Weekly Devotion no 4
24 April 2020
Bible reading – Mark 16:1-8
When the Sabbath was over, Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they
might go to anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very
early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way
to the tomb 3 and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the
entrance of the tomb?’
4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very
large, had been rolled away. 5 As they
entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the
right side, and they were alarmed.
6 ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the
Nazarene, 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, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you
will see him, just as he told you.”’
8 Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the
tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Reflection
Last
week we considered how the women were feeling following the death of their
friend. In their bewilderment and anxiety they are given hope: they are told
that Jesus has risen from the dead! However, this is where Mark’s gospel ends.
We don’t see the risen Jesus in this recounting of the story. The last we hear
is that the women are afraid and so don’t tell anyone what they have seen or
heard. What are we to make of this?
Maybe
Mark wants his readers to consider their own response to the news that Jesus
has risen? The women are told that Jesus has gone ahead of them. Once again,
they are encouraged to follow Him. They have a choice to make. They can either go
and tell the disciples, as they are commanded to do, and to follow Jesus to
Galilee, or they can go home and say nothing to anyone because they are afraid.
We
know from the other gospels that the women did go and tell the disciples what
they had seen and heard. We also know this because we are here today, centuries
later, hearing this story. Even though they were afraid and didn’t understand
what they had heard and seen, they still obeyed and passed on the news. They
were the first people to share this earth-shattering news that Jesus was no
longer dead, that God had raised Him from the dead. In the midst of their fear
and anxiety, they took hold of the hope that God gave them and followed Jesus. They
hadn’t yet physically seen Jesus, but they believed what the angel said and so
they acted based on their faith.
If we want to see Jesus, then we too must follow where He
leads.
Hymn
Verse 1
We have a gospel to proclaim,
good news for all through the earth;
the gospel of a saviour’s name:
we sing his glory, tell his worth.
Verse 2
Tell of his birth at Bethlehem,
not in a royal house or hall
but in a stable dark and dim:
the Word made flesh, a light to all.
Verse 3
Tell of his death at Calvary,
hated by those he came to save;
in lonely suffering on the cross
For all he loved, his life
he gave.
Verse 4
Tell of that glorious Easter morn:
empty the tomb, for he was free;
he broke the power of death and hell
that we might share his victory.
Verse 5
Tell of his reign at God’s right hand,
by all creation glorified;
he sends his Spirit on his church
to live for him, the lamb who died.
Verse 6
Now we rejoice to name him king;
Jesus is Lord of all the earth;
this gospel-message we proclaim:
we sing his glory, tell his
worth.
Edward
J Burns ©
1968 Public Domain CCLI:69198
Prayer
Lord of life,
by submitting to death, you conquered the grave;
by being lifted upon the cross, you draw all peoples to you;
by being raised from the dead, you restore to humanity all
that was lost through sin:
be with us in your risen power,
that in word and deed we may proclaim
the marvellous mystery of death and resurrection.
For all praise is yours, now and throughout eternity. Amen.
A Prayer Book for Australia 1995