ACC ~ Mark 16 v1 - 8

OVERVIEW:

To behold the resurrection, the stone must be rolled away from our own hearts. The women at the tomb were the first to honor the risen Christ. The apostles were the first to suffer for him (PETER CHRYSOLOGUS). The daily transformation of the early morning from darkness to dawn is forever hallowed by the resurrection (AUGUSTINE). The resurrection was revealed gradually, respecting the frailty of beholders to grasp its significance. The apex moment of the diffusion of darkness is the time of the resurrection (BEDE). The holy sabbath gleams even brighter under the new covenant as the weekly celebration of the resurrection (ATHANASIUS). As the virgin’s womb had been sealed and yet he entered life, so also the sepulcher was firmly sealed and yet he was raised to new life (PRUDENTIUS, BEDE). The resurrection is announced by a youth as an allusion that the resurrected body would be developed in full strength (ISIDORE OF SEVILLE). Christ is present where the sign of the cross is rightly exalted—not the material cross itself as a piece of wood but the crucified one who now lives (JOHN OF DAMASCUS). Between Jesus’ resurrection and the general resurrection, death is, for those who have faith, in effect dead and lacking in power, as a lion slain (AUGUSTINE). God does not lack power to raise us also (APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS). Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem in antiquity wrote specifically and in detail of what they thought was the sepulcher reported in Mark (BEDE).

16:1a | When the Sabbath Was Past

SABBATH AND RESURRECTION

ATHANASIUS: In the time of the old covenant, the sabbath was highly revered. Now under the gospel the sabbath has been recast, now viewed as the Lord’s resurrection day. The sabbath formerly had pertained to the pedagogy and rudiments of the law. When the great master himself came and fulfilled them all for us, all that had prefigured his coming was transformed. The old sabbath was like a candle lit in the night before the rising and appearing of the sun. [1] HOMILIES. [2]

[1] Cf. Jn 20:26; Heb 8:13; Rev 1:10.

[2] TLG 2035.069, 28.148.18.29; GMI 435**.

16:1b | They Brought Spices

WOMEN FIRST TO HONOR THE RISEN CHRIST

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: The women were first to honor the risen Christ, the apostles first to suffer for him. The women were ready with spices; the apostles prepared for scourges. The women entered the tomb; the apostles would soon enter the dungeon. The women hastened to express their eulogy; the apostles embraced chains for his sake. The women poured oils; the apostles poured out their blood. SERMON 79. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 0227+, 24A.79.37; GMI 436. In this way both sexes participated in the earliest celebration of the Lord’s death and resurrection.

16:2a | Very Early on the First Day of the Week

THE DAWN

AUGUSTINE: All the Gospels refer to the period when the heavens were just beginning to brighten in the east. [1] This, of course, does not take place until the sunrise is at hand. For it is the brightness which is diffused by the rising sun that is familiarly designated by the name of the dawn. Mark does not contradict the other Evangelist who uses the phrase, “When it was yet dark.” [2] For as the day breaks, what remains of the darkness passes away just in proportion as the sun continues to rise. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 3.24.65. [3]

[1] Cf. Mt 28:1; Mk 16:2; Lk 24:1; Jn 20:1.

[2] HE BEGINNING OF THE GOSPEL | MARK 1:1-5

[3] Cetedoc 0273, 3.24.65.354.8; NPNF 1 6:210**.

THE MEANING OF THE EARLY HOUR

BEDE: Upon this most sacred early morning hour is bestowed great dignity from the glory of the Lord’s victory over death. For it was in the earliest inception of that day that the women became attentive in doing their service to their Lord. Speaking mystically, the night was already beginning to grow toward an emerging dawn. [1] He who is the author and superintendent of time rose from the dead during the final part of the night. The whole of the emerging day is thus made a festival, brightened by the light of his resurrection. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK 2.7. [2]

[1] Cf. Mt 28:1; Mk 16:2; Lk 24:1.

[2] Cetedoc 1367, 2.7.47; HOG 2:60**.

