Jesus was mourned by his disciples

JESUS WAS MOURNED BY HIS DICIPLES
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
MARK 16:10 And she went and told them that had been
with him, as they mourned and wept.
BIBLEHUB RESOURCES
Pulpit Commentary Homiletics
Appearances Of The Risen One
Mark 16:9-14
E. Johnson
I. THEY WERE REPEATED AND VARIED, So in the history of the Church and the world;
there are epochs of the manifestation of Christ and of apparent concealment. Though history in
one sense repeats itself, in another it does not. Christianity is the exhibition of the new in the old,
the old in the new. And so in the individual.
II. THEY WERE MET BY PREJUDICE. New truth finds in us something ever to over-come.
The victory over a prejudice gives us cause for thanks; what we really possess of truth we
possess because we have resisted it. We do not understand it till we have contended against it.
"We may believe more surely in the Resurrection, because they were so slow to believe."
III. THE SPIRITUAL EVIDENCE OF CHRISTIANITY IS THE REAL EVIDENCE, Unless we
see that Christ's resurrection coincides with spiritual truth and needs, we shall not see it at all.
Mediate knowledge can never be free from doubt; certainty lies in that which is immediate. - J.
Biblical Illustrator
And she went and told them.
Mark 16:10, 11
A sad interior and a cheery messenger

C. H. Spurgeon.Mark is graphic: he paints an interior like a Dutch artist. We see a choice
company — "Them that had been with Him." We know many of the individuals, and are
interested to note what they are doing, and how they bear their bereavement. We see —
I. A SORROWING ASSEMBLY. "As they mourned and wept." What a scene I We behold a
common mourning, abundantly expressed by tears and lamentations. They mourned —
1. Because they had believed in Jesus, and loved Him; and therefore they were concerned at what
had happened.
2. Because they felt their great loss in losing Him.
3. Because they had seen His sufferings and death.
4. Because they remembered their ill-conduct towards Him.
5. Because their hopes concerning Him were disappointed.
6. Because they were utterly bewildered as to what was now to be done, seeing their Leader was
gone.
II. A CONSOLING MESSENGER.
1. Mary Magdalene was one of themselves.
2. She came with the best of news. The resurrection of Christ
(a)removes the cause of sorrow;
(b)assures of the help of a living Redeemer;"
(c)secures personal resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:23);
(d)brings personal justification (Romans 4:25).
3. She was not believed.(a) Unbelief is apt to become chronic: they had not believed the Lord
when He foretold His own resurrection, and so they do not believe an eyewitness who reported
it.(b) Unbelief is cruelly unjust: they made Mary Magdalene a liar, and yet all of them esteemed
her.
III. A REASSURING REFLECTION.
1. We are not the only persons who have mourned an absent Lord.
2. We are not the only messengers who have been rejected.
3. We are sure beyond all doubt of the resurrection of Christ.(a) The evidence is more abundant
than that which testifies to any other great historical event.(b) The apostles so believed it as to
die as witnesses of it.(c) They were very slow to be convinced, and therefore that which forced
them to believe should have the same effect on us.
4. Great reason, then, for us to rejoice.
(C. H. Spurgeon.)
Unnecessary griefA sorrow is none the less sharp because it is founded upon a mistake. Jacob
mourned very bitterly for Joseph, though his darling was not torn in pieces, but on the way to be
lord over all Egypt. Yet while there is of necessity so much well-founded sorrow in the world, it
is a pity that one unnecessary pang should be endured, and endured by those who have the best
possible grounds for joy. The case in the text before us is a typical one. Thousands are at this day

mourning and weeping who ought to be rejoicing. Oh, the mass of needless grief! Unbelief
works for the father of lies in this matter, and works misery out of falsehood among those who
are not in truth children of sadness but heirs of light and joy. Rise, faith, and with thy light chase
away this darkness! And if ever thou must have thy lamp trimmed by a humble Mary, do not
despise her kindly aid.
Transient unbelief
Cuyler."Is it always foggy here?" inquired a lady passenger of a Cunard steamer's captain, when
they were groping their way across the Banks of Newfoundland. "How should I know?" replied
the captain, gruffly; "I do not live here." But there are some of Christ's professed followers who
do manage to live in the chilling regions of spiritual fog for a great part of their unhappy lives.
(Cuyler.)
COMMENTARIES
MacLaren's ExpositionsMark
THE INCREDULOUS DISCIPLES
Mark 16:1 - Mark 16:13.
It is not my business here to discuss questions of harmonising or of criticism. I have only to deal
with the narrative as it stands. Its peculiar character is very plain. The manner in which the first
disciples learned the fact of the Resurrection, and the disbelief with which they received it, much
rather than the Resurrection itself, come into view in this section. The disciples, and not the risen
Lord, are shown us. There is nothing here of the earthquake, or of the descending angel, or of the
terrified guard, or of our Lord’s appearance to the women. The two appearances to Mary
Magdalene and to the travellers to Emmaus, which, in the hands of John and Luke, are so
pathetic and rich, are here mentioned with the utmost brevity, for the sake chiefly of insisting on
the disbelief of the disciples who heard of them. Mark’s theme is mainly what they thought of
the testimony to the Resurrection.
I. He shows us, first, bewildered love and sorrow.
We leave the question whether this group of women is the same as that of which Luke records
that Joanna was one, as well as the other puzzle as to harmonising the notes of time in the
Evangelists. May not the difference between the time of starting and that of arrival solve some of
the difficulty? When all the notes are more or less vague, and refer to the time of transition from
dark to day, when every moment partakes of both and may be differently described as belonging
to either, is precision to be expected? In the whirl of agitation of that morning, would any one be
at leisure to take much note of the exact minute? Are not these ‘discrepancies’ much more
valuable as confirmation of the story than precise accord would have been? It is better to try to

understand the feelings of that little band than to carp at such trifles.
Sorrow wakes early, and love is impatient to bring its tribute. So we can see these three women,
leaving their abode as soon as the doleful grey of morning permitted, stealing through the silent
streets, and reaching the rock-cut tomb while the sun was rising over Olivet. Where were
Salome’s ambitious hopes for her two sons now? Dead, and buried in the Master’s grave. The
completeness of the women’s despair, as well as the faithfulness of their love, is witnessed by
their purpose. They had come to anoint the body of Him to whom in life they had ministered.
They had no thought of a resurrection, plainly as they had been told of it. The waves of sorrow
had washed the remembrance of His assurances on that subject clean out of their minds. Truth
that is only half understood, however plainly spoken, is always forgotten when the time to apply
it comes. We are told that the disbelief of the disciples in the Resurrection, after Christ’s plain
predictions of it, is ‘psychologically impossible.’ Such big words are imposing, but the objection
is shallow. These disciples are not the only people who forgot in the hour of need the thing
which it most concerned them to remember, and let the clouds of sorrow hide starry promises
which would have turned mourning into dancing, and night into day. Christ’s sayings about His
resurrection were not understood in their, as it appears to us, obvious meaning when spoken. No
wonder, then, that they were not expected to be fulfilled in their obvious meaning when He was
dead. We shall have a word to say presently about the value of the fact that there was no
anticipation of resurrection on the part of the disciples. For the present it is enough to note how
these three loving souls confess their hopelessness by their errand. Did they not know, too, that
Joseph and Nicodemus had been beforehand with them in their labour of love? Apparently not. It
might easily happen, in the confusion and dispersion, that no knowledge of this had reached
them; or perhaps sorrow and agitation had driven it out of their memories; or perhaps they felt
that, whether others had done the same before or no, they must do it too, not because the loved
form needed it, but because their hearts needed to do it. It was the love which must serve, not
calculation of necessity, which loaded their hands with costly spices. The living Christ was
pleased with the ‘odour of a sweet smell,’ from the needless spices, meant to re-anoint the dead
Christ, and accepted the purpose, though it came from ignorance and was never carried out, since
its deepest root was love, genuine, though bewildered.
The same absence of ‘calm practical common sense’ is seen in the too late consideration, which
never occurred to the three women till they were getting near the tomb, as to how to get into it.
They do not seem to have heard of the guard; but they know that the stone is too heavy for them
to move, and none of the men among the disciples had been taken into their confidence. ‘Why
did they not think of that before? what a want of foresight!’ says the cool observer. ‘How
beautifully true to nature!’ says a wiser judgment. To obey the impulse of love and sorrow
without thinking, and then to be arrested on their road by a difficulty, which they might have
thought of at first, but did not till they were close to it, is surely just what might have been
expected of such mourners. Mark gives a graphic picture in that one word ‘looking up,’ and
follows it with picturesque present tenses. They had been looking down or at each other in
perplexity, when they lifted their eyes to the tomb, which was possibly on an eminence. What a
flash of wonder would pass through their minds when they saw it open! What that might signify
they would be eager to hurry to find out; but, at all events, their difficulty was at an end. When
love to Christ is brought to a stand in its venturous enterprises by difficulties occurring for the
first time to the mind, it is well to go close up to them; and it often happens that when we do, and

