Daily Bread Mark 16
Daily Bread Mark 16
Mark 16
The Resurrection
1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"
4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' 8Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Observation:
You will notice that there are two endings given in Mark 16. One ends at verse 8, and the other verse 20. What happened was that as the church was formalizing what they called the “canon” (the body of material that made it into the Old and New Testament) there were changes made over the first three centuries and beyond.
The Muratorian Canon is probably the oldest list of the 27 canonized books of the New Testament. It was found in the late 8th century and most likely dates back to about 170 A.D. The point being, the bible as we know it today, with 39 books from the Old Testament and 27 books from the New Testament evolved in a process that the church oversaw.
We also know that the Catholic Church includes some apocryphal books in their bible. This includes books like: the book of Tobit, or Enoch, often called the “inter-testamental” literature. These books were listed outside the canon established by Protestants, because they felt they were not attested well enough, or lacked the kind of manuscript integrity that was needed to make it into the canon.
But the bottom line is that I actually like that way Mark 16:8 ends. I love what the angel says to the women who discovered the empty tomb, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee, just as he said he would.”
This would keep with Mark’s writing style of being to the point and quickly moving.
Application:
Mark ends his gospel with Jesus rising from the dead, leaving an empty tomb and going ahead of the disciples to Galilee, where he met them. I love this sense of Jesus going ahead of us. As we look to continue to be followers of Jesus in the 21st century, we follow the one that is ahead of us and waiting for us.
Whatever mission God has called you too (God has called us all to the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations...) know that He is ahead of you. As we follow the resurrected Jesus He will show us where to go. Importantly we don’t go it alone.
Where might God be calling you to follow Jesus? What are the fears you have in following that call? Does it help to see that Jesus is already ahead of you waiting for you to come along? This may not even be a geographical move but a movement in your heart.
Prayer:
God send us to be your witnesses in the world. We know your Son is ahead of us. Give us courage and wisdom and obedience to Your Great Commission. We know you will always be with us as we follow your footsteps. In Jesus name, Amen.
Mark 16
The Resurrection
1When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?"
4But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
6"Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.' 8Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Observation:
You will notice that there are two endings given in Mark 16. One ends at verse 8, and the other verse 20. What happened was that as the church was formalizing what they called the “canon” (the body of material that made it into the Old and New Testament) there were changes made over the first three centuries and beyond.
The Muratorian Canon is probably the oldest list of the 27 canonized books of the New Testament. It was found in the late 8th century and most likely dates back to about 170 A.D. The point being, the bible as we know it today, with 39 books from the Old Testament and 27 books from the New Testament evolved in a process that the church oversaw.
We also know that the Catholic Church includes some apocryphal books in their bible. This includes books like: the book of Tobit, or Enoch, often called the “inter-testamental” literature. These books were listed outside the canon established by Protestants, because they felt they were not attested well enough, or lacked the kind of manuscript integrity that was needed to make it into the canon.
But the bottom line is that I actually like that way Mark 16:8 ends. I love what the angel says to the women who discovered the empty tomb, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee, just as he said he would.”
This would keep with Mark’s writing style of being to the point and quickly moving.
Application:
Mark ends his gospel with Jesus rising from the dead, leaving an empty tomb and going ahead of the disciples to Galilee, where he met them. I love this sense of Jesus going ahead of us. As we look to continue to be followers of Jesus in the 21st century, we follow the one that is ahead of us and waiting for us.
Whatever mission God has called you too (God has called us all to the Great Commission to make disciples of all nations...) know that He is ahead of you. As we follow the resurrected Jesus He will show us where to go. Importantly we don’t go it alone.
Where might God be calling you to follow Jesus? What are the fears you have in following that call? Does it help to see that Jesus is already ahead of you waiting for you to come along? This may not even be a geographical move but a movement in your heart.
Prayer:
God send us to be your witnesses in the world. We know your Son is ahead of us. Give us courage and wisdom and obedience to Your Great Commission. We know you will always be with us as we follow your footsteps. In Jesus name, Amen.
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