Mark 16:6-7
The
entertainment industry loves universal reactions. They want something that gets
everybody reacting the same way. They can use that reaction to their advantage.
If it is a universal negative reaction, then their product can solve it! If is
a good reaction, then their product gets connected to images of their product.
They try to find emotional responses that as many people as possible have when
presented with a repeatable stimulus.
There
is one reaction that we see repeatedly in the Scriptures. Every time a being
from Heaven shows up, there is fear. We usually identify these creatures as
angels, God’s messengers. When they show up, people always react in fear,
visible fear. This is the kind of reaction advertisers could use!
The
problem with this is that you can never predict when angels are going to show
up. They just won’t respond to the advertisers’ advertisement for angel actors.
They won’t send resume’s and they don’t appear in headshot photos. Angels seem
like uncooperative creatures!
Angels
are not the Precious Moments creatures we have created here in the United
States. We wouldn’t want to invite them to spend a few hours playing with our
children in the back yard. We probably wouldn’t like having figurines made four
our mantels, unless we collected warrior figures.
Angels,
besides bringing messages, messages that always start with “don’t be afraid”,
they fight battles on God’s behalf. They show up and win decisively. And they
are efficient in their killing.
An
angel shows up inside the tomb where Jesus’ body should be. These women have
come to finish the burial and this angel is where they don’t expect any life.
But the angel tells them to stop being afraid, to stop fearing. I’m not sure
telling someone to not be afraid really helps. If fear has struck, it can stick
around for some time.
So
what message does this angel bring? He starts by stating the facts. He wants
them to know that he knows what they know. They are here for Jesus. He was
crucified. Those are the facts as the women know them. He makes sure they are
on the same page of music.
And
then he brings them up to speed on what he knows. He knows much more than they
know. Jesus isn’t dead anymore. He is alive. He isn’t there in the tomb. The
place is empty.
Notice
that the angel tells them in short statements. He tells them in several
different ways. He is risen. He is not here. The place is empty. If He is
risen, He could still be there, but He isn’t.
He is going to meet the disciples in their old stomping ground. This is
some good news, news that might be hard to swallow. I can see the puzzled look
in their eyes. This does not compute.
They
came ready to finish the burial, and now a terrifying angel has told them Jesus
is alive and will be seen by the disciple back in Galilee. And if they had been
paying attention, this is what Jesus said would happen all along. Somehow they
had missed it.
The
first people to carry the message of the Resurrection are these women. Jesus
often picks people that we don’t expect to be His vessels. Not many wise, Paul
says, are called. These women were not among the expected, just like the
disciples. None of them should have been in any position to be used by the
LORD, and yet this is exactly what happens, and the world is changed.