The Servant Son of God: He Has Risen
Mark 16 is the morning when the Servant who paid the ransom rises from the dead.
Mark's resurrection account is brief and breathless — true to the rest of his Gospel. No long appearances. No drawn-out scenes. Just the empty tomb, the angel's announcement, and the women running away in trembling and astonishment.
Then in the longer ending, the risen Christ commissions His disciples to preach the gospel to all creation, and ascends to the right hand of God.
The Servant who served unto death is now the Lord of life.
The women come at dawn
When the Sabbath is past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bring spices to anoint Him.
Very early on the first day of the week, when the sun has risen, they come to the tomb. They are asking one another:
"Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?"
It is a great anxiety. The stone is very large. They have no one to help them.
Then, looking up, they see that the stone has already been rolled back.
The problem they had been carrying all morning was already solved before they arrived. This is so often the way of the Lord. The obstacle we lay awake worrying about is already moved by the time we get there.
"He has risen"
Entering the tomb, they see a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe. They are alarmed.
He says 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."
This is the heart of the Christian gospel. He has risen. Not metaphorically. Not symbolically. Bodily. The tomb is empty.
The same Jesus who was crucified is the One who has risen. The cross and the resurrection cannot be separated. The Servant who died is the Lord who lives.
"Go, tell"
The angel sends them with a message:
"Go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you."
And Peter. The Servant Son will not let His broken disciple think he has been written off. Tell Peter. The denier is included. The restorer is going ahead.
The women go out and flee from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment have seized them. They say nothing to anyone, for they are afraid.
This is where the earliest manuscripts of Mark end — abruptly, breathlessly. The Servant is risen, and the world has not yet caught up.
The longer ending: appearances
The longer ending of Mark fills in some of what other Gospels tell more fully. He appears first to Mary Magdalene. She goes and tells those who had been with Him. They do not believe.
He appears to two of them as they walk into the country. They go back and tell the rest. They do not believe them either.
Finally He appears to the eleven as they are reclining at table. He rebukes them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw Him after He had risen.
The Servant Son does not coddle unbelief. He rebukes it. And then He commissions them.
The Great Commission
"Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation."
The same Servant who told us no one knows the day or the hour tells us now what to do in the meantime: proclaim.
"Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned."
The gospel is good news that demands a response. Belief leads to salvation. Unbelief leads to condemnation. There is no neutral position.
Signs accompanying
He promises signs accompanying those who believe: casting out demons, speaking in new tongues, picking up serpents, drinking deadly poison without harm, laying hands on the sick and they will recover.
These are not formulas. They are the Lord's confirmation of His message in the early days of the gospel's advance — and where He still pleases, the same hand is at work.
The ascension
"So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God."
The Servant who washed feet is now seated at the right hand of God. The One who said I am among you as the one who serves now reigns.
His humiliation is over. His glory has begun.
They went out and preached
"And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs."
This is the last word of Mark.
The disciples who fled in chapter 14 are now preaching everywhere. The Lord who could have remained silent before Pilate now confirms their message with signs. The Servant who served alone in His passion now serves through His people in the proclamation of the gospel.
Mark began: the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Mark ends: they went out and preached everywhere.
The beginning continues. The Servant Son is alive. The gospel goes on.
Closing prayer
Father, thank You that the Servant Son is risen — not figuratively but truly, not partly but bodily, not for a moment but forever. Roll back every stone of unbelief in our hearts. Send us as You sent Mary — to tell what we have seen. And work with us as You worked with them, confirming the gospel of Your Son by Your own hand, until the day He returns. In Jesus' name, amen.
