MARK 16 COMMENTARYEDITED BY GLENN PEASE

Jesus Has Risen

1 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.

BARNES, "Sweet spices - Aromatics. Substances used in embalming. The idea of sweetness is not, however, implied in the original. Many of the substances used for embalming were bitter - as, for example, myrrh - and none of them, perhaps, could properly be called sweet. The word spices expresses all that there is in the original.

Anoint him - Embalm him, or apply these spices to his body to keep it from putrefaction. This is proof that they did not suppose he would rise again; and the fact that they did not expect he would rise, gives more strength to the evidence for his resurrection.

CLARKE, "Early in the morning after the Sabbath, the three Marys come to the sepulcher, bringing sweet spices to embalm the body, Mark 16:1-4. They see an angel who announces the resurrection of our Lord, Mark 16:5-8. Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, who goes and tells the disciples, Mark 16:9-11. He appears also to the two disciples who were going into the country, who also tell it to the rest, Mark 16:12, Mark 16:13. Afterwards he appears unto the eleven, and commissions them to preach the Gospel to all mankind, Mark 16:14-16. And promises to endue them with power to work miracles, Mark 16:17, Mark 16:18. He is received up into heaven, Mark 16:19. And they go forth to preach and work miracles, Mark 16:20.

Verse 1And anoint him - Rather, to embalm him. This is a proof that they had not properly understood what Christ had so frequently spoken, viz. that he would rise again the third day. And this inattention or unbelief of theirs is a proof of the truth of the resurrection.

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GILL, "And when the sabbath was past,.... "In the end of it", as Matthew says, Matthew 28:1; not "when it was the sabbath", as the Arabic version reads; for it was not lawful to buy spices, and anoint with on the sabbath day; See Gill on Matthew 28:1.

Mary Magdalene, and Mary, the mother of James, and Salome; who was the wife of Zebedee, and the mother of the other James and John:

had bought sweet spices; or "brought", as the Vulgate Latin, and all the Oriental versions read; for though the women might have bought some on the preparation day, the day before the sabbath, the same evening that Christ was buried, Luke 23:56, yet, they might buy more for the same purpose, after the sabbath was over: for this there was a particular market at JerusalemF4; for we are a told, that

"there were there three markets, one by another; in the first of which were sold, all kinds of precious things, silks, and embroidered work; in the second, various kinds of fruits and herbs; and in the third, all kinds of spices.'

That they might come and anoint him; with those sweet spices, as was the manner of the Jews: hence we readF5 of, , "the spices of the dead"; which were used to expel an ungrateful savour: this they did, out of affection to Christ, but seemed to have no faith in his resurrection, though he had told them of it, which they had forgot. The Vulgate Latin reads, "that they might anoint Jesus"; the Ethiopic version, "anoint his body": but the Arabic thus, "anoint the sepulchre"; his body being anointed before, and wound up by Joseph and Nicodemus; and therefore they came to strew the sepulchre with spices and ointments, and give it a sweet perfume. Though it seems most likely, that they came to anoint his body; for this was one of the things which was customary in Israel to do to dead men, as MaimonidesF6 observes, "they anoint him with various sorts of spices" ,

HENRY, "In this chapter, we have a short account of the resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus: and the joys and triumphs which it furnished all believers with, will be very acceptable to those who sympathised and suffered with Christ in the foregoing chapters. Here is, I. Christ's resurrection notified by an angel to the women that came to the sepulchre to anoint him, Mark 16:1-8. II. His appearance to Mary Magdalene, and the account she gave of it to the disciples, Mark 16:9-11. III. His appearance to the two disciples, going to Emmaus, and the report they made of it to their brethren, Mark 16:12,13. IV. His appearance to the eleven with the commission he gave them to set up his kingdom in the world, and full instructions and credentials in order thereunto,, Mark 16:14-18. V. His ascension into heaven, the apostles' close application to their work, and God's owning of them in it, Mark 16:19,20.

The Women at the Sepulchre The Apostles Reproved.1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. 2 And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto

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the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. 3 And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? 4 And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great. 5 And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment and they were affrighted. 6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. 7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you. 8 And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man for they were afraid.

Never was there such a sabbath since the sabbath was first instituted as this was, which the first words of this chapter tell us was now past during all this sabbath our Lord Jesus lay in the grave. It was to him a sabbath of rest, but a silent sabbath, it was to his disciples a melancholy sabbath, spent in tears and fears. Never were the sabbath services in the temple such an abomination to God, though they had been often so, as they were now, when the chief priests, who presided in them, had their hands full of blood, the blood of Christ. Well, this sabbath is over, and the first day of the week is the first day of a new world. We have here,

I. The affectionate visit which the good women that had attended Christ, now made it to his sepulchre--not a superstitious one, but a pious one. They set out from their lodgings very early in the morning, at break of day, or sooner but either they had a long walk, or they met with some hindrance, so that it was sun-rising by the time they got to the sepulchre. The had bought sweet spices too, and came not only to bedew the dead body with their tears (for nothing could more renew their grief than this), but to perfume it with their spices, Mark 16:1. Nicodemus had bought a very large quantity of dry spices, myrrh and aloes, which served to dry the wounds, and dry up the blood, John 19:39. But these good women did not think that enough they bought spices, perhaps of another kind, some perfumed oils, to anoint him. Note, The respect which others have showed to Christ's name, should not hinder us from showing our respect to it.

JAMIESON, "Mark 16:1-20. Angelic announcement to the women on the first day of the week, that Christ is risen - His appearances after His resurrection -His ascension - Triumphant proclamation of His Gospel. (= Matthew 28:1-10, Matthew 28:16-20; Luke 24:1-51; John 20:1, John 20:2, John 20:11-29).

The Resurrection announced to the women (Mark 16:1-8).

And when the sabbath was past that is, at sunset of our Saturday.

Mary Magdalene (See on Luke 8:2).

and Mary the mother of James James the Less (see Mark 15:40).

and Salome the mother of Zebedees sons (compare Mark 15:40 with Matthew

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27:56).

had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him The word is simply bought. But our translators are perhaps right in rendering it here had bought, since it would appear, from Luke 23:56, that they had purchased them immediately after the Crucifixion, on the Friday evening, during the short interval that remained to them before sunset, when the sabbath rest began; and that they had only deferred using them to anoint the body till the sabbath rest should be over. On this anointing, see on John 19:40.

CALVIN, "Mark 16:1.And when the Sabbath was past. The meaning is the same as in Matthew, In the evening, which began to dawn towards the first day of the Sabbaths, and in Luke, on the first day of the Sabbaths. For while we know that the Jews began to reckon their day from the commencement of the preceding night, everybody understands, that when the Sabbath was past, the women resolved among themselves to visit the sepulcher, so as to come there before the dawn of day. The two Evangelists give the name of the first day of the Sabbaths, to that which came first in order between two Sabbaths. Some of the Latin translators (302) have rendered it one, and many have been led into this blunder through ignorance of the Hebrew language; for though ( ) sometimes means one, and sometimes first, the Evangelists, as in many other passages, have followed the Hebrew idiom, and used the word , one. (303) But that no one may be led astray by the ambiguity, I have stated their meaning more clearly. As to the purchase of the spices, Lukes narrative differs, in some respects, from the words of Mark; for Luke says that they returned into the city, and procured spices, and then rested one day, according to the commandment of the law before pursuing their journey. But Mark, in introducing into the same part of the narrative two different events, attends less accurately than Luke to the distinction of dates; for he blends with their setting out on the journey what had been previously done. In the substance of the fact they perfectly agree, that the women, after having observed the holy rest, left home during the darkness of the night, that they might reach the sepulcher about the break of day.

We ought also to recollect what I have formerly suggested, that the custom of anointing the dead, though it was common, among many heathen nations, was applied to a lawful use by the Jews alone, to whom it had been handed down by the Fathers, to confirm them in the faith of the resurrection. For without having this object in view, to embalm a dead body, which has no feeling, would be an idle and empty solace, as we know that the Egyptians bestowed great labor and anxiety on this point, without looking for any advantage. But by this sacred symbol, God represented to the Jews the image of life in death, to lead them to expect that out of putrefaction and dust they would one day acquire new vigor. Now as the resurrection of Christ, by its quickening vigor, penetrated every sepulcher, so as to breathe life into the dead, so it abolished those outward ceremonies. For himself, he needed not those aids, but they were owing to the ignorance of the women, who were not yet fully aware that he was free from corruption.

