The Death, Burial and Resurrection (Mk 15-16)!

In Mark's gospel the story of Jesus' being ‘tried, mocked and crucified’ (Mk 15:16-32) is followed by the rest of Mark’s account of Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection (Mk 15:33-16:8). Watch the video and or listen the story and then read the comments below.

At the third hour Jesus was crucified and from the sixth hour to the ninth darkness covered the land. Everything went dark which reminds us of the plague of darkness at the Exodus from Egypt. At the ninth hour Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus cries out in faith but in despair asking his father why. Then in anguish Jesus breathed his last and died.

The curtain of the temple was torn in two indicating that Jesus’ death opened direct access to God and ushers in God’s kingdom. A battled hardened Roman soldier heard Jesus’ cry and saw how Jesus died, and confessed, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” The way Jesus died led the centurion to confess what God had said at both Jesus’ baptism and transfiguration.

Some of the faithful women followers of Jesus who cared for him watched him die from a distance. Joseph of Arimathea was a member of the Sanhedrin that condemned Jesus, but he was waiting for God’s kingdom. Joseph went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’ body. Now Joseph was willing to put himself at risk and make himself ritually unclean to ensure that this man condemned by the Sanhedrin received a proper burial.

Pilate was surprised that Jesus was already dead but the centurion confirmed that he was. So Pilate permitted Joseph to take the body down. Joseph wrapped the body in linen and placed it in a tomb. Then he rolled a stone before the tomb which Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed.  Mark mentions three women who watched the crucifixion and two who saw where he was buried. This isn’t a detail someone would make up since women weren’t even considered valid witnesses in the ancient world.

Early on the first day of the week, the women went with spices to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. On their way they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away?” They were going to the tomb to complete the burial, not to witness Jesus’ resurrection. When they arrived at the tomb the stone was already rolled away so they entered the tomb and saw a young man in a white robe. The man told them not to be afraid and that that Jesus had been raised from the dead.

Jesus had repeatedly taught his disciples that he would be killed and then rise again. Yet the disciples just couldn’t seem to comprehend this. Now the visitor in white sat where Jesus’ body had been laid and told them that Jesus was alive. The angelic messenger explained that they should go to Galilee where they would see Jesus; as Jesus had said. He specifically mentions Peter to ensure Peter that after denying Christ he would not be excluded. Bewildered and scared the women fled the tomb and while they must have passed people on the way, they said nothing.

Two of the best and earliest manuscripts end after verse 8 and actually how the text was intended to end remains a matter of debate. Whatever the actual ending, God challenges us to put our faith in the risen Jesus. So what is our response to the news of the risen Lord and of his ‘gospel of the kingdom’?