Resurrection Faith MARCH 27. Session Preparation

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1 4 MARCH 27 Resurrection Faith Mark 16:1-8 The objectives of this session are to help participants: delve into the details in Mark s gospel about what happened when Jesus followers discovered that he had been raised. explore the reaction of the women at the tomb. rejoice in the risen Christ. explore ways of proclaiming the Easter message. Session Preparation As you prepare to teach, spend time in prayer, asking for help in witnessing to your faith as you teach. Pray that each person in the group will experience a deepening of faith as he or she contemplates the resurrection. Have available Bibles, chart paper or writing board, pens or pencils, and markers. For the Closing, bring Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW) or the hymnal your church uses. Before the group begins to read and discuss the biblical text, take time to discuss the Beginnings question on page 33 in the participant book, as suggested on page 31 in this leader guide. 27

2 28 Bible Text Overview In Mark 8:31, 9:31, and 10:33-34, Jesus predicted that he would die and then rise after three days. By Hebrew reckoning, Friday was the first day of the death-to-resurrection time period. Saturday (the Sabbath) was the second day, and Sunday (the first day of the week) was the third day. The third day began with sunset on the Sabbath (the Sabbath itself began at sunset on Friday). 16:1 The women Anointing with spices the body of a person who had died was not to embalm (prevent decay) but to perfume. It was an act of devotion. In Mark 14:3-9, a woman anointed Jesus body prematurely for burial. Now the women at the tomb find that they are too late to anoint Jesus he has already been raised from death. Normally, the witness of women was not held in high esteem in Judaism. This earliest Gospel does not hesitate to emphasize that it was a group of women who were truthful witnesses. By listing names, Mark is emphasizing the truth of these eyewitnesses. The same women witnessed the death on the cross, the burial, and the empty tomb (15:40, 47; 16:1). Mark identifies these women as Mary Magdalene (that is, Mary of Magdala, a small fishing town on the Sea of Galilee), Mary the mother of James, and Salome. The accounts of the crucifixion and resurrection in the four Gospels differ concerning the women who witnessed the crucifixion and who came to the tomb on Sunday morning. Matthew 27:56, 61 lists those who witnessed the crucifixion as Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee. In Matthew 28:1 the two women who go to the tomb on Sunday morning are Mary Magdalene and the other Mary. Luke s gospel tells us that the women who supplied the needs of Jesus in his ministry were Mary Magdalene (Luke 8:2); Joanna, the wife of

3 Chuza, Herod s steward; and Susanna (Luke 8:3). Of these, Luke records that Mary Magdalene and Joanna, plus Mary the mother of James and other women, went to the tomb on Easter morning (Luke 24:10). John 19:25 says that the women who witnessed the crucifixion were Jesus mother and her sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. But John tells us that only Mary Magdalene came to the tomb on Sunday morning and encountered the risen Jesus, who spoke to her (John 20:1-18). While the Gospels disagree on the number and names of the women, all agree that one or more women went to the tomb and heard the news of the resurrection early on the first day of the week. All four record Mary Magdalene as one of those who went to the tomb. 16:2-4 Who will roll away the stone? Mark and Matthew speak of one angel present at the tomb; Luke and John of two. One wise commentator suggests the discrepancy is of no consequence there were millions of angels to herald the resurrection. In Matthew, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary witness an earthquake and the descent of the angel, who rolls back the stone. 16:5-6 He has been raised Matthew understands the figure at the tomb to be an angel. This may be what Mark intends, although he calls him a neaniskos, the same term used in 14:51 to describe the young man clothed in a linen cloth. While the Gospels name different messengers, the message is the same: He has been raised. Verse 5 reports that the young man is seated, which is the posture for authoritatively speaking or teaching. Shining white clothes are the sign of a heavenly being. the Greek ekthambeomai ( alarmed ) in verse 5 means fear and wonder, utter amazement, shock, and astonishment or distress. The emotion is intense. Dread and terror are appropriate in the presence of the divine. 29

