Sunday School Lesson 13 - Mark 15:42-47; 16-1-8 - THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD, PART II
BACKGROUND: Last week, in Mk. 14:3-11, 32-36, we heard Mark reports three separate episodes during the last week of Jesus' life: the first took place at the house of Simon the leper in Bethany, where, as a symbol of His coming death, a woman anointed His head with pure nard, an incredibly expensive perfume/ointment; then we heard the detail of Judas Iscariot's betrayal of Jesus to the chief priests. We ended the lesson with Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane as he prepared Himself to face arrest, humiliation, agonizing pain, and ultimately, death on a cross.
This week, in Mk. 42:47; 16:1-8, we will cover "The Greatest Story Ever Told, Part II," the resurrection of Jesus Christ exactly as He predicted it. We know that that Jesus uttered His last breath and died after spending approximately six hours nailed to the cross at Golgotha (place of the Skull). His death was confirmed by the Roman soldier who pierced His side with a spear, allowing blood and water to drain to the ground (Jn. 19:33-34). Roman custom was to leave a body on the cross to be ravaged by carrion-eating birds, paticularly in cases of people technically executed for the capital crime of treason. However, Jewish law forbade it, on the basis that leaving a "hanged" man on a tree (a cross in this case) would constitute a curse on the land (Deut. 21:22-23). This is where we come into today's lesson.
Read Mark 15:42-47 - THEY LAID HIM IN A TOMB
42 When evening had already come, since it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, 43 Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself also waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. 44 Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. 45 And after learning this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph. 46 Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been cut out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching to see where He was laid.
v. 42: " When evening had already come, since it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath" - It's Friday afternoon, Jesus died around 3:00 p.m. and is still nailed to the cross, and the Sabbath begins at sundown, around 6:00 p.m. that time of the year. Under Jewish law, once the Sabbath began, burial preparations were forbidden. Despite the Roman custom of leaving bodies on the cross as a warning, Pilate is aware of Jewish sensibilities and also unconvinced if Jesus' guilt.
v. 43: "Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself also waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus" - Joseph of Arimathea was a wealthy member of the Jewish Council who is mentioned in all four gospels, which collectively tell us that he was a disciple of Jesus who kept it secret because of his fear of the Council (Jn. 19:38), that he had not agreed to the council's plot against Jesus (Lk. 23:51), and that he believed in the kingdom of God preached by Jesus (Lk. 23:51). Here, in an act of great boldness and courage, he goes to Pilate and asks for Jesus' body. We need to appreciate the huge personal risk Joseph took in requesting the burial of a man despised by his peers.
v. 44-45: "Now Pilate wondered if He was dead by this time, and summoning the centurion, he questioned him as to whether He was already dead. 45 And after learning this from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph." - It wasn't uncommon for crucifixion victims to linger two or three days before dying, but Jesus only lasted six hours because He voluntarily gave up His life. The centurion who confirmed Jesus' death to Pilate might have been the same one who expressed faith in v. 39. And once Jesus' death was confirmed, Pilate released the body to Joseph of Arimathea. We should notice that this event effectively eliminates any question of whether Jesus was really dead. The bottom line is that Jesus' death is a fact that was certified by the Roman government.
v. 46: "Joseph bought a linen cloth, took Him down, wrapped Him in the linen cloth, and laid Him in a tomb which had been cut out in the rock; and he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb" - Joseph most likely had some help from servants during this process (Nicodemus is named in Jn. 19:40). Luke mentions that the tomb was a new one that had been hewn out of solid rock (Lk. 23:53) and Matthew adds that a "great stone" was rolled into place to seal it (Mt. 27:60).
v. 47: "Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses were watching to see where He was laid" - These two women had been faithful followers of Jesus since his Galilean ministry and had followed Him to Jerusalem. The second Mary is sometimes referred to as the "other" Mary (Mt. 28:1). These women witnessed Jesus crucifixion (Mk. 15:40), then watched His body being sealed in a tomb. The second bottom line is that two eye witnesses (who also saw the crucifixion) attested to the fact that Jesus dead body was sealed in a tomb.
Note on Mark 16: The earliest and most reliable manuscripts of Mark's gospel end at verse 8. A majority of Bible scholars over the ages believe that verses 8-20 in later manuscripts were added by someone other than Mark and for that reason are not reliable. If we ignore those verses (and in my opinion, we should), it means that no resurrection appearances are reported in this gospel. From this we can only deduce that any resurrection appearances that may have been written by Mark have been lost. Mark's belief in the resurrection is substantiated in Chapter 16, vv. 1-8, where he reports the empty tomb and the appearance of an angel to Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the lesser (one of the twelve disciples), and Salome and informs them that Jesus has risen and then instructs them to tell the disciples that they will see Jesus in Galilee. The Gospel simply ends there.
