“9 Early on the first day of the week, after He had risen, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had driven seven demons. 10 She went and reported to those who had been with Him, as they were mourning and weeping. 11 Yet, when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it. 12 Then after this, He appeared in a different form to two of them walking on their way into the country. 13 And they went and reported it to the rest, who did not believe them either.”

Mark 16:9-13

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We are now into the much debated end of Mark’s gospel. We usually will see a note that reads, “These verses do not appear in the oldest and best manuscripts of Mark’s Gospel.” and so we need to keep that in mind as we read. 

What we do find is a group of people dealing with the range of emotions that mourning and disappointment brings. We don’t need the ‘oldest and best manuscripts’ to speculate about what the disciples must have been going through. Mourning is real. Death robs. Pain is a part of loss, and as Christians, we understand that we have the answer to that pain. 

Jesus called the Holy Spirit ‘The Comforter’ for a reason. We celebrate His passion and ressurrection every week when we take communion…for a reason. Death is not the great enemy for us. Death has been defeated, the grave’s gaping maw has been subdued. We have hope in the middle of what everyone else calls unbeatable odds. The death rate remains at 100% after all these years, but we have found the loophole, even if it seems too good to believe. 

With the emotional turmoil that the disciples had just been through, it’s no wonder that they had problems registering what was going on, Thomas’ reputation is forever haunted by his initial reaction to this news. He is the ‘Doubter.’ But the amazing news is that an empty grave is undeniable. The lives the disciples lived following this news and their witness of the resurrected Christ stand as evidence for the truth that Jesus is alive and that He stands as the victor over death and the grave. He is the answer to our sadness and pain and the cure for mourning. Jesus is better news than we ever deserve to hear. He is beyond our comprehension, and so a life of faith is what naturally follows. 

By their own eyes and then continued by faith, the disciples would take the world by storm and begin shaping the rest of human history in a way that no dead man could ever manage. Not by force, or by the sword, but with compassion, love, mercy, grace and in the truth that He has risen! He has risen indeed!