“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.”
Mark 16:6
Notice that it was an angel from heaven who tells the women that Jesus has risen. Mary did not go into the tomb, find it empty, and say to Salome. “Jesus must have risen from the dead.” That thought did not even occur to the women. It was the angel who told them.
That’s important because some people think faith is about creating your own reality. The theory goes something like this: the disciples had such an intense desire for Jesus to be with them that they created this reality in their minds.
But what Mark tells us here makes that suggestion impossible. The women went to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus. Their minds were not filled with thoughts of Him being alive, but with Him being dead. The issue that dominated their minds on the journey was, Who would move the stone? And even when they found the tomb empty, they had to be told that Jesus had risen. Then, even after the angel told them, they were bewildered, terrified, and silent.
Maybe you’ve had the experience of sharing the gospel with someone, and afterwards they responded, “Well, that’s just your interpretation.” The resurrection was not the women’s interpretation. It was God’s explanation, revealed to them (and to us) by the angel.
Have you ever said (or heard), “That’s just your interpretation.”?