Read Mark 16:1-2 - THEY CAME TO THE TOMB
1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might come and anoint Him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
v. 1a" "When the Sabbath was over" - Although the Sabbath ended at sundown the day after the crucifixion, the women delayed going to the tomb in order to purchase the burial spices and wait until they could do the needed preparations in the early morning sun.
v. 1b: "Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought" - Earlier Mark reported that all three of these women witnessed the crucifixion (Mk. 15:40), and then told us that Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James both witnessed the body of Jesus being sealed in the tomb (Mk. 15:47). The actions of these women present a glaring contrast to the conduct Jesus' disciples, who all had fled and were still in hiding.
v. 1c-2: "so that they might come and anoint Him. 2 And very early on the first day of the week, they *came to the tomb when the sun had risen." - Unlike the Egyptian embalming process, Jews customarily anointed the body of a decedent with perfumed oils in order to mask the odor of decomposition. Since Jesus had been dead over 36 hours, the odor would have been quite strong.
Read Mark 16:3-4 - THE STONE HAD BEEN ROLLED AWAY
3 They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?" 4 And looking up, they *noticed that the stone had been rolled away; for it was extremely large.
v. 3: "They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?" - Such stones typically weighed over a ton and were designed to deter grave robbers. For these three women, moving it would have been an impossibility.
v. 4: "And looking up, they *noticed that the stone had been rolled away; for it was extremely large" - There's no mention of a guard here as in Mt. 27:62-66. While we aren't told who rolled the stone away but, this is a "divine impassive" that implies an activity of God.
Read Mark 16:5-7 - HE HAS RISEN
5 And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. 6 But he *said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him. 7 But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.'"
v. 5a: "And entering the tomb," - Most tombs had a small entry portal that required a person to stoop down in order to enter it.
v. 5b: "they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe;" - Although Mark offers no introduction, Mt. 28:2-3 identifies Him as an angel.
v. 5c: "and they were amazed (alarmed in some translations)" - Considering they had watched Jesus suffer and die on a cross and were coming to the tomb in a state of grief expecting to find a corpse-they are quite literally taken aback to find themselves in the presence of an angelic being.
v. 6: "But he *said to them, "Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him" - The phrase, "He had risen," is a divine passive verb, meaning that God took an active role and raised Jesus from the dead. This divine messenger simply confirms that Jesus has fulfilled His predictions that He would rise from the dead and points to the empty space where He had been laid. Jesus' resurrection represented far more than a return to life; unlike Lazarus (Jn. 11: 38-53), Jesus had been raised in a glorified state with a body that would live forever, what Paul referred to as the "first fruits of the resurrection" (1 Cor. 15:20), and by faith, so will we.
v. 7: "But go, tell His disciples and Peter, 'He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.'" - These three women stand as witnesses of Christ's crucifixion, burial, empty tomb, and now, the divine message of His resurrection. Mark's report about these women as the first witnesses to Jesus' resurrection was noteworthy, since the testimony of women was not always given credibility in the first-century context.
TRUTH: The death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not a theory or an opinion but is a historical fact based upon the testimony of eye-witnesses. The resurrection is central to everything we believe in the Christian faith, and this chapter shows us that it isn't just something we hope is true but is a historical fact based on solid evidence. In this chapter of Luke, verses 1-3 establish that three women who witnessed Jesus' death and burial also saw the empty tomb. So they could have made no mistake. In verses 4-7 these same witnesses are informed by two men, who happened to be angels, that Jesus is not here but had risen and reminded them that all of these events were in line with what Jesus had said must happen and reflects the fact that Jesus' death and resurrection fulfilled OT prophecies and were in accord with God's will. Verses 8-11 established that once the women "remembered' what Jesus had predicted, they ran to tell the 11 apostles, but at that point in time the apostles did not believe them because the meaning was hidden from their minds. Finally, in verse 12, Peter ran to the tomb and saw the linen wrappings but no body, which provided definitive visual evidence that the body had been there but was there no longer, even though the fact that God had raised Jesus from the dead had not fully registered with him.
PRAYER: LORD GOD, we thank you that the resurrection is far more than a comforting story but is a historical fact, something we know to be true. We thank you, LORD God and Father, that you sent your Son in the flesh to live in the midst of a sinful and faithless people and then allowed Him to die a criminal's death on the cross in order to pay the penalty for our sins. Help us God, individually and as a church, to show our appreciation for Your unmerited mercy and grace by demonstrating the same unconditional love shown by Jesus...to each another-and, LORD, to the people right outside the doors of this building who desperately need Jesus as their Lord and Savior. I ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ and for His glory, AMEN.