look steadily at them, we see that they are rolled away, and the passage cleared which we feared
was hopelessly barred.
II. The calm herald of the Resurrection and the amazed hearers.
Apparently Mary Magdalene had turned back as soon as she saw the opened tomb, and hurried to
tell that the body had been carried off, as she supposed. The guard had also probably fled before
this; and so the other two women enter the vestibule, and there find the angel. Sometimes one
angel, sometimes two, sometimes none, were visible there. The variation in their numbers in the
various narratives is not to be regarded as an instance of ‘discrepancy.’ Many angels hovered
round the spot where the greatest wonder of the universe was to be seen, ‘eagerly desiring to
look into’ that grave. The beholder’s eye may have determined their visibility. Their number may
have fluctuated. Mark does not use the word ‘angel’ at all, but leaves us to infer what manner of
being he was who first proclaimed the Resurrection.
He tells of his youth, his attitude, and his attire. The angelic life is vigorous, progressive,
buoyant, and alien from decay. Immortal youth belongs to them who ‘excel in strength’ because
they ‘do his commandments.’ That waiting minister shows us what the children of the
Resurrection shall be, and so his presence as well as his speech expounds the blessed mystery of
our life in the risen Lord. His serene attitude of sitting ‘on the right side’ is not only a vivid touch
of description, but is significant of restfulness and fixed contemplation, as well as of the
calmness of a higher life. That still watcher knows too much to be agitated; but the less he is
moved, the more he adores. His quiet contrasts with and heightens the impression of the storm of
conflicting feelings in the women’s tremulous natures. His garments symbolise purity and
repose. How sharply the difference between heaven and earth is given in the last words of Mark
16:5! They were ‘amazed,’ swept out of themselves in an ecstasy of bewilderment in which hope
had no place. Terror, surprise, curiosity, wonder, blank incapacity to know what all this meant,
made chaos in them.
The angel’s words are a succession of short sentences, which have a certain dignity, and break up
the astounding revelation he has to make into small pieces, which the women’s bewildered
minds can grasp. He calms their tumult of spirit. He shows them that he knows their errand. He
adoringly names his Lord and theirs by the names recalling His manhood, His lowly home, and
His ignominious death. He lingers on the thought, to him covering so profound a mystery of
divine love, that his Lord had been born, had lived in the obscure village, and died on the Cross.
Then, in one word, he proclaims the stupendous fact of His resurrection as His own act-’He is
risen.’ This crown of all miracles, which brings life and immortality to light, and changes the
whole outlook of humanity, which changes the Cross into victory, and without which
Christianity is a dream and a ruin, is announced in a single word-the mightiest ever spoken save
by Christ’s own lips. It was fitting that angel lips should proclaim the Resurrection, as they did
the Nativity, though in either ‘He taketh not hold of angels,’ and they had but a secondary share
in the blessings. Yet that empty grave opened to ‘principalities and powers in heavenly places’ a
new unfolding of the manifold wisdom and love of God.
The angel-a true evangelist-does not linger on the wondrous intimation, but points to the vacant
place, which would have been so drear but for his previous words, and bids them approach to

verify his assurance, and with reverent wonder to gaze on the hallowed and now happy spot. A
moment is granted for feeling to overflow, and certainty to be attained, and then the women are
sent on their errand. Even the joy of that gaze is not to be selfishly prolonged, while others are
sitting in sorrow for want of what they know. That is the law for all the Christian life. First make
sure work of one’s own possession of the truth, and then hasten to tell it to those who need it.
‘And Peter’-Mark alone gives us this. The other Evangelists might pass it by; but how could
Peter ever forget the balm which that message of pardon and restoration brought to him, and how
could Peter’s mouthpiece leave it out? Is there anything in the Gospels more beautiful, or fuller
of long-suffering and thoughtful love, than that message from the risen Saviour to the denier?
And how delicate the love which, by calling him Peter, not Simon, reinstates him in his official
position by anticipation, even though in the subsequent full restoration scene by the lake he is
thrice called Simon, before the complete effacement of the triple denial by the triple confession!
Galilee is named as the rendezvous, and the word employed, ‘goeth before you,’ is appropriate to
the Shepherd in front of His flock. They had been ‘scattered,’ but are to be drawn together again.
He is to ‘precede’ them there, thus lightly indicating the new form of their relations to Him,
marked during the forty days by a distance which prepared for his final withdrawal. Galilee was
the home of most of them, and had been the field of His most continuous labours. There would
be many disciples there, who would gather to see their risen Lord {‘five hundred at once’}; and
there, rather than in Jerusalem which had slain Him, was it fitting that He should show Himself
to His friends. The appearances in Jerusalem were all within a week {if we except the
Ascension}, and the connection in which Mark introduces them {if Mark 16:14 be his} seems to
treat them as forced on Christ by the disciples’ unbelief, rather than as His original intention. It
looks as if He meant to show Himself in the city only to one or two, such as Mary, Peter, and
some others, but to reserve His more public appearance for Galilee.
How did the women receive the message? Mark represents them as trembling in body and in an
ecstasy in mind, and as hurrying away silent with terror. Matthew says that they were full of
‘fear and great joy,’ and went in haste to tell the disciples. In the whirl of feeling, there were
opposites blended or succeeding one another; and the one Evangelist lays hold of one set, and the
other of the other. It is as impossible to catalogue the swift emotions of such a moment as to
separate and tabulate the hues of sunrise. The silence which Mark tells of can only refer to their
demeanour as they ‘fled.’ His object is to bring out the very imperfect credence which, at the
best, was given to the testimony that Christ was risen, and to paint the tumult of feeling in the
breasts of its first recipients. His picture is taken from a different angle from Matthew’s; but
Matthew’s contains the same elements, for he speaks of ‘fear,’ though he completes it by ‘joy.’
III. The incredulity of the disciples.
The two appearances to Mary Magdalene and the travellers to Emmaus are introduced mainly to
record the unbelief of the disciples. A strange choice that was, of the woman who had been
rescued from so low a debasement, to be first to see Him! But her former degradation was the
measure of her love. Longing eyes, that have been washed clean by many a tear of penitent
gratitude, are purged to see Jesus; and a yearning heart ever brings Him near. The unbelief of the
story of the two from Emmaus seems to conflict with Luke’s account, which tells that they were
met by the news of Christ’s appearance to Simon. But the two statements are not contradictory.

If we remember the excitement and confusion of mind in which they were, we shall not wonder
if belief and unbelief followed each other, like the flow and recoil of the waves. One moment
they were on the crest of the billows, and saw land ahead; the next they were down in the trough,
and saw only the melancholy surge. The very fact that Peter was believed, might make them
disbelieve the travellers; for how could Jesus have been in Jerusalem and Emmaus at so nearly
the same time? However the two narratives be reconciled, it remains obvious that the first
disciples did not believe the first witnesses of the Resurrection, and that their unbelief is an
important fact. It bears very distinctly on the worth of their subsequent conviction. It has special
bearing on the most modern form of disbelief in the Resurrection, which accounts for the belief
of the first disciples on the ground that they expected Christ to rise, and that they then persuaded
themselves, in all good faith, that He had risen. That monstrous theory is vulnerable at all points,
but one sufficient answer is-the disciples did not expect Christ to rise again, and were so far from
it that they did not believe that He had risen when they were told it. Their original unbelief is a
strong argument for the reliableness of their final faith. What raised them from the stupor of
despair and incredulity? Only one answer is ‘psychologically’ reasonable: they at last believed
because they saw. It is incredible that they were conscious deceivers; for such lives as they lived,
and such a gospel as they preached, never came from liars. It is as incredible that they were
unconsciously mistaken; for they were wholly unprepared for the Resurrection, and sturdily
disbelieved all witnesses for it, till they saw with their own eyes, and had ‘many infallible
proofs.’ Let us be thankful for their unbelief and its record, and let us seek to possess the blessing
of those ‘that have not seen, and yet have believed!’
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary16:9-13 Better news cannot be brought to disciples in
tears, than to tell them of Christ's resurrection. And we should study to comfort disciples that are
mourners, by telling them whatever we have seen of Christ. It was a wise providence that the
proofs of Christ's resurrection were given gradually, and admitted cautiously, that the assurance
with which the apostles preached this doctrine afterwards might the more satisfy. Yet how
slowly do we admit the consolations which the word of God holds forth! Therefore while Christ
comforts his people, he often sees it needful to rebuke and correct them for hardness of heart in
distrusting his promise, as well as in not obeying his holy precepts.
Barnes' Notes on the BibleTell his disciples and Peter - It is remarkable that Peter is singled out
for special notice. It was proof of the kindness and mercy of the Lord Jesus. Peter, just before the
death of Jesus, had denied him. He had brought dishonor on his profession of attachment to him.
It would have been right if the Lord Jesus had from that moment cast him off and noticed him no
more. But he loved him still. Having loved him once, he loved unto the end, John 13:1. As a
proof that he forgave him and still loved him, he sent him this "special" message - the assurance
that though he had denied him, and had done much to aggravate his sufferings, yet he had risen,
and was still his Lord and Redeemer. We are not to infer, because the angel said, "Tell his
disciples and Peter," that Peter was not still a disciple. The meaning is, "Tell his disciples, and
especially Peter," sending to him a particular message. Peter was still a disciple. Before his fall,
Jesus had prayed for him that his faith should not fail Luke 22:32; and as the prayer of Jesus was
"always" heard John 11:42, so it follows that Peter still retained faith sufficient to be a disciple,
though he was suffered to fall into sin.
See this passage explained in the notes at Matthew 28:1-8.
Tell his disciples and Peter - It is remarkable that Peter is singled out for special notice. It was
proof of the kindness and mercy of the Lord Jesus. Peter, just before the death of Jesus, had