BARCLAY, "TELL PETER (Mark 16:1-8)

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16:1-8 When the Sabbath had passed, Mary of Magdala and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices to go and anoint his body. Very early in the morning on the first day of the week, when the sun was rising, they went to the tomb. They kept saying to each other, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" They looked up and they saw that the stone had been rolled away, for it was very large. And they went into the tomb, and they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long, white robe. They were utterly amazed. He said to them, "Do not be amazed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified. He is risen. He is not here. See! There is the place where they laid him. But go! Tell his disciples and Peter, 'He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him as he told you'." And they went out and fled from the tomb, for fear and astonishment gripped them. And they told no one anything for they were afraid.

There had not been time to render the last services to the body of Jesus. The Sabbath had intervened and the women who wished to anoint the body had not been able to do so. As early as possible after the Sabbath had passed, they set out to perform this sad task.

They were worried about one thing. Tombs had no doors. When the word door is mentioned it really means opening. In front of the opening was a groove, and in the groove ran a circular stone as big as a cart-wheel; and the women knew that it was quite beyond their strength to move a stone like that. But when they reached the tomb, the stone was rolled away, and inside was a messenger who gave them the unbelievable news that Jesus had risen from the dead.

One thing is certain--if Jesus had not risen from the dead, we would never have heard of him. The attitude of the women was that they had come to pay the last tribute to a dead body. The attitude of the disciples was that everything had finished in tragedy. By far the best proof of the Resurrection is the existence of the Christian church. Nothing else could have changed sad and despairing men and women into people radiant with joy and flaming with courage. The Resurrection is the central fact of the whole Christian faith. Because we believe in the Resurrection certain things follow.

(i) Jesus is not a figure in a book but a living presence. It is not enough to study the story of Jesus like the life of any other great historical figure. We may begin that way but we must end by meeting him.

(ii) Jesus is not a memory but a presence. The dearest memory fades. The Greeks had a word to describe time meaning time which wipes all things out. Long since, time would have wiped out the memory of Jesus unless he had been a living presence forever with us.

"And warm, sweet, tender, even yet

A present help is he;

And faith has still its Olivet,

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And love its Galilee."

Jesus is not someone to discuss so much as someone to meet.

(iii) The Christian life is not the life of a man who knows about Jesus, but the life of a man who knows Jesus. There is all the difference in the world between knowing about a person and knowing a person. Most people know about Queen Elizabeth or the President of the United States but not so many know them. The greatest scholar in the world who knows everything about Jesus is less than the humblest Christian who knows him.

(iv) There is an endless quality about the Christian faith. It should never stand still. Because our Lord is a living Lord there are new wonders and new truths waiting to be discovered all the time.

But the most precious thing in this passage is in two words which are in no other gospel. "Go," said the messenger. "Tell his disciples and Peter." How that message must have cheered Peter's heart when he received it! He must have been tortured with the memory of his disloyalty, and suddenly there came a special message for him. It was characteristic of Jesus that he thought, not of the wrong Peter had done him but of the remorse he was undergoing. Jesus was far more eager to comfort the penitent sinner than to punish the sin. Someone has said, "The most precious thing about Jesus is the way in which he trusts us on the field of our defeat."

COFFMAN, "For critical discussion leading to the conclusion that this whole chapter is a valid part of the Gospel of Mark and of the Word of God, see the introduction to this commentary. The Christian student has no need whatever to be concerned with allegations to the contrary, none of which are founded on anything except subjective conclusions of scholars, many of whom are obviously influenced more by bias against the content of the chapter than by any objective evidence favoring its exclusion.

Even J. R. Dummelow, while admitting that the external evidence against the last twelve verses "is certainly not enough to justify their rejection,"[1] nevertheless decided to reject them on grounds of form, vocabulary and style. However, of all the evidences bearing on questions of this kind, nothing could be of less weight than arguments from style and vocabulary. Mark is said to have used words in this chapter which he used nowhere else in the gospel; but that is incapable of proving that the words were not in his vocabulary. The conceit that Mark used every word that he knew in the first fifteen chapters is untenable! Furthermore, the sudden change to singular pronouns in Mark 16:15-16 was a part of the essential design to make clear who would be empowered to do the "signs" of Mark 16:17-20; and the alleged awkwardness of the re-introduction of Mary Magdalene in Mark 16:9 disappears completely when Mark's purpose of mentioning the sevenfold exorcism is discerned. That purpose was not to identify Mary Magdalene, already mentioned twice, but to explain the "hardness of heart" on the part of the eleven (Mark 16:14). It is such a failure to read what

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the gospel is saying that results in misjudgments based upon style.

ENDNOTE:

[1] J. R. Dummelow, Commentary on the Whole Bible (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1937), p. 733.

Mary Magdalene ... The three women here are doubtless the same as those mentioned in Mark 15:39.

When the sabbath was past ... Matthew has "At the end of the sabbaths (plural)" which recognizes the fact of their having been back-to-back sabbaths due to the 15th of Nisan falling on a Friday. Mark's mention of only one is characteristic, just as he mentioned the healing of only one blind man at Jericho (Mark 10:46), whereas there were actually two (Matthew 20:30); and just as he mentioned only the colt (Mark 11:2), whereas both the colt and its mother were brought (Matthew 21:2); and just as he mentioned only one angel (Mark 16:5), whereas there were two (Luke 24:4). Inherent in Mark's purpose of composing a short, abbreviated Gospel was the necessity for leaving out a great many things that could have been related.

On the basis of this characteristic of Mark, it would be extremely unwise to assume that these three women alone were in that company. By the nature of the event, it is reasonable to conclude that there were many others not mentioned.

COKE, "Mark 16:1. Had bought sweet spices Mr. West observes, that St. Mark, having written his gospel for the use of the Gentiles, who were strangers to the Jewish customs and religion, (as may be inferred from several little explanatory notes dropped up and down in his gospel,) in order to give these strangers a perfect intelligence of the fact related in this chapter, it was necessary for him to begin his account with that circumstance of the women's having bought spices to anoint the body of Jesus; that they might understand what business carried them so early to the sepulchre, and see by the preparations made by those women for the embalming of the body of Jesus, and the little credit given by the apostles to the reports of those who had seen our Lord on the day of his resurrection, that his rising from the dead was an event, not in the least expected by any of them, and not believed by the apostles, even after such evidence as Jesus upbraided them for not assenting to: from all which it was natural for them to conclude, that this fundamental article of their faith was neither received nor preached, but upon the fullest conviction of its truth. See Observations on the Resurrection, p. 33 and the notes on Matthew 28.

BENSON, "Mark 16:1. Mary Magdalene, &c., had bought sweet spices These Galilean women, who had waited on Jesus in his last moments, and attended his body to the sepulchre, observing that his funeral rites were performed in haste, (the body being rolled in nothing but a mixture of myrrh and aloes, brought by Nicodemus, John 19:39,) agreed among themselves to come, when the sabbath was passed, and embalm their dead Lord, by anointing and swathing him in a proper manner. Accordingly, as soon as they had seen him laid in the sepulchre,

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and the entrance into it blocked up by a great stone, they returned to the city, and bought what other spices were necessary for that purpose. And very early in the morning they came unto the sepulchre See note on Matthew 28:1. At the rising of the sun It appears, upon comparing the accounts given by the other evangelists, that they set out while it was yet dark, and came within sight of the sepulchre, for the first time, just as it grew light enough to discern that the stone was rolled away. But by the time Mary had called Peter and John, and they had viewed the sepulchre, the sun was rising.

BURKITT, "The Lord of life was buried on the Friday, in the evening of that day on which he was crucified, and his holy body rested in the silent grave all the next day, and some part of the day following. Thus arose he again the third day, neither sooner nor later; not sooner, lest the truth of his death should have been questioned, that he did not die at all; and not later, lest the faith of his death should failed.

Accordingly when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene getting the other women together, she and they set out before day to visit the holy sepulchre; and about sun-rising they get to it, intending with their spices and odours farther to embalm their Lord's body.

Here observe, 1. That although the hearts of these holy women did burn with an ardent zeal and affection to their crucified Lord, yet the commanded duties of the sabbath are not omitted by them; they keep close, and silently spend that holy day in a mixture of grief and hope. A good pattern of sabbath sanctification, and worthy of our Christian imitation.

Observe, 2. These holy women go, but not empty-handed, she that bestowed a costly alabaster box of ointment upon Christ whilst alive, has prepared no less precious odours for Saviour's corpse. But what need of odours to perfume a body which could not see corruption? True, his holy body did not want them, but the love and affection of his friends could not with-hold them.

Observe, 3. How great a tribute of respect and honour is due and payable to the memory of these holy women, for their great magnanimity and courage; they followed Christ when his cowardly disciples left him, they accompanied him to the cross, they followed his hearse to the grave, when his disciples durst not appear; and now, very early in the morning, they go to visit his sepulchre, fearing neither the darkness of the night, nor the presence of the watchmen.

