Something Strange Happened on Easter Morning And It’s Not What You Think It Is

Photo by Lexi Laginess on Unsplash

As a person of faith, when I think of Easter morning, images of life, resurrection, and unimaginable joy come to mind. Maybe you share in one or more of the descriptions I just gave. Just recently I have been thinking about Mark’s telling of Easter morning. I don’t know if you’ve read Mark 16, but if you have, or choose to pick it up now, you might notice that these cheery adjectives are not present in his storytelling.

Instead, when we read of resurrection morning through Mark’s eyes, it’s like he has something else in mind. In Mark 16 we are told that three women named Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome go to Christ’s tomb to anoint his body with spices. While getting closer to the tomb they wonder to each other who will be able to roll away the stone so they will be able to access the body. But when they come to the tomb, they notice that someone has already rolled away the stone.

When they enter the tomb they see a young man in white sitting on the right side. The man, however, seeing that the women are troubled by this, says to them, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they put him.”

It’s important to note that the man tells the women not to be alarmed because, well, they were probably looking and sounding alarmed!