Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
General Christian
Relationships and Religion
“They Were Afraid”

“They Were Afraid”

Last updated on: November 4, 2022 at 9:50 am by Rick Rice

“They Were Afraid” 2022-11-04T09:50:15-04:00 Rick Rice

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Scripture:

Job, chapters 26-27; Mark, chapters 15-16

Mark 16:1-8 (NASB):

When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome brought spices so that they might come and anoint Him. And very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone from the entrance of the tomb for us?” And looking up, they noticed that the stone was rolled away; for it was extremely large.

And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white robe; and they were amazed. But he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; see, here is the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see Him, just as He told you.’”

And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Observations:

Most Bible scholars believe that Mark’s Gospel was the first of the gospels which we have in the Bible to be written. Both Matthew and Luke seem to use Mark as a source for their Gospels. As we’ve read through the Gospels, we’ve seen that Matthew and Luke expand what Mark said in his Gospel. That is particularly evident in Mark’s account of the resurrection, which I’ve quoted above.

Most modern translations of the Bible include a note in Mark 16 which indicates that only the first eight verses were part of the earliest manuscripts. Verses 9-20 appear in later manuscripts and versions of the Gospel, but not in the early manuscripts. I mention that only to explain why I’m not focusing on those verses in today’s reflection. Those later additions are still part of the Bible as we have it, so we shouldn’t ignore them, but my focus is on the immediate reaction of the women who went to Jesus’ tomb on that first Easter morning.

They were afraid.

They went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had gripped them; and they said nothing to anyone for they were afraid. Consider these factors:

The stone was rolled away

The body of Jesus was gone

A young man was sitting in the tomb

He told the women that Jesus had risen

He told them to go tell the disciples that Jesus had risen, and was going to Galilee

They weren’t expecting any of that when they walked to the tomb that morning, and they struggled to process what it all meant. Jesus was crucified; they had seen him die. He cried out as he died. Now, the young man in the tomb told them that Jesus wasn’t dead, and that they needed to go tell the disciples. What would the disciples think? Would they believe it?

So the women fled, because they were afraid. And that’s where Mark ended his Gospel.

Application:

How do we respond to this story? Do we just skip past it as though it’s not there? Those of us who have already come to believe that Jesus has risen probably don’t think much about the way these women reacted. After all, they came to faith later, right?

But we should not ignore the impact of such challenges to faith, because Satan is still working to challenge people’s faith today. We focus on his attempts to tempt and discourage and attack people who have come to faith, but we cannot forget that Satan also works to keep people from ever responding to Jesus. The trembling and fear and astonishment that these women felt when they heard that Jesus was alive was real – and they had already followed Jesus! “When He was in Galilee, they used to follow Him and serve Him” (15:41a).

So if people who had seen Jesus and listened to His teaching struggled to understand and accept the news that He was risen, we shouldn’t be surprised when people struggle to understand and accept it today. God calls us to make it more believable, by demonstrating the peace and living a life that cannot be explained in other ways. How can we live today to help people believe the good news?

Prayer:

Father, thank you for the good news that Jesus is risen! We know that Satan tried to use fear to keep us from responding in faith: “What if God asks you to do this? What if He makes you stop doing that?” As the enemy tries to use fear to paralyze us, help us to hear you say, “Don’t be afraid.” Help us to make faith believable for someone today, as they see the evidence of Jesus’ life and presence in us. Amen.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

November 3, 2022

"See to It that No One Misleads You"

Next Post

November 7, 2022 Don't Let Your Heart Follow Your Eyes

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Prayer Spiritual Formation Uncategorized

Select a Month September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 January 2026 December 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian group is known for singing acapella during worship?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Methodists Catholics Churches of Christ Baptists