GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
MARK 16:8
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8 The women went out and fled from the tomb. They were trembling and amazed. They said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Six actions are packed into this one verse; three or four are acts, and two or three are emotions. We will look at them in order.
First, the women left the tomb. The word for “go out” can also mean “to flee” or hurry away, and surely the way Mark combines the act with “fled” suggests that they left in a hurry. Mark used the same word when Jesus felt “that power had gone out from him” when the woman with the flow of blood touched his robe (Mark 5:30), and again when the dancing daughter of Herodias “went out” to ask her mother what to wish for (Mark 6:24). While it is also a word for going into exile (Jeremiah 29:2), here the vocabulary word has the opposite meaning. They departed, and whether they fully understood it yet or not, what they had seen and heard meant their release, their pardon, and their freedom from sin, the devil, and even from death.
Second, the women fled. This word is far more certain. Having left the tomb, they ran away from Golgotha. Their flight is completely understandable. They had gone to anoint the body of their teacher, their master, their dear friend. Instead, an angel tells them that he has risen and shows them the empty tomb! The expensive perfumes aren’t even mentioned. The women had a lot to think about, but first they just ran away.
Third, the women were trembling. Here the body takes over for the mind. In many cases, actual trembling cannot be controlled. But we also tremble with fear on account of our sinful human nature when we misunderstand the word of God. The gospel says one thing, but the sinful nature gets in the way of hearing the comfort of the gospel and remains in doubt or sad misunderstanding. Luther preached to his people about this even at Easter. He said, “[Our church, before the Reformation came] had some noble hymns about how Christ redeemed Christendom by breaking the power of hell and overwhelming the troublesome devil, and so on… At Christmas we sang, ‘Unto us a child is born.’ At Pentecost it was, ‘Now we pray the Holy Spirit.’ The Gospel lesson about the passion, the suffering and death of Christ was read to the people… But of all that, we understood not one letter, not one iota: thoughts were soon on other matters, the beautiful words forgotten. And it may, of course, happen again that the story will be silenced either by virtue of factious spirits who distort and obliterate it, or by lazy preachers who fail to give this article (the forgiveness of sins) due attention.” Fear and trembling come when sin itself is a stumbling block to the message of the gospel.
Fourth, they were amazed. The astonishment or amazement of the women describes the confused and conflicting feelings. What they had seen and heard was to say the least unexpected, and now they did not know what to think. As one commentator said, “they were beside themselves.” Matthew says they were “afraid yet filled with joy” (Matthew 28:8). Mark is focused more on their fear than on their joy. Perhaps Mark is also thinking of Peter and the other disciples and their lingering fear mixed with dread and grief. Both afraid and ecstatic, the women fled.
Fifth, the women said (with the usual Greek double-negative), “nothing to nobody.” They avoided speaking with anyone as they made their way back to the place where they had been staying. We don’t need to speculate about where this was. Whether it was the same house where the Upper Room was located, or a nearby home, or out in Bethany with Mary and Martha and their risen brother, we’re simply not told. But whoever they ran into, they said nothing. Perhaps an acquaintance called out, “Mary, Joanna, why are you in such a hurry?” But they did not answer. When they finally did speak with the apostles, “their words seemed like nonsense” (Luke 24:11). Matthew tells us that between the tomb and finding the disciples, Jesus himself appeared to these women, repeating what the angel had already told them (Matthew 28:9-10). This was one of his very first resurrection appearances.
Finally, the women were afraid. This phrase hangs at the end of the verse as an explanation for their actions; their departure, flight, trembling, and refusal to speak for the moment. Christ came to destroy our fears, but they stick to us like mud and filth. He hung on the cross to remove everything that causes fear, but the stubborn, sinful human nature has us by the throat. We are well aware that he bled for us, but we think, “I hurt my neighbor. I gossiped, I lied, I hated, I coveted. I’m ruined!” And our thoughts betray our foolishness: What was his blood spilled for, if not to wash all of that away? But the Old Adam inside still calls out and rattles our cage: “You have to do something about your sin!” That’s what the old rascal in his prison wants us to think. But God gave us the victory through Christ (1 Corinthians 15:57). We do not have any unfinished payment to take care of. “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous” (1 Peter 3:18). When the wicked old rascal, the devil, lurks behind the door to shout “Boo!” (Genesis 4:7) and to frighten us into forgetting about the risen Christ, the Lord will rescue us from every such evil attack and bring us safely to his heavenly kingdom (2 Timothy 4:18). Christ is risen! Do not be afraid. You will rise, too, to glory everlasting.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Mark 16:8 Trembling