denied him. He had brought dishonor on his profession of attachment to him. It would have been
right if the Lord Jesus had from that moment cast him off and noticed him no more. But he loved
him still. Having loved him once, he loved unto the end, John 13:1. As a proof that he forgave
him and still loved him, he sent him this "special" message - the assurance that though he had
denied him, and had done much to aggravate his sufferings, yet he had risen, and was still his
Lord and Redeemer. We are not to infer, because the angel said, "Tell his disciples and Peter,"
that Peter was not still a disciple. The meaning is, "Tell his disciples, and especially Peter,"
sending to him a particular message. Peter was still a disciple. Before his fall, Jesus had prayed
for him that his faith should not fail Luke 22:32; and as the prayer of Jesus was "always" heard
John 11:42, so it follows that Peter still retained faith sufficient to be a disciple, though he was
suffered to fall into sin.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary9. Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of
the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils—There is
some difficulty here, and different ways of removing it have been adopted. She had gone with
the other women to the sepulchre (Mr 16:1), parting from them, perhaps, before their interview
with the angel, and on finding Peter and John she had come with them back to the spot; and it
was at this second visit, it would seem, that Jesus appeared to this Mary, as detailed in Joh 20:11-
18. To a woman was this honor given to be the first that saw the risen Redeemer, and that
woman was NOT his virgin-mother.
Matthew Poole's CommentarySee Poole on "Mark 16:9"
Gill's Exposition of the Entire BibleAnd she went and told them that had been with him,.... Not
"with her", as the Persic version reads, but "with him"; that is, with Christ: she went, as she was
bid by Christ, and told his disciples, what she had heard and seen; even those who had been with
him from the beginning, and had heard his doctrines, and seen his miracles, and had had
communion with him, and truly believed in him, and were his constant followers, and real
disciples; not only Peter, James, and John, who were with him, particularly at the raising of
Jairus's daughter, and at his transfiguration on the mount, and when in his sorrows, in the garden;
but the rest of the eleven, and not only them, but others that were with them; see Luke 24:9.
As they mourned and wept, being inconsolable for the death of their Lord, and the loss of his
presence; and also for their carriage towards him, that one among them should betray him,
another deny him, and all forsake him: thus were they like doves of the valley, mourning for
their absent Lord, and for their own iniquities; and in this condition were they, when Mary
brought them the joyful news of Christ's resurrection from the dead.
Geneva Study BibleAnd she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and
wept.
EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)
Expositor's Greek TestamentHYPERLINK "/mark/16-10.htm"Mark 16:10. ἐκείνη, she, without
emphasis, not elsewhere so used.—πορευθεῖσα: the simple verb πορεύεσθαι, three times used in
this section (Mark 16:12; Mark 16:15), does not occur anywhere else in this Gospel.—τοῖς μετʼ
αὐτοῦ γενομένοις: the reference is not to the disciples in the stricter sense who are called the
Eleven (Mark 16:14), but to the friends of Jesus generally, an expression not elsewhere occurring
in any of the Gospels.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges10. she went and told] In the fulness of believing faith
she hurried back to Jerusalem and recounted her tale of joy to the Eleven and the rest.

as they mourned and wept] Desolate at the loss of their beloved Master, and unable to realize the
wonderful accounts of His resurrection. “Weylinge and wepynge” is Wyclifs rendering.
Pulpit CommentaryVerse 10. - She went and told (ἐκείνη πορευθεῖσα ἀπήγγειλε) them that had
been with him, as they mourned and wept. The aorist here indicates immediate action. This word
πορεύεσθαι occurs again in vers. 12 and 15, but nowhere else in St. Mark's Gospel It is to be
noticed, however, that it occurs twice in the First Epistle of St. Peter, and once in his Second
Epistle. This seems to connect St. Peter with the writer of these verses.
Vincent's Word StudiesShe (ἐκείνη)
An absolute use of the pronoun unexampled in Mark. See also Mark 16:11, Mark 16:13. It would
imply an emphasis which is not intended. Compare Mark 4:11; Mark 12:4, Mark 12:5, Mark
12:7; Mark 14:21.
Went (πορευθεῖσα)
So in Mark 16:12, Mark 16:15. Went, go. This verb for to go occurs nowhere else in this Gospel
except in compounds.
Them that had been with him (τοῖς μετ' αὐτοῦ γενομένοις)
A circumlocution foreign to the Gospels.
MOURNING FOR CHRIST NO. 1362
A SERMON DELIVERED ON LORD’S-DAY MORNING, JULY 1, 1877, BY C. H.
SPURGEON, AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
“I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace
and of supplications; and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall
mourn for Him, as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is
in bitterness for his first-born.” Zechariah 12:10.
SEE, beloved, from where every good thing flows, “I will pour upon the house of David the
Spirit of grace.” The starting point is the Lord’s sovereign act in giving the Spirit. Every work of
grace begins with God. No gracious thought or act ever originates in the free will of unregenerate
man. The Lord is first in all things which are acceptable in His sight. It is God that “works in us
to will and to do of His own good pleasure.” “You have worked all our works in us.” Then
notice how exceedingly effectual the work of the Lord is. Men may persuade and even inspired
prophets may warn without effect, but when the Lord puts His hand to the work, He never fails.
As soon as ever He says, “I will pour,” the next sentence is, “and they shall look.” When He
works, who shall hinder? His people shall be willing in the day of His power. “They shall look
upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn.” This is effectual calling indeed. In
such results we see what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe
according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him

from the dead. Observe, thirdly, the dignity and the prominent position which is occupied by
faith. “I will pour upon them the spirit of supplication and they shall look.” Faith is evidently
intended here, for faith is always that glance of the eye which brings us the blessing which Christ
has to bestow. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be
lifted up that whoever believes in Him should not perish.” A look at the brazen serpent healed
Israel and according to the figure, believing in Jesus Christ is a saving look. Now, this look of
faith is mentioned as the first fruit of the Spirit—before they mourn, they look. When the Spirit
of grace and supplication is given, its principal result is looking unto Jesus. But now see what a
choice fruit follows upon faith—a soft, sweet, mellow fruit of the Spirit, “They shall mourn for
Him as one that mourns for his only son.” This sorrow is a sweet bitter, a delicious grief, full of
all manner of rare excellencies. It is a peculiar order of mourning and differs greatly from the
sorrow of the world which works death. Those who mourn in this fashion are made sorry after a
godly manner, for godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of. Mark, it is
godly sorrow or repentance towards God. Its specialty is that it looks Godward and weeps
because of grieving Him. The lamentation described in the text is mourning for Christ. “And I
will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and
of supplications; and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for
Him as one mourns for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness
for his first-born.” This is a very remarkable peculiarity of true Spirit-worked repentance. It fixes
its eyes mainly upon the wrong done to the Lord by its sin. No other repentance but that which is
evangelical looks in that direction. The repentance of ungodly men is a horror at their
punishment, an alarm at the dire result of their transgressions. They repent like Esau, not of
eating the pottage, but of losing the birthright. They see sin only in reference to themselves and
their fellow men, but its higher bearings in reference to the Lord, they quite ignore. The ungodly
at times, and especially in the hour of death, feel remorse, but it has nothing to do with God
unless it is that they tremble at His justice and fear the punishment which He executes. It is, after
all, pure selfishness. They are sorry because they are about to suffer the consequences of their
rebellion. Evangelical repentance
Mourning for Christ Sermon #1362
Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ. Volume 23
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sympathizes with the Great Father and grieves that He should have been so sadly provoked. See
it in David, “Against You only have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight.” See it in the
prodigal, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and am no more worthy to be
called your son.” See how it was worked in Saul of Tarsus, for the voice from heaven said,
“Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” It was sin as against the exalted Savior which struck
home to Paul’s heart and laid him low at the feet of his Lord. All true repentance has this for its
special mark, that it is attended with evident reconciliation to God, since it now regrets the
wrongs done to Him. One sure seal of its genuine spirituality is that it is a lamentation on
account of the dishonor which sin has done to God and to His Christ. We are going to view the
special case before us from that point of view and work it out in three or four ways. I. First,
according to our text, when the spirit of grace is given, THERE WILL BE A SPECIAL
MOURNING FOR CHRIST ON THE PART OF ISRAEL. You must take the text in its primary
significance, for we must treat the Word of God fairly. There will come a day when the ancient
people of God, who have so long rejected Jesus of Nazareth, will discover Him to be the Messiah