4 In verse 6, the Greek verb ēgerthē he has been raised is passive; that is, God has raised Jesus from the dead. The place where they laid him (v. 6) is the stone shelf in the tomb on which Jesus body had been placed. 16:7 The commission In verse 7, Mark includes specific mention of Peter. In 1 Corinthians 15:5, Paul tells us that Jesus first postresurrection appearance was to Peter (Cephas). Galilee has a special place in Mark s gospel, as the region where Jesus resided (in Capernaum), preached the kingdom of God, called the first disciples, and did much of his healing and teaching. The risen Jesus will now meet his disciples in Galilee. 16:8 Amazement and fear The women s reaction to the news of the resurrection may simply be terror or it may be awe in the face of God s amazing work or, perhaps, both. The abrupt ending of Mark s gospel at verse 8 is a puzzle to biblical scholars today, as it was also to scribes in the early centuries. In Greek the sentence in verse 8 seems to break off in the middle with the word gar (for). Some early scribes attempted to complete Mark s thought. The NRSV includes The Shorter Ending of Mark (16:8b) and The Longer Ending of Mark (16:9-20). Scholars agree that these endings were later additions, probably by scribes who knew the resurrection stories in Matthew and Luke, which were written some fifteen to twenty-five years after Mark. Verses 9-20 are not in the earliest manuscripts, and their writing style is unlike Mark s. Some manuscripts have the shorter ending instead, but its words also are in a different style from that of Mark. Did Mark actually include some post-resurrection narratives? If so, what happened to them? Was the ending of the scroll accidentally torn off very soon after it was written? (Neither Matthew nor Luke, both of whom used Mark s gospel extensively as a basis for their own Gospels, seems to have 30

5 known of such an ending.) Was Mark interrupted, possibly by the Neronian persecution, and so failed to finish the Gospel? Did Mark die prematurely? Was the conclusion of the Gospel deliberately suppressed? On the other hand, some scholars believe that Mark ended the narrative at verse 8 to stress the reality of divine power and glory shown in the resurrection fear, trembling, and silence are appropriate in the presence of almighty God. We will probably never know the real reason that Mark s gospel ends so abruptly. Nevertheless, it is clear that the Gospel does not end in tragedy; Jesus rose and the message of the risen Christ was given to his followers. Questions for Discussion Turn to page 33 in the participant book. Beginnings (5 8 minutes) 1. Read the question aloud and ask each participant to respond with one word or phrase. List responses on chart paper or the board. Welcome all answers, whether religious (Jesus, worship, hymns, joy, Christ s lordship) or more secular (family, dinners, candy, flowers, springtime, travel). Some may even be negative (too much work, hot kitchen, traffic jams). For some participants, Easter may mean sorrow a loved one died this year and is not here to celebrate; they may find the joy of others to be jarring. Keep this list to use again during the discussion of The Word Today and during the Closing. Exploring the Word (20 26 minutes) 1. Clearly the women were not expecting the resurrection, in spite of Jesus predictions and assurances. The fact that they were taking spices to anoint a dead body is proof that they had no idea what they were about to encounter. 31

6 Invite adults to consider the emotions of these friends who had just lost their beloved leader sadness, raw grief, determination to do one last thing for their Lord, possibly anger at those responsible for Jesus death, perhaps fear for their own safety. 2. They expected to find a large stone that would be impossible for them to move by themselves. Inside the tomb they expected to find the wrapped body they last saw on Friday afternoon. 3. There are two parts to the angel s message. The first is the pronouncement that Jesus has been raised from the dead. The second is the commission to tell the disciples and Peter that they will see the risen Jesus in Galilee. 4. Invite group members to offer their ideas about this. This is an assurance that the very Jesus they saw crucified, dead, and buried is the same Jesus who has been raised. 5. To encourage a deeper conversation, ask What else? several times. The women have encountered the divine and the supernatural, and in the Bible, fear and awe accompany such encounters. Fear and awe in the presence of the supernatural has been recorded in Mark 4:41; 5:15, 33; 6:50; 9:6. For a response of running away, see Daniel 10:7. The Word Today (20 26 minutes) 1. If your group is large, form pairs or groups of three to discuss this question. Emphasize that there are no right or wrong answers. Likely responses include: Christ s ongoing presence with us, the promise of eternal life, comfort in times of grief, assurance of Christ s eternal reign. 2. Expect that the joyful but distracting things named may be the very things people often associate with Easter family, dinners, candy, flowers, travel, guests, parades, egg hunts. Refer back to the list on the chart or board from Beginnings. Are any of these items things that might distract from focusing on the central message of Easter? Emphasize that by ourselves we cannot totally avoid distractions. We 32

7 need the help of the Holy Spirit to fully worship the risen Lord. 3. Encourage participants to be practical in their suggestions some ways of telling the good news will be those related to the church, such as Sunday school teaching, singing in the choir, and engaging in social ministry. Explore, as well, ways of speaking and witnessing at work or school, in leisure situations, and in the family. Invite participants to say what Closing comes to their minds now when they think of Easter. List responses on the chart paper or board beside the list made in Beginnings and invite participants to reflect silently on whether or how items have changed. Ask a volunteer to read aloud 1 Corinthians 15:3-11. Read together or sing in unison Thine Is the Glory (ELW 376). Close by praying together the prayer on page 34 of the participant book. 33