“And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. ³ And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”⁴ And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. ⁵ And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. ⁶ And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” ⁸ And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” Mark 16:2-8

The earliest manuscripts end at Mark 16:8. I like this ending because it leaves us with a conundrum. If the women did return from the tomb in terror and amazement, and said nothing to anyone, then we have an interesting dilemma – because obviously someone told someone else. Perhaps this Gospel ends this way because, since we can only deduce that obviously someone told someone else, then we, as the reader are compelled to do the same. The longer ending of Mark is difficult to read and seems to be in a different style of writing.  But, no matter the case, we are left with a decision – do we go home and keep this good news to ourselves, afraid of what others might think and say? Do we live our lives reflecting the Gospel message of the good news of the resurrection, or do we live thinking it is just a fairytale? Do we go forth proclaiming the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ to all who need to hear it—or are we ashamed because others will make fun of us?

We are part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. The Evangelical means “Good News”—the good news of Jesus Christ. We have a choice—live it and love it—or leave it. I am choosing to embrace this good news and live it out in my live every day.

Pastor Dave

“And it was the third hour when they crucified him. ²⁶ And the inscription of the charge against him read, “The King of the Jews.” ²⁷ And with him they crucified two robbers, one on his right and one on his left. ²⁹ And those who passed by derided him, wagging their heads and saying, “Aha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days,³⁰ save yourself, and come down from the cross!” ³¹ So also the chief priests with the scribes mocked him to one another, saying, “He saved others; he cannot save himself. ³² Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may see and believe.” Those who were crucified with him also reviled him.” Mark 15:25-32

As Jesus hangs on the cross, the people cry out to him “…come down from the cross now, so that we may see and believe.” Coming down from the cross may have been quite a sight, and may have brought some to faith, but Jesus refused to give signs or commanded people not to tell anyone, because he did not want people to believe in him only for the miracle cures, the other healings, or great miracles. His resurrection gives a more compelling reason to believe, yet many still choose not to believe because it requires something that is more difficult to grasp – this thing called faith. What is faith? We can have faith, lose faith, think faith is elusive. Faith is not tangible, and it can be rather fleeting. We do not need to see to believe, for we will never be able to gather enough tangible evidence to convince people that Christ was the Messiah and that the resurrection actually happened.  All that we need to do is to show them the church – its existence is enough to bolster our faith and should be proof enough. If there was nothing to this cross and the resurrection, then churches of Christ would have died off centuries ago—just like Christ. But it has not died—and has continued to live in the faith of Christ for two thousand years.

Pastor Dave