Mark 16King James Version
Very early in the morning, the women come to the tomb with spices. The stone is rolled away. A young man in a long white garment is sitting on the right side. They are affrighted. He is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him. Tell his disciples and Peter. The women flee from the tomb, trembling and amazed. (The longer ending the early manuscripts add: Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, then to two on the road, then to the eleven. Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He is received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.)
At dawn on Sunday, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bring spices to the tomb. The stone is already rolled away. A young man in white says Jesus is risen, not here. They are to tell the disciples and Peter. The women flee and say nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. The shorter ending stops there. The longer ending, verses 9-20, records resurrection appearances to Mary Magdalene, two disciples on the road, and the Eleven. Jesus commissions them and ascends. Signs follow the believers.
The Gospel ends with an open tomb, a message to be delivered, and women who ran away in fear: the reader is left to decide what to do with all of it.
6: "And he saith unto them, Be not afraid: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him." The empty tomb does not need an argument. It needs a witness who will say what they saw.
Tombs in first-century Jerusalem were carved into the hillside limestone, sealed with large rolling stones. The women come at first light on the first day of the week, Sunday by Roman reckoning. They expect to finish what Friday interrupted: preparing the body properly. The stone is already moved. The tomb is already empty. They had brought spices for a dead man and found a white-robed messenger instead.
Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bringing spices; a young man in white inside the tomb; the disciples and Peter, who are to be told; Jesus, who appears in the longer ending to Mary Magdalene, two on the road, and the Eleven.
The original ending of Mark at verse 8 is the most debated ending in the New Testament. The women flee in fear and say nothing, and the Gospel stops. Most scholars believe this is intentional: the reader must now decide what to do with the empty tomb. The longer ending in verses 9-20 was added later and is absent from the oldest manuscripts, but it reflects early traditions about the resurrection appearances.
For when you know something true and cannot yet find the words, or the courage, to say it. The women at the tomb knew. They ran. The story was not over because they were afraid. It never is.
1And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him.
2And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
3And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
4And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
5And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
6And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.
7But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.
8And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulchre; for they trembled and were amazed: neither said they any thing to any man; for they were afraid.
9Now 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.
10And she went and told them that had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
11And they, when they had heard that he was alive, and had been seen of her, believed not.
12After that he appeared in another form unto two of them, as they walked, and went into the country.
13And they went and told it unto the residue: neither believed they them.
14Afterward 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.
15And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
16He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
17And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
18They 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.
19So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.
20And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.