Mark 16:1-8 — Who Will Roll Away the Stone?

 

Dawn over the Mt. of Olives

Mark 16:1-8 

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. ² And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³ And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”

⁴ And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large.

⁵ And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed.

⁶ And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has 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 to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”

⁸ And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

A Smaller version of that "Great Stone"

Comments:

When I read this section I remember preaching on it in my first sermon at Beaverton Foursquare Church as a student intern in the fall of 1985. In fact, I still have the notes…from the days before computers were feasible. My notes were typed on an electric typewriter. I dug them out of a filing cabinet today. Some of you my Facebook friends, were probably there that day. I am tempted to tag you!

The women were not looking for a resurrection. They were simply going to finish the hurried job of caring for the body of Jesus now that the Sabbath was over. Their concern was a practical one—who would be available to help them move the stone away? What I love about these women on their morning mission of mourning (sorry…I couldn’t help it!) was that they didn’t deny the obstacles—the unsolved problems—but neither did they let those unanswered questions keep them from doing what they could do.  

As it turned out, God took care of what they couldn’t do. He sent an angel to roll the stone away (Matthew 28:2) so that they could see that Jesus was no longer there. What is unmentioned in Mark is the soldiers guarding the tomb were trembling in fear like dead men before the angel, while the women took a tour, and only after the women left did the guards flee. Mark probably was wise not to rub that fact in for his Roman audience!

Who will roll away the stone? God himself will do what only He can do to enable our humble faith to receive His saving grace.

I wonder what it is that God is putting on our hearts to do? How will His love move us to serve Him today? Will it require us to get dirty? Is it something that will require him to move in miraculous power? It may well be something that once we begin in simple faith and limited understanding will become something far more wonderful than we could have ever imagined!

In case anyone is wondering what I said about this chapter in that first sermon, 29 years ago, I might tell you in my next post…if you want to know. For now let me say that after reading my notes, I was encouraged to find that I still believe today what I spoke about then so long ago.