Lent Gospel: Waiting – Day 39 – Mark 16:1-8

Lent Gospel is a campaign for people to read through the whole of Mark’s Gospel during Lent, in 40 short readings. Helpful notes on each day's reading are available from www.usefulbible.com/lent-gospel; and you can download the whole series in PDF or Kindle format (it's free - just right-click on the links then select ‘save as...’ to download). Of course, it doesn’t have to be for Lent... why not begin now?

 

 

Last part: Burying – Day 38 – Mark 15:42-47

Waiting – Day 39 – Mark 16:1-8

Waiting

·       Read: Mark 16:1-8

There was a custom to put spices on a dead body. This was a final opportunity to show love and devotion to a person who had died. But it was also a statement of faith. The spices acted as a preservative. They would preserve the body, albeit in a token way, for the day when God will raise the dead to life.

Joseph of Arimathea had already provided sackloads (literally!) of spices for that purpose. But another’s act of devotion is not your own. So, after waiting for the Sabbath to end, these women bought what they could afford so that they too could express their love for Jesus.

The women did not know how they would gain entry to the tomb. They did not expect to find that the stone was already rolled to one side. And when the angel greeted them, they were alarmed!

The angel’s message was good news. It confirmed what Jesus had often said to them. ‘You will see him,’ said the angel, ‘just as he told you’.

The women’s reaction was hardly one of faith: ‘trembling… bewildered… afraid.’

But they would not be waiting for much longer.

Next part: Rising – Day 40 – Mark 16:9-20

Index: Lent Gospel: Reading Mark's Gospel for Lent

Useful Bible website: homepage

 

© 2012, Keith Simons.