(Mark 16:1-8 ESV)
Anyways, this last chapter of Mark starts with a visit to the tomb.
Mark tells us that Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, were going to the tomb, just that they were going so that so that they might go and anoint him. They wondered who would roll the stone away from the entrance for them.
As they looked up as they approached the tomb though, they noticed the stone was already rolled away. It was a really large stone.
When they entered the tomb they saw a young man sitting there. He was dressed in a white robe. Those that entered were alarmed, but he told them not to bed. "You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here." He went on to tell them to see the place where Jesus lay, and then to give them a charge "GO, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."
The people who came felt, they were fulled of fear and the astonishment that had fallen upon them. They were so frightened they told no one what they heard and saw.
I know the ladies were visiting the tomb, it was a thing people did back then, with spices and whatnot that they did with the body. I can just see them, walking on the way, chatting amongst themselves about what they were going to do, what the rest of the day would be like, how they missed Jesus.. getting there and being surprised that the tomb stone had been moved. Then the shock of some strange young man sitting there waiting for them.
I can totally understand the ladies being all freaked out, can't you?
I do have a harder time, trying to understand why they kept quiet about it all. I wonder... would it have been fear of the Romans or the Jewish Council that kept them quiet? I try to put myself in their shoes...but I would have a hard time staying quiet unless I had a really good reason...so it must have been a big fear for them.
They didn't carry the message to the disciples and Peter, they kept their mouths shut due to fear. I wonder then if the message was carried to the disciples by another way.
BUT this news eh! Jesus is NOT THERE. He was crucified but NOW he is risen!
Now we can see the joy and wonder in that, and that's probably a big part of the reason I struggle with their fear. Now all I can see is the wonder of Christ rising from the dead, I don't have the Roman government or the Jewish council leaning over my shoulders. Makes a difference you know?