16:2b | They Went to the Tomb

THE SEQUENCE OF BURIAL EVENTS

BEDE: As to its being said in the gospel reading that holy women came to see the sepulcher “on the evening which was growing on toward the dawn of Sunday,” we should understand this thus: they started to come during the evening, but reached the sepulcher as the morning of Sunday was dawning; that is, they prepared the spices with which they wanted to anoint our Lord’s body on [Saturday] evening, but brought the spices that they had prepared in the evening to the sepulcher in the morning. Matthew, for the sake of brevity, wrote this more obscurely; [1] but the other evangelists [2] show more distinctly the order in which it was done. After our Lord had been buried on Friday, the women went away from the tomb and prepared spices and ointments for as long as it was permitted them to work. They then refrained from activity on the sabbath, in accord with they commandment, [3] as Luke clearly reports. [4] When the sabbath was over, as evening was coming on, the time for working had returned. Being resolute in their devotion, they bought the spices that they had not prepared [earlier] (as Mark records it) so that they might come and anoint him. [5] EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK 2.7. [6]

[1] Cf. Mt 28:1.

[2] Mk 16:1-2; Lk 24:1.

[3] Cf. Ex 12:16; 20:8-10.

[4] Cf. Lk 23:56.

[5] Cf. Mk 16:1.

[6] Cetedoc 1367, 2.7.26; HOG 2:59-60. The women who were present on the day before the sabbath returned on the day after the sabbath.

16:3 | Who Will Roll Away the Stone for Us?

THE DOOR OF THE HEART

PETER CHRYSOLOGUS: Is it from the door of the sepulcher, or of your own hearts? From the tomb, or from your own eyes? You whose heart is shut, whose eyes are closed, are unable to discover the glory of the open grave. Pour then your oil, if you wish to see that glory, not on the body of the Lord, but on the eyes of your hearts. By the light of faith you will then see that which through the deficiency of faith now lies hidden in darkness. [1] SERMON 82. [2]

[1] Cf. Rev 3:18.

[2] Cetedoc 0227+, 42a.82.23; GMI 438*.

THE FRAILTY OF BEHOLDERS AND THEIR GRADUAL RECOGNITION

BEDE: Our Lord and redeemer revealed the glory of his resurrection to his disciples gradually and over a period of time, undoubtedly because so great was the virtue of the miracle that the weak hearts of mortals could not grasp [the significance of] this all at once. Thus, he had regard for the frailty of those seeking him. To those who came first to the tomb, both the women who were aflame with love for him and the men, he showed the stone rolled back. [1] Since his body had been carried away, he showed them the linen cloths [2] in which it had been wrapped lying there alone. Then, to the women who were searching eagerly, who were confused in their minds about what they had found out about him, he showed a vision of angels [3] who disclosed evidences of the fact that he had risen again. Thus, with the report of his resurrection already accomplished, going ahead of him, the Lord of hosts and the king of glory [4] himself at length appeared and made clear with what great might he had overcome the death he had temporarily tasted. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK 2.9. [5]

[1] Cf. Mt 28:2; Mk 16:4; Lk 24:2; Jn 20:1.

[2] Cf. Lk 24:12; Jn 20:3-7.

[3] Cf. Mt 28:1-5; Mk 16:1-6; Lk 24:1-10.

[4] Cf. Ps 24:10.

[5] Cetedoc 1367, 2.9.1; HOG 2:78.

16:4 | The Stone Was Rolled Back

THE STONE COULD NOT HOLD HIM

PRUDENTIUS:

Neither the stone nor the bolts of the tomb could hold Christ a captive;

Death lies conquered by him, he has trampled on hell’s fiery chasm.

With him a throng of saints ascended to heavenly regions,

And to many he showed himself, letting them see and touch him.

SCENES FROM SACRED HISTORY 43, THE SEPULCHER OF CHRIST.

THE STONE AS EVIDENCE

BEDE: [The angel] rolled back the stone not to throw open a way for our Lord to come forth, but to provide evidence to people that he had already come forth. As the virgin’s womb was closed, so the sepulcher was closed, yet he entered the world through her closed womb, and so he left the world through the closed sepulcher. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK 2.7. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 1367, 2.7.91; HOG 2:61**. The womb’s opening at his birth is viewed as an analogy to the tomb’s opening at his resurrection.

