Scripture Daily

Context No. 845 of 4322 · Mark

Context · Reflection

Mark 16:1-7: in context

1When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3They were saying among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” 4for it was very big. Looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back. 5Entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. 6He said to them, “Don’t be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him! 7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.’”

Three women walk to the tomb at dawn on Sunday, carrying spices to anoint a dead body, and the whole way there they are worrying about a practical problem. Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance? they keep asking each other, because the stone sealing the tomb was very large and they are not strong enough to move it. It is a real obstacle, and they have no solution for it. And when they look up, the stone is already rolled back. The thing they had fretted over the entire journey had been taken care of before they arrived.

Inside, a young man in white tells them not to be alarmed, and gives them the news that splits history: Jesus the Nazarene, the crucified one, has risen; he is not here. And then he hands them a message to carry, and the message contains two words that are pure grace. Go, tell his disciples, he says, and Peter. And Peter. Of all the disciples, Peter is the one who had, just days before, denied three times that he even knew Jesus, cursing to make the point, and then wept bitterly. Peter, more than anyone, might have assumed he had counted himself out, that the good news was for the others now. And the very first resurrection message names him, specifically, so he cannot miss it, so he will know he is still wanted, still included, still one of his own. The stone he could not move was already gone, and the grace he thought he had forfeited was reaching for him by name.

The risen Christ's first message singled out Peter, the one who had denied him, by name. Do I assume my failure has counted me out, when grace may be naming me specifically, so I cannot miss that I am still wanted?

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