Good News

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

GOOD NEWS

Mark 16:1-8

16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus' body. 2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, "Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?" 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. 5 As 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. 7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.'" 8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

NIV

There is far more than has been accounted by the other gospels than what Mark tells us. Nevertheless, the fact is all the same. Jesus is no longer in the grave, He has risen, just as he said he would. This Sabbath being over, which is our Saturday which ended at the setting of the sun and now very early Sunday morning, the day the Jews considered as the first day of the week, the woman was headed to the tomb. It is interesting that if Joseph and Nicodemus laid his body there, and Nicodemus had brought what is considered as about seventy pounds of spices, did the women not know and that is why they were bringing spices? Not sure why more spices, but again here are the women wanting to make sure everything was done right, making sure of taking care of the needs of Jesus. However, the main point here is that Jesus is not there, he is not in the tomb, and the grave could not hold him. He has risen, He has risen indeed! Although the good news of the kingdom of God is related to our sins being forgiven because of the blood of Jesus, through the cross, this does not give us eternal life. However, because Jesus rose from the grave, because He lives, having victory over death, we too have this same victory because we are in Christ and He is in us. The grave cannot hold us either, we will not remain there, for we too will rise from the death and enter into eternal life in the everlasting presence of our Lord. This is indeed good news. The other accounts give us some more of what happened and that Jesus had a conversation with Mary who lingered after the other women went and told the disciples what had happened. Still, everything is the same. No matter what any other details occurred that Mark does not tell us, the fact remains the same. Jesus has risen from the dead, the grave could not hold him, as so will we. The grave is but a temporary place for our body, as we have to know, Jesus was not there, only his body was. We are not sure where Jesus was for those few days, but he was not in his body. This too is good news, as our bodies may be committed temporally to the grave, but we will not be there, for we too will be absent from our bodies, but we will be present with our Lord. But just as with Jesus, his body was resurrected and once again He was present in his body and will be forevermore. This too is good news for us, as one day our bodies will be resurrected and we will be present in them in the new city on the new earth with our Lord forevermore. All this is good news.