16:5a | Entering the Tomb

WHETHER TWO ANGELS OR ONE

AUGUSTINE: Mark tells us that the women entered the sepulcher, and there saw a young man sitting on the right side, covered with a long white garment, and that they were frightened. [1] In Matthew’s version, the stone was already rolled away from the sepulcher and the angel was sitting upon it. [2] The explanation may be that Matthew has simply said nothing about the angel whom they saw when they entered into the sepulcher, and that Mark has said nothing about the one whom they saw sitting outside upon the stone. In this way they would have seen two angels, and have assumed two separate angelic reports. HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS 3.24.63. [3]

[1] Cf. Mk 16:5.

[2] The issue: Did the witnesses see two angels or one at different times? Cf. Mt 28:2.

[3] Cetedoc 0273, 3.24.63.352.15; NPNF 1 6:209**. The reports of the two Evangelists are not contradictory.

THE PILGRIMS’ DESCRIPTION OF THE TOMB

BEDE: What we have learned about this, according to a description related by those of our contemporaries who have been in Jerusalem who, upon their return, left a written record for us of what they saw there: It was a vaulted chamber, hollowed out of rock. Its height was such that a person standing in the middle could touch the summit with his hand. Its entrance faced east, and the great stone about which the gospel tells us was placed over it. To the right as one enters was the place that was specially prepared as a resting place for the Lord’s body, seven feet in length, about two feet above the rest of the floor. The opening was not made like that of ordinary sepulchers, from above, but entirely from the side, from which the body could be placed inside. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK 2.10. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 1367, 2.10.182; HOG 2:95*.

16:5b | They Saw a Young Man

WHY A YOUTH?

ISIDORE OF SEVILLE: Why a “young man”? [1] The resurrection of the dead, as the apostle declares, will be “unto the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ,” [2] that is, in the season of youth, which needs no further development and which is free from all defect, complete in every respect, having fullness of strength. SENTENCES 1.29. [3]

[1] Cf. Mk 16:5.

[2] Eph 4:13.

[3] Cetedoc 1199, 1.594.15; GMI 439**.

16:5c | Sitting on the Right Side, Dressed in a White Robe

THE WORD OF ETERNAL LIFE

GREGORY THE GREAT: And let us also take note of what it means that the angel is seen sitting on the right side. For what does the left side mean but this present life; and the right hand side, if not life eternal? … And so, since our redeemer has now passed over beyond the mortality of this present life, rightly does the angel, who had come to announce his entry into eternal life, sit at the right side. And he came clothed in white: for he was announcing the joy of this our present solemnity. HOMILIES 21. [1]

[1] Cetedoc 1711, 2.21.2.16; SSGF 2:242.

ANGELIC POSTURES PREFIGURED HIS PRIESTLY AND REGAL OFFICE

BEDE: It was fitting that the herald of his resurrection is reported to have been sitting, [1] so that by sitting he might prefigure him who, having triumphed over the author of death, would ascend to his seat in his everlasting kingdom. … Sitting on a throne is the act of a king, and standing at a place of sacrifice is that of a high priest. Because our redeemer deigned to become for us at the same time both a king and a priest—a priest to cleanse us thoroughly from our sins by being a sacrificial offering in his passion, a king to bestow on us an everlasting kingdom. The angels who proclaim his resurrection appeared while sitting in order to signify that he had gone to seek his seat [2] in the heavenly kingdom after having overcome death. They appeared also standing [3] to show that he also intercedes for us in the mysteries of his Father as a high priest. EXPOSITION ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK 2.7, 10. [4]

[1] Cf. Mt 28:2; Mk 16:5. The issue is why Mark reports the young man as sitting while in Luke two men are standing.

[2] Cf. Mk 16:5.

[3] Lk 24:4: “two men stood by them in dazzling apparel.”

[4] Cetedoc 1367, 2.7.100; 2.10.116; HOG 2:62, 92. Since our Redeemer was both priest and king, the angels who proclaimed his resurrection appeared in the posture of both priest (standing, as in Luke) and king (sitting, as in Mark). “Standing is appropriate to one fighting, sitting to one ruling. It was fitting that the angel who proclaimed the coming of our Lord into the world appeared standing, that by his standing [position] he might express the fact that the one he was proclaiming was coming to do battle with the prince of this world,” HOG 2:62.

