Dear Explorer,
Something interesting is notated in your Bible for the remaining 11 verses of the book of Mark (Mark 16:9-20). They weren't found in the oldest manuscripts.
Now what that means is that Mark apparently quit writing after he recorded that Jesus was not found by Peter and John in the tomb. Or maybe that last page was lost. But later, apparently, some scribes decided to complete the story and so they took verses from the other 3 gospels and finished the book of Mark for him. We don't know why Mark didn't finish the story.
So, if you want to read Mark 16:9-20, you certainly may. But these verses are from the other 3 gospels and we will cover them in detail – so you will not miss anything.
Is this a terrible mistake? No. Everything written there was a duplicate of the other gospel writers, so there's no “addition” of material. And it does “complete” the story if you are only reading the book of Mark. So, no harm done. But you should know that these last 11 verses were probably not written by Mark.
Read John 20:11-18
After His resurrection from the dead, Jesus first appeared to a woman, Mary Magdalene. I assume that this happened after Peter and John checked out the tomb and found it empty. Maybe Mary went back to the Garden to grieve. We don't know for sure. Jesus not only speaks to her with respect and care, but commissions her to be the messenger to tell the apostles that He is alive. Although she didn't recognize Jesus at first, when He spoke her name - she knew immediately who He was.
We need to learn to recognize God's voice as He speaks to us. John 10:27 talks about how the Shepherd (Jesus) knows His sheep (us) and how His sheep recognize His voice. We looked at that on Day 181.
Today I want to primarily focus on a word that is often overlooked. What did Mary call Jesus?
She called Him "teacher” (Rabbi or Rabboni). Now that wouldn't be unusual in today's world, but in Jesus' earthly lifetime, that was pretty unusual. Women were taught homemaking and childrearing, but Jesus taught women to know and love the Scriptures and to follow Him.
Up until that time, Scripture was not taught to women who were considered too inferior to be able to read or understand and interpret it. Talk about women's liberation!
Jesus came to set all people free regardless of gender! Women, we can trust Him and love Him knowing that He loves us equally. He has ministry for all of us to accomplish regardless of gender. He has things to teach us so that we can grow and become all that He created us to be.
Do men and women have identical roles?
I believe that the Holy Spirit will lead both men and women individually such that each one can fulfill the role that God has uniquely designed for them. So, my role will be unique and satisfying to me.
God has a plan and a ministry for each of His kids – male or female, young or old, healthy or sick, educated or not. I believe that He has a good plan!
Read Matthew 28:8-10
Now I'm not certain of the time frame for all of this. Is this when they originally went to the tomb or was it later? Was it before or after Mary Magdalene saw and spoke with Jesus? It seems to be before the women had talked with the disciples.
But this is another appearance of Jesus. And again, it was to the women. And again, He gave them an assignment – the same assignment the angel had told them earlier. What was it?
Remember that all this confusion is because of the shock of Jesus' death and now something humongous! His resurrection from the dead! We can only imagine what it must have been like. Take a few minutes and try to imagine the excitement, the ecstasy, the awe. There are really no words to describe the incredibly, wonderful chaos! They were thrilled if it were true, but was it true, what if it was? What if it wasn't?
I think we'll leave them in this state of uncertain joy and pick it up again tomorrow.
In His service, dale
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