdom, but meant to be a part of it, and even to grow in likeness of our Creator.  Perhaps we, too, will enter this heavenly Kingdom with scars intact; that is, those which we might have suffered for our faith.  Indeed, in icons of John the Baptist, he is not only depicted with wings (as "messenger" of our Lord's appearance in the world -- which is the meaning of the word for "angel" in Greek), but fully intact himself, head in proper place, but also holding his head on a platter (as in this image, for example).  The things we live and do in this world in our faith are those which will follow us, just as the scars from the Crucifixion followed Christ.  It is said that, "You can't take it with you," in a popular expression referring to wealth.  But as faithful, our wealth will be counted in different ways, and there are indeed ways to be wealthy which have nothing to do with the sheer amount of physical possessions we amass in the material world.  We carry with us the things we do that become a part of ourselves.  And as such, we can also perhaps state the opposite, that we diminish our true selves through selfishness, and through neglect of the wholeness of life Christ preaches as salvation.  For it is in the fullness of the Person-to-person encounter that we find our own salvation, that place where we are healed and made whole by our communion with Christ and participation in His life that He offers us.  Through grace, we also can be led through this life, learning to discard the things we don't need (the "hand" or "foot" or "eye" we give over to false values and ideals; see Matthew 18:8-9).  Because we are also taught that each must take up one's own cross, we know that dwelling in and participation in this Kingdom that intersects our worldly lives will also ask of us sacrifice.  From the Ascension, we learn that such sacrifice for the sake of the Kingdom is in fact substance, and will be carried with us.  If all of this seems to heady or mysterious to even contemplate, let us but consider this:  that the One who died for us also Resurrected for us.  We don't live in a world separated so much from our Lord as it is one that invites and asks us to participate in His life with Him, to be with Him, and with the Father, and the Holy Spirit, even as we, also, are each served by angels.  This is where we dwell.  It is the place into which our faith takes us, even as we live yet in this world.  And that is just as it has been meant to be, for Christ's Incarnation and life has changed it all; His ascent into heaven invites us to follow and dwell with Him.  For where two or three are gathered in His name, there He is also -- and even a cup of water given to one in His name is as giving it to Him, as well.  If this all seems strange to ponder, consider what it means exactly that with grace, we can have a "peace that passes understanding" (John 14:27, Philippians 4:7), or "joy" when there is nominally not a worldly reason for joy (John 15:11, 16:22, 24, 17:13, Galatians 5:22).  Consider how we may know and share love even when our worldly circumstances or upbringing do not supply us with that love (John 15:9, 13:34-35, Galatians 5:22).  If this were not so, if the heavenly and worldly do not intersect, consider why we would even ask for blessing upon the food we eat.  The icon above is one of the few icons to survive the Iconoclastic Controversy.  In it we see depicted not only the dual nature of Christ, but also His suffering.  In his hand He holds the Gospel Book.  It is Christ Pantocrator, "Almighty," the One who is seated at the right hand of God, even as Father and Son and Spirit dwell within us (John 14:23).

Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature

 Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought 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 demons; 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 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 Jesus 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 brought 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.  Historically, there are those who teach that Mary the mother of James was the wife of Alphaeus, and this James was one of the Twelve (Mark 6:15).  But most have held that this is the Virgin Mary, who is in fact the stepmother of another James, "the Lord's brother" (see Matthew 13:55; compare Mark 15:40, 47 from yesterday's reading).   Many teach that Salome was the wife of Zebedee, and the mother of apostles James and John.  Because Jesus' death came so close in time to the Sabbath, the burial customs of the Jews couldn't be completed.  So these women went as early as possible to complete the rites of burial, very early in the morning. 

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.   Why should this very large stone be rolled away?   Christ needed no exit from His tomb; His resurrected body needs no such accommodation (John 20:19).  It's rolled away so that the witnesses -- and us readers of the Gospels -- can look in and see that the tomb is 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.  We note the angel's specific mention of Peter.  It reveals, my study bible says, a special care for the one who had denied Christ.  According to the commentary of Theophylact, Peter would have said of himself, "I denied the Lord, and therefore am no longer His disciple."  But the angel's command is a promise that Peter is forgiven.  That the women said nothing to anyone doesn't mean they never told their story as witnesses.  But it does tell us that they kept silent until Jesus appeared to them.