Learn hence, That courage is the special gift of God; and if he gives it to the feebler sex, even to timorous and fearful women, it is not in the power of men to make them afraid.

CONSTABLE, "They went to anoint Jesus' corpse with spices. The Jews did not practice embalming. [Note: Hiebert, p. 408.] These women simply wanted to honor Jesus by making His corpse as pleasant smelling as possible. Perhaps Mary of Bethany's example had encouraged them to make this sacrifice for Him

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(cf. Mark 14:3-9). Obviously they did not understand that Jesus would rise from the dead.

"In the final scenes, in Jerusalem, the little people [i.e., the minor characters in Mark's story] exemplify especially the teaching about being 'servant of all.' Earlier, Jesus served others. Now in his time of need others serve him: Simon the leper receives him in his house; a woman anoints him with ointment worth a worker's annual salary; Simon Cyrenean takes up his cross; Joseph takes his body from the cross and buries him; and a group of women go to the tomb to anoint him after his death. These actions are acts of service done for Jesus by people who courageously sacrifice or risk something-money or arrest or reputation-to carry them out...."Thus, the little ones serve throughout as 'foils' for the disciples....". . . the little people actually fulfill the functions expected of disciples. Because the disciples of John had buried John's corpse, the reader expects the same of Jesus' disciples. Instead, the little people do what might have been expected of the disciples ..." [Note: Rhoads and Michie, pp. 132-33.]

PULPIT, "And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices ) that they might come and anoint him. A hasty but lavish embalming of our Lord's sacred body had been begun on Friday evening by Joseph and Nicodemus. They had "brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pound weight" (John 19:39). This would be a compoundthe gum of the myrrh tree, and a powder of the fragrant aloe wood mixed together, with which they would completely cover the body, which was then swathed with linen cloths ( ), also steeped in the aromatic preparation. Then the sindon would he placed over all. Compare the , of St. Luke (Luke 23:53), as applying to the sindon, with the of St. John (John 21:1-25 :40) as applying to the . This verse records a further stage in the embalming. What had been done on the Friday evening had been done in haste, and yet sufficiently for the preservation of the sacred body, if that had been needful, from decay. The remaining work could be done more carefully and tenderly at the tomb. Observe the aorist in this verse (hJgo>rasan) "they bought;" not "they had bought."

PULPIT, "The empty sepulcher.

In this passage there is no direct narrative of the Savior's resurrection. The evangelist probably tells what, and only what, he had heard from credible and well-known witnesses. There were no such witnesses to the act of the Lord's emergence from the tomb. But the Marys and Salome had stated what they had seen and heard. They declared that, although they went early to the sepulcher, they found it both open and empty. They related their interview with the young man, the angel, who informed them that Jesus had risen. And it is upon their testimony that the evangelist bases in the first instance his gospel of the resurrection.

I. LOVE WILL FIND OCCASIONS AND WAYS OF EXPRESSING ITSELF.

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In our Lord's ministry, devout and attached women had often provided for his wants. When the end of that ministry arrived, these affectionate friends were found faithful to their Master; they were amongst the witnesses of his crucifixion and his death. Nor did they then withdraw, but lingered by the lifeless body until it was deposited in the new-hewn tomb. Even then their love was not satisfied; it remained for them to finish the rites which had been so hastily performed by Nicodemus and Joseph, and so abruptly suspended by the sunset which was the commencement of the Jewish sabbath. Behold them, accordingly, in the garden immediately after sunrise. On the past evening they have purchased spices; and they have now, at early morning, come, laden with the fragrant preparations, to perform the last offices to the body of him they have long honored and loved. The incident reminds us of the grateful and most graceful tribute offered to Jesus by the sister of Lazarus, who poured the costly perfume over the sacred feet of her Lord, her Benefactor. In both cases the value and the charm of the services are owing to the love by which they were inspired. Love followed Jesus, not only in the way, and into the dwelling, but to the cross and to the grave. They who truly love the Lord Christ will find opportunities in abundance of proving their affection.'

II. WE IMAGINE DIFFICULTIES WHICH GOD HAS ALREADY SOLVED FOR US. NO wonder that these feeble women questioned one with another, "Who shall roll us away the stone?" Strong men had closed the entrance to the tomb by placing this huge stone against it; how should this barrier to the carrying out of their intentions be removed? They looked up, and lo! the stone was rolled away. This had been done at daybreak by the celestial messenger. Very similar is much of Christian experience. We perplex ourselves, it may be, with speculative difficulties. Nature and revelation teem with mysteries. To our finite and untrained, inexperienced intelligence it must be so. Our penetration is too dull, our wisdom is too short-sighted; our powers, knowledge, and opportunities are all unequal to the task. But all is clear to that Being who is infinitely wise; and when we lift up our eyes we shall in due time see the resolution of our doubts. We perplex ourselves, it may be, with practical difficulties. How shall we do our workthat work being so vast, and we so hell, less? How shall we train our family, conduct our business, discharge our responsibilities? We cannot tell. But, looking unto him, we shall be lightened. He shall bring our way to pass. We perplex ourselves, 'it may be, with difficulties as to the Church and kingdom of Christ. How shall the Lord's people be awakened to zeal, or reconciled in unity, or qualified for the work assigned them in a dark and sinful world? Our mind is baffled by the problem, which we have no means of solving. Let us go on our way. When we come to our difficulty, we may perhaps find that it is gone. Let us leave the problems of the future to be solved by him with whom all is one eternal "now." Let us commit the distant in space and in time to him to whom belong alike the far-off and the near. There is no stone so exceeding great that he cannot roll it away; none that he will suffer to hinder or delay the execution of his own purposes.

III. CHRIST MAY BE SOUGHT IN THE GRAVE, BUT HE IS FOUND IN THE RISEN LIFE, THE SPIRITUAL REALM. Notwithstanding that Jesus had foretold both his death and his resurrection, the disciples were overwhelmed

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with astonishment at his crucifixion, and were amazed and incredulous at the tidings of his triumph over the grave. The men do not seem to have come to the tomb until they were summoned; the women came, but they came to embalm the dead, not to welcome the livingthe risen, It needed that they should be assured "He is risen; he is not here]" in order that the current of their mournful thoughts should be arrested and reversed. In the tomb they did not find him, but they met him in his glorious resurrection-body. There are many who still commit the same mistake regarding our Savior. They think of his bodily and earthly life, of its outward incidents and of its tragic close. They think of him as if his ministry and his mediation came to an end on Calvary. They do not think of him as risen, as living in human society, as working in human hearts, as governing and blessing human lives. Yet, for us, what is the significance of the Redeemer's rising from the dead? Is it not just thisthat the Savior's resurrection-life is his moral and spiritual sway over humanity? It is not in his body that his presence consists. It is in the penetration of the world's moral nature by his ever-present, all-pervading Spirit; it is in the transformation of the world's moral life by the power of his sacrifice, his obedience, his self-denial, his benevolence. Many a king and conqueror has died, after a life of ambition, a career of slaughter and of oppression. The death of such has been welcome, for it has put an end to a power for mischief which has cursed the world. But every teacher, every discoverer of truth, has implanted in the soul of humanity a seed which has outlived himself. How much more does the Divine Light and Life of men continue to illumine and to inspire the world, which first rejected him, and then found out his inestimable worth, his incalculable power!

IV. THE MOST WELCOME AND GLORIOUS REVELATION 1S RECEIVED AT FIRST WITH FEAR, ASTONISHMENT, AND SILENCE. Of the women we read, "They were amazed;" "trembling and astonishment came upon them;" "they were afraid;" "they said nothing to any one." It is a strange effect to follow from such a cause. Nothing could be so welcome and so joyful as the news which greeted them. But it was too startling, too surprising, too unexpected. They "departed with fear and great joy," just as the eleven afterwards "disbelieved for joy." There is news which seems too good to be true. Even so now there are doubting souls, who fain would believe in a Divine Savior, and who withhold their faith, not from unspirituality of nature and habit, but from the intensity of their appreciation of the blessing neededthe revelation of Divine favor, and the prospect of a glorious immortality. Let such raise their minds to the height of the Divine benevolence. "Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?" Such an interposition is surely worthy even of the Supreme! "That our faith and hope might be in God." Surely such an end may be believed to justify the most unexampled revelation and the most stupendous display of power. It is well that the tidings should be received with some sense of their amazing importance and their unique bearing upon the state and prospects of mankind.

