He is Risen, So What? (Mark 16:8)

The day dawned, the morning star rose, the demons fled, the angels shouted for joy, but men continued to slumber blanketed by sorrow and disbelief. The eyes of flesh were blind to the spiritual victory that had taken place. The ears of men had failed to hear the spiritual truth spoken by the Messiah--that the curse of death would be broken--and so they slept; weighed down, paralyzed by grief.

The women were drawn to the tomb not by faith but by love, desiring to do one last act of kindness for their Lord’s dead body. They had witnessed Jesus’s humiliation, they had seen His mutilated, dead body hanging on the cross. They thought that they had watched hope perish. They saw where His lifeless body was buried. Darkness came, and all light seemed to be extinguished.

Spiritually blinded eyes could not see that the sun of righteous had risen, that death’s sting had been removed, and that the grave had lost its victory. The sun of righteousness, however, did arise that morning with healing in His wings. The women exchanged their grief for bewilderment. Their sorrow was replaced by astonishment when they encountered not a corpse to anoint with spices but an angel with the message of resurrection. They were given a new task, not to minister to a dead body, but to be the first to proclaim the resurrection.

The good news about Jesus the Messiah didn’t end when He died on the cross, but with the message that He conquered death. The good news is that the sun of righteousness has arisen with healing in His wings. He touches spiritually blinded eyes and gives sight. Jesus opens ears that are spiritually deaf so that we can hear eternal truths. He touches those who are spiritually paralyzed and gives their life new purpose. The good news is that the curse spoken at the beginning of time has been broken, fellowship with God has been restored, death has been conquered. 

How did the encounter with the angel impact the women at the tomb? They were terrified, astonished and afraid. The women were overwhelmed and started running from the tomb. The gospel ends with the strange statement that they said nothing to anyone, since they were afraid. When they did at last tell the disciples they weren’t believed, because the disciples were mourning and grieving. And now the question is, what will we do with the good news?