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.  There are two early manuscripts of Mark's Gospel that do not contain verses 9-20 (from this section to the end of today's reading).  But nearly all other manuscripts ever discovered do contain these verses and those that follow.  They are canonized Scripture, and have always been considered by the Church to be inspired, authoritative, and genuine.  That Christ appeared in another form teaches us that the Lord's resurrected body transcends not just physical space and time but also appearance.  He was sometimes recognizable to His disciples, while at other times He was not.  

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 demons; 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."   Jesus gives them the Great Commission, His final commandment given on earth.  It is to be lived out in the Church until He returns again.  The power of the Resurrection isn't for Jesus Himself alone, my study bible says, but rather is given to all believers for Christian life and mission.  Of the signs He reveals, new tongues refers to the ability to speak in languages that one hasn't learned in order to edify others  in worship (1 Corinthians 14), and 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, Christ is promising to deliver believers from the power of sin, my study bible notes.  Furthermore, this includes physical protection as well.  St. Paul was bitten by a serpent and suffered no harm (Acts 28:3-6), and in accordance with tradition, Barsabas Justus (Acts 1:23) was forced by unbelievers to drink poison and survived.  But, a note tells us, while God's grace can protect believers from both physical and spiritual harm, to test God by deliberately committing harmful acts against 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.  The Ascension of Christ is celebrated forty days after the Resurrection (Acts 1:3).  Christ's Ascension fulfills the type given when Elijah ascended in a fiery chariot (2 Kings 2:11).  It marks the completion of His glorification and lordship over all creation.  (We note that in the Great Commission, in the verses just above, Christ tells the disciples to "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."  In the Greek, that reads literally, "to all creation.")   My study bible reminds us that at the Incarnation, 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, Christ's robes have a red tint to indicate the shedding of His blood for the redemption of the world and the ascent of that life-giving blood into heaven (Isaiah 63:1-3; see also Psalm 24:7-10). 

Christ's Great Commission is the command:  "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature."   In the Greek, and in some English translations, this literally reads, "preach the gospel to all creation."  It might seem a little bit strange, to us who tend to think in a rather abstract way, how on earth the gospel could be preached to all creation.  That is, to those who weren't human beings.  Don't we have to have a human understanding, a soul, a heart, with which to grasp and wrestle with His teachings, and to seek to do them, to make those choices?  But my study bible hits on a significant point when it says that Christ's Ascension (which immediately follows His Great Commission) "marks the completion of His glorification and lordship over all creation."  The Great Commission is the sending out of His disciples to everywhere in His Kingdom and to all its subjects -- and the entirety of His lordship is precisely over all creation.  What that means is that the whole of the cosmos, of what we can see or know or live within or use for our lives -- every single bit of it -- is under the lordship of Christ.  It is all a part of His Kingdom, His dominion.  Therefore when we are taught how to be good stewards in His Kingdom, it's not only about a circumscribed and limited code for certain events or happenings in our lives.  It's about everything -- and it's about how we relate to each and every one, and everything in His creation.  Our "relationships" are not only to people, but rather to everything in creation:  how we see it, how we care for it, and especially how we understand it as His.  What belongs to Him should be precious to all of us.  There are many, many stories of saints living in the desert or elsewhere who could speak to and communicate love to animals.  St. Francis is especially known as one such saint, even preaching sermons to animals.  What these saintly stories teach us is about the love God wishes for us to cultivate in our hearts for all of God's creation, a kind of fullness that isn't measured but rather overflows.  It reminds us that in John's Gospel, Jesus teaches, "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water," indicating the overflowing abundance of the gift of the Holy Spirit, and what the Holy Spirit confers to us.  The fruits of the Spirit also are the subject here of Jesus' Great Commission, the signs of faith.  That overflowing abundance of mercy, of the energies of God given to us as gift and for bearing spiritual fruit, is reflected in the images of the saints for whom love was unlimited, not circumscribed, but belonging to all creation.  Jesus teaches us that everything matters, each little particular.  We can pray for someone we happen to pass on the street, someone we can't seem to speak to without creating problems, someone we don't know well.  We can pray for the birds that sing outside our window, for the pet across the street.  All of creation is to be the recipient of this ministry and of His Great Commission; there are no limits to discipleship, because there are no limits to His lordship.  St. Paul writes to the Corinthians that "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" (1 Corinthians 1:27).  It is all of creation that is included here in the preaching of the gospel.  Let us remember, as we go live our lives, His criterion for Judgment.  It's all about how we meet His Kingdom and all that's in it.  May our prayers rise like incense, as do the prayers of the saints (Revelation 8:4).