V. THE NEWS OF THE RESURRECTION IS GOOD TIDINGS TO BE PUBLISHED ABROAD. The faithful women were directed to act as messengers. They have been called "the apostles of the apostles." They were to find Peter and the other disciples, to tell them that Jesus had risen, and to direct them where

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they should meet him. This they did, and in so doing they set an example to Christians in all coming time. Whatever else may be said of the resurrection of Jesus, this must be said of it first and foremost: It is good news, worthy of all acceptation. As such the apostles received it, and as such they published it. In the record of their ministry, nothing is so prominently put forward as their preaching Jesus and the Resurrection. A risen and glorified Savior was the Savior they preacheda Savior who had died, but who liveth evermore. Glad tidings to be proclaimed in every language and to all mankind!

APPLICATION.

1. Let us learn to live a life of faith in a risen, exalted, reigning Savior and Lord. Our religious life should receive its impulse and its motive from looking upwards to the Lord of life.

2. Let us regard it as our sacred ministry to publish as good tidings the truth that Christ is risen. This is the office and privilege of the Church of him who was dead and is alive again, and lives for evermore.

2 Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb

CLARKE, "Very early in the morning, - This was the time they left their own houses, and by the rising of the sun they got to the tomb. As the preceding day was the Sabbath, they could not, consistently with the observances of that day, approach the tomb. See the concluding notes at the end of John.

The following observations from Lightfoot will serve to illustrate this subject.

"The distinction of the twilight among the rabbins was this: -

"I. The hinde of the morning - the first appearance. R. Chaiia Rab, and R. Simeon ben Chalaphta, travelling together on a certain morning in the valley of Arbel, saw the hinde of the morning, that its light spread the sky. R. Chaiia said, Such shall be the redemption of Israel. First, it goes forward by degrees, and by little and little; but by how much the more it shall go forward, by so much the more it shall increase. It was at that time that Christ arose, namely, in the first morning, as may be gathered from the words of St. Matthew. And to this the title of the 22d Psalm seems to have respect - . See

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also Revelation 22:16, I am the bright and morning star. And now you may imagine the women went out of their houses towards the sepulchre."II. When one may distinguish between purple color and white. From what time do they recite their phylacterical prayers in the morning? From that time that one may distinguish between purple color and white. R. Eliezer saith, Between purple color and green. Before this time was obscurum adhue caeptae lucis, the obscurity of the begun light, as Tacitus's expression is."III. When the east begins to lighten.

"IV. Sunrise; from the hinde of the morning going forth, until the east begins to lighten; and from the time the east begins to lighten, until sunrise, etc."According to these four parts of time, one might not improperly suit the four phrases of the evangelists. According to the first, Matthew's, , As it began to dawn. According to the second, John's, , Early in the morning when it was yet dark. To the third, Luke's, , Very early in the morning. To the fourth, Mark's, , Very early in the morning. And yet, , At the rising of the sun. For the women came twice to the sepulchre, as St. John teaches, by whom the other evangelists are to be explained; which being well considered, the reconciling them together is very easy."

GILL, "And very early in the morning, the first day of the week,.... See Gill on Matthew 28:1.

They came to the sepulchre at the rising of the sun; of the sun of righteousness, as Mr. Mede observes; or rather, of the natural sun: for though it was dark when they set out, and when it dawned towards the first day, yet by that time that they all got to the sepulchre, the sun was rising; the Jews sayF7, that

"from the ascending of the morning, or break of day, until the sun rises, is an hour and a half.'

And so much time may very well be allowed the women, from their setting out, to their coming to the sepulchre. Moreover, they sayF8, that

"from the hind of the morning, to the time the east is enlightened, a man may walk four miles, and from the time that the east is enlightened, , "until the sun rises", four miles.'

But women must not be thought to walk so fast: let it be observed, that Christ, who is called the hind of the morning, Psalm 22:1 (title, "Aijeleth Shahar"), and the morning star, Revelation 22:16, rose at this time.

JAMIESON, "And very early in the morning (See on Matthew 28:1).

the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun not quite literally, but at earliest dawn; according to a way of speaking not uncommon, and occurring sometimes in the Old Testament. Thus our Lord rose on the third day; having lain in the grave part of Friday, the whole of Saturday,

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and part of the following First day.

COFFMAN, "Mary Magdalene had already made one visit to the tomb quite a bit earlier "while it was yet dark" (John 20:1); and, being aware that the tomb was empty, she had told Peter and John. Nevertheless, after sunrise she returned to the tomb with the group who had brought spices. There are some elements of the sacred narratives of these events that cannot be fully catalogued as to time and personnel due to the brevity of the accounts regarding what must have been a day of exceedingly many episodes and involving at least hundreds of people. As Cranfield said:

It would be suspicious, if just here everything agreed exactly. The discrepancies (this student likes the word VARIATIONS instead of DISCREPANCIES -J.B.C.) are at least evidence that we have not to do here with a piece of carefully concerted deceit.[2]ENDNOTE:

[2] C. E. B. Cranfield, The Gospel according to Saint Mark (Cambridge: The University Press, 1966), p. 463.

LIGHTFOOT, "[And very early in the morning, &c.] The distinction of the twilight among the Rabbins was this:

I. The hind [cerva] of the morning: the first appearance of light. "R. Chaija Rabba, and R. Simeon Ben Chalaphta, travelling together in a certain morning, in the valley of Arbel, saw the hind of the morning, that its light spread the sky. R. Chaija said, Such shall be the redemption of Israel. First, It goes forward by degrees, and by little and little; but by how much the more it shall go forward, by so much the more it shall increase."

It was at that time that Christ arose; namely, in the first morning; as may be gathered from the words of Matthew. And to this the title of the two-and-twentieth Psalm seems to have respect. See also Revelation 22:16; "I am the bright and morning star." And now you may imagine the women went out of their houses towards the sepulchre.

II. When one may distinguish between purple colour and white. "From what time do they recite their phylacterical prayers in the morning? From that time, that one may distinguish between purple colour and white. R. Eliezer saith, Between purple colour and green." Before this time was the obscurity of the begun light, as Tacitus' expression is.

III. When the east begins to lighten.

IV. Sunrise. "From the hind of the morning going forth, until the east begins to lighten; and from the time the east begins to lighten, until sunrise," &c.

According to these four parts of time, one might not improperly suit the four phrases of the evangelists. According to the first, Matthew's, as it began to dawn.

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According to the second, John's, early in the morning, when it was yet dark. To the third, Luke's, very early in the morning. To the fourth, Mark's, very early in the morning, and yet at the rising of the sun.

For the women came twice to the sepulchre, as John teacheth; by whom the other evangelists are to be explained: which being well considered, the reconciling them together is very easy.

PULPIT, "And very early on the first day of the week ( ), they come

among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the tomb? The usual form of tombs in Palestine was the following:There was generally an approach to the tomb open to the sky; then a low entrance on the side of the rock, leading into a square chamber, on one side of which was a recess for the body, about three feet deep, with a low arch over it. The stone here referred to by the women would be the stone which covered the actual entrance into the vault. It would probably be not less than six feet in breadth and three in height. This great stone had been rolled By Joseph to the mouth of the tomb; and then he had departed. Now, as the women approached, "they were saying ( ,) among themselves, Who shall roll us away ( ) the stone?" They had seen the arrangements, and had observed the size of the atone on the Friday evening. (Mark 15:47).

3 and they asked each other, Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?

GILL, "And they said among themselves,.... Either before they set out, or as they were going along:

who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? Which they saw was placed there by Joseph, or his orders: this was the only difficulty they had, that they were aware of; for they seem to know nothing of the sealing of the stone, and of the watch that was set to guard the sepulchre: things which were done on the sabbath day, on which they rested: for had they, in all likelihood they would never have attempted to have gone to it; the guard of soldiers would have been a sufficient discouragement: but all their concern was, how, and by whom, the stone should be rolled away, that lay at the door of the sepulchre; and perhaps their concern might be, not only on account of the largeness of the stone,

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as being too much for them to remove, but because such a stone defiled by touching it, according to the Jewish traditionsF9.

HENRY 3-5, "The care they were in about the rolling away of the stone, and the superseding of that care (Mark 16:3,4) They said among themselves, as they were coming along, and now drew near the sepulchre, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? For it was very great, more than they with their united strength could move. They should have thought of this before they came out, and then discretion would have bid them not go, unless they had those to go with them, who could do it. And there was another difficulty much greater than this, to be got over, which they knew nothing of, to wit, a guard of soldiers set to keep the sepulchre who, had they come before they were frightened away, would have frightened them away. But their gracious love to Christ carried them to the sepulchre and see how by the time they came thither, both these difficulties were removed, both the stone which they knew of, and the guard which they knew not of. They saw that the stone was rolled away, which was the first thing that amazed them. Note, They who are carried by a holy zeal, to seek Christ diligently, will find the difficulties that lie in their way strangely to vanish, and themselves helped over them beyond their expectation.

