Sermon Tone Analysis

*Mark 16:1-5…* When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint Jesus’ body.

16 And very early on the first day of the week, at sunrise, they went to the tomb.

3 They were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entry to the tomb?” 4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled back.

5 Then as they went into the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed.

*Commentary *

All four of the Gospels contain various details about Jesus’ resurrection, but each one does so from the viewpoint of the evangelist writing.

There are no contradictions in their accounts, for each writer wrote their account within the freedoms they had to summarize and emphasize different aspects of the same event.

If the writers would have had the exact same story word-for-word, then it would make the account suspect.

But their differences, not contradictions, actually end up proving that their accounts are believable and historical.

Three women are mentioned in v. 1 who set out early on the Sunday morning following Jesus’ crucifixion.

Their goal was to anoint the body of Jesus with perfume to further prevent the stench of decay in their Lord.

Many tombs of antiquity are found today with perfume bottles scattered around the bones, signifying that the practice of anointing the dead was common.

Their journey to the tomb that morning means that they had waited until the Sabbath was over and that they had no idea that Jesus had been raised.

Their conversation along the way concerned how they were going to move the stone away.

Clearly they had no knowledge of the Roman guard that had been placed in front of the tomb or the Roman seal (Matt.

27:62-66).

If they did, they would have been more concerned about breaking the seal than rolling away the stone.

Apparently the women set out for the tomb “while it was still dark” (John 20:1), but their journey was long enough that when they arrived there it was “at sunrise” (v.

2).

They were surprised to find that the stone had been rolled away when they got there, and one can only imagine the look on their faces as they proceeded into the tomb not knowing what they would find.

To their great astonishment they were greeted by a “young man dressed in a white robe” who was sitting in the tomb to their right.

This young man, given the unique circumstance, his white robe (which normally depicts heavenly splendor), and his message to the women, was very likely an angel sent to proclaim the good news of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

Certainly, Matthew, Luke, and John all speak of an angel that announced Jesus’ resurrection that day.

Upon seeing the angelic messenger the reaction of the women was one of great fear… “they were alarmed.”

The compound Greek term for this signifies overwhelming distress in the face of the unusual.

In other words, the angel scared the women half to death!

Matthew mentions a great earthquake that occurred when the angel came to sit upon the stone covering the tomb (28:2).

But Jesus didn’t need help getting out of the tomb.

The stone’s removal was designed to allow witnesses to see that it was empty.

Jesus could pass through walls (cf.

John 20:19).

Now no one saw Jesus arise, but many saw him alive after his death.

The Apostle Paul says that over 500 saw him at one time after the resurrection (1 Cor.

15:6).

*Food for Thought*

            Dead religions always pay homage to a dead leader.

But Jesus’ tomb is empty because he is alive.

Facts are based upon that which is true – that which is attested in history.

Christianity stands or falls on the resurrection.

Without it our religion is dead.

With it, our religion stands up as the superior one because our God is alive and well.

All others are dead.

*Mark 16:6-8…* Then the man said to them, “Do not be alarmed.

You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.

He has been raised!

He is not here.

Look at the place where they laid him.

7 But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you into Galilee.

You will see him there, just as he said.”

8 Then they went out and ran from the tomb, for terror and bewilderment had seized them.

And they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

*Commentary*

            The first thing the women did was fixate on the angel who stood before them.

His words are common for holy beings when they confront humans: “Do not be alarmed.”

He told them that Jesus was not there – he had been raised, and he pointed to the place where he had been laid so that they would see and believe.

It was clear the body had not been stolen; it was resurrected!

Then in v. 7 the angel instructed the women to go and tell the disciples, specifically Peter.

This is the first time Peter is mentioned by Mark since his three denials on the night Jesus died (14:66-72).

In God’s mercy and grace He had not only forgiven Peter but he also wanted him to be a part of Christ’s great triumph over death.

Jesus had prophesied that after his death he would rise from the grave and meet his disciples in Galilee (cf.

14:28), and this is what the angel commanded that the women tell the disciples.

Peter was to be assured that he had not been rejected by his Lord.

