Mark 16:9

Mark 16:9 Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. After Jesus arose from the dead, He first appeared to Mary Magdalene. She had a very good reason to be upset by Jesus's death. He had cast seven devils out of her. This should teach us that there is no one that is beyond redemption when they put their faith in the resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ. Verse ten adds, And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept. The disciples at that time were mourning and weeping when Mary Magdalene came to share the good news with them. She said Jesus was alive, and this is the message that we as followers of Christ have for the world today, and it is the most important message that we can proclaim. We as Christians have encountered the resurrected Lord spiritually, and we should have an urgent desire to share this good news with the world. Verse eleven continues, And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not. When the disciples heard Mary Magdalene's report, they didn't believe her, and many people will not believe us when we share the gospel today, but that should not keep us from doing so. The disciples were those closest to Jesus, whom He had spent a lot of time preparing for His coming death, burial and resurrection, and yet when it happened, they still didn't believe it. Being around the church and even reading and being taught about the Bible is not going to save anyone. Only a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will. Verse twelve states, After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. Jesus next appeared in another form to two disciples who were out walking. They were not gathered together in a place of worship with other believers, and people can still encounter Jesus that way today. Jesus Christ does not appear to all who meet Him today in exactly the same way. We must accept by faith that Jesus is Who He says He is when He calls us to Him. Verse thirteen adds, And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them. They also went and told the disciples and once again they refused to believe the report. In order to come to know Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, the reports of others are not enough. We must come to Him personally when He calls and accept Him as our Savior and Lord.

 

Mark 16:1

Mark 16:1 says, And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.  Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome came to prepare the body of Jesus for burial.  They had brought sweet spices to anoint Him, but they still did not understand Who Jesus really was.  They fully expected to find His body in the tomb.  If we are looking for Jesus today, we will not find Him in a tomb nor as just a historical figure.  He has risen, and lives eternally.  Verse two adds, And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. They got there at sunrise.  They had been forced to wait until then by the restrictions of the Sabbath.  Today, there are no restrictions on our coming to Jesus, so we should never put off doing so.  Verse three continues, And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?  They were wondering how they would get the stone rolled away in order to anoint His body.  The stone was large, and they didn't think they could move it.  Whatever stands between Jesus and us today, it is nothing that He can't move.  Verse four concludes, And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.  When they looked, the stone was moved away.  It still is today.  Verse five states, And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.  When the women went into the tomb, they didn't find the body of Jesus but found a young man sitting on the right side clothed in a long white garment, and they were afraid.  This was not at all what they were looking for, nor why they were there.  People today are still looking for Jesus in the wrong places, but He is still sending messengers to tell them the Good News.   Some may even be angels.  Verse six adds, And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.  He told them not to be afraid, because Jesus Christ had risen.  Because Jesus has risen, if we put our faith in Him as our Savior and Lord, we have no reason to be afraid.  Verse seven continues, But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.  The young man, or angel, told them to go their way and tell the disciples and Peter that Jesus had gone before them to Galilee, and they would see Him there, as Jesus had already told them they would.  I believe He singled out Peter because he was likely feeling very unworthy at this time after denying Jesus three times.  We, like Peter, may have denied Jesus at some time or another, but if we have accepted Him as our Savior and Lord, we are still His, and He still calls us to come follow Him.  Verse eight concludes, And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.  When the women left the tomb, they were very afraid and said nothing to anyone on the way to tell the disciples.  We cannot allow fear to keep us from sharing the gospel with everyone today if we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, and if you haven't, my prayer is that you will do so now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark 15:33

Mark 15:33 says, And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. While Jesus was on the cross, the land was dark from noon until three, which was also the fulfillment of a prophesy about the coming Messiah from Amos 8:9.  There was never a darker time in the history of the world than when Jesus died on the cross for the sins of all humanity, and that would include your sins and my sins personally.  Though Jesus died for the sins of all mankind in general, He also died for the sins of each individual personally.  Verse thirty-four adds, And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? At the ninth hour, or three p.m., Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me.” This was the interpretation of "Eloi, Eloi, lama sebachtani."  During those three hours of taking the sins of the world on Himself, I believe that Jesus was temporarily separated from the Heavenly Father.  I do not profess to be smart enough to explain how this could happen, but I accept by faith that it did.  God and sin cannot coexist, so when Jesus had the sins of the world on Him, he had to be separated from the Heavenly Father, at least in His humanity that He had taken on.  Verse thirty-five continues, And some of them that stood by, when they heard it, said, Behold, he calleth Elias. Verse thirty-six concludes, And one ran and filled a spunge full of vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink, saying, Let alone; let us see whether Elias will come to take him down. The people misunderstood what Jesus was saying, thinking He was calling on Elijah to save Him, though it was really very clear what He had said.  People still misinterpret the Bible today in order to discredit it, or in some cases to justify their actions.  Some people ran and got a sponge full of vinegar to give Him, but others said just leave Him alone and see if Elijah would save Him.  Though the people there said to wait and see if Elijah would save Jesus, Elijah never had that power.  Jesus could have saved Himself if He so desired, but He would have doomed mankind.  Verse thirty-seven declares, And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.  Instead, He cried out in a loud voice, "It is finished", as we see in John 19:30, and gave up the Ghost, or physically died.  He had accomplished what He came to do, which was to willingly die for the sins of mankind so that they might be acceptable by the Heavenly Father if they put their faith Him.  The soldiers nor the crowd took Jesus's life, though they and all of humanity were responsible for the necessity of His death.  Verse thirty-eight adds, And the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. The veil of the Temple was torn in half, from the top to the bottom.   Mankind could not remove the veil that separated people from God, but God did.  Since Jesus's death on the cross, nothing separates us from God except failing to accept Jesus Christ as one's personal Savior and Lord. 

