FOLLOWING FROM GALILEE TO GOLGATHA TO THE GRAVE
AND BEYOND
Follow The Leader – 7
Mark 16
INTRODUCTION:
Who was the most devoted follower of Jesus Christ prior to Pentecost? This may surprise some of you, but I would actually suggest that it may have been Mary Magdalene. How did I get there? Reading the DaVinci Code? Studying the Gospel of Thomas? Watching the Jesus’ Family Tomb documentary? No, it was none of those that led me to this conclusion. Rather it was from studying the Gospel of Mark.
I think it is rather ridiculous that some are suggesting today that the established church worked to cover up Mary Magdalene’s influence and devotion and deleted the so-called gospels that emphasized her role and replaced them with the four gospels we have in our Bibles today. The reason I think that is ridiculous is because the Gospel of Mark, which was written by Mark, but inspired perhaps even dictated by Peter, does absolutely nothing to diminish Mary Magdalene and enhance the apostles. In fact, it does exactly the opposite. This is one of the reasons I know that the gospel is accurate. If Peter were making up the story, he would have made up a story that made him look good rather than one that made him look like a coward.
Look at the record of Mary’s devotion found in Mark. When Jesus was hanging on the cross dieing a horrible death, where was Peter? Peter denied that he even knew Jesus and ran away. Where was Mary Magdalene? Mark 15:40-41, “Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.” These women had followed Jesus all the way from Galilee to Golgotha. They had cared for his needs in the past and they weren’t about to abandon him now, which was more than could be said for the disciples.
When Jesus died Mary was still there. After he died it seems that the rest of the women went back to wherever they were staying, but not Mary. She was still there when Joseph of Arimathea came to get his body for burial. Mark 15:47, “Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.” Luke 23:55, “The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it.” That verse tells us they did more than just tag along and see where the tomb was. They also must have went in and looked around the tomb and saw how his body was laid in the tomb. It is no stretch of the imagination to see these ladies who were used to caring for Jesus’ needs helping Joseph to wrap the body. Mary Magdalene had followed Jesus from Galilee to Golgotha and now even to the grave.
At dawn on the first day of the week where was Peter? He was still in hiding with the rest of the disciples. Where was Mary? She already was on her way back to the tomb. Mark16:1-2, “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb…”
When Jesus rose from the dead to whom did he first appear? You guessed it – Mary Magdalene. Mark 16:9, “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.” When Jesus came back from the dead he didn’t immediately go to the disciples. He didn’t reveal himself to the inner circle of Peter, James and John. No. He first went to Mary Magdalene. She was the one who had been faithful to follow him from Galilee to Golgotha to the grave and beyond.
Mary was the perfect choice to be the first person to give testimony to the resurrection of Christ. She watched as he was nailed to the cross. She watched as he died. She watched as he was taken down, wrapped in a cloth and buried in the tomb. She was the first to look into the empty tomb on Resurrection Sunday. And she was the first to see him alive from the dead.
So I ask you again. Who was the most devoted follower of Jesus Christ prior to Pentecost? The biblical evidence leaves only one choice. There is no hint of a cover up here. And we shouldn’t be ashamed of Mary Magdalene just because of some of the kooky revisionist histories that are being promoted today. She was obviously someone who loved the Lord very much. She was clearly someone who was very close to the Lord. His wife? I’m not buying any of that for a minute. Only in today’s sick, twisted world would sex be artificially inserted into their relationship.
Let’s look together at the evidence for the resurrection to which Mary Magdalene bore witness.
1. THE RESURRECTION WAS VERIFIED.
Mark 16:5-7, “As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” ’ ”
a) The Messenger’s Testimony
The women weren’t left to guess what might have happened to Jesus’ body because God had sent an angel to meet them there and explain things to them. They needed this supernatural verification of the resurrection because something like this had never happened before and it was the last thing they expected to find when they got to the tomb. We know that they were expecting to find a dead body because they had brought spices with them to complete the embalming process. They were expecting to find a closed and sealed tomb because they were worrying all the way to the graveyard about how they were going to get the stone out of the way so that they could get in.
However, when they got to the tomb they were stunned to find that an angel had rolled away the stone and he was waiting around to verify what had happened. The Lord who had been crucified had risen from the dead.
b) The Missing Body
The ladies didn’t merely have to take the angel’s word for it. In fact, he encouraged them to look around for themselves and see that the tomb was empty. He showed them the place in the tomb where Jesus’ body had been laid and he was obviously gone. This would have been particularly powerful for Mary Magdalene because she had went into the tomb with Joseph of Arimathea and had witness where his body had been laid and now it wasn’t there any more.
c) The Messianic Prophecy
After having them look around and verify that Jesus’ body was in fact gone, the angel reminded the ladies of a prophecy that Jesus had made concerning his resurrection and where he would rendezvous with his disciples after he came back to life.
Mark 14:27-28, “ ‘You will all fall away,’ Jesus told them, ‘for it is written: “I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.’ ”
The angel was reminding the ladies of the prophecy that Jesus had made concerning these very things in order to encourage them and to help them believe that this was actually happening. Jesus’ prophecy served as a further verification of his resurrection.