III. The assurance that was given them by an angel, that the Lord Jesus was risen from the dead, and had taken leave of his sepulchre, and had left him there to tell those so who came thither to enquire after him.

1. They entered into the sepulchre, at least, a little way in, and saw that the body of Jesus was not there where they had left it the other night. He, who by his death undertook to pay our debt, in his resurrection took out our acquittance, for it was a fair and legal discharge, by which it appealed that his satisfaction was accepted for all the purposes for which it was intended, and the matter in dispute was determined by an incontestable evidence that he was the Son of God.

2. They saw a young man sitting on the right side of the sepulchre. The angel appeared in the likeness of a man, of a young man for angels, though created in the beginning, grow not old, but are always the same perfection of beauty and strength and so shall glorified saints be, when they are as the angels. This angel was sitting on the right hand as they went into the sepulchre, clothed with a long white garment, a garment down to the feet, such as great men were arrayed with. The sight of him might justly have encouraged them, but they were affrighted. Thus many times that which should be matter of comfort to us, through our own mistakes and misapprehensions proves a terror to us.

JAMIESON, "And they said among themselves as they were approaching the sacred spot.

Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? for it was very great On reaching it they find their difficulty gone - the stone already rolled away by an unseen hand. And are there no others who, when advancing to duty in the face of appalling difficulties, find their stone also rolled away?

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CALVIN, "3.And they said among themselves. Mark alone expresses this doubt; but as the other Evangelists relate that the stone was rolled away by the angel, it may easily be inferred, that they remained in perplexity and doubt as to what they should do, until the entrance was opened up by the hand of God. But let us learn from this, that in consequence of having been carried away by their zeal, they came there without due consideration. They had seen a stone placed before the sepulcher, to hinder any one from entering. Why did not this occur to them, when they were at home and at leisure, but because they were seized with such fear and astonishment, that thought and recollection failed them? But as it is a holy zeal that blinds them, God does not charge them with this fault.

COFFMAN, "Mary Magdalene already knew that the stone was rolled away; but as this verse relates what some of them were saying among themselves, there was no cause for her to speak, the same fearful reticence being already upon her which came upon them all a little later (Mark 16:8).

Who shall roll us away the stone ...? Who indeed solves every human problem too great for men to solve themselves? It was God who sent an angel and removed the stone, and it was God who sent the Christ to pay the price of human salvation and restore the broken fellowship between man and his Creator.

BENSON, "Mark 16:3-6. And they said, Who shall roll us away the stone This seems to have been the only difficulty they apprehended. So they knew nothing of Pilates having sealed the stone, and placed a guard of soldiers there. And when they looked , and having lifted up their eyes; they saw Namely, before they arrived quite at the sepulchre; that the stone was rolled away An angel having descended and done this, as is recorded Matthew 28:2; where see the note. For it was very great These words, the reader will observe, should be read after the third verse, with which they are connected: an instance of a similar transposition was noted on Mark 11:13. And entering into the sepulchre they saw a young man, &c. Matthew says, this was the angel, who had rolled away the stone, and frightened the guards from the sepulchre. It seems he had now laid aside the terrors in which he was arrayed, and assumed the form and dress of a human being, in order that when the women saw him, they might be as little terrified as possible. See note on Matthew 28:5-6. This is the appearance of the one angel which Matthew and Mark have described. The women, much encouraged by the agreeable news, as well as by the sweet accent with which the heavenly being spake, it seems, went down into the sepulchre, and lo, another angel appeared; this is the vision of the two angels, which Luke, Luke 24:3-4, has described as the principal vision. Probably the one sat at the head, the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. In which situation they showed themselves by-and-by to Mary Magdalene, John 20:12.

BURKITT, "Observe here, 1. With what pomp and triumph doth our Lord arise; an angel is sent from heaven to roll away the stone. But could not Christ have risen without the angel's help? yes, doubtless; he that raised himself, could surely have rolled away the stone; but God thinks fit to send an officer from heaven to open the prison-door of the grave, and by setting our surety at liberty, proclaims our debt to the divine justice fully satisfied. Besides, it was fit that the

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angels, who had been witnesses of our Saviour's passion, should also be witnesses of his resurrection.

Observe, 2. Our Lord's resurrection declared, He is risen, he is not here. Almighty God never intended that the darling of his soul should be left in an obscure sepulchre; He is not here, said the angel, where they laid him, where you left him. Death has lost its prey, and the grave has lost its prisoner.

Observe, 3. It is not said, he is not here, for he is raised, but, He is risen. The word imports the active power of Christ, or the self-quickening principle by which Christ raised himself from the dead, He shewed himself alive after his passion Acts 1:3.

Hence learn, That it was the divine nature, or godhead, of Christ, which raised the human nature from death to life; others were raised from the grave by Christ's power; but he raised himself by his own power.

Observe, 4. The testimony or witness given of our Lord's resurrection; that of an angel in human shape. A young man clothed in a long white garment. But why is an angel the first publisher of our Saviour's resurrection? Surely the dignity of our Lord's person, and the excellency of his resurrection require that it should be published. How very serviceable and officious the holy angels were in attending upon our Saviour in the days of his flesh, see in the note on Matthew 28:6-7.

Observe, 5. The persons to whom our Lord's resurrection was first declared and made known; to women, to the two Marys. But why to women? And why to these women?

Why to women? Because God will make use of weak means for producing great effects; knowing that the weakness of the instrument redounds to the greater honour of the agent. In the whole dispensation of the gospel, God intermixes divine power with human weakness. Thus the conception of Christ was by the power of the Holy Ghost, but his mother was a poor woman, a carpenter's spouse; so the crucifixion of Christ was in between two thieves. But the powers of heaven and earth trembling, the rocks rending, the graves opening, shewed a mixture of divine power. Thus here God will honour what instruments he pleases for the accomplishment of his own purposes.

But why to these women; the two Marys, is the first discovery made of our Saviour's resurrection? Possibly it was a reward for their magnanimity and masculine courage; these women cleaved to Christ when the apostles forsook him; they assisted at his cross, they attended at his funeral, they waited at his sepulchre; these women had more courage than the apostles, therefore God makes them apostles to the apostles, this was a tacit rebuke, a secret check given to the apostles, that they should be out-done by women; these holy women went before the apostles in the last services that were done for Christ, and therefore the apostles come after them in their rewards and comforts.

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Observe, 6. The evidence which the angel offers to the women, to evince and prove the verity and certainty of our Saviour's resurrection, namely, by an appeal to their senses; Behold the place where they laid him; the senses, when rightly disposed, are the proper judges of all sensible objects, and accordingly Christ himself did appeal to his disciples senses concerning the truth of his own resurrection: Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself.

And indeed, if we must not believe our senses, we shall want the best external evidence for the proof of the certainty and truth of the Christian religion; namely, the miracles wrought by Christ and his apostles: for what assurance can we have of the reality of those miracles, but from our senses?

Therefore, says our Saviour, If you believe not me, yet believe the works that I do; that is, the miracles which I have wrought before your eyes.

Now as my senses tell me that Christ's miracles were true, so they assure me that the doctrine of transubstantiation is false.

From the whole, note, That the Lord Jesus Christ, by the omnipotent power of his godhead, revived and rose again from the dead the third day, to the terror and consternation of his enemies, and the unspeakable joy and consolation of believers.

Observe, lastly, The quick dispatch made of the joyful news of our Lord's resurrection to the sorrowful disciples: Go tell my brethren, says Christ, Matthew 28:10. Christ might have said, "Go tell those apostate apostles, that cowardly left me in my danger , that durst not own me in the high priest's hall, that durst not come within the shadow of my cross, nor within sight of my sepulchre;" not a word of this, by way of upbraiding them for their late shameful cowardice, but all words of kindness; Go tell my brethren.

Where note, That Christ calls them brethren after his resurrection and exaltation; thereby shewing that the change in his condition had wrought no change in his affection towards his poor disciples' but those that were his brethren before, in the time of his basement, are still so after his exaltation and advancement? God tell his disciples and Peter, says the angel.

Where note, That St. Peter is here particularly named, not because of his primacy and superiority over the rest of the apostles, as the church of Rome would have it, but because he had sorrow, and stood most in need of comfort; therefore, says Christ by the angel, speak particularly to Peter, be sure that his sad heart be comforted with his joyful news, that he may know that I am friends with him, notwithstanding his late cowardice; Tell the disciples and Peter, that he goeth before you into Galilee.

But why into Galilee? because Jerusalem was now a forsaken place, and people abandoned to destruction; but Galilee was a place where Christ's ministry was more acceptable. Such places shall be most honoured with Christ's presence, where his gospel is most accepted.

