The First Day
When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.
Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.
Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” (Mark 16:9-18)
Some people change the world forever. Jesus is one of those people. So profound is his impact, that the world’s history is divided by his birth. There are the years before Jesus and the years after Jesus.
There are significant textual problems with the last nine verses of the Gospel of Mark which briefly record some of Jesus’ words given after the world altering event of his resurrection. In fact, the oldest manuscripts lack these final verses of Mark’s Gospel altogether, while other copies have completely different endings altogether. Just because these verses may not have been part of the original form of the Gospel of Mark, does not mean that they are not true.
Jesus told his followers to proclaim the message of the Good News everywhere. And he promised to protect them. Paul survived a snake bite on the island of Malta after his shipwreck. Peter and the other apostles healed the sick and drove out demons. The Gospel message began in Jerusalem and within a few generations spread out until it became the dominant faith on Earth. Today, more people claim to be Christians than belong to any other religion. And Jesus, accepted as Messiah or not, has nevertheless changed the world and the lives of all humans, everywhere, forever.
Send to Kindle