and then one of their first feelings will be that of deep humiliation and bitter regret before God.
They will mourn as at the mourning of Hadadrimmon, when the beloved Josiah fell in battle and
all good men knew that the light of the nation was quenched. “The breath of our nostrils, the
anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live
among the heathen.” They justly mourned for pious Josiah, for he was the last of their godly
kings and the full shower of wrath began to fall upon Judah when he was taken from the evil to
come. Right well also will it be for them to mourn bitterly as a nation, when they discern the
Lord whom they have pierced, for is there not a cause? They had a peculiar interest in the
Messiah, for it was to them and almost to them only that His coming was clearly revealed. God
spoke of Him to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and the fathers. It was from their race that the
Messiah was to come. It is no small honor to Abraham’s seed that the man Christ Jesus is one of
them. It was a Judean virgin of whom He was born and to Israel He is indeed bone of their bone
and flesh of their flesh. When He came on earth, He confined His ministry to them. Of them He
said, “I am not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” He healed their sick. He
opened the eyes of their blind ones and raised their dead. It was in their streets that He delivered
His gracious messages of love. And when He was gone, it was in their chief city that the
preaching of the gospel began and the Holy Spirit was poured out. “Go you and teach all
nations,” He said, “beginning at Jerusalem.” It was from among the Jews that the first vanguard
of the church’s host was chosen. The first to preach the gospel were of the house of Israel and
they might have been to this day in the very front of the army, peculiarly adapted as they are in
many respects to lead the way in the teaching of a pure faith, but they judged themselves
unworthy and therefore the ministers of Christ, though chosen from them, were obliged to say,
“We turn unto the Gentiles.” Then came their casting away, for a time, during which season their
own Messiah was despised and blasphemed by the nation which ought to have received Him
with exultation. “He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.” Their rejection of the
Lord Jesus was most determined and carried to the utmost length. It was not sufficient for that
generation in which Jesus lived to turn a deaf ear to His admonitions, they must needs seek His
life. Once they would have cast Him headlong from the brow of a hill. At another time, they took
up stones to stone Him and at last they did take Him and bear false witness against Him, fiercely
seeking His blood. By their malice, He was given over to the Romans and put to death, not
because the Romans desired to slay Him, but because the clamor of the multitude was, “Crucify
Him, crucify Him.” and their voices prevailed with Pilate. They imprecated on their heads His
blood, saying, “His blood be on us and on our children.” They pushed the rejection of the King
of the Jews to the utmost possible extreme, for they rested not till He hung upon the shameful
tree and life remained no more in Him. Peter said, “And now, brethren, I know that through
ignorance you did it, as did also your rulers.” How bitterly, then, will they lament when that
ignorance is removed. They will mourn as one who has lost his firstborn and only child, as for a
loss never to be repaired. Worse still was that their ignorance was, to a large extent willful, for
Jesus was rejected by them against the clearest possible light. John came as a voice crying in the
wilderness and all men knew that John was a prophet. Those who most hated Jesus of Nazareth
were yet afraid to say that John was not sent of God. Yet he bore witness of Jesus and said,
“Behold the Lamb of God, which takes away the sin
Sermon #1362 Mourning for Christ
Volume 23 Tell someone today how much you love Jesus Christ.
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of the world.” Moreover, Jesus Himself spoke as never any man spoke—His teachings carried
their own evidence within themselves, so that He justly said, “If I had not come and spoken unto
them, they had not had sin; but now they have no cloak for their sin.” His words were
accompanied also with signs and wonders by which He proved His deity and His Father’s
pleasure in Him, so that He said, “If I had not done among them the works which no other man
did, they had not had sin; but now have they both seen and hated both Me and My Father.” In
memory of this He stood and wept over Jerusalem, saying, “How often would I have gathered
your children together as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not.” What
agony will rend their hearts when they perceive how blinded they were and how they despised
their own mercies. One great reason for the bitter mourning of restored and believing Israel will
be the long ratification of this rejection of Christ by generation after generation. For nearly 1,900
years have passed since Calvary’s cross was erected, but they reject the Nazarene still. Alas, poor
Israelites! The veil is still upon their faces though Moses is read in their synagogues every
Sabbath day. Alas! for the sorrowing seed of Jacob, waiting still with their wailing hymns, for
the coming of the Messiah, who has come already, but who was “despised and rejected” of His
own people and made by them “a nan of sorrows and acquainted with grief”. They will mourn as
over the grave of an only child when they come to know that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the
virgin-born Emmanuel, God with us. They will wring their hands and seek to blot out the pages
of their history with tears because they did so despitefully maltreat and so obstinately reject their
Lord, the Prince of the house of David. If another Jeremiah shall be found to lead the singing
men and singing women in their lamentations, he will have no need to look long for subjects for
his laments. Looking to Him whom they pierced, the whole house of Israel will weep bitterly.
And now, dear brethren, it will tend to increase the blessed sorrows which will then sweep over
Israel to think how the Lord has had patience with them and still has never cast them away. To
this day they are as distinct a people as ever they were. They dwell alone—they are not
numbered among the people. Persecuted almost beyond conception, poor Israel, for many a
century, has been the butt and jest of those—I am ashamed to say it—who called themselves
Christians and yet despised the chosen people of the Lord. Alas! The precious sons of Zion,
comparable to fine gold, have been esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the
potter! “How has the Lord covered the daughter of Zion with a cloud in His anger and cast down
from heaven unto the earth the beauty of Israel!” They have for centuries endured a terrible
chastening. They have been turned upside down and wiped as when a man wipes a dish, but still
they stand waiting for a vainly expected King. They would not have their true King, Jesus the
Son of David, and they have no other—where is there any king of the Jews? The scepter has
departed from Jacob and the lawgiver from between his feet, for Shiloh has come, even He who,
as He did hang upon the cross, was thrice named, “King of the Jews.” Jesus is the sole King of
the Jews and they are preserved and kept alive notwithstanding a thousand influences which
threatened to make them lose their nationality. They shall yet be gathered again, and their
restoration shall be the fullness of the Gentiles, and we and they shall rejoice together in Him
who has made both one, and broken down the middle wall or partition, so that there is now
neither Jew nor Gentile, barbarous Scythian, bond nor free, but we are all one in Christ Jesus. II.
I now come to more personal matters. In the second place, THERE IS A GENERAL
MOURNING WHICH GOD GIVES TO HIS CHURCH ON BEHALF OF CHRIST—a
mourning which is only known and manifested when the Spirit of grace and supplication is fully
poured out; I would we might have a large measure of that mourning at this present hour. Let us
deplore at this time, beloved brethren and sisters, that Jesus Christ, by the great mass of men, is

treated with utter indifference, if not with contempt. Where are the multitudes even of our own
city at this present moment? There are many gathered in places of worship to sing hymns in the
Redeemer’s praise, but there are many, many thousands in this city—I have even heard it said
that there are millions of people who seldom, if ever, enter within the walls of the house of God.
Jesus has suffered and bled to death for men who, when they hear of it, treat His loving sacrifice
as an idle tale. He is not quite unknown, I hope, to any of our city—some tidings of Him must
have reached their ears, but they scarce have enough curiosity to inquire more about it. Their
little children go home from school and sing to them on the Sabbath day and so they have
sweetly sounded in their ears the “old, old story” of redeeming love, but ah, they break the
Sabbath—they make
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it a day of amusement and pleasure or they spend it in sloth. The Bible is left unread, or read
without interest in its divine message. They have no care for the bleeding Lamb, no regard for
their best friend. If they do not sorrow about this, we ought to sorrow for them, for they are men
and women like ourselves and they are living in contempt of our Lord Jesus. Some of them have
many amiabilities—there is so much indeed of human excellence about them that we have
deplored that the “one thing” which they lacked was not sought after by them. Yet they continue
as they are and it is to be feared many of them will continue so till they perish. Weep not so
much because Jesus suffered on the cross, as because He is practically crucified every day by
this carelessness and contempt. The crucifixion at Calvary is over now and it is but the visible
token of a crucifixion to which careless men and women are putting the Redeemer every day.
They care nothing about Him—dead or alive He is nothing to them. At the thought of such
unkindness will you not cry, “For these things I weep; my eye, my eye runs down with water.”
Reflect sorrowfully, too, how the Lord Jesus has been ill treated and pierced and wounded by His
opponents—and I mention here as among the chief of them those who deny His deity. At this
moment there are men of great attainments and abilities who will extol our Lord’s manhood and
even profess to be in love with His character, but they will not yield Him divine honors. Oh, Son
of God, to whom the Father bore witness by an audible voice out of heaven, saying, “This is My
beloved Son, hear Him”— they reject the witness of God and so dishonor You. You did not
count it robbery to be equal with God, but they gladly would pierce You in Your divinity and
make you nothing but a man. Men also reject our Lord’s atonement. By many that truth is
obscured or utterly denied! I still hear the cry in many quarters, “Let Him come down from the
cross and we will believe on Him.” Modern philosophers will accept anything except the
bleeding Substitute for guilty man. When I think of the false doctrine which is preached about
the Lord Jesus and how His glory is tarnished by the lips of His professed ministers who think
His gospel a worn-out tale, I see that there is, indeed, occasion for us to get to our chambers and
pour out our hearts in lamentation. Alas, my Lord, why are You thus blasphemed by the worldly
wise? Why is Your truth despised among the learned and ridiculed by the scribes? I do not know
when my grief has been more stirred for my Lord and Master than when brought actually to see
the superstition by which our holy faith is travestied and His blessed name blasphemed. Turning
from skepticism, where He is wounded in the house of His enemies, you come to superstition,
where He is wounded in the house of His professed friends, and what wounds they are! I have
felt sometimes as if I could tear down the baby image held in the Virgin’s hands when I have

seen men and women prostrate before it. What? O you sons of Antichrist, could you not make an
idol, like the Egyptians, out of your cats and dogs, or find your gods in your gardens? Could you
not make a golden calf, as Israel did in the wilderness, or borrow the fantastic shapes of India’s
deities? Could nothing content you till the image of the holy child Jesus should be made into an
idol and Christ upon the cross uplifted should be set up as an image for men to bow before it?
The idolatry which worships the image of the devil is less blasphemous than that which worships
the image of Christ. It is an awful sacrilege to make the holy Jesus appear to be an accomplice in
the violation of the divine command—yes, and to turn that blessed memorial of death into an
idolatrous rite in which divine honors are given to a piece of bread. Was there ever sin like unto
this sin? O You, innocent Savior, it is grief indeed to think that You should be set up in the idol
temple, among saints and saintesses and that men should think that they are honoring God by
breaking His first and second commands. This must be to our Lord the most loathsome of all
things under heaven. How does He in patience bear it? Let not His people behold it without a
mourning like the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon, because our blessed
Christ is so blasphemed by Antichrist that the image of the incarnate Son of God is set up as an
object of idolatrous worship. There should be great sorrow and mourning when we read the
history of the past and look even at the present, at the fearful wrongs which have been done in
the name of Jesus. Jesus is all love and tenderness and yet they place His cross upon the blood-
stained banners of accursed war. Jesus, who said, “Put up your sword into its sheath, for they that
take the sword shall perish with the sword,” is, nevertheless, adjured to go forth with armed hosts
to blow men to pieces with guns, or pierce them with bayonets. When the Spanish nation
captured Peru and Mexico, it makes one’s blood boil to read that, while they murdered the
defenseless people for their gold, they set up in every town the holy cross. What had the cross to
do with their murders and robberies? They tortured their victims in the name of Jesus and
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when they put them to death, they held up before them the image of the crucified Jesus. What
horrors have been worked in Your name, O Christ of God! Men have, indeed, pierced You and
they who take Your name and call themselves of “the Society of Jesus” have been chief enactors
of these abominations. Your crucifixion at Calvary is a small part of the matter, for the sons of
men have gone on piercing You by maligning You thus infamously, You, Lord, of boundless
love. And now, today, what is done in our land? I can scarcely stay to enlarge, but there are
multitudes of things done in the name of the religion of Christ which are a dishonor to it. Under
the pretense of guarding the interests of His church a certain community of professing Christians
beg that their fellow Christians may not be buried within the same enclosure as themselves—
indeed, Christ’s name must sanction such un-Christly bigotry! One section of the church must
also be patronized and made dominant in the land—and this wrong is done in the name of Jesus.
It is to honor Him that this crying injustice is perpetrated! Hear it, you heavens! There are
multitudes of things besides which I shall not mention for which the Christian church ought
perpetually to sorrow. That she does wrong is enough to make her humble, but that she has dared
often to do wrong, even in the very name of Jesus, is worst of all. Still, brethren, the worst
sorrow probably for us all is that there should be so many professing Christians who act in a
manner the very opposite to what Christ would have them do. The heathen everywhere point to
our countrymen, who are supposed to be Christians, and they say of us that we are the most

