Mark 16
20 verses
The resurrection narrative begins before dawn on the first day of the week, with the three women bringing spices to complete the burial, asking each other who will roll away the very large stone. They arrive to find it already rolled back, the tomb empty, and a young man in white seated inside with the most important announcement in human history: don't be alarmed — you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene who was crucified — he has risen, he is not here — go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you into Galilee, just as he told you. The inclusion of Peter by name is the personal reinstatement of the denier before any word of forgiveness has been spoken. Mark's original ending at verse 8 — the women fleeing in trembling, bewilderment, and fear, saying nothing to anyone — is the most abrupt resurrection account in the Gospels and its most honest: the encounter with the genuinely divine produces not polished proclamation but the same ecstatic terror that every theophanic encounter in the Gospel has produced. The fear is the appropriate response; the silence is temporary; the Gospel that opened with the beginning of the good news closes with the ongoing story that the reader now inhabits. The longer ending added by a later hand summarizes the Emmaus appearance, the appearance to the eleven with a rebuke for unbelief, the Great Commission to preach to all creation, and the ascension — but the Gospel's essential claim has already been made in the empty space and the young man's announcement: he has risen.
VERSES IN THIS CHAPTER
1
And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
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2
And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
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God is faithful in every circumstance.. God is faithful in every circumstance.. The imagery here is agricultural — the o...
3
And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
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4
And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
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5
And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
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6
And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
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7
But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
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8
And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
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9
Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils.
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10
And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
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11
And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
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12
After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
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13
And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.
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14
Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.
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15
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
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16
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
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17
And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
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18
They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
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19
So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
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20
And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.
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