He has been raised, he is not here
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary of Magdala, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint the body.
2 And very early in the morning on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they came to the tomb.
3 They were saying to one another, “Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?”
4 But as they looked up, they noticed that the stone had already been rolled away. It was a very big stone.
5 As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man in a white robe seated on the right, and they were amazed.
6 But he said to them, “Don’t be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified; he has been raised and is not here. This is, however, the place where they laid him.
7 Now go and tell his disciples and Peter: Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee; you will see him there just as he told you.”
8 The women went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them. And they were so afraid that they said nothing to anyone.
Short conclusion of Mark’s Gospel
9 After Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary of Mag dala from whom he had driven out seven demons.
10 She went and reported the news to his followers, who were now mourning and weeping.
11 But when they heard that he lived and had been seen by her, they would not believe it.
12 After this he showed himself in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country.
13 These men too went back and told the others, but they did not believe them.
14 Later Jesus showed himself to the Eleven while they were at table. He reproached them for their unbelief and stub bornness in refusing to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15 Then he told them, “Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News to all creation.
16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved; the one who refuses to believe will be condemned.
17 Signs like these will accompany those who have believed: in my Name they will cast out demons and speak new langu ages;
18 they will pick up snakes and, if they drink anything poisonous, they will be unharmed. They will lay their hands on the sick and they will be healed.”
19 So then, after speaking to them, the Lord Jesus was taken up into heaven and took his place at the right hand of God.
20 The Eleven went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that accompanied them.
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Comments Mark, Chapter 16
• 16.1 JESUS HAS BEEN RAISED FROM THE DEAD
Jesus’ history comes to an end with the discovery of the empty tomb. In the last pages of the Gospel we find a brief account of the most important apparitions of Jesus after his death. He is no longer the earthly Jesus but the resurrected one, born again of the Father and never to die again, as Psalm 2 says: “You are my son and on this very day I have given you life.”
Jesus has risen. The Gospel narrates events that took place after his death and mentions the names of those who saw the resurrected Jesus. Can we be lieve them? We would like more details to support our faith, but if even thousands of interviews with eye witnesses were published, with pictures in full color to support the statements, there would always be room for doubt. We do not see him, we cannot find him. Where is he?
Actually it is not important whether there are few or many witnesses. This is a matter of faith and faith is something personal.
We doubt, not because there is not enough evidence, but because the event overwhelms us. How can we believe in a resurrection? The evidence, nevertheless, is there and has withstood recurring criticisms and even modern studies.
Finally, who will believe? Those whose own experience has pre pared them to accept the most fundamental truth: the living God loves people and restores them to life. Some persons are predisposed to believe because they have experienced that God himself walks with them in their trials and gives them hope when everything seems lost. Because of this, they recognize in Christ the ideal hu man being and understand that he had to suffer before reaching his glory. They have learned the ways of God and that is why they believe the witnesses of the resurrected Christ.
It is not more difficult to believe in Christ’s resurrection than to believe in his words, for both go together. “Those who believe have overcome the world,” John the apostle says (1 Jn 5:5). This means overcoming the false mean ing that most people give to their existence due to their ignorance of God. Who ever believes has overcome the fears each of us has when we have to pass through un charted paths, when we have to set reason aside and entrust ourselves to God’s hands.
• 9. In verse 8 there is an abrupt ending to Mark’s Gospel. We were looking forward to the meeting between Jesus and the apostles in Galilee, but it does not take place. Why? We do not know. We find only a series of brief references to Jesus’ appearances after his resurrection.
• 15. Proclaim the Good News to all creation. The Good News is the seed that will be planted in the world and will flourish, in its proper time, in every field of human endeavor. Salvation is not a matter of saving isolated souls or individual beings. The Gospel is to be proclaimed to all creation in all activities and acts of those who have been renewed by baptism. They are to be the yeast that transforms human history.
• 16. The one who refuses to believe will be condemned (16). There seems to be a threat and its erroneous interpretation was going to have countless consequences. Even if, in the past, we have read into this a condemnation to hell, this is not the meaning of the text.
The one who refuses to believe is one of those to whom the message has been presented, someone who has also seen and received signs that are eloquent enough for that person to be able to recognize the hand of God. People in these situations will be condemned, that is to say, when they give an account of their good and bad deeds, they will receive “a” condemnation even if they have been victims of many influences. On that day, they will have to admit that they have been at fault, perhaps even seriously. On the other hand, those who believe and are baptized are saved, that is to say, they enjoy the gifts that God gives us through his Son Jesus: they have been profoundly renewed and their lives have taken another direction. They are going to participate in the mission of God’s people in history, a mysterious and magnificent work without which human beings would be condemned to lose themselves in every sense of the word.
THE NAME OF JESUS
On the day of his resurrection, Jesus’ human nature begins to participate fully in divine Glory (Rom 1:4). Jesus now asks us to believe in his Name, that is, in the divine power he has just received and that works through him.
The Name is a word that has little or no meaning for us. For the Jews it meant the active presence of God. This term allowed them to speak of God’s mysterious presence in the world without disregarding his greatness. The Bible does not say that God walked with the Hebrews toward the promised land (for God does not walk); instead it says that his Name or his Face (Ex 33:14) was among them. God’s presence could not be confined within his tem ple, but the Bible says that his Name dwelt in this temple, from whence he blessed all the activities of his people (1 K 8:27).
The Name, thus, means divine presence or power. Paul says that the resurrected Jesus has received this Name that outshines any other (Phil 2:9). God the Father has given it to him and Jesus, who has received it, is not less than him, since whatever belongs to his Father is now his as well. Jesus does not receive glory as one receives a ti tle or an honor (as already proclaimed in Is 9:5), for divine glory can be granted only to God. If he receives a divine title, it is because he actually received divinity from the Father in the beginning – divinity is his very being.
Thus, Jesus is as much God as the Father, but he is so in a different way, by receiving everything from God who possesses all. That is why it is written that his Name is the Son (Heb 1:4). When we speak to the Father in the Name of Jesus, this means much more than bolstering ourselves with his merits (Heb 5:9) or making use of his valuable intercession (Heb 7:25). We present ourselves as sons and daughters, knowing that God embraces us with the same paternal love he has for his own Beloved One (Eph 1:6).
From then on our Lord Jesus Christ, with divine power, begins little by little to direct human history and the personal path of each one of us to himself. The apostles were sent into the world to heal and sanctify it. The miracles and healings are not ends in themselves; they are only signs and means. The goal of evangelization is that all creation may be gathered around the person of the Son-of-God-become-human, through the power of his Spirit. “Do not fear,” the Lord says, “my Church is not a shelter against the world, its temptations and problems; rather each of you is baptized to be an apostle.”
Signs like these will accompany those who have believed. The Acts of the Apostles reports these signs and miracles. Even today they can be seen wherever Chris tians fulfill their mission of evangelizing the world.