Mark 16:1-14

The day after the Sabbath day, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought some sweet-smelling spices to put on Jesus’ body. Very early on that day, the first day of the week, soon after sunrise, the women were on their way to the tomb. They said to each other, “Who will roll away for us the stone that covers the entrance of the tomb?” Then the women looked and saw that the stone had already been rolled away, even though it was very large. The women entered the tomb and saw a young man wearing a white robe and sitting on the right side, and they were afraid. But the man said, “Don’t be