 

Mark 15:21

Mark 15:21 And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.  On the way to Golgotha, which means, The place of a skull, Jesus was having difficulty carrying His cross.   Since He is the all-powerful Creator, the only reason this could have been true was because He actually was totally human at the same time.  We may be saved by grace as followers of Christ and be a part of God's family forever, but we are still subject to suffer from human frailties, even though we sometimes act as though we should be exempt.  If Jesus Christ Himself was not exempt from physical suffering and frailties, we shouldn't expect to be either. A Cyrenian named Simon was compelled to carry Jesus's cross.   None of the disciples got this privilege, because like Simon Peter, they had abandoned Him.  If we are called on to bear the burden of the cross spiritually today, will we count it as a blessing, or like the disciples then scatter when trouble comes? 

Verse twenty-two adds, And they bring him unto the place Golgotha, which is, being interpreted, The place of a skull.

Verse twenty-three continues, And they gave him to drink wine mingled with myrrh: but he received it not. When they got to Golgotha, they attempted to give Jesus wine mingled with myrrh, but He refused. The myrrh made the wine bitter, so even if it did lessen the pain some, it was still given as a form of punishment or disrespect for the person drinking it.  Sometimes, even things that should be pleasant can become bitter to Christians because they are mingled with sin, and we should therefore refuse them. 

Verse twenty-four concludes, And when they had crucified him, they parted his garments, casting lots upon them, what every man should take.  After Jesus was crucified, the soldiers divided His garments and cast lots as to determine who would be able to claim them. They were hoping to profit from Jesus's crucifixion.  Of course, Jesus no longer had need for them, and the only value they had for those who got them was a material value.   There was nothing mystical about the garments.   We need to be careful that we don't just attempt to follow Jesus for material reasons, nor expect material wealth from following Him.   We are still called on to take up our cross daily, which means to die to self-will and self-desire.  

Mark 15:14

Mark 15:14 says, Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done?  And they cried out more exceedingly, Crucify him.   Though he could find nothing evil that Jesus had done, he still asked the crowd about it.  They did not answer, but simply cried out, "Crucify Him." People will never be able to find any evil that Jesus has done, but many still in effect say “Crucify Him” by rejecting His sacrifice for them on that cross. Verse fifteen adds, And so Pilate, willing to content the people, released Barabbas unto them, and delivered Jesus, when he had scourged him, to be crucified.  Pilate gave in to the will of the people instead of doing what he knew was right, and even if we know that Jesus Christ died innocently for our sins, if we give in to the will of the world instead of accepting Him as our Savior and Lord, we are like Pilate.  Veres sixteen says, And the soldiers led him away into the hall, called Praetorium; and they call together the whole band.  After the crowd demanded that Barabbas be released and Jesus be crucified, the soldiers led Jesus into the hall called Praetorium.  They had a whole regiment to deliver Him, even though He was going willingly.  The whole lost world is still trying to kill Jesus's message to the world today, even though He willingly died for their sins.  Though the people in that day were successful in crucifying Jesus, it was only because He went willingly, and He will never do that again, so His redemption plan will never be defeated. Verse seventeen adds, And they clothed him with purple, and platted a crown of thorns, and put it about his head,  Verse eighteen continues, And began to salute him, Hail, King of the Jews!  The soldiers mockingly dressed Jesus in purple and put a crown of thorns on His head, saluted Him, and called Him the King of the Jews.  What they did to mock Jesus actually proclaimed Him for Who He is, the King of the Jews, and of all who put their faith in Him.  People today continue to mock Jesus being the only Savior of the world, but He always was and always will be.   Verse nineteen states, And they smote him on the head with a reed, and did spit upon him, and bowing their knees worshipped him.  The soldiers then scourged Jesus again, spit on Him, and then bowed their knees in a mock honor to Him.  One day, what they did mockingly will be done for real by everyone, but for too many people it will be done after they have rejected Him forever.  Verse twenty continues, And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple from him, and put his own clothes on him, and led him out to crucify him. After mocking Jesus some more, they stripped off the purple robes and put His own clothes back on Him, but He was still very much the King of the Jews, the eternal Messiah.  We still have two choices today.  We can either reject Jesus as the only way to salvation or we can accept Him as our personal Savior and Lord.   My prayer as always is that you will accept Him today if you have not done so.