Journey through the Book of Mark

Mark has just told us that Jesus has been taken up into heaven and has sat at God's right hand. And now, we come to the very final statement in the Gospel of Mark. And it is the natural and logical result of what he has just told us. "Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it".  – Mark 1...

Jesus has just given his disciples what we call today “The Great Commission,” the instruction to preach the gospel to the whole world. The Gospel of Mark is coming to its dramatic end. "After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven, and he sat at the right hand of God". – Mark 16:19

Jesus has just told his disciples to go into all the world and to preach the Gospel to all creation and that he who believes will be saved. What he tells them next is really striking. "And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not...

Jesus has just told his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. And now he tells them why this is so important. "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned". – Mark 16:16

The risen Lord has appeared to his followers as they are gathered together, and he has rebuked them for their stubborn refusal to believe. Now, he is going to tell them what the next steps are. I wonder what instructions he’s going to give them? "He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation". – Mark 16:15

Mark continues to recount the list of the initial eyewitnesses to the resurrection of Christ. Finally, he appears to the eleven. I wonder what he will say to them. “Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen”. – Mark 16:14

The disciples haven’t believed the report of Mary Magdalene that Jesus is alive. So, Jesus tries again. Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. – Mark 16:12-13

The risen Jesus has just appeared to Mary Magdalene. She is the first to see him, and she returns and tells the disciples. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. 11 When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it. – Mark 16:10-11

Mark tells us that when the angel announced to the women that Jesus had risen, they fled in fear and confusion, and they initially didn’t tell anyone. From the other Gospels, we know that there was one exception: Mary Magdalene. She went and told the disciples, and then followed Peter and John back to the empty tomb. When they left, she stayed behind, and that’s when Jesus appeared to her. – Mark...

On Sunday morning, the women have arrived at the tomb to find the stone rolled away, and an angel who has told them that Jesus has risen from the dead. If you had been with the women that morning, how would you have felt? The reaction of the women was only natural. Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid. – Mark 16:...

The angel at the tomb has just told the women the incredible news that Jesus has risen. But that’s not all he has to tell them! 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.’ – Mark 16:7

As the tomb of Jesus came into view, the women had seen, to their surprise, that the massive stone had somehow been rolled away. In shock and confusion, they hurried to enter the tomb to see what had happened. “As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene...

As the women had walked to the tomb early on Sunday morning, they were worried about how they would ever be able to roll away the stone. Their steps were slow and heavy. As they approached the tomb, they were naturally downcast, contemplating the sad task ahead of them. Let’s see what happens next. But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. – Mark...

As the women take that long, sad walk to the tomb of Jesus, they have a very practical question in mind. And their question is yet another marker of the authenticity of Mark’s account of the resurrection. 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?” – Mark 1...

The Sabbath lasted from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday. Jesus has been in the tomb from late Friday afternoon and throughout all of Saturday and Saturday night. It is now Sunday morning. 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. – Mark 16:1

The greatest historical claim of Christianity is that Jesus Christ rose from the dead. This was an absurd claim to make in an ancient culture that considered itself highly sophisticated and in which the concept of bodily resurrection did not exist at all. That’s why the first believers in the resurrection of Jesus were always open to the attack that their faith was based on a lie. And that’s also...

Joseph of Arimathea has just placed Jesus’ body in a tomb cut out of rock. It’s very important to notice what he did next. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.– Mark 15:46

Now that Pilate has given Joseph of Arimathea permission to have the body, Joseph returns to the place of execution to take charge. He has to move quickly, because the sun is low, and once it sets, the Sabbath begins, during which no work can be done. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. – Mark 15:46

Joseph of Arimathea, a leading member of the Sanhedrin has sought an audience with Pontius Pilate to request the body of Jesus. For many reasons, this was a highly unusual request.  Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. – Mark 15:25-26

When criminals were crucified, part of the humiliation was that their bodies weren’t buried. To lie unburied was a matter of great shame in the ancient world. Instead, the bodies of the victims of crucifixion were thrown out into the open among the rubbish, typically to be eaten by the dogs who scavenged among the rubbish heaps and the places of execution. But Jesus had a secret admirer, who decid...

Throughout his gospel, Mark highlights how much opposition Jesus received throughout his ministry. And it’s the same at the cross. Mark has already mentioned that the disciples had run for their lives, and we know that John was the only one of their number there. Interestingly, however, Mark doesn’t mention John. Instead, Mark makes a point of highlighting some very important people who were there...

We know that the squad of soldiers assigned the task of actually crucifying Jesus consisted of four soldiers, because the gospel of John tells us that they divided his clothes between them. However, there was also a centurion there at the cross. A centurion usually commanded between 60–100 soldiers. And he had been watching, and listening, all along. And when the centurion, who stood there in fron...

Mark has just told us that Jesus has breathed his last. You might expect a deep spiritual reflection or a pause for contemplation. But that is not Mark’s way. He is a man of dramatic action. And Christ’s death was the most dramatic of all actions. That’s why Mark follows immediately with these words, which in their own way point us to the deepest of spiritual truths. The curtain of the temple was...

While the people mock and ridicule him, Jesus is accomplishing the salvation of the world. These next brief words seem to raise a universe of questions. Yet they represent the heart of the Gospel, the centre of redemption, the very core of the plan of salvation. With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.  – Mark 15:37

Jesus has just cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” How you respond to that cry depends on your religious experience. And some of the Jews who were responded in what to us might seem a very strange way. When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.” 36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and of...