2. THE RESURRECTION WAS PERSONIFIED.
The resurrection was personified as Jesus began to appear to his followers. And he had a special purpose to fulfill in appearance he made. As has already been mentioned, Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene.
Jesus appeared to…
a) Mary Magdalene: To Reward Her Commitment
Mark 16:9, “When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons.”
I have already given the background demonstrating the unusual devotion and commitment this woman had to Jesus. She cared for him and his needs and she followed him where ever he went. When everyone else ran and hid she remained. As a reward for her determined devotion to the Lord, he granted her the privilege of being the first eyewitness to his resurrection. And he gave her the honor of being the first to testify of his resurrection to the disciples. Of course, continuing with the theme of the negative light in which the disciples are shown throughout this whole episode, they refused to believe what she told them.
I’m sure they easily dismissed her as merely an irrational woman who was hysterical over the tragic loss of this loved one. Jews at the time did not accept the testimony of women as being legally binding. This is another reason I know that this story was not made up. If the disciples had gotten together and concocted this whole story some years later, they certainly wouldn’t have told a story in which the women were the first eyewitnesses.
Then Jesus appeared to…
b) The 2 Disciples: To Restore Their Confidence
Mark 16:12-13, “Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.”
The ladies shouldn’t have felt too bad since the disciples didn’t believe these two men any more than they believed them. We don’t know who these disciples were, but they are almost assuredly the same two that Luke describes Jesus appearing to on the road to Emmaus. We know from Luke that one of them was named Cleopas.
Luke tells us that they were talking about the events of the crucifixion when Jesus approached them. They didn’t recognize him and when he asked them what they were talking about Luke said, “They stood still, their faces downcast” (Luke 24:17). They were clearly discouraged, if not down right depressed over what had happened to the one they had believed was the Messiah. Then Jesus began with the writings of Moses and all of the Prophets and began to explain to them what had really happened. He explained that all of this was foretold. They later testified about what happened to them while Jesus was doing this. “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us” (Luke 24:32).
When Jesus found them they were down in the dumps and discouraged, but he restored their confidence and hope in him. Then their eyes were opened and they realized that this stranger they had met on the road was really Jesus Christ himself. Then he simply disappeared and they were alone again. Filled with their new found confidence they immediately headed back to Jerusalem where they tracked down the disciples and told them that Jesus was alive.
Finally, Jesus appeared to…
c) The 11 Disciples: To Renew Their Commission
Mark 16:14-16, “Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.’ ”
Jesus needed to appear to the disciples to renew their commission and calling. When he had been arrested in the garden they had all scattered as Jesus had prophesied: “Strike the shepherd and the sheep will be scattered.” Now Jesus was coming to them as their resurrected shepherd to help them regroup. They had been hiding out behind locked doors afraid for their very lives and refusing to believe the testimony of those he sent to tell them that he was alive. It was becoming clear that if he didn’t go to them they weren’t going to get the courage up to venture out to Galilee for their rendezvous.
First, Jesus rebuked them for their unbelief. He had told them plainly that he was going to be executed and that three days later he was going to rise from the dead and meet them in Galilee. However, instead of believing him and heading for Galilee as soon as they heard that he was dead they were hiding in seclusion.
After criticizing them for their lack of faith he commissions them to go into all the world and spread the message. Jesus wants to be clear with them that their failure in this matter has not disqualified them for service. He still has great plans for them.
3. THE RESURRECTION WAS RATIFIED.
The resurrection of Christ had been verified and personified, but now it would be ratified by the effects of what happened as a result of it.
a) The Ascension of Christ
Mark 16:19, “After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God.”
According to the author of Hebrews this event ratified the superiority of Christ.
Hebrews 1:3b-4, “…he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So he became as much superior to the angels as the name he has inherited is superior to theirs.”
b) The Acceptance of the Commission
Mark 16:20a, “Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere…”
The disciples would not have accepted the commission and gone out preaching the gospel everywhere if they didn’t really believe that it was Jesus who had appeared to them back from the grave. Not only their acceptance of the commission, but also their willingness to carry it out at the cost of their own lives, tells me that this story is no made up story. If the disciples had made this up they wouldn’t be willing to lose their lives over it. Why would anyone sacrifice their life for a cause that they knew to be phony?
c) The Accompaniment of Confirmation
Mark 16:20b, “…and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.”
Suddenly the things that only Jesus had been able to do the disciples are now doing. Peter had tried to walk on the water, but he had sunk. The disciples had tried to cast out a demon while Jesus was on the Mount of Transfiguration, but they couldn’t. Now they are going around and healing the sick and casting out demons and even in some cases raising the dead. The power that Jesus imparted to his disciples proves that he was still alive. It proves that his power was not snuffed out on the cross.
These confirming signs and wonders proved that Jesus was still alive and that these disciples were his handpicked apostles and that their teaching was, therefore, authoritative.
CONCLUSION:
If you have found the evidence to be as overwhelming as I have, and if you have never accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, then I want to give you the opportunity to do so now. Would you pray with me.
