Introduction: You are about to study the best news ever!
Jesus rose from the grave! Jesus promised His disciples in
Mark 14:25 that He would not drink “the fruit of the vine”
until He was in “the kingdom of God.” The implication was
that He would drink it with His disciples when they were
back together, but this time in heaven! He promised He would
be back, and now we get to study the exciting news that
Jesus rose from the grave! Let’s jump into our study of
Mark!
I. He is Not Here
A. Read Mark 16:1-2. Why did they wait until “the
Sabbath was past?” (They observed the Saturday
Sabbath as holy. They did not understand Jesus to
say that the Sabbath was a thing of the past.)
1. What were they planning on doing? (They
planned to “anoint” Jesus’ body.)
a. What does this say about their
understanding that Jesus would rise from
the dead?
2. How did they know where to find Jesus? (Read
Mark 15:46-47. They followed Jesus to where
Joseph of Arimathea placed Him in a tomb and
rolled a stone in front the entrance.)
B. Look again at Mark 16:1. Who is “Mary the mother
of James?” When we read Mark 15:47 we saw the
reference to “Mary the mother of Joses.” Are they
the same person? (Read Mark 6:3. Jesus’ mother was
also the mother of James and Joses.)
1. Why would Mark not call her “the mother
of Jesus?” (One commentary suggests that
Mark wants us to contemplate who she was.
That is not persuasive. I think Mark is
concerned about his description somehow
undercutting the divinity of Jesus.)
C. Read Mark 16:3. Since they knew of the stone, why
not bring some men with them? (Perhaps the
disciples were unwilling, because of fear. Perhaps
the women had not thought things through. Clearly,
they did not begin to know the problems they faced
based on events recorded in Matthew 27:64-66.)
D. Read Mark 16:4-5. Why were the women alarmed? (At
first, they might have thought that Jesus’ body
had been disturbed when they saw the tomb was
open. Most of the time when humans encounter an
angel they are alarmed. Perhaps that is the
explanation.)
E. Read Mark 16:6. What does the angel understand is
the source of their alarm? (That Jesus is gone.)
1. Why is the angel there? (Consider the depth of
Jesus’ love for them. After all He has gone
through, and His triumph over sin, He arranges
for the women to be comforted.)
a. Do you think Jesus worries about your
comfort?
F. Read Mark 16:7. Who else is Jesus concerned about?
(The disciples.)
1. Would you have special concern about them if
you were Jesus? (They had all abandoned Him.)
2. Why do you think the angel mentions Peter by name?
(Think about the attitude of our Lord as relayed by the angel. Peter
claimed to be the most faithful, but (except
for Judas), his betrayal was the worst. Jesus
is running after Peter. He wants to console
Peter.)
a. Can you fall so far that Jesus will not
run after you?
3. What other promise is Jesus fulfilling? (Read
Mark 14:28. He promised to meet with them in
Galilee after He rose.)
G. Read Mark 16:8. They had all the attributes of
fear. They “fled,” they were “trembling,” and they
did not speak. Why? (The events were overwhelming.
They are trying to understand.)
H. Read Matthew 28:8-10. Matthew adds that as the
women were fleeing, Jesus meets them and tells
them not to be afraid. Why would they be afraid
now? (Perhaps we have now come to the true source
of their alarm. They are overwhelmed by it
all. Remember they were with Jesus through His
last hours. They saw him entombed. These events
are too much to easily process.)
1. If you were making up this story, would you
include all of these comments about fear and
alarm? (No. We are given the real human
emotions of going through this experience.)
2. What if the women had completely accepted
Jesus’ statements about being killed and
rising from the dead? Would they have
confidently and joyfully taken this all in?
3. If you were Mark, would you stop your gospel
at this point?
II. He Appears
A. Before we discuss the texts that follow, it is
important to note an issue that is often raised.
Translations of the Bible that are based on the
earliest partial and complete copies of books are
the most reliable. No original books of the New
Testament exist. No originals of anything written
during, or a hundred years after, the life of
Jesus exist. Instead, what remain are copies of
copies of the originals. Because of human error,
unless there is some reason to doubt a particular
copy, the reasonable rule is that the older the
copy, the most likely it is to be correct. The
last 200 years have brought the discovery of many
additional and very ancient copies – which give us
the best evidence of what the Bible originally
said. Mark 16:9-20 is not found in two early
manuscripts. However, we are going to study those
verses for two reasons. First, other gospels
record similar information. Second, an early
church leader, Irenaeus, quoted from Mark 16:19.
Irenaeus lived from 120-205 AD. The early
manuscripts that omit Mark 16:9-20 were not copied
until hundreds of years later. That means that
this portion of Mark 16 was in use by Christians
very shortly after the original was written.
B. Read Mark 16:9-11. If you were a disciple, what
would you want to believe? Why would you
disbelieve the best news?
C. Read Mark 16:12-13. Is this just another account
of disbelief? Or, is this independently important?
(This reflects the “Road to Emmaus” account in
Luke 24 of Jesus appearing to two male disciples.
The general approach of the rabbis was to exclude
women as witnesses. Thus, this second rejection of
the truth from male witnesses shows a hardening of
the opposition to acceptance of this great news.)
D. Read Mark 16:14. What does Jesus do about the
disbelief? (First, He appears in person to prove
He has risen. Second, Jesus rebukes them for
“their unbelief and hardness of heart.”)
1. If the disciples stole Jesus’ body and were
making up His resurrection from the dead,
would Mark write something like this?
2. How can the disciples have a “hard heart”
about Jesus coming to life? Have they decided
that their three years with Jesus was a waste
of time? (I don’t think so. The rebuke is for
disbelieving the early reports. Now that Jesus
is with them all doubt is gone.)
III. He Commands
A. Read Mark 16:15-16. Is this also a command to us?
1. What “belief” is at issue here? (Central is
the belief that Jesus died for our sins and
was raised to life. That is the belief that
has been resisted by those Jesus is
addressing.)
B. Read Mark 16:17-18. What is the proof of belief?
(Divine power and divine protection.)
1. What would you say if members of your church
started showing these signs of belief? Would
Jesus need to rebuke you for “unbelief and
hardness of heart” (Mark 16:14)?
C. Read Mark 16:19-20. Does our story have a happy
ending? (Yes! Jesus went to heaven and sat down at
the right hand of God. But He did not leave His
disciples to fend for themselves. Jesus continued
to work with them.)
D. Friend, do you believe? Mark’s goal has been to
convince us that Jesus is God. To convince us that
Jesus came to die. And to convince us that He rose
to life so that we, who believe and are baptized,
could follow Him to heaven. If you do not believe,
why not make the decision to believe right now?
IV. Next week: We begin the study of the gospel of John.
Copr. 2024, Bruce N. Cameron, J.D. Scripture quotations are
from the ESV Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard
Version ), copyright 2001 by Crossway, a publishing
ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All
rights reserved. Suggested answers are found within
parentheses. If you normally receive this lesson by e-mail,
but it is lost one week, you can find it by clicking on this
link: http://www.GoBible.org. Pray for the guidance of the
Holy Spirit as you study.