drunken race of men upon the face of the earth—and I suppose we are. Charges are brought
against us which are supported by the conduct of our sailors and soldiers and others who go
abroad, which make the followers of Mohammed and the disciples of Brahmanism to think their
religion superior to our own. These Englishmen are supposed to be Christians, though they are
not. This is a great scandal and a grievous sorrow under the sun. And then in the very heart of it
all lies this, that true Christians, those who are truly Christ’s bloodbought, regenerated people,
nevertheless, do not sufficiently bring glory to His name. Where is the zeal of the church—the
all-consuming zeal of other days? Where is the consecration which ought to rest upon all
members of Christ’s blood-bought body? Where, I say, is that mightiness in prayer and
supplication which at the first so gloriously prevailed? Where is that spirit of hearty love and
unity, of brotherly kindness and compassion which ought to be seen in all Christians? The first
church brought great honor to the name of Christ—does the church of today do the like? Do even
the most spiritual portions of the church bring to the Lord Jesus such honor and glory as He
ought to have? You judge what I say. Are we not all unprofitable servants? Is there not cause for
mourning and for great mourning, too, to think that Jesus should thus have been ill-treated by
friends and foes? For Him, our best Beloved, perpetually pierced, the church may well proclaim
a fast and mourn before the Lord, as in the day of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. III.
Suffer, now, a word or two upon the third point, for THE TEXT SPEAKS OF A FAMILY
MOURNING. It will be a very blessed day indeed when we see this—when the Spirit of grace
and supplication shall be largely poured out and the land shall mourn, every family apart. Have
you ever seen this in your households? Where the Spirit of God really rests upon a family, there
will be much of it and surely there is cause enough for it in some families where there is none at
all. We ought to grieve to think that there has been such formality and coldness in family
devotion, so little love to Jesus manifested in the morning and evening worship. I fear that there
are professing families where daily prayer is altogether neglected. The individuals, I trust, pray
in their chambers, but they have given up the assembling of themselves as families to worship in
the name of Jesus. As families, they are prayerless and dishonor the Lord; herein is serious cause
for sorrow because our Lord loses, by this neglect, that which He delights in, namely, family
praises. Families should also mourn because the Lord is not so regarded as He should be in
family management. Christ is not made first and chief in family matters. Fathers look to the
worldly prosperity of their boys in placing them out, rather than to their moral and spiritual
advantage. Many a time, marriages for the daughters are sought, not in the Lord, but solely in
reference to pecuniary considerations. How much of the arrangement of the household ignores
the existence of the Savior? As, for instance, much work done on the Sabbath which might be
spared by a little care and thought and consequent inability to go out to worship the Savior with
the rest of God’s people. There is a way of setting the Lord always before
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us in the management of household matters and on the other hand, there is a way of so acting as
to prove that God is not in the least considered. For family quarrels, family pride, family
covetousness, and family sins of all kinds bring shame upon our profession and dishonor upon
the name with which we are named, there ought to be great sorrow. If there are any members of
a family unconverted, this should cause the whole household deep regret. If there is but one child
unsaved, the whole should plead for him with tears. Happy are you who have all your household

walking in the faith, but if there is one left out, weep not for the dead, neither bewail him, but
weep for the living who is dead unto his Lord. Wife, be grieved in your heart if you have a
worldly husband. O husband, mourn for your unconverted wife! If you have brothers or sisters
not yet brought to Jesus, fail not to lament concerning them. I would to God that families did
sometimes come together to pay their vows with special care and that the father would confess
family faults and family sins in the name of them all and so acknowledge each wound given to
the Lord in their house. I am not alluding to those private rebukes which every wise parent must
give, but I would have a common confession from all, uttered by the voice of the head of the
household. Oh, Lord Jesus Christ, how blessed it is to think that You are the God of all the
families of Israel and that You love the tents of Jacob so well. Grant that our households, as
households, inasmuch as they sin and transgress, may also walk before You in all humbleness.
Let all families mourn. Let the house of David mourn, for there is sin in royal and noble families.
Let the house of Levi repent, for, alas, there are sins in ministers’ families which greatly provoke
the Lord our God. The house of Shimei, of whom we know nothing may represent the private
families which are unknown and of the humbler order. Let these also draw near to God in
penitential grief. The house of Nathan may be regarded as the prophetic or perhaps as the
princely house, but be they what they may, let them all come before the Most High, each with
the language of confession. It will be a grand thing for England when we shall see more family
piety and family mourning for sin. They tell us that in Cromwell’s day if you went down
Cheapside at a certain hour in the morning, every blind of every house was down because the
residents were at family prayer. It was then a standing ordinance of all professors of religion and
it was the great buttress against Popery. Modern Ritualists want us to go to church every
morning and night to pray—the church is opened all day long, so I see by a notice on one of our
churches, for private prayer. It strikes me as being rather a place for public prayer and well
adapted for the display of devotion. The idea that prayer is more acceptable in the parish church
than in your own houses is a superstition and ought to be treated with no respect. If we will pray
in our families and make every house into a church and consecrate every room by private
supplication, we shall not be fascinated by the foolish idea of the holiness of places or priests and
we shall so be guarded against the seductions of Popery. The Lord pour out the Spirit of grace
upon all the families of His people! IV. But now, lastly, and more personally. According to the
text, when the Spirit of God is given, there will be PERSONAL, SEPARATE, AND
SALUTARY MOURNING ON THE PART OF EACH ONE. “Every family apart, and their
wives apart,” these words, often repeated, bring out vividly the individuality of this holy sorrow
before the Lord. Let us now endeavor to enter into it. First, dear brethren and sisters, let us
mourn that our sins occasioned our Lord’s death and when we have done this, which would
naturally be the first thought from the text and therefore will naturally occur to you without my
needing to urge it, let us go on to mourn our sins before our regeneration. To me it will ever
cause regret that I was unbelieving towards One who could not lie. Now, as I know my Lord and
have proved His faithfulness so well, it looks so strangely cruel that I should have doubted Him,
that I should have thought He could not cleanse me or that He would not receive me. He is the
tenderest of all hearts, the most loving of all beings, and yet there was a day when I thought Him
a severe tyrant who expected a preparation of me which I could not produce in myself. I did not
know that He would take me just as I was and blot out my sin. I know it now, but I mourn that I
so grievously belied Him. Ought we not to grieve over our long carelessness? You used to hear
the gospel, dear friend, and you understood its plan and scope, but you did not wish to feel its
power. The Son of God in pity came to die for you and yet you thought it an everyday matter to

be attended to at your convenience, and you went your way to mind earthly things. O Lord, how
could I shut the door of my heart against You so long when
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Your head was wet with dew and Your locks with the drops of the night? You did gently knock
and knock again, my God, and yet I would not let You in for many a year! Sorrowfully do I
repent for this. Think then, dear friends, of the contempt which we cast upon Christ while we
were living in that state of carelessness, for did we not as good as say in our heart, “Pleasure is to
be found in the world and not in Christ. Rest is to be had in wealth, not in Jesus”? Did we not
deliberately choose when were young to follow the devices of our own hearts instead of the will
of Jesus? Now that we know Him, we think ourselves fools that we should have seen any charms
in the painted face of that Jezebel world when Jesus stood by with all His matchless beauties.
Forgive us, dear Redeemer, that we ever thought of these trifles, these transitory toys, these
mockeries, and let You go though it were but for an hour. Alas, this base contempt of You was
no error of an hour, but a crime which lasted many years. Pardon us, O Lord. Let us reflect,
again, with great regret upon the resistance which we offered to Christ. In some of us, the Spirit
strove mightily. I do confess that under sermons I was oftentimes brought to my knees and
driven to my chamber with tears, but the next morning saw those tears evaporate and I was as
stubborn as before. Did Jesus persuade us to come to His wedding feast? Did He put His arms
about our neck and say, “Come and receive My love?” By His tenderness did He persuade us and
by His terrors did He threaten us and yet did we resist Him? What a crime is this! Look at Him
now! Oh, look at Him with His dear wounds and His face marred more than any man! Did we
push Him aside? Did we contend with Him who only meant our good? Did we not by this
conduct pierce our Lord? It was even so. Alas, for those dark days! Let the whole of our life
before conversion be counted but as a breathing death. Write down its days as nights and let the
nights perish and be forgotten forever. But we have more than this to reflect upon, namely, our
sins since conversion. Do I address any this morning who have grievously backslidden since they
professed faith in Christ? Have you committed great and open sins? Has it even been found
necessary to remove you from the church of God as the leper is put out from the camp? Then do
not think of it without feeling your eyes swim in tears. What is justly bound by the church on
earth is bound in heaven and therefore do not despise the censure of the church of God. And if
others of us have been kept—as I trust we have—from the great transgression, yet, beloved, what
shall we say? Are there not with us, even with us, many sins against the Lord? We too have often
been guilty of mistrust. We have doubted the Lord, who is truth itself. What a stab at His heart is
this! What a reopening of His veins! We have been gloomy sometimes, and full of murmuring
until men have said that Christians are miserable; and they have taken up a proverb against our
holy faith because we have been despondent and have not felt the joy of the Lord; this is
wounding Him in the house of His friends, and for this evil let us mourn. Might not our Beloved
charge lukewarmness upon very many who would be unable to deny the accusation? Lukewarm
towards the bleeding Lamb—towards the dear lover of our souls! Have we not been disobedient
too, leaving undone certain duties because they were unpleasant to the flesh and doing other
things which we know we ought not to have done, because we chose to please ourselves? This is
a sad state of things to exist between our hearts and our best Beloved. Has there not been in us a
very great want of self-denial? What little we have given to Him! Did we ever pinch ourselves

