Amazement at the Empty Tomb
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2019 · 21 April 2019
Before we look at the end of Mark, please turn to 1 Corinthians 15:1-7, “Brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
“4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also.”
Notice by the words here of the apostle Paul that the resurrection occupies most of this portion of Scripture. He makes a reference to the death of Christ, he makes a reference to the burial of Christ, but the main emphasis is on the evidences of His resurrection. The reason for that is the resurrection is not simply a component of the gospel, it is not merely a feature of the gospel, it is the main event.
It is the greatest event in the life of our Lord Jesus. And since His life is the greatest life, it is the greatest event in all of human history. It is the culminating event in divine redemption. It is the cornerstone of gospel promise. The resurrection is the source of eternal life for us who believe. Without the resurrection, the cross would mean nothing and the teachings of Jesus would also mean nothing.
The works of Jesus would mean nothing because without the resurrection, there would be no salvation. The resurrection is not the epilogue, it is the climax of the life of Christ and His work. The church does not and never has met on Friday, as important as the cross is. The church has always met on Sunday because the church has always understood the priority of the resurrection.
And the resurrection of Christ is also the key to our own resurrection. And what is unique to Christianity is that we who believe in Christ are promised to be raised from the dead physically, literally, bodily just as He was into His resurrection form in which we will live forever. There is no such promise in Islam or in Hinduism, Buddhism, or any other world religion.
In 1 Corinthians 15:14-17, we read this, “And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. 15 Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. 16 For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. 17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile.”
As we return to the gospel of Mark, let us establish the setting. All four gospel writers tell the resurrection story. As all four tell the story of His crucifixion, all four follow it up with His resurrection. Each of the writers (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) bring to bear upon the story unique elements and features. The result is a blending of all of these inspired accounts to give us the full revelation of this event.
There is in the midst of this rich harmony of the resurrection accounts of Jesus Christ, one thing missing. It is the resurrection itself. There’s no description of what happened. The phenomenon is not described. No one saw it, nor could anyone explain it. How it happened is supernatural. That it happened is the critical matter and that fact is fully established by all four writers.
Listen to Mark 16:1-3, “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?”
Verses 4-8, “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. 5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. 6 But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.”
“7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” 8 So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” And that’s the end of the resurrection account in Mark. It ends abruptly, but it also ends climactically, with amazement and wonder.
In verses 9 through 20, you will notice in your Bible a marginal note explaining that these verses do not appear in the most ancient manuscripts. Mark ends his gospel with the blazing reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, gripping the souls of these women with wonder and astonishment. The four gospels each give differing details of the resurrection. Matthew has a lot more to say beyond where Mark stops.
Luke and John also have a lot more to say beyond where Mark stops the narrative. And this shows the fact that the writing of the gospels was not some kind of contrived operation by a committee of people. These are individually inspired writers, and they’re writing from their own experiences. Mark sat at the feet of Peter and reflects much of what Peter’s view of things were. The stories are real, natural and personal.
And yet it all blends perfectly together. That proves the divine authorship of the Holy Scripture. There are some variations in what people experienced, but all these people show up on Sunday morning and experienced an empty tomb, angels, a confrontation with Christ, and are in some state of shock. All four writers of the gospels record that Jesus was truly dead. He died on a cross on Friday afternoon.
He was buried on Friday afternoon, and He was placed in a tomb, and the tomb was sealed with a stone. And they all record that on Sunday morning, He rose from the dead, the tomb was empty, angels explained that He had risen, and Christ began to appear to His followers. They all record all of that. Now, when we go through Mark, we blend in John, Luke and Matthew to get a full picture.
You will read one story of Christ into which all four writers’ elements will be blended. But for now, let’s go to Mark’s account first. Remember, Jesus said that He would rise in John 2: 19, “If you destroy this body, in three days I will raise it up.” He always said three days. We’ve seen that in Mark 8:31, Mark 9: 31 and Mark 10: 33 - 34. He said to them repeatedly, “I’m going to die and I’m going to rise.”
Now we are going to see evidence of the resurrection along three lines: the testimony of the empty tomb, the testimony of the heavenly angels, and the testimony of the eyewitnesses. Mark 16: 1, “Now when the Sabbath was past,” Saturday ends at six o’clock, they mark their days at sundown. We are now twelve hours into the day after Sabbath and it is now Sunday early morning.
