1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?” 4 And looking up, they noticed that the stone had been rolled away; for it was extremely large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. 6 But 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. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’” 8 And 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.
9 [[Now after He had risen early on the first day of the week, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene, from whom He had cast out seven demons. 10 She went and reported to those who had been with Him, while they were mourning and weeping. 11 And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.
12 Now after that, He appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking along on their way to the country. 13 And they went away and reported it to the rest, but they did not believe them, either.
14 Later He appeared to the eleven disciples themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reprimanded them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen from the dead. 15 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 The one who has believed and has been baptized will be saved; but the one who has not believed will be condemned. 17 These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
19 So then, when the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. 20 And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the word by the signs that followed.]]
[[And they promptly reported all these instructions to Peter and his companions. And after that, Jesus Himself also sent out through them from east to west the sacred and imperishable proclamation of eternal salvation.]]
TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:
The portion/s in parenthesis were added shortly after. Perhaps Mark had simply paused in writing this scripture, and after gleaning more eye witness testimonies, as well as more inspiration from the Holy Spirit, he wrote these last bits. Nonetheless, nothing contradicts everything else that is in the Bible- which is all God-inspired, and all God-breathed.
As Lee Strobel's investigative reporting uncovered- if the men who wrote the four gospels wanted people to trust and believe these events MORE, they would not have had women being the first to see the risen Christ! But throughout scripture, we see how God is a great advocate for women, children and the vulnerable! So, Jesus admonishes the disciples for not believing the testimonies of the women. But this is not to say that women never lie, we do! Let's not kid ourselves.
The point is that these events happened JUST AS JESUS HAD TOLD THEM!!!
There is the popular Christian bumper sticker that says, "God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It!" But it should really say, "God Said It, That Settles It! I Believe It!" Whether we believe something or not- does NOT determine Truth. Truth is!
Just like in any relationship, when we have grown close to someone who has a reliable reputation of being truthful and living with integrity, we'll say things like, "I would trust that person with my life!" Well, history and science has only supported God's words. And there are countless ways that God has worked in my life and other people's that are very undeniable. The more I trust in what He says, the more I see and know that I can trust Him with my life! Not just for the afterlife, but for right now! "God Said It, That Settles It! I Believe It!"
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