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NISBET, "THE STONE AT THE DOORWho shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?Mark 16:3The text suggests various questions.

I. Why was there ever a sepulchre on earth?A sepulchre tells of sorrow, sickness, bereavement, death. How came it there? By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. The sin of man, small so far as the act was concerned, but vast in the principle involved, and in the results it entailed, placed him and his posterity under the curse of the law. Every pang of sickness speaks of Gods broken law; every corpse of the power of sin; every grave of the penalty of disobedience.

II. Why was there a sepulchre for Jesus?Because it was ordained in the counsel of the Godhead that Christ should be buried, as well as die. Had He not been laid in the sepulchre, we might have had reason to doubt the reality of His death. As the death of Christ was a true, real, and proper death, so His burial was a true, real, and proper burial. His body at death was confided to men above suspicion. His interment was witnessed by many spectators, and His tomb was such that it was eminently adapted to guard against a spurious, and to illustrate a genuine, resurrection. Thus was it necessary that Christ should be buried in order to verify His death; and because, as our substitute, He must lie down in the grave, whither we all must go. He Who was to be the first-fruits of our resurrection, Who was both to illustrate its character and make known its power, must also Himself lie in one of earths graves, that He might thus sanctify the world as the resting-place of His sleeping saint.

III. Why was that stone put there?Matthew gives the reason. Never did men more thoroughly overreach themselves than did the chief priests and Pharisees in desiring Pilate to seal the stone and guard the sepulchre. The very means by which they hoped to prevent the Resurrection were made the occasion of more gloriously effecting the purpose of God, and we should have lost some of the most striking and irrefragable proofs of the Resurrection, had not this request been made by the Jews and granted by Pilate. Thus did God cause the wrath of man to praise Him, and the plottings of the enemies of Christ to prove the strongest props to the doctrine of the Resurrection. The stone was rolled to the mouth of the sepulchre by Joseph to protect the body of Christ. It was sealed, so that it could not be removed without being detected. It was guarded by a band of Roman soldiers, disciplined in the stern severities of military law, in order to drive away or capture His disciples should they attempt to seize the body; and its presence, its sealing, and its guarding, designed as obstacles to the Resurrection, were really so many proofs of its accomplishment.

IV. Who rolled that stone away? and for what purpose?Matthew will give us the answer. Here again we see the wonder-working power of God in the transactions connected with this scene. Had our Lord rolled away the stone, it might have been said that He was not dead, but only in a state of asphyxia, or trance, and that, reviving, He did, in exercise of desperate strength, remove the

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rock at the tombs mouth, and by collusion with the soldiers escape from the sepulchre, and so give birth to the story of the Resurrection. But in consequence of the earthquake and the angelic appearance, the Roman guard did shake with fear, and became as dead men; and while they thus seemed petrified with alarm, Jesus calmly rises from His rocky bed, folds His grave-clothes, and lays them in order in the tomb, and then walks forth the Resurrection and the Life, the Conqueror of death, and the Victor of the grave.

Illustration

Compare the inscriptions on heathen and Christian tombs. Look at the tombs which still exist in that cradle-land of religion, art, and scienceEgypt; and we find sculptured and painted over and upon them representations of jugglers and dancing women, and grotesque animals, and unsightly gods, and domestic or festive scenes; everything which speaks of this world, nothing of the next. Look at the graveyards of Mohammedan countries, with their painted and gilded tablets and turbaned headstones, and as you decipher their Arabic inscriptions, you find them all pointing to a life of sensual bliss in the paradise of the false prophet. But most emphatically is this contrast brought out at Rome in the Galleria Lapidaria in the Vatican. Opening the door of this long gallery, you see upon your right hand the wall covered with broken tombstones and tablets taken from the burial-places of old pagan Rome; and on your left, the wall lined with slabs and inscriptions dug up from the catacombs where, under Rome itself, were concealed and buried thousands of the early Christians. On the pagan side you see the records of despair, and read words of anger against the gods. O relentless fortune, writes a mother over her child, who delighteth in cruel death! why is Maximus so suddenly snatched from me? Read another inscription: While I lived, well! my drama is now ended; soon yours will be: farewell, and applaud me. Read another: I, Proscopius, who lived twenty years, lift up my hand against him who took me away innocent. On the Christian side you find records of peace and hope, comfort and resignation: Sabbatia has retired in the sleep of peace. Arethusa sleeps in God. Salonica, thy soul is in bliss, thou wilt rise with the saints through Christ. Alexander is not dead, but lives beyond the stars, and his body rests in this tomb. The wave of death has not dared to deprive Constans of the crown to which he was entitled by giving his life to the sword. All the sorrows of the old world, and all the sorrows of the heathen world, are of men without hope. For them there is a great stone at the door of the sepulchre still.

(SECOND OUTLINE)IMAGINARY DIFFICULTIESWe may note some important lessons which this incident teaches:

I. That gloomy forebodings should never prevent us from doing our duty.These women apprehended that they could not roll away the stone, but were not turned away from their purpose.

II. That those who talk of difficulties have frequently but little knowledge of the actual state of affairs.What chiefly troubled the women was the stone; but

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there were other circumstances of a more serious naturethe seal of the Roman governor, the company of soldiers, the jealous Jews; but of the latter they said nothing.

III. That difficulties, as difficulties, are sometimes more imaginary than real.The feared obstacles may exist, but the difficulty they cause may be of no account. The stone, in the present instance, had doubtless been placed on the door of the sepulchre, but it had also been already rolled away.

Illustrations

(1) What a striking emblem we have in this simple narrative of the experience of many Christians! How often they are oppressed and cast down by anticipation of evils, and yet in the time of need find the thing they feared removed and the stone rolled away! A large proportion of their anxieties arise from things which never really happen. We look forward to all the possibilities of the journey towards heaven. We conjure up in our imagination all kinds of crosses and obstacles. We carry mentally to-morrows troubles as well as to-days. And often, very often, we find at the end that our doubts and alarms were groundless, and that the thing we dreaded most has never come to pass at all. Let us pray for more practical faith. Let us believe that in the path of duty we shall never be entirely forsaken. Let us go forward boldly, and we shall often find that the lion in the way is chained and the seeming hedge of thorns is only a shadow.

(2) Burden not thy soul with sadness!Make the wiser, better choice!Tread the path of life with gladness!God doth bid thee to rejoice.In to-days bright sunshine basking,Leave to-morrows cares alone;Spoil not present joys by asking,Who shall roll away the stone?

4 But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away.

BARNES, "It was very great - These words belong to the third verse: Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? for, the evangelist adds, it was very great.

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CLARKE, "For it was very great - This clause should be read immediately after the third verse, according to D, three copies of the Itala, Syriac, Hier., and Eusebius. "Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre? for it was very great. And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away." They knew that the stone was too heavy for them to roll away; and, unless they got access to the body, they could not apply the aromatics which they had brought to finish the embalming.

GILL, "And when they looked,.... Towards the sepulchre, as they came near it:

they saw that the stone was rolled away; they perceived it lay at some distance from the door of the sepulchre, which doubtless was very grateful, and matter of rejoicing to them:

for it was very great; these words are to be read, in connection with the preceding verse; for they are not a reason, why when they looked towards the sepulchre, they saw the stone rolled, because it was a very large one, and so easily to be seen at a distance; but a reason why they were so thoughtful and concerned, who should roll it away for them, it being so big, that they could not think that they were able to do it themselves.

COFFMAN, "Many an insurmountable obstacle has yielded before God's children engaged on missions in harmony with his will. Their fears and apprehensions regarding the great stone were perfectly well founded from the human viewpoint; but when they arrived at the place where frustration had been anticipated, the obstacle had been removed. That the event here recorded was an actual historical happening is surely true; but it is no more wonderful than similar things which have been happening ever since in the spiritual sector.

PULPIT, "And looking up ( ) they see ( ) that the stone is rolled back ( ): for it was exceeding great ( ). At this point we learn from St. John that Mary Magdalene ran away to tell Peter and John (John 20:2).

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.

BARNES, "Sitting on the right side - As they entered. The sepulchre was large enough to admit persons to go into it; not unlike, in that respect, our vaults

GILL, "And entering into the sepulchre,.... For the sepulchres of the Jews were made so large, that persons might go into them: the rule for making them is

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thisF11;

"he that sells ground to his neighbour to make a burying place, or that receives of his neighbour to make a burying place, must make the inside of the cave four cubits by six, and open in it eight graves; three here, and three there, and two over against them: and the graves must be four cubits long, and seven high, and six broad. R. Simeon says, he must take the inside of the cave six cubits by eight, and open within thirteen graves: four here, and four there, and three over against them; and one on the right hand of the door, and one on the left; and he must make, , "a court", at the mouth of the cave, six by six, according to the bier, and those that bury; and he must open in the midst of it two caves, one here and another there. R. Simeon says, four at the four sides; R. Simeon ben Gamaliel says, all is according to the nature of the rock.'

