The story told in the Gospel of Mark chapter 16, as well as the other Gospels such as John chapter 20 is quite an amazing one indeed. A man was dead and buried. He had experienced a brutal, violent death, his body wracked with injury deformation and pain, hardly recognizable. His family and friends had buried him in a borrowed tomb, for he was a poor man and had no burial place of his own. Plus this grave site was close by and they had limited time to bury him since it was later in the day and approaching their religious Holy day or Sabbath, on which burying him would have been a violation of their religious ways.
Clearly illustrating their expectations, a few days later, the first day of the week, a small handful went to his tomb to mourn and to anoint his body, which was a part of their custom. Here is where the story gets crazy. When they arrived at the grave, which was more like a vault than our common holes filled in with dirt, they noticed the large stone that served as the ‘door’ for the vault-grave was moved aside, leaving the grave open. They had been worried on their trip there about how they would get inside the vault or tomb, because none of them were strong enough to move this stone. They were just a handful of women. Though this problem had apparently solved itself, the sight of the open grave did not comfort them.
Although this man had been poor, he wasn’t without influence and he was well known in many circles. The authorities were so concerned about his influence that they decided to place guards around his grave out of fear that someone would steal his body and claim an incredible miracle.
As they approached the tomb there was no one else around. The guards who had been assigned were no where to be found, which is odd in and of itself. These guards were from the military and to leave their post would be an offense worthy of sever punishment. They looked in the tomb and saw there was no body inside. This crushed the already grieving women. Who would do such a thing? Had he, and they not already suffered enough? Now, someone has taken the body and they have no idea where it has gone.
They then saw a young man sitting off to the right. They had not seen or noticed him before, which was curious. Clearly when they approached, no one was there. They did not recognize the young man but he spoke to them as if a known acquaintance or even a friend. Somehow he knew why they were there. He said, ““You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified.” Then he said something that took them all aback. His demeanor was not one of mourning or sorrow as there’s, but rather he seemed happy, almost giddy as he said to them, “He has risen! He is not here.” Had he said what they all thought they heard? Had he told them that the reason Jesus wasn’t in that grave was not because someone’s act of cruelty, but rather the most incredible of miracles had occurred? Was he telling them that Jesus had risen, that he was alive again?
It was so unbelievable, but yet for some reason they believed it anyway. The young man then told them to go tell the other followers and to look for him because they will be seeing him. Upon doing so some of the followers or disciples came running to the tomb to see for themselves. When they arrived they found it to be just as the women had described.
Something like this was exactly, well almost exactly, what the authorities had feared. A story like this, while obviously unbelievable to the educated could stir up the ignorant masses. The city, even though the whole country was already a hotbed of religious and political discontent. The last thing they needed was some crazy story about a man who himself had been an powerful miracle worker as well as teacher, now being the focus of a most-incredible miracle.
According to the story this man, Jesus, appeared to his followers and stayed with them for several days before he physically left them, ascending into heaven. His appearance wasn’t an apparition, but literally being with them in the flesh. He told them he would provide the Holy Spirit to them to be with them as his presence after his ascension. And he instructed them to tell the whole world about his death and resurrection and what its purpose was and whatit meant. He told them it was to forgive and save people from their sin and provide them eternal life with him and the Father.
The followers did just that. They told the story, over and over, convincing people to believe and to put their confidence and trust in this story, this message as the way to God. This sorely displeased both the religious and political authorities, whom it was sometimes hard to tell the difference. It riled the religious authorities becasue it stood in contrast to thier story which was that the way to God was to listen to, obey and follow them. This story of a risen Jesus threatened their very existence. It bothered the political authorities becasue it appeared to carry the risk of disturbing the peace in an already tense environment. The reality being that the only thing about the message that caused any disturbance was the reaction, the rejection by the religious authorities.
This would have to be put to a stop, quickly and forcefully. The authorities used their power to prosecute and persecute the people who were sharing the message. Some were thrown into prison and beaten and property taken. Some were were even killed.
This is where the compelling argument comes in. This story took place some 2000 years ago and still is told today. Not just as legend or fable, but as an answer to anyone who would listen and believe; an answer to the real problem of life, our separation from God. For 2000 years some have believed and many have rejected the message. Some have rejected it violently. During all that time many have done all they can to show the story to be a myth, a lie even.
For those who believe, the difficulty comes in the fact that it cannot be ‘proven’, as the cynic and unbeliever will say, and it is utterly foolish in its facts and even its nature. The story was first told by eye witnesses. They either saw the empty tomb or they didn’t. They either saw the risen Jesus or they didn’t. The cynic will argue that the followers stole away his body or that he was never really dead after the crucifixion and the followers were simply perpetrating a lie, a hoax. While there are so many debates for such matters that show these to be weak accusations at best, one stands stronger than any other. These eye witnesses knew if what they were saying was true or a lie. When faced with severe persecution, even death, not one of them admitted it was a lie. They held firm to the story even when it brought them suffering and death. How many people do you know that would hold to a story they knew to be a lie when it would cause their suffering and even their death?