for Him? Might He not say to us, “You have bought Me no sweet cane with money, neither have
you filled me with the fat of your sacrifices, but you have made Me to serve with your sins, you
have wearied Me with your iniquities.” And how little zeal we have shown for Him. Zeal has just
lingered on, like a spark in the flax unquenched, but how little flame has there been, how little
love for God, how little love for perishing sinners, how little love, even, for Christ’s own people.
How scant has been our fellowship with Jesus. I know some who, I hope, love Him, who go from
day to day without hearing His voice and some will even live a week in that condition. Shame!
Shame! To live a month in the same house with our heart’s husband and not to have a word with
Him! It is sad indeed, that He, who should be all in all to us, should often be treated as if He
were second best or nowhere in the race. Alas, alas! Christ is all excellence and we are all
deficiency. In Him we may rejoice, but as to ourselves, we ought to mourn like doves because of
the griefs we must have caused to His Holy Spirit through the ill estate of our souls.
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We have asked you, and I pray the Spirit of God to enable you, to mourn over the past, but what
shall we say as to the present? Take stock now of last week; I invite myself and you, for we are
one in Christ if we are believers, to look through last week. Did you make any survey of the days
as they passed? If so, I think you might have said with Dr. Watts— “What have I done for Him
who died To save my guilty soul? How are my follies multiplied, Fast as my minutes roll.”
Has it been a week of real service for Christ? You have done something; did you do your best?
Did you throw your heart into it? Did you feel that tenderness, when you were trying to bring
others to Christ, which a Christian ought to feel? You had some little contention with another;
did you act in a Christian spirit? Did you show the mildness and gentleness of Jesus? You were
offended, did you forgive freely? For His dear sake did you cast it all behind your back? You
have been somewhat in trouble, did you take your burden to Him as naturally as a little child
runs to its mother with a cut finger? Did you tell Him all and leave it all to Him? You had a loss;
did you voluntarily resign all to His will? Has there been no pride this week? Pride grieves Him
very much, for He is not a proud Master and is not pleased with a proud disciple. Has there not
been much to mourn over? And now, at this very moment, what is the state of our feeling toward
Him? Must we not confess that though there is a work of grace in our souls, yet there is much
about us at this moment which should make us bow down in grief before the Lord? Dear Savior,
You know there is not one in this house who has more cause to mourn for You than he does who
speaks for You now, for he feels that these poor lips are not able to tell what his heart feels and
his heart does not feel what it ought. A preacher should be like a seraph. One who speaks for
Christ and tries to praise Him should be a very Niobe when he sees the sins of men and his own.
Where are my tears? The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak. I think what I have now
said of myself will suit most of you who are engaged in my Master’s service. Do you not feel
that you blunder at it, that when you would paint Him, you make a daub of His likeness? When
you would set Him forth visibly crucified among the people, do you not obscure Him with the
very words with which you wish to reveal Him? You must have such feelings and if you have
them, let me close by reading these words to you. They are assuredly true when there is a time of
hearty, sincere mourning for Jesus, “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of
David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” So let us plunge into the
sacred bath. Believing in the precious blood, let us wash and be clean. Glory be to His name,

those whom He has washed are clean every whit. Amen.
ERROR—To our intense regret we perceive that in the last sermon, the printer has inserted a
verse from the First Epistle to the Corinthians instead of from the Second. This entirely spoils
our argument. Will the reader kindly correct his copy? Put 2 Corinthians for 1 Corinthians and
mark out the misquoted words. The error was occasioned by a slip of our pen. [By His grace, the
verse is corrected.—EO
PRECEPT AUSTIN RESOURCES
BRIAN BELL
Mark 16:9-11 1-5-14 Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles I.
Slide#1 Announce: A. Slide#2,3 Machaca Discipleship Program - John Gotz. B.
Slide#4 January is the National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.
1. Every day people are bought and sold, even young children. HT is the fastest
growing organized crime, 2nd largest criminal industry in the world. HT deprives
people of the innate human rights we are all born with, and is one of the greatest
threats to ideals such as freedom and liberty. C. What? - This Sat Jan.11th is a day
set aside to recognize this by our President back in 2011. I’m calling on the church
to join with our team to Fast1 day this week for HT. D. Why? - Because it is our
Universal Duty of Compassion. 1. Solomon, the wisest of men said, "Rescuethose
who are unjustly sentenced to die; save them as they stagger to their death. Don’t
excuse yourself by saying, Look, we didn’t know.” For God understands all hearts,
and he sees you. He who guards your soul knows you knew. He will repay all
people as their actions deserve. Prv24:11,12 NLT E. Let’s partner with our living
God in bringing the righteousness of heaven down to sinful earth. As the church
prays, may the Lord respond by bring freedom to the oppressed,and may
righteousness reign. F. Suggestions to pray for: Salvation. Dignity for all people.
Protection for the vulnerable. Enabling the exploited. Choices for the
disenfranchised. Safe & civil society. Gender equality & right relationships.
Religious freedom. Sustainable economic opportunity. Political stability.
II. Slide#5 Intro: A. Did Mark end on verse 8? Vs9-20 are not in CodexSinaiticus
& Codex Vaticanus [codex/ancient manu] 1. We do know that everything we find
in here can be found in the other 3 gospels. 2. We do know though it is not found
in the 2 codex, is found in all other manuscripts. 3. We do know no major doctrine
is changed nor even diminished. 4. We do know it is in harmony w/the rest of the

NT teachings. B. Slide#6 Ken Gire said, “It was in a garden ages ago that paradise
was lost, & it is in a garden now that it would be regained.” Ken Gire, Mary
Magdalene, pg.130. C. Slide#7 Title: Mary Magdalene, Apostle to the Apostles.
1. "Apostle to the Apostles", an honorific title that 4th-cent orthodoxtheologian
Augustine gave her. [i.e. apostle/one divinely sent] D. Let’s read Mark 16:9-11 &
then the fuller story in Jn.20:11-18.
1
III. Slide#8 WHO IS MARY MAGDALENE? A. Slide#9 Overview: Mary
Magdalene was Mary from Magdala. [funny picture] 1. A town on the western
shore of Galilee 3m. so. of Capernaum. It was a thriving populous town. Known
for its Dye works & primitive Textile factories. 2. Slide#10 & presently one of the
most important archeological digs going on right now B. Slide#11 Her Family? No
record of parents, marital status, or her age. C. Slide#12 Statistics: She is
mentioned 14 x’s in the gospels. 8 of the 14 she is named w/the other ladies and
she is always mentioned 1st. The 5 x’s she’s mentioned alone are in connection w/
Jesus’ death & res. And in only 1 verse is mentioned after Mary(Jesus mother)&
the aunt of Jesus. D. Slide#13 Prostitute? Was she? 1. Not a shred of genuine
evidence that she had a bad reputation. 2. This came from the idea that this is the
sinful women who anointed Jesus feet, like Mary also did, found in Lk.7:36-50. a)
History continued this bad reputation: The R.C. Church started Magdalen
Houses/Asylums in 1324 for fallen women. (1) Thus became the patroness of
wayward women. 3. Art galleries are full of paintings w/her as a voluptuous or a
1/2 dressed female. 4. Slide#14 Film makers continued this idea: Remember the
blasphemous rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar [1973]. Mary Magdalene was
pictured as a prostitute making attempts to seduce Jesus. a) Martin Scorcese’sfilm
The Last Temptation of Christ did the same. b) Mel Gibson’s Passionof the Christ
depicted her as a women with a bad reputation. 5. Again, there is not a shred of
genuine evidence that she had a bad reputation. a) Yet God has plenty to say about
women with bad reputation/pasts/or those born on the wrong side of the tracks.
Matter of fact He starts off the NT w/4 in His own genealogy. b) Slide#15 Tamar -
I’ve deceived (played the harlet with Judah). c) Rahab - I’ve got a bad reputation
(the x-prostitute). d) Ruth - I wasn't raised a believer (wrong pedigree, a gentile, a
Moabite). e) Bathsheba - I’m an adulterous. (1) Don’t ever say God can’t use you
because of what you’ve done whether 10 minutes ago or 10 yrs. ago. (2) Don’t be a
Scab Picker. Leave the past as that.....Past!(3) We say we can’t pick our relatives.
But Jesus did. Especially to show His incredible Love & grace for Sinners. That’s
the Good News. 2
(4) The stage was now set for God to do a new thing. Broader than Israel, & deeper
than the law.
E. Slide#16 7 demons – Yes, she did have 7 demons…beforeshe met Jesus. 1.

These dreadful inmates must have caused such pain & pollution. 2. Such a horrible
& hopeless case. She couldn’t help herself, nor could any human help her. 3. Her
conditions were worse than any of the other ladies we’ve met in this gospel. 4. She
became a special trophy of Christ’s delivering power. A trophy of Grace. 5. Her
deranged & nerve racked mind obviously became as tranquil as the troubled lake
Jesus calmed. 6. Note: the greatness of our sin before conversion doesn’tdisqualify
us in any way of His favor. a) Mary’s first step from extreme darkness into the
most brilliant light wasn’t the expulsion of the demons, but her meeting Jesus. It is
Christ who casts out demons, not the expulsion of demons that brings Christ.
George Matheson, Portraits of Bible Women, pg.139 (1) Mary was transformed
by 1 ideal, it lit the metropolis(mother state/city) of her heart on fire & it spread to
all the provinces. George Matheson, Portraits of Bible Women, pg.139 7. Mary
proved that no depth of sin & no possessionof numerous demons shall separate us
from the love of Christ. F. Slide#17 Her devotion: No woman superseded her holy
fidelity to the Master. 1. She traveled w/the other ladies who helped in taking care
of Jesus substance. 2. She left her home to follow Jesus. She was constantly on the
move. She gave up any personal comforts. a) In some of the worlds cultures when
a man saves another mans life the man whose life is saved becomes the other mans
servant. He does this by choice and out of gratitude. From the time of her
deliverance Mary Magdalene followed our Lord. She went where He went. She
listened, learned and believed in Jesus. 3. She was the last at the cross. [she could
answer yes to the question in the hymn, were you there when they crucified my
Lord?] 4. She was earliest to the grave. She was sitting over against the sepulcher
& watching until Joseph had laid the Lord’s bodyto rest in the tomb. 5. She
witnessed the most important event in world history, the resurrection. a) Jesus
chooses & permits her to be the 1st witness of that Resurrection. [not even his own
mom!] b) Jesus chooses & to appear to a woman w/o hope. His 1st words to
her…“why are you weeping?” c) Are you a woman/man w/o hope? Wait for Him.
Wait for His 1 word for you today.
3
(1) Notice how Christ is revealed to her…by a word, “Mary!” (a) It needed but one
word in His voice, & at one word she knew Him. i.e. My sheep hear My voice.
And her heart owned allegiance by another word, “Rabboni!” (b) We also just need
one word of His to turn our weeping into rejoicing, His presence makes our heart’s
shine. (2) Wait for His one word for you today. Maybe it will just be your name.
How would that be? 6. She was there at the tomb early. a) Whole new meaning to
“the early bird catches the worm.” (Ps.22:8 tolath) b) When she 1st saw the tomb
open she must have thought that the tomb had been violated. (1) It’s like buying
something from the store where the seal had already been broken. Or coming
home, you front dooris ajar. c) What did they do with the body?Was it the