Now it was in the court that the women entered, where the bier was to be put down by the bearers; and where they could look into the sepulchre, and the several caves and graves in it, and what were in them. So Maimonides saysF12,

"they dig caves in the earth, and make a grave on, the side of the cave, and bury in; it.'

And there being a door into one of these caves, persons might enter in, and see where the graves were, and the bodies lay.

They saw a young man; an angel; as angels used to appear in the form of men: nor is this any contradiction to John's account, who says there were two angels, one at the head, and another at the feet, John 20:12; since Mark does not say there was no more than one; besides, John relates what Mary Magdalene saw, when alone, and Mark what all the women saw:

sitting on the right side; from whence we learn, on what side of the door of the sepulchre Christ was laid, according to the above description of one:

clothed long white garment: See Gill on Matthew 28:3; which was as white as snow:

and they were affrighted; at the sight of him; not expecting such a vision, but to have seen, the body of their Lord.

JAMIESON, "And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man In Matthew 28:2 he is called the angel of the Lord; but here he is described as he appeared to the eye, in the bloom of a life that knows no decay. In Matthew he is represented as sitting on the stone outside the sepulchre; but since even there he says, Come, see the place where the Lord lay (Matthew 28:6), he seems, as Alford says, to have gone in with them from without; only awaiting their arrival to accompany them into the hallowed spot, and instruct them about it.

sitting on the right side having respect to the position in which His Lord had lain there. This trait is peculiar to Mark; but compare Luke 1:11.

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clothed in a long white garment On its length, see Isaiah 6:1; and on its whiteness, see on Matthew 28:3.

and they were affrighted.

COFFMAN, "The young man ... Mark surely intended that we should understand that this was an angel of heaven. Some people refuse to believe in the existence of angels, having been poisoned by the leaven of the Sadducees; and, like the Sadducees, they "do greatly err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God" (Matthew 22:29). Again, from the words of Cranfield:

Here a protest must be made against the widespread tendency to dismiss angels as mere pious fancy ... The purpose of angels at the tomb was to link the actual event of the resurrection and the women. Human eyes were not permitted to see the event of the resurrection itself... The angels as the constant witnesses of God's actions saw it ... By their testimony the resurrection ... was made known to men.[3]ENDNOTE:

[3] Ibid., p. 465.

COKE, "Mark 16:5. And entering into the sepulchre, they saw, &c. The circumstance of the angel's being within the sepulchre, expressly mentioned by this apostle, is so far from being contradicted by St. Matthew 28:2-7 as some infidels have imagined, that it is plainly implied by the words He is not here; come,( , which might more properly be translated, Come hither;) see the place where the Lord lay; as is also that other circumstance of the women's entering into the sepulchre, by the Greek word , which should have been rendered they went out, instead of they departed; as it is in Mark 16:8 of this chapter. To which may be further added, that the description of the angel's clothing, which according to St. Mark was a long white garment, corresponds with the only particular relating to it, taken notice of by St. Matthew, which was its whiteness:His raiment was white as snow. In the latter, indeed, this angel is described with, a countenance like lightning. The purposes of the angel's descent are mentioned in the note on Matthew 28:2-4 and as one of these was to strike terror into the guards, it is not unreasonable to suppose that he might at first assume a countenance of terror, and after the resurrection was accomplished, put on the milder appearance of a young man: in which form the women, as St. Mark says, saw him sitting within the sepulchre. That the angel was not seen by the women sitting on the stone without the sepulchre, is evident, not only from the silence of all the Evangelists with regard to such an appearance, but also from what is observed concerning Mary Magdalene, John 20:1 who, though she saw the stone rolled away, yet saw no angel. Besides, had the angel remained sitting on the stone without the sepulchre, with all his terrors about him, he would, in all probability, by frightening away the women and disciples, as well as the soldiers, have prevented those visits to the sepulchre, which he came on purpose to facilitate. It was necessary, therefore, either that he should not appear at all to the women; or that he should appear within the sepulchre; and in a form

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which, although more than human, might however not be so terrible as to deprive them of their senses, and render them incapableof hearing, certainly of remembering that message, which he commanded them to deliver to the disciples: from all which considerations it may be fairly concluded, that the appearance of the angel without the sepulchre, mentioned by St. Matthew, was only to the keepers; and that when he was seen by the women, he was within the sepulchre, as St. Mark expressly says, and as the words above cited from St. Matthew strongly imply: so that these two evangelists agree in relating, not only the words spoken by the angel, but the principal, and, as it were, characteristical circumstances of the fact; which, from this agreement, we infer to be one and the same. The like agreement is also to be found in their account of the terror of the women upon seeing the angel, their speedy flight from the sepulchre, and the disorder and confusion which so extraordinary an event occasioned in their minds; a confused and troubled mixture of terror, astonishment, and joy; which, according to St. Mark, was so great, as to prevent their telling what had happened to those whom they had met upon the way; for so must we understand the words, neither said they any thing to any man, Mark 16:8 since it is not to be imagined that they never opened their lips about it. Their silence doubtless ended with the cause of it; namely, their terror and amazement:andthese,inallprobability,vanishedontheir seeing Christ himself; who, as St. Matthew has informed us, met them, as they were going to tell the disciples the message of the angels;accosted them with an all hail, and bade them dismiss their fears. See West on the Resurrection, p. 35. The reader will find in Tasso's Jerusalem, b. 1: Song of Solomon 1 the amiable appearance of an angel like a youth, finely embellished with poetical painting.

PULPIT, "And entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, arrayed in a white robe; and they were amazed. They enter the tomb, the expression "tomb" including the ante-chamber They see that the stone has been rolled back, so as to expose the entrance into the place where Jesus had lain. On that stone a young man was sitting. The angel peared in the form of a young man, because youth indicates the vigor, the beauty, and the strength of angels. The good angels always appear in beauty and comeliness of form. There will be no deformity in heaven. The angel appeared as arrayed in a white robe. This white robe, or talar indicated a heavenly spiritual being. St. Matthew (Matthew 28:3) says that "his countenance was like lightning," flashing with splendor, and his raiment was as white as snow. It may be that he appeared more terrible to the keepers (Matthew 28:4), and that he abated something of his dazzling brightness when he appeared to the women; but "they were affrighted" ( ); literally, they were amazed. Amazement was the dominant feeling, though probably not unmingled with fear.

6 Dont be alarmed, he said. You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He

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has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.

CLARKE, "Jesus of Nazareth - The Jews had given this name to Christ by way of reproach, Matthew 2:23; but as it was under this name that he was crucified, John 19:19, the angel here, and the apostles after, have given him the same name, Acts 4:10, etc. Names which the world, in derision, fixes all the followers of God, often become the general appellatives of religious bodies: thus Quakers, Puritans, Pietists, and Methodists, have in their respective times been the nicknames, given in derision by the world, to those who separated themselves from its corruptions. Our Lord, by continuing to bear the name of the Nazarene, teaches us not to be too nice or scrupulous in fixing our own appellation. No matter what the name may be, as long as it implies no particular evil, and serves sufficiently to mark us out. Let us be contented to bear it, and thus carry about with us the reproach of Christ; always taking care to keep our garments unspotted from the world.

GILL, "And he saith unto them, be not affrighted,.... See Gill on Matthew 28:5, Matthew 28:6, where the same things, and almost in the same words, are said as here.

HENRY 6-7, ". He silences their fears by assuring them that here was cause enough for triumph, but none for trembling (Mark 16:6) He saith to them, Be not affrighted. Note, As angels rejoice in the conversation of sinners, so they do also in the consolation of sinners. Be not affrighted, for, (1.) "Ye are faithful lovers of Jesus Christ, and therefore, instead of being confounded, out to be comforted. Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified." Note, The enquiries of believing souls after Christ, have a particular regard to him as crucified (1 Corinthians 2:2), that they may know him, and the fellowship of his sufferings. His being lifted up from the earth, is that which draws all men unto him. Christ's cross is the ensign to which the Gentiles seek. Observe, He speaks of Jesus as one that was crucified "The thing is past, that scene is over, ye must not dwell so much upon the sad circumstances of his crucifixion as to be unapt to believe the joyful news of his resurrection. He was crucified in weakness, yet that doth not hinder but that he may be raised in power, and therefore ye that seek him, be not afraid of missing of him." He was crucified, but he is glorified and the shame of his sufferings is so far from lessening the glory of his exaltation, that that glory perfectly wipes away all the reproach of his sufferings. And therefore after his entrance upon his glory, he never drew any veil over his sufferings, nor was shy of having his cross spoken of. The angel here that proclaims his resurrection, calls him Jesus that was crucified. He himself owns (Revelation 1:18), I am he that liveth, and was dead and he appears in the midst of the praises of the heavenly host as a Lamb that had been slain, Revelation 5:6. (2.) "It will therefore be good news to you, to hear that, instead of anointing him dead, you may rejoice in him living. He is risen, he is not here, not dead, but alive again. We cannot as yet show you him, but hereafter you will see him, and you may

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here see the place where they laid him. You see he is gone hence, not stolen either by his enemies or by his friends, but risen."

