Easter Sun. 92

Reading the Bible is a lot like being an electrician who’s working on the wiring while the power is still turned on. It can give you a jolt when you’re least expecting it.

The other day it zapped me when I was reading the sixteenth chapter of Mark. Let me read it for you.

Read Mark 16:1-8.

Now if you’ve been following along in your Bible, you might see a little margin note that says “The most reliable early manuscripts and other ancient witnesses do not have Mark 16:9-20.”

So if vv.9-20 don’t belong there, that means that the Gospel of Mark really ended with v.8 - the women were afraid.

What a strange way to end! Why were the women afraid? 2 possible reasons:

1. They were afraid that Jesus hadn’t risen from the dead. They were afraid that the empty tomb meant that somebody had stolen Jesus body. But the young man they met at the tomb, whom Matthew identifies as an angel, put that idea to rest. He told the women “He is not here because He is risen!” And when an angel tells you something, you’re usually inclined to believe it.

2. So the only other possibility is that they were afraid because Jesus had risen from the dead. They were afraid because it really was true - Jesus really had risen from the dead. So why were they afraid? Because they knew that if that were true, then nothing could ever be the same again. All their categories, all their underlying assumptions about life and death, were blown to pieces by the unbelievable fact that Jesus had risen from the dead.

I wonder if we have lost that sense of awe about the Resurrection. If the Resurrection is true, then we can never be the same again. We can’t sit here and say “Hallelujah, he is risen.” and then go back to life as usual tomorrow morning. If Jesus is risen, then Jesus is alive today. If Jesus has conquered death, then Jesus must really be the Son of God.

And if all that is true, then nothing in life matters more than that you meet him, and know him. That’s a scary thought. Because if you meet the Son of God, it means that you can never be the same again.