Romans? Was it the religious leaders? Did they throw it in the garbage heap of
Gehenna? Have they put it on display somewhere? (like king Saul’s fastened to the
walls of Bet Shan) d) She mistook Jesus for the gardener (after 2 1/2 yrs of
walking with Him). (1) Who did you mistake Jesus for, before He called you by
name? Maybe you thought He was unreachable, untouchable, unknowable? 7. She
was graced to see 2 angels. [explain ark of the covenant w/angels on each end] a)
“The woman who was once possessed w/demons finds herself in the presence of
angels.” 8. She was invited to be the 1st commissioned to herald this news.
(Jn.20:17b but go...)9. She loved her Jesus – He changed her life forever. Cast out
the 7 demons. Freed her from untold torment. He gave her life. A reason to live. A
place in His kingdom. Worth & dignity. Understanding & compassion. Love and
Hope.
G. (11) They did not believe – because the testimony of a woman was not accepted
in a Jewish court? Nope! For they didn’t even believe the witness of the 2 disciples
on the road to Emmaus(13).
IV. Slide#18 WE ARE LIKE MARY MAGDALENE A. Slide#19 We like Mary
Magdalene are sinners in need of God’s grace, love and forgiveness. B. We like
Mary Magdalene have been delivered from the kingdom of Satan. 1. Not all of us
may have been possessedby7 demons but all of us were his possession, chained in
sin and sentenced to eternal death. 2. Maybe your 7 demons are like: Dante’s 7
scars (Pride, envy, anger, intemperance, lasciviousness, covetousness, spiritual
sloth). Or Solomon’s 7 deadly sins (6 things
4
the Lord’s hates, yes 7 are an abomination). Or John Bunyan’s 7 abominations.
What were the 7 abominations in your heart? C. We like Mary Magdalene were
unable to help ourselves. 1. Jesus Christ met us and called us His own. Then freed
us from Satan’s power. Then called us to follow Him all the days of our lives and
be His disciples. D. We like Mary Magdalene live life at the footof the cross. 1.
Through the hearing of God’s word we have joined Mary at the foot of the cross. 2.
We have seen our dying savior and we know He is dying for Mary and He dying
for us. He is dying because of our sins. He is dying to taking our place. Dying to
take our guilt. Dying to take our punishment. Dying our death, once and for all.
And for His sake we have received forgiveness and reconciliation to God. E. We
like Mary Magdalene now live standing at the empty tomb. 1. With the eyes of
faith we believe that Jesus was raised from the dead for our justification,
proclaiming our innocence before God. F. We like Mary Magdalene are told by
Jesus to go and tell others the good news. G. We like Mary Magdalene share in joy
and hope in a Savior that will never leave us nor forsake us. H. We like Mary
Magdalene after meeting Jesus, life would never be the same for us. I. We like
Mary Magdalene have moments that define our lives. 1. With our lives lived at the

foot of the cross, and now standing at the empty tomb, knowing what Jesus has
done for us, having faith in Christ’s resurrection...we too join the great cloud of
witnesses that has gone before us to proclaim God’s grace in Jesus Christ to the
world. These are the moments that define our lives.
CHRIS BENFIELD
Commissioned with the GospelMark 16: 9-20
Todaywe come to the concluding passage in Mark’s gospel. We have discovered
lasting truth in the time we spent moving through this precious accountof the life
and ministry of our Lord. While it covers a span of approximately three years, the
impact is eternal. It is impossible to comprehend how the disciples felt at this
moment, and years later as they reflected on the time spent walking with the Lord.
They had experienced much with Him, and those memories and lessons would
remain with them throughout their lives.
While we were not privileged to walk with Jesus physically as they did, I hope we
have received guidance through our study that will remain as long as we live. We
have spent months considering the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the only
begotten Son, who came to earth in the form of a man to provide salvation for us,
reconciling us to God, and guaranteeing eternal life.
The final passagebegins with great uncertainty, but ends with unhindered
devotion. Our lives are much like the disciples as well. We have moments of
weakness and moments of triumph. Like these faithful men, we must not focus on
the difficulties, but rest in the risen Savior. His triumphant resurrection promises
eternal life and strength to endure whatever we face in life. As we close out this
gospel, I want to consider the experiences revealed in the text as we think on:
Commissioned with the Gospel.
I. The Crisis among the Disciples (9-14) – This passage opens by revealing a crisis
among those who had faithfully followed Jesus. They were dealing with doubtand
despair, wondering what their future held. Notice:
A. The Revelation (9) – Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week,
he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had castseven devils. We

know by examining the other gospels that Mary Magdalene, along with other
women were the first to witness the empty tomb. Upon discovering that Jesus was
not there, she ran to tell Peter and John. They too came and witnessed the empty
tomb, knowing Jesus had risen from the dead. Following the encounter at the tomb,
Mary remained in the garden, near the tomb. While in the garden, Jesus revealed
himself to Mary. Not only did she experience the empty tomb, she also talked with
the risen Lord. Jesus had died upon the cross, was buried in a borrowed tomb, but
the grave could not hold Him. He came forth triumphant and appeared unto Mary.
January 30, 2019
Pastor Chris Benfield – Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church 2
B. The Affirmation (10, 12-13a) – And she went and told them that had been with
him, as they mourned and wept. [12] After that he appeared in another form unto
two of them, as they walked, and went into the country. [13a] And they went and
told it unto the residue. In obedience to the Lord, following her encounter with
Him in the garden, Mary went and told the disciples she had seen and talked with
Jesus. The long night was over and hope had risen with the dawn. Jesus had died,
but He was alive. There was no reason for grief and mourning. The Lord had risen
just as He had promised!
▪ While Mark doesn’tspecifically say, we know he referred to the two that Jesus
walked with on the Emmaus road, about seven miles outside of Jerusalem. Jesus
appeared to these and talked with them as they traveled, expounding the Word unto
them regarding himself as the Christ. Upon His departure, their hearts burned
within them, knowing they had encountered the risen Lord. These too came and
told the disciples of their encounter with the risen Christ. Word began to come in
to the disciples that Jesus was alive and well. They now had heard two eyewitness
accounts from three different people, affirming the resurrection of Jesus!
C. The Rejection (11, 13) – And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and
had been seen of her, believed not. [13] And they went and told it unto the residue:
neither believed they them. After hearing the miraculous testimony of Mary
Magdalene and the Emmaus road travelers, the disciples refused to believe.
Apparently, their hearts remained full of grief and doubt. I am sure they wanted to
believe, but had a hard time dealing with the events of the past few days.

▪ We may tend to be critical of them, but we are often filled with fear and doubt.
It is good to hear of the encounters others had with the Lord, but often those
testimonies do little to encourage our doubts. Closely abiding with the Lord is the
best way to conquer fear and doubt.
D. The Confrontation (14) – Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at
meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they
believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. After coming into the
midst of the eleven, Jesus chided them for their lack of faith and hardness of heart.
These should have believed the report of the witnesses and rejoiced, rather than
dwelling in doubtand unbelief.
▪ Thomas typically is spokenof harshly because of John’s accountof his reaction,
but Mark records that Jesus chided all eleven of the disciples. It appears that even
Peter and John had trouble believing, even after seeing the empty tomb. It is easy
to be critical and make bold statements when all is well spiritually, but we need
His strength and help in moments of doubt and uncertainty. I pray we will live our
lives mindful of His glorious resurrection and the hope it affords!
January 30, 2019
II. The Commission for the Disciples (15-18) – This is Mark’s account of the Great
Commission. While it is similar to the others, he offers insight not recorded by the
others. Jesus spokeof:
A. The Message (15) – And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach
the gospel to every creature. The disciples received the Great Commission from
Christ. He revealed the message they were expected to preach unto the world – the
Gospel. While the Lord would use several of these men to provide New Testament
epistles that reveal invaluable practical insight for Christian life and church order,
their priority was the Gospel. They were to proclaim the death, burial, and
resurrection of Christ as the means of salvation to all humanity!

▪ The Gospelremains the theme of the church today. While Jesus first gave the
Great Commission to the disciples, it has been handed down to the church. We are
expected to proclaim the Gospelunto the world, Acts 1:8.
B. The Measure (16) – He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that
believeth not shall be damned. Jesus revealed the standard by which men will be
judged. Thosewho believe the Gospelwill receive salvation, and those who refuse
to believe will be damned in judgment. There is no middle ground or alternative
means. Salvation is inclusive in that it is available to all who believe, and yet it is
exclusive, only those who believe will be accepted of God. Men are either saved
by grace and accepted of God or yet accountable for sin and in danger of sovereign
judgment in wrath.
C. The Miracles (17-18) – And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my
name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; [18] They shall
take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they
shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. Jesus declared that the disciples
would be followed by miraculous signs and enabled with great spiritual gifts. They
would have the ability to cast out devils, speak in many languages, and heal the
sick. These men would miraculously be protected from deadly serpents and
poisons. We see these miracles in the lives of the apostles throughout the bookof
Acts. Even Paul was blessed with these abilities. Following his shipwreck, Paul
was bitten by a serpent from the fire. The native people watched, waiting for Paul
to die from the venomous bite, and yet he lived without becoming sick. God used
these signs and miracles to affirm His power and promote the Gospel.
▪ These verses, and others dealing with spiritual gifts have been debated for
centuries. The gift of tongues was always the supernatural ability to speak a known
language previously unknown to the bearer of the gift. It was never about some
made up, supposed “spiritual” language that no one had ever heard before. I am
convinced the gifts of healing and tongues in
January 30, 2019
particular ceased with Paul. We read of one account where Paul left Trophimus at