4. He orders them to give speedy notice of this to his disciples. Thus they were made the apostles of the apostles, which was a recompence of their affection and fidelity to him, in attending him on the cross, to the grave, and in the grave. They first came, and were first served no other of the disciples durst come near his sepulchre, or enquire after him so little danger was there of their coming by night to steal him away, that none came near him but a few women, who were not able so much as to roll away the stone.

(1.) They must tell the disciples, that he is risen. It is a dismal time with them, their dear Master is dead, and all their hopes and joys are buried in his grave they look upon their cause as sunk, and themselves ready to fall an easy prey into the hands of their enemies, so that there remains no more spirit in them, they are perfectly at their wits' end, and every one is contriving how to shift for himself. "O, go quickly to them," said the angel, "tell them that their Master is risen this will put some life and spirit into them, and keep them from sinking into despair." Note, [1.] Christ is not ashamed to own his poor disciples, no, not now that he is in his exalted state his preferment doth not make him shy of them, for he took early care to have it notified to them. [2.] Christ is not extreme to mark what they do amiss, whose hearts are upright with him. The disciples had very unkindly deserted him, and yet he testified this concern for them. [3.] Seasonable comforts shall be sent to those that are lamenting after the Lord Jesus, and he will find a time to manifest himself to them.

(2.) They must be sure to tell Peter. This is particularly taken notice of by this evangelist, who is supposed to have written by Peter's direction. If it were told the disciples, it would be told Peter, for, as a token of his repentance for disowning his Master, he still associated with his disciples yet he is particularly named: Tell Peter, for, [1.] It will be good news to him, more welcome to him than to any of them for he is in sorrow for sin, and no tidings can be more welcome to true penitents than to hear of the resurrection of Christ, because he rose again for their justification. [2.] He will be afraid, lest the joy of this good news do not belong to him. Had the angel said only, Go, tell his disciples, poor Peter would have been ready to sigh, and say, "But I doubt I cannot look upon myself as one of them, for I disowned him, and deserve to be disowned by him " to obviate that, "Go to Peter by name, and tell him, he shall be as welcome as any of the rest to see him in Galilee." Note, A sight of Christ will be very welcome to a true penitent, and a true penitent shall be very welcome to a sight of Christ, for there is joy in heaven concerning him.

(3.) They must appoint them all, and Peter by name, to give him the meeting in Galilee, as he said unto you, Matthew 26:32. In their journey down into Galilee they would have time to recollect themselves, and call to mind what he had often said to them there, that he should suffer and die, and the third day be raised again whereas while they were at Jerusalem, among strangers and enemies, they could not recover themselves from the fright they had been in, nor compose themselves to the due entertainment of better tidings. Note, [1.] All the meetings

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between Christ and his disciples are of his own appointing. [2.] Christ never forgets his appointment, but will be sure to meet his people with the promised blessing in every place where he records his name. [3.] In all meetings between Christ and his disciples, he is the most forward. He goes before you.

JAMIESON, "And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted a stronger word than Fear not in Matthew (Matthew 28:5).

Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified! the Nazarene, the Crucified.

he is risen; he is not here (See on Luke 24:5, Luke 24:6).

behold the place where they laid him (See on Matthew 28:6).

COFFMAN, "The Nazarene ... How unlike any human designation was this! When the Lord Jesus addressed Saul of Tarsus from glory, he said, "I am Jesus of Nazareth whom thou persecutest" (Acts 22:8). Just why the angels of God and Christ himself should have brought the name of that wretched Galilean village into such identifications cannot be fully known; but one thing was certainly in it, namely, a rejection of human value-judgments.

He is risen: he is not here ... Was this really true? The great heart of humanity has invariably received it as gospel truth, the wisest and best of all ages since then having concurred in the conviction that our Lord did in fact rise from the dead. There could have been no Christianity if he did not. The great historical witnesses of: (1) the calendar, (2) the Lord's Day, (3) the Lord's Supper, (4) Christian baptism, and (5) the progression of Christianity throughout history are perpetual and undying monuments to the fact of Jesus' resurrection. Not one of them has any explanation at all apart from the truth that Jesus did indeed rise from the dead.

Behold, the place where they laid him ... The angel here called attention to the undisturbed grave-clothes of Jesus. the evidence thus lying before them being sufficient to convince them of the resurrection. John elaborated this detail (John 20:1-10), indicating that it was the evidence which convinced him of the resurrection. The grave-clothes, having been applied by the winding of the whole body of Jesus in small medical-like bandages cut from the linen cloth, were intact, as if the body of the Lord was still encased therein, even the napkin being in a roll as if Jesus' head was still in it. Christ had risen through the grave-clothes in exactly the same manner that he had risen through the tomb. The angels had rolled away the stone not to let Jesus out, but to let the witnesses in! This is developed extensively in the parallel place in John (see my Commentary on John), and also in my Commentary on Mark, Mark 27:52.

REGARDING THE EMPTY TOMB

Satan has vexed himself endlessly regarding the phenomenon of the empty tomb. His emissaries have alleged that someone stole the body, or that the women

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mistakenly went to the wrong grave, or that Jesus walked out after a long swoon, etc., etc., endlessly; but all of the devices of the devil fail in the light of the facts: (1) that if the enemies of Christ had stolen the body, they would have used it to destroy the infant faith, and (2) that if the disciples had stolen it, it would have resulted in Christianity's having been founded upon a fraud, an assumption so monstrous that only a fool could believe it. There was nothing in heaven or upon earth that could have sent the last one of those apostles of Jesus up and down the Roman empire preaching Christ crucified and risen again, except the unqualified certainty that they were preaching the truth. Most of them, if not all, sealed their testimony with their blood; and the Spirit-filled church swept over the ancient empire like the breath of God himself. The empty tomb proved the resurrection of Christ, independently even of the remarkable epiphanies which followed.

COKE, "Mark 16:6. Be not affrighted The speech of the angel to the women, in this and the next verse,informs them, in a concise and emphatical manner, of every particular that might satisfy their affectionate curiosity, and dissipate their fears; for they were afraid to ask him any questions. Mr. West has observed, that the appearance of an angel upon this occasion was highly proper, nay, we may almost say, necessary. Jesus had but two days before been put to death by the rulers of the Jews, as an impostor; one, who by the authority of Beelzebub cast out devils, and, by assuming the character of the Messiah, blasphemed God. His sepulchre also was guarded by a band of soldiers, under the pretence of preventing his disciples from carrying on the imposture begun by their master, by stealing away his body, and giving out that he was risen from the dead, in consequence of what he had said before the crucifixion. Under these circumstances, the attestation of heaven was necessary, to shew that God, though he had suffered him to expire on the cross, had not forsaken him; but, on the contrary, had co-operated with him even in his sufferings, his death, and burial, and resurrection from the dead on the third day, having by the secret workings of his providence, and his Almighty power, accomplished in every point the several predictions of Jesus relating to each of those events; events which, at the time of those predictions, none but God could foresee, and which nothing less than his all-controuling power could bring about. The descent therefore of the angel, and his rolling away the stone, was a visible proof that the finger of God was in the great work of the resurrection, was a proper honour done to him who claimed to be the Son of God, and unanswerably refuted theimpious calumnies of those who, upon account of that claim, stiled him an impostor and blasphemer. The next thing to be considered in this matter is, the internal evidence which the several appearances of angels to the women,&c. carry along with them of reality and truth; for by some infidels they have been treated as mere illusions, and by others as downright falsehoods. That these appearances were illusions, the effects of superstition, ignorance, and fear, has been insinuated rather than asserted; but, I apprehend, has never been attempted to be proved. Waving therefore a vain search after arguments which I presume are not easy to be found, or they would have been produced by those who have so diligently laboured to ridicule the Christian faith, I shall proceed to lay down a few observations, tending to prove the reality and truth of these appearances of the angels to the women.

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The angel first seen by the women, was that described by St. Mark, in the form of a young man (sitting within the sepulchre) on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; at the sight of whom, the women (Mary and Salome) discovering great signs of fear, he saith unto them, Be not affrighted, &c. That th