Jesus knew that Peter would deny him and that the rest of his followers would be scattered like sheep when their shepherd is struck, but their actions could not separate them from God’s kindness in molding them into the very ones who would change the world.

It is interesting to note that in all the Gospel accounts the women were the first witnesses to the resurrection.

In Jewish society the witness of women was unaccepted.

So if the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection are myths concocted by liars (as skeptics have suggested) then the question is “why would those concocting such a tale say that women were the first to witness it?”

The early church did suffer for this testimony because women were considered ineligible witnesses.

But the fact that women were the first to witness it attests to its authenticity because anyone making up such a story would have certainly used men to witness the account, thus making it valid.

In v. 8 the women are said to have been seized with terror and bewilderment as they departed to tell the disciples what they had witnessed.

Mark’s Gospel actually ends in v. 8 even though modern translations add vv. 9-20.

Verses 9-20 are not the work of Mark but of a later scribe who added to the seemingly abrupt ending for his own purposes and to finish the story that Mark left open for his own purposes.

The abruptness of the ending in v. 8 with the astonishment of the women is consistent with the theme of astonishment and fear that Mark develops all through his account of Jesus’ life.

He wanted to leave the reader with a sense of awe over what had just happened and to make application of the story on their own.

The ending is as abrupt as the beginning (1:1) which has as its purpose the revealing of “the gospel of Jesus the Messiah.”

*Food for Thought*

Mark’s ending leaves the reader with a decision to make.

The story of life has been told to him~/her.

What he~/she does with it will determine whether or not they will be a part of God’s kingdom or the kingdom of scoffers who invented lies to explain away Jesus’ resurrection.

God revealed Jesus to the world in the resurrection in order to reveal Himself to His creation.

The resurrection IS the good news.

Without it, Christians are just like all other religions who worship and~/or pay homage to some dead guy.

God sent His angelic messenger to announce that Jesus had risen, and angels are “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Heb.

1:14).

Now let us be a ministering spirit to the world about Christ’s resurrection.

*Mark’s Longer Ending in 16:9-20… *Mark 16:9-20 is known as “the longer ending of Mark.”

Most modern English translations bracket these verses and add a footnote of warning that the earliest and most reliable Greek manuscripts do not contain these passages.

It’s no secret that Mark did not write these verses and ended his Gospel at v. 8.

The abrupt ending fits Mark’s style, but because it ends somewhat abruptly it makes sense as to why a scribe may have added to the ending in accordance with the other Gospels written later.

Consider the following:

/External /evidence (sources outside the Bible): First, the two earliest Greek manuscripts containing all or most of the NT (4th century) do not contain vv.

9-20.

These verses don’t appear in Greek manuscripts until the 5th century.

Second, many later manuscripts dating from the 7th century contain the “shorter ending” to Mark’s Gospel in place of vv.

9-20.

Third, though early church fathers like Justin Martyr (AD 148), Tatian (AD 170), and Irenaeus (AD 180) all quoted verse 19, therefore supporting the inclusion of these verses, Eusebius (AD 325) and Jerome (AD 407) had no Greek manuscripts that contained these passages.

Fourth, a 10th century Armenian manuscript attributes vv.

9-20 to a man named Ariston who is thought to be a comrade of Papias (AD 60-130) who himself was a disciple of the Apostle John.

Conclusion: it seems clear from the external evidence that Mark ended his inspired account in 16:8.

/Internal /evidence (what the Bible says about itself): First, there is an abrupt change of subject from v. 8 to v. 9.

In v. 8 the subject is Jesus, but in v. 9 it’s the women.

Second, Mary Magdalene, though already known to the reader because of her former introduction in 15:40, 47, and 16:1, is introduced again with a descriptive phrase in v. 9. Third, a good portion of the Greek vocabulary used in vv.

9-20 are not words Mark ever used in his Gospel.

They either don’t appear elsewhere in Mark or they’re used in a different way than he used them up to 16:8.

Furthermore, the Greek literary style is night and day different in vv.

9-20 than the rest of the Gospel.

Fourth, though the angel told the women to tell the disciples to go into Galilee to meet Jesus, the appearances of Jesus in vv.