Miletus sick in body. It appears that Paul would have healed him and brought him
with him in the journey, if he still had the ability to do so. There is power in prayer,
and God is able to do as He pleases, but I am convinced these gifts and abilities no
longer exist. Some churches still practice these verses, handling snakes and
drinking poison. I have no desire to be involved with such nonsense.
III. The Commitment of the Disciples (19-20) – Mark closed his gospel with a
record of the devoted commitment of the eleven. Consider:
A. The Majesty (19) – So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was
received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. Mark doesn’treveal the
lapse in time following the resurrection and the ascension, but he does reveal that
Jesus ascended back to the right hand of the Father after He gave the disciples the
Great Commission. He ascended through the clouds, taken up out of their sight,
with the promise of returning just as they had seen Him taken up. This same Jesus
will come again for the church!
B. The Ministry (20a) – And they went forth, and preached everywhere. Following
the command of Jesus, the disciples were obedient, preaching the Gospel
throughout the world. In the coming years, the church would experience radical
growth through the efforts of these men, the apostle Paul, and countless others
committed to the Gospel. They received and remained committed to the Great
Commission.
▪ We remain responsible to continue in obedience to the Great Commission. This
command was not optional, and it wasn’t generational. It was given for the church
to continue until the Lord returns for His church. We are responsible to do our part
in engaging the world today!
C. The Authority (20b) – And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord
working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. The
Lord worked through the lives of these men and others who followed, using signs
and wonders to confirm the preaching of the Word. The Gospelwas a radical new
message, and the Lord used supernatural means to convey the Gospeland convince
men of its truth, turning to Christ in salvation. The Lord ensured the Gospelwas
proclaimed and prosperous following the resurrection.

▪ There is comfort and hopein this verse. We do not stand alone in our efforts to
reach the world. The Lord works mightily among His people to proclaim the
Gospeland reach the lost. We do not minister in our own ability, but through the
power and authority of the risen Lord!
January 30, 2019
Conclusion: That concludes months of study in Mark’s gospel. I hope you have
enjoyed this study and have been encouraged and enlightened. This gospel
presented Jesus Christ, the Servant of Men. We have walked through the life and
ministry of Jesus, eternally preserved in the Word. He came to earth with purpose
– to provide atonement for sin through His sacrificial death on the cross. Iam
thankful for the Savior who loved us enough to bear our sin and save us by His
grace. I pray you know Jesus as your personal Savior. If not, come to Him in
repentance and faith. If you are saved, I pray you have been challenged and
encouraged to faithfully serve the one who provided so much for us!
Mark 16:1-14: “Jesus Christ Is Resurrected From The Dead”
By
Jim Bomkamp
Back Bible Studies Home Page
1. In our last study, we looked at verses 22-47 of chapter 15 of Mark.
1.1. Jesus was crucified by the Roman soldiers at Pilate’s direction.
1.2. We talked about crucifixion.
1.3. We looked at what day Jesus was most likely crucified on. The tradition of the church has
always been that Jesus was crucified on Friday, and then rose on Sunday morning. I proposed
that He was most like crucified on Thursday.
1.4. We discussed what Jesus was experiencing when He cried out upon the cross, “My God, My
God, why have You forsaken me?”
1.5. We talked about the women who followed Jesus to the cross, and their role in His life.
2. In our study today, we are going to look at the events that Mark chronicles as happening on
Sunday morning after the Sabbath, before which Jesus was crucified.
2.1. We will look at the motives of those who came to further anoint Jesus’ body after their
hopes in Him as a political Messiah were dashed when He died upon the cross.

2.2. We will look at the post resurrection appearances of Jesus.
2.3. We will discuss some the timeline of post-resurrection events.
2.1. We will see how that what is recorded in the scripture encourages our faith because every
character in the narrative is slow to understand and believe that Jesus indeed has risen from the
dead.
2.2. We will discuss the way in which Jesus appears to people.
2.3. One point that I want to emphasize before we get into our study is the fact that the doctrine
of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is as important as any truth that is taught in the New
Testament. If Jesus were only a dead Savior that had not raised from the dead, then no one would
ever be able to be saved, no one would ever have hope of eternal life if Jesus Himself is not
raised, and in fact no promise of scripture would truly hold any hope for us in this life or the next
if Jesus has not raised from the dead.
2.3.1. The Bible Exposition Commentary states this: “Jesus Christ was “delivered for our
offenses, and was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). A dead Saviour cannot save
anybody. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead is as much a part of the Gospel message
as His sacrificial death on the cross (1 Cor. 15:1–8). In fact, in the Book of Acts, the church gave
witness primarily to the Resurrection (Acts 1:22; 4:2, 33). The Resurrection proves that Jesus
Christ is what He claimed to be, the very Son of God (Rom. 1:4). He had told His disciples that
He would be raised from the dead, but they had not grasped the meaning of this truth (Mark 9:9–
10, 31; 10:34). Even the women who came early to the tomb did not expect to see Him alive. In
fact, they had purchased spices to complete the anointing that Joseph and Nicodemus had so
hastily begun.”
3. VS 16:1-3 - “1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James,
and Salome, bought spices, so that they might come and anoint Him. 2 Very early on the first day
of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. 3 They were saying to one another,
“Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?”” – The three women who
in our last study accompanied Jesus to the cross (Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James
the less, and Salome, the mother of the Sons of Thunder), and then followed Joseph of
Arimathea carrying the body of Jesus to the tomb where Jesus was placed, bought spices to
further anoint Jesus’ body for burial and then came early on Monday morning to His tomb, and
as they went they wondered who would roll the stone away for them so they could get inside the
tomb
3.1. The Bible Knowledge Commentary states the following about the mummification that was
done with the body of Jesus, “Spices were poured over a dead body to counteract the odor of
decay and as a symbolic expression of loving devotion. Embalming was not a Jewish custom”.
3.2. In John 19:39, we read that when Nicodemus met up with Joseph of Arimathea as he
obtained the body of Jesus from Pilate, that Nicodemus brought with him 100 pounds of myrrh
and aloes to anoint the body of Jesus. This was a very large amount of anointing spices which
Nicodemus provided for the mummification of Jesus’ body, perhaps enough as befitting a king.
Had Judas Iscariot been around he would have thought that it too was a huge waste of money.
The reason why I bring this up is because it was in addition to that huge amount of spices that
these women bought even more spices to further anoint the body of Jesus. The giving of the
spices by Nicodemus and then also by these women was a most lavish display of love and
devotion.

3.3. It is only love that is directing these women to come to the tomb of Jesus on this day. Just as
was the case with the disciples, the women had lost all hope of Jesus being a political conquering
Messiah. All of their expectations for Jesus had been lost. They believed that there was nothing
that Jesus could do for them at this point. So, the only explanation for their wanting to further
anoint His body with costly spices for burial was their love for Him. In my book, “The Body of
Christ in all her glory”, I quote Hazel Hartwell Simon who has written this poem about love:
“Love makes obedience a thing of joy!
To do the will of one we like to please
Is never hardship, though it tax our strength;
Each privilege of service love will seize!
Love makes us loyal, glad to do or go,
And eager to defend a name or cause;
Love takes the drudgery from common work,
And asks no rich reward or great applause.
Love gives us satisfaction in our task,
And wealth in learning lessons of the heart;
Love sheds a light of glory on our toil
And makes us humbly glad to have a part.
Love makes us choose to do the will of God,
To run His errands and proclaim His truth;
It gives our hearts an eager, lilting song;

Our feet are shod with tireless wings of youth!”
3.4. The women here must have purchased these spices just before the Sabbath began so that
they would not be in violation of the Sabbath. Now, they want to bring them to anoint Jesus’
body.
3.5. Note here too that the women head off to anoint the body of Jesus with these spices, and
there is a huge obstacle that is in their way. They have no means to get to the body of Jesus
because there is a huge stone covering the entrance. If they knew about the Roman seal that was
later placed over the tomb restricting at threat of death anyone who moved the stone, plus the
Roman guard that was placed at the tomb to keep anyone away from Jesus’ body, they might not
have attempted this anointing of His body. J.D. Jones has pointed out that many people are
stopped and hindered in their worship and serving of the Lord because they see hindrances to the
work. But, when God is leading you and you step out in faith motivated by love for God, He can
handle the hindrances, and many times these just disappear when you take that step. Granted
there are times when those hindrances are placed there by the Lord, but many times they are
placed there as a test of our love, devotion and obedience to the Lord.
4. VS 16:4-6 - “4 Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was
extremely large. 5 Entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting at the right, wearing a white
robe; and they were amazed. 6 And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you are looking for
Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen; He is not here; behold, here is the
place where they laid Him.” – When the women get to the tomb, instead of a stone covering the
entrance to the tomb making entrance impossible, instead the stone is moved away from the
entrance, and, when they walk inside the tomb they discover that there is an angel there in
appearance as ‘a young man’ wearing a white robe, and the angel tells the women not to be
amazed for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified, He has risen and is not here
4.1. In Mt 28:2, the young man is referred to as an angel of the Lord.
4.2. The angel’s ‘white robe’ is another indication of this angel’s heavenly origin.
4.3. Luke and John mention two angels, one of whom is the spokesman. Matthew and Mark
mention only the one angel. The discrepancy is accounted for in that only Matthew and Mark
thought it was necessary to mention the one angel who was the spokesman.
4.4. Notice how specific this angel is in declaring to the women that Jesus is not there:
4.4.1. He calls Him ‘Jesus the Nazarene’.
4.4.2. He says of Him that He is the one ‘who has been crucified’.
4.4.3. The angel points the women to ‘where they laid Him’ in the tomb on that day before the
Sabbath.
4.5. As I mentioned in the outline of this message, one of the things that makes its authenticity so
certain is the fact that no human in the story is expecting Jesus to have risen from the dead, in
spite of the fact that He told them over and over that He would do so. Here the angel tells the
women to ‘not be amazed’ and he said this because they were incredulous that such a thing could
have happened.
5. VS 16:7 - “7 “But go, tell His disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you to Galilee; there
you will see Him, just as He told you.’ ”” – The angel tells the women to go and to tell Jesus

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