16:6a | You Seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who Was Crucified

THE TREE AS SIGN

JOHN OF DAMASCUS: When we worship the likeness of the priceless and life-giving cross, we know that it is made out of a tree. We are not honoring the tree as such (God forbid), but the likeness as a symbol of Christ. For he said to his disciples, admonishing them, “Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven,” [1] meaning the cross. And so also the angel of the resurrection said to the woman, “You seek Jesus of Nazareth who was crucified.” [2] And the apostle said, “We preach Christ crucified.” [3] For there are many named Jesus and many who may claim to be the Christ, but we worship the one crucified. He does not say pierced but crucified. It behooves us, then, to worship the sign of Christ. For wherever the sign may be, there also will he be. But it does not behoove us to worship the material of which the image of the cross is composed, even though it is gold or precious stones. THE ORTHODOX FAITH 4.11. [4]

[1] Mt 24:30.

[2] Mt 28:5; Mk 16:6.

[3] 1 Cor 1:23.

[4] TLG 2934.004, 84.61-71; NPNF 2 9:80*; cf. FC 37:351.

16:6b | He Has Risen

THE QUICKENING POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION

APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTIONS: The resurrection in which we believe is that which has already been demonstrated in the resurrection of our Lord. For it is he that raised Lazarus after he had been in the grave four days, [1] and Jairus’ daughter, [2] and the widow’s son. [3] It is he that raised himself by the command of the Father in the space of three days, who is the pledge of our resurrection. For he says: “I am the resurrection and the life.” [4] Now the very One who brought Jonah [5] alive and unhurt out of the belly of the whale in the space of three days, and who brought the three children out of the furnace of Babylon and Daniel out of the mouth of the lions, [6] does not lack power to raise us up also. CONSTITUTIONS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES 5.7. [7]

[1] Cf. Jn 11:1-44.

[2] Cf. Mk 5:21-43.

[3] Cf. Lk 7:11-15.

[4] Jn 11:25.

[5] Cf. Jon 2:1-10.

[6] Cf. Dan 3:1-30; 6:1-28.

[7] PG 1:844; ANF 7:440*. The power of his resurrection is the premise of ours. We are being raised to new life because of his resurrection, which demonstrates that God does not lack power to raise us also.

THE DEATH OF DEATH

AUGUSTINE: He died, but he vanquished death; in himself he put an end to what we feared; he took it upon himself and he vanquished it, as a mighty hunter he captured and slew the lion. [1] Where is death? Seek it in Christ, for it exists no longer; but it did exist and now it is dead. O life, O death of death! Be of good heart; it will die in us, also. What has taken place in our head will take place in his members; death will die in us also. But when? At the end of the world, at the resurrection of the dead in which we believe and concerning which we do not doubt. SERMON 233.3-4. [2]

[1] Cf. 1 Sam 17:34-36.

[2] Cetedoc 0284, 233.38.1114.27; FC 38:221.

HIS RESURRECTION RECAPITULATED IN OUR BAPTISM

BASIL OF SELEUCIA: Christ descended into hell to liberate its captives. In one instant he destroyed all record of our ancient debt incurred under the law, in order to lead us to heaven where there is no death but only eternal life and righteousness. By the baptism which you, the newly enlightened, have just received, you now share in these blessings. Your initiation into the life of grace is the pledge of your resurrection. Your baptism is the promise of the life of heaven. By your immersion you imitated the burial of the Lord, but when you came out of the water you were conscious only of the reality of the resurrection. … The grace of the Spirit works in a mysterious way in the font, and the outward appearance must not obscure the wonder of it. Although water serves as the instrument, it is grace which gives rebirth. Grace transforms all who are placed in the font as the seed is transformed in the womb. It refashions all who go down into the water as metal is recast in a furnace. It reveals to them the mysteries of immortality; it seals them with the pledge of resurrection. These wonderful mysteries are symbolized for you, the newly enlightened, even in the garments you wear. See how you are clothed in the outward signs of these blessings. The radiant brightness of your robe stands for incorruptibility. The white band encircling your head like a diadem proclaims your liberty. In your hand you hold the sign of your victory over the devil. Christ is showing you that you have risen from the dead. He does this now in a symbolic way, but soon he will reveal the full reality if we keep the garment of faith undefiled and do not let sin extinguish the lamp of grace. If we preserve the crown of the Spirit, the Lord will call from heaven in a voice of tremendous majesty, yet full of tenderness: Come, blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you since the beginning of the world. To him be glory and power for ever, through endless ages, amen. EASTER HOMILY. [1]

[1] TLG 2800.003, 28.1080.23-42; JF B 46-47.