Sunday is the third day. He was put in the grave on Friday afternoon before six o’clock. He was in the grave on Saturday. He’s been in the grave nearly twelve hours on Sunday. That covers the three days in the grave. Any part of a day constitutes a day. The most important day for the Jews was always Saturday. The most important day from this moment on for God’s people now is Sunday.
Since that weekend, no Sabbath has been required or is even legitimate. The last Passover happened at the end of that week, and Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper as the new memorial feast commemorating His death. And there is no legitimate Passover since then. Everything changed on the first day of that week. And that is why the church meets regularly on Sunday.
After His resurrection Jesus met with his disciples on Sunday. Acts 20: 7, “The church always met on the first day.” 1 Corinthians 16: 2, “The church gathered on the first day.” It was so established and standardized that in Revelation 1:10, it says, “John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” So it wasn’t the first day anymore, it was the Lord’s Day, and it still is early on Sunday morning, right on schedule.
And now on Sunday they come back. Verse 1, “Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.” These were women who’d been with Jesus for a couple of years. They loved and adored Him. They served and worshiped Him. They are caught up in agonizing sorrow. This is the One in whom they believed their salvation rested.
This is an action of love on their part. Verse 2, “Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.” Luke says, “At the early dawn.” Matthew says, “When it began to dawn.” But John says, “While it was still dark.” John 20:1, “Mary Magdalene came early to the tomb while dark.” And these women arrive when the sun has already risen. So these women came later.
Mary Magdalene sees the stone rolled away, says John, so she turns around and heads for Peter and John. What’s the message? John 20: 2, “They have stolen the corpse.” That’s her conclusion. That tells us that she didn’t believe in a resurrection. Even with all the miracles, they still didn’t believe it. Mary just makes the assumption His body has been stolen, and doesn’t even see the other women.
Verse 3, “And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” Verse 4, “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was very large.” They expected to anoint a dead body to mitigate the stench. But before that in Matthew 27:62-66 the chief priests and the Pharisees met with Pilate to secure the tomb with a seal and guards, lest his disciples steal Him away.
Something else happened on that Sunday morning. Matthew 28: 2-4, “And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. 3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.” The soldiers were so terrified, they go into a coma.
The stoned was rolled away not to let Jesus out but to let the women in. By the time the women arrive, there are no soldiers. Verse 5, “And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.” The soldiers awoke at some point and they knew they had failed at their duty. And they have to report to the Sanhedrin. We will come back to them later.
Everything so far is to demonstrate one thing alone: The tomb is empty. That’s what Mark says and so does John and Luke and Matthew. And we know the disciples didn’t steal the body because they didn’t even believe in a resurrection. The Roman soldiers knew they didn’t steal the body. The women knew they didn’t steal the body. And Peter and John knew they didn’t steal the body.
Look at Matthew 28:11-13, “Now while they were going, behold some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. 12 When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers, 13 saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’”
Soldiers cannot fall asleep, they should be fulfilling their duty. And how did they know what happened if they were asleep? But, they had no other option, so in verse 15 they took the money and did as they had been instructed. The soldiers went everywhere saying, “The disciples stole the body,” And this story was so widely spread among the Jews that it was still around when Matthew wrote this twenty-five years later.
Well, the women are now in shock. They saw a young man sitting at the right wearing a white blazing robe! Luke says there were actually two angels who suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing. John 20: 12, says there were actually two angels. A little later, as the women encounter the angels, they were sitting, one at the head and one at the feet on the slab where the body of Jesus once was.
Perhaps they spoke and said different things. In fact, there are different things recorded here by Mark and other writers. One of the angels said to them in verse 6, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him.” In Luke 24:5 one of the angels also said, “Why are you seeking the living One among the dead?”
Here is historic revelation from heavenly angels. They speak for God. There’s also a third evidence to prove the resurrection, from the testimony of eyewitnesses in verses 7 - 8, “But go, tell His disciples, and Peter that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” 8 So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing, for they were afraid.”
Matthew 28:8-10 says, “So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word. 9 And as they went to tell His disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, “Rejoice!” So they came and held Him by the feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brethren to go to Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
The resurrection thus is established as a fact of history, as a fact of theology by the angelic testimony. It is the most important event in the life of Christ. It is the most important event in the history of the world. It is the most important event in your life and mine because it is by His resurrection that we are justified and that we will live forever. To deny the resurrection is to deny the facts. Praise the Lord. Let us pray.