WAITING
Through the Gospel of Mark, there have been ups and downs, twists and turns, in following Jesus’ kingdom message. As His disciples have walked with Him, they have struggled to put all the pieces together. Jesus often said and did the unexpected.
listen on:
Through Mark
Through the Gospel of Mark, there have been ups and downs, twists and turns, in following Jesus’ kingdom message. As His disciples have walked with Him, they have struggled to put all the pieces together. Jesus often said and did the unexpected.
The King On The Cross
In Mark 15, the narrative of Mark’s gospel shifts to the foot of the cross. Jesus is mocked, the Messiah has been led to Golgotha, they have stripped His clothes and beat Him. Hung on the cross, after Jesus breathed His last breath, He was taken down. His body wrapped in fine linen laid in a tomb that hewed out of rock. A stone was rolled against the opening of the grave to seal it shut.
An Unexpected Hour
What had happened? This was not expected! Jesus’ words on the cross, misheard by some who thought He was crying out for Elijah to come and rescue Him. In His words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” Jesus hyperlinks us back to Psalm 22.
PSALM 22: 1 (NKJV)
"My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?”
Jesus is doing what He has come to do. Psalm 22 directs our thoughts to the darkness that surrounds Jesus. The weight of sin thrust upon Him as Jesus “breathed His last” (ref. Mk. 15:37).
MARK 15: 38-39 (NKJV)
“Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!”
Psalm 22 continues to describe God’s kingdom coming:
PSALM 22: 27-28 (NKJV)
“All the ends of the world Shall remember and turn to the Lord, And all the families of the nations Shall worship before You. For the kingdom is the Lord’s, And He rules over the nations.”
Jesus is doing exactly what He came to do. He is fulfilling the purpose of God, bringing about God's rule over all the earth. Jesus is following the will of God to the cross, to the point of death. No longer would people come to the temple to offer sacrifices for their sins —the temple's veil torn in two. Now people will come to a hill and a cross where a sacrifice was given for them. God's new kingdom is here, although it's not what people were expecting.
Darkness
It's difficult to imagine what the disciples must have thought, what they must have been feeling. All of this was so unexpected. This was God's Messiah, God's Anointed. This is not how people expected the kingdom to look. The disciples had left all to follow the Rabbi. Their journey seemingly had ended at a cross. Peter, along with the other disciples, must have been perplexed. The darkness must have felt overshadowing and desperate as they waited in the shadows of the night. Minds were racing with possibilities and fears waiting in the dark. What was next? What should they do? Would the Romans be looking for them also? We are only left to speculate how the disciples must have felt or what they may have been thinking as we wait with them.
He Has Risen
As the day dawns and the first light breaks through, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome make their
way to the tomb where Jesus laid. On their journey, they considered how they would get to the body of Jesus, "Who will
roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" (ref. Mk. 16: 3). As Mark has so often has pointed out, Jesus does the unexpected. The stone had been rolled away. Jesus was
not in the tomb! A young man clothed in a white robe was sitting in the tomb where Jesus had been laid as he said to the
women:
MARK 16: 6-8 (NKJV)
“...“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.”
What had happened? Where was Jesus? We can understand their fear and silence. Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene (ref. Mk. 16: 9ff). Then He appeared to two other disciples, but the rest did not believe their words (ref. Mk. 16: 12-13).
MARK 16:14-16 (NKJV)
“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.”
Jesus has risen, and we, like the disciples, are not left in darkness and fear. He has overcome death and raised to the newness of life. In Christ, we share in this glorious hope, the hope of the resurrection.
Light has broken through the darkness, and Jesus is alive! We no longer have to hide in the shadows of fear. Jesus has overcome death!
READ THE BIBLE
MARK 16: 1-8 (NASB)
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?” 4And looking up, they *noticed that the stone had been rolled away; for it was extremely large. 5And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. 6But he *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; see, here is the place where they laid Him. 7But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ” 8And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.