Friday, April 10, 2009

They said nothing to anyone...

Mark 16:1-8
16When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. 2And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. 3They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. 5As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” 8So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

This is (usually) my favorite version of the empty tomb. It has fewer frills than the others - no glorious beings, no earthquakes, just a young man in a white robe (cf Mk 14:51?) telling the women "Christ is risen!" In this version, it's left up to us* - is Christ raised, or has someone stolen the body? Like the women, we are left with the decision: what will we do with this crazy information? I'm pretty sure that my first response would have been the same as theirs, saying nothing to anyone...
Do you believe Jesus was raised from the dead? If so, why? And (assuming you're like most Christians) are you still afraid, or will you someday say something about it to somebody?

Miscellaneous meanderings
*Many scholars believe that the original version of Mark ended with verse 8. The vast majority view verses 9 and following as not the original ending (there are 3 different versions found in the earliest manuscripts, and none of them are very much like the rest of Mark). It's also possible that there was more of the original and it was lost (by the scroll being torn). But ending in verse 8 leaves the book asking the question that it does throughout: what are you going to do with this message?
"...the disciples and Peter..." - not meaning Peter wasn't a disciple, but presumably referring to Peter's denial of Christ and making sure Peter knew he was still invited. God won't turn you away, regardless of what you do to God...

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