When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. Mark 16:11 NABRE
The gospel writer Mark ends his message with three appearances of Jesus after His resurrection. Jesus meets Mary Magdala, He walks with two disciples to Emmaus and He joins the eleven who are at table. After Mary shares her encounter with the disciples, Mark tells us they did not believe. After the two disciples return to Jerusalem and tell the others of their encounter with Jesus, Mark tells us they did not believe. When they see Jesus for themselves and He rebukes them for having a hard heart and their unbelief, then they are ready to believe. Jesus lives an amazing act, dying and rising again; so we might relate to those who do not believe. Jesus has been speaking to these disciples for most of His ministry about His message and rising; yet without experiencing it for themselves, the disciples do not understand. Mark seems to write a “Cliff Notes” version of the resurrection stories, each of which we can find with more detail in the other gospel writers version of the same stories. This one event rounds out the entirety of Jesus life. Jesus lives, witnessing to us about repenting and turning toward God, turning away from sin, through His life, with the ultimate purpose, to live eternally with God as the final act. We must come to believe this event.
We don’t have the luxury of seeing Jesus in person, like His disciples. Our belief and repentance depends on faith. Our faith calls us to trust God, turning everything over to God. We live a lifetime of living and failing, suffering and succeeding, all for us to come to the fullness of faith and reliance completely on God. Jesus trusts God completely, showing us if we do too, we will rise.
What would it have taken for you to believe others about Jesus rising? Where is your trust in God, today?
We live a lifetime of living and failing, suffering and succeeding, all for us to come to the fullness of faith and reliance completely on God. Jesus trusts God completely, showing us if we do too, we will rise. Click To Tweet#bible #godisgreat #jesus #christianity #dailybibleverse @youversion #BeAnEncourager #faith #belief #Mark #everybodyalways #god #jesuschrist #jesussaves #godisgood #dailydevotion #biblestudy #scripture #bibleverse #verseoftheday #cross #last #Matthew #loveeachother #godisgreat #thisVineyard #youversion #everythingalways