November 25, 2024: Monday Bible Study on the Gospel of Mark 16:1-8
Glory be to God our Father, our Redeemer, and our Sustainer of Life,
Thank you for joining me today. I have some prayer requests for you today. Please pray for Teri Hardy, whose surgery became much more complicated than was expected. Due to bone deterioration, it was necessary to replace the bone around the hip socket, rebuilding it so that at a later date her hip surgery could be done. Her recovery will be longer than expected. We thank God for her good doctors, her loving family, and all those who made this surgery possible for her, and we pray for a full recovery. Please also pray for my older brother who is having major cardiac health issues on top of having kidney health issues. He is scheduled today to receive the angioplasties that couldn't be done until his heart was regulated with a pacemaker. He continues in the hospital for a few more days before he can return home. Also, pray for our worship assistant, Sharyn, whose friends are having major health issues. It is really stressful for her as she deals with Bobbie's health issues, Sharon's issues having brain surgery, and most especially for her sister Sonia who is in ICU in the Phoenix area. We pray that our Lord Jesus Christ holds all four of these women in His care for courage, strength, and healing.
Today we enter into our study of the first part of chapter 16 in the Gospel of Mark. We are getting much closer to the end of this Gospel. Our text for today is one with which we are very familiar. Here, of course, the first day of the week for Jews – Sunday – is the day on which Christian communities meet for worship. The Jewish Sabbath is on Saturday. There also would have been little preparation of Jesus' body because of the prohibition of any kind of work on the Sabbath. So, the women are headed to the grave now, a cave carved into a wall, with no door, but in some way sealed with a "rock". They were coming to do that work of preparation for Jesus final resting place. As we know, they are in for a massive surprise. Though each of the Gospels manage this visit and its outcome a little bit differently, here the women are met by an angel who sends them with a message for the men who are apparently not going out in public yet. It is here that these courageous women are told of Christ's resurrection from the dead, and they are also given a message to take back to the disciples. "Jesus will meet them at Galilee." They really all do know all of the places that they might go to. If we think back a bit, it seems that there is Jesus' family home there, and of course there were the family businesses too. Though we often overlook the courage of these women, it is important. They carry the word back that Jesus is risen from the dead. If these women had not received this news, the world would never have heard of them, nor would there have been any reason to make this most incredible claim. Because of their bravery we know:
Jesus is not a figure in a book of fiction. He is a living presence, and in our study of these Gospel texts, we must ultimately come to meet Jesus' presence in our world and lives.
Jesus is much more than just a memory for we who believe in Him. The Greeks had a word which means time which wipes all things out. This is not a description of how we live our lives with Christ's presence. We live long after all of these things which we are reading in the Gospel of Mark, but Christ's life and presence is real for us today. It is much more than just remembering a historical figure. We are surrounded by Christ's living presence at all times.
Christian life is more than just knowing about Christ. It is all about knowing Christ in every breath of our lives. We all know about former presidents of our nation. Unlike our hearing about them in the history of our nation, with Jesus we speak about personally knowing Him, and being known by Him, intimately connected to Christ by His Spirit.
Unlike some just historical figure with whom we only have head knowledge, with Christ we have heart knowledge. Our faith life grows and grows when we are actively involved in our relationship with Him.
Perhaps most importantly in this passage are the two words of the messenger, "go” and “tell". That is certainly one of the most important parts of our Christian lives. The love of Christ for us cannot be contained in just our own selves. It overflows from us showing and telling others that we are different. Our victory in this life has already come in our Savior. For us there is nothing more important. As we grow in faith, we grow ever closer to our Savior. This is no stagnant presence for us, but the Spirit fills us with "living" faith that must be shared with others who have this faith, and with those who do not yet know about the living presence of Christ in their lives.
God bless you. I will see you online tomorrow as we move a little more deeply into this last chapter of Mark.
With love in Christ, Pastor Kim.
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