Today we look at Mark’s account of the Resurrection of Jesus in Mark 16:1-8. Before the joy, before the surge of hope, there was great astonishment.
And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
Mark 16:8
The word in the Greek is ekstasis. The word refers to ‘any casting down of a thing from its proper place or state, displacement’.
You can say that the old order of things was displaced by the empty tomb. The old way of viewing the world was cast down by the angel’s announcement. Old beliefs, values, commitments – everything was turned upside down.
The women standing in the empty tomb experienced a visceral, bone shaking astonishment that prepared the way for an unsinkable hope.
The Resurrection account was based on an astonishing, countercultural eyewitness testimony. (1-3)
The Resurrection account contained astonishing, supernatural realities. (4-6)
The Resurrection account brought astonishing grace. (7-8)
May you and I feel a little of the same this week.
‘How do I feel?’ he cried. ‘Well, I don’t know how to say it. I feel, I feel’ — he waved his arms in the air — ‘I feel like spring after winter, and sun on the leaves; and like trumpets and harps and all the songs I have ever heard!’ – Samwise Gamgee
Tom Brown is the planting pastor of Vintage Faith Church in Wichita. Tom and his wife, Mandy, have worked together in ministry for 18 years and have four children. More about Pastor Tom Brown