Empty Tomb & Empty Response?

2/27/25 Bible Thought (Mark 16)

Life is filled with surprises, but no greater surprise has ever come than the one in Mark 16. A handful of ladies go to the tomb of the Lord Jesus, wondering how they’ll move the stone away. To their astonishment, the stone has already been moved away! Not only this, but in the tomb, they don’t find Jesus’ body. He’s missing. Instead, they find a young man with a white robe, an angel. They’re told to go and tell the disciples that He is risen, but their initial encounter comes to an end with the summary, “And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (Mk. 16:8).

Now, if you use a modern translation of the Bible, you’ll find a comment that the earliest manuscripts don’t contain verses 9-20. Some manuscripts also contain a different ending after verse eight that is shorter than the traditional one. What is true in all accounts is that the Lord Jesus is raised from the dead and the tomb is empty. What is unique is the latter responses of His followers.

We know from Matthew’s account, Luke’s account, John’s account, and even Paul’s account in 1 Corinthians 15 that the Lord Jesus was not only raised from the dead but that He appeared to many. So, the resurrection isn’t in question. His appearances to His followers, even up to 500 at one time (see 1 Cor. 15:6) aren’t in question. The question that scholars wrestle with is how Mark actually ended his Gospel account. With greater ancient manuscript availability in the last hundred years or so, there is a question as to whether or not verses 9-20 were original. This is a field of study known as textual criticism, something that countless scholars and Bible-believing Christians dive into that is far from my area of expertise. So, if the longer ending wasn’t there originally, why would it be there now, you might ask.

Consider how Mark’s Gospel would have ended with a cliffhanger if we look only at verse eight, and how that might feel emptier than the tomb. Jesus is raised from the dead and the ladies are told to go and tell the disciples the good news,“But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you” (Mk. 16:7). He is alive! Hallelujah! Share the news! Tell everyone! The One that the disciples had abandoned in disappointment has come back, He’s not dead but alive! The story’s not over!

To which, the first episode closes, “and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid” (Mk. 16:8). Anticlimactic, right? We want to know the ending. We want to know that they obeyed and shared the good news. We want to hear of Jesus’ appearing to the disciples and the great commission and the ascension and all the rest. But perhaps Mark originally didn’t want all that there and He wanted to leave us with a cliffhanger. Again, I’m not the one sifting through Greek manuscripts, but there are reasons to conclude that the longer ending may or may not have been added by a later scribe who didn’t like the cliffhanger by consolidating the accounts from the other Gospels. Again, the resurrection isn’t in question, and truly the appearances afterwards aren’t in question. Neither is the great commission in question. All these things can be found elsewhere, so we don’t have to worry about doctrines being taken out or anything like this, this isn’t conspiratorial, and again I won’t say for certain if it should or shouldn’t be there because that’s not my field of expertise. Either way, the first episode ends at verse eight and that’s what I want to focus on today.

To this, my favorite seminary professor had something interesting to say. When he preached on Mark 16, he dropped the text at verse eight, and then said, “So, what’re you going to do about it?” There is the greatest news of all that the Christ has risen from the dead. The tomb is empty! Will you go home in fear, or have faith?

Imagine how the world would be different if the ladies who left the tomb in fear had never ended up obeying. We know regardless of what one believes about the longer ending of Mark, that they ultimately did end up going. Thank God! But if fear, not faith, was the final word, would they have ever told the disciples? In all of the Gospel accounts, the women were the first to hear the good news. They were the ones who would end up telling the disciples. Had the women not obeyed, and then if the early church wouldn’t have obeyed the great commission, would we have any knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection today? The work of salvation was entirely accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ, but the message of salvation was then entrusted to His church. Will we continue in obedience today to proclaim the gospel to the world and ensure that future generations will hear of His saving love upon Calvary and His subsequent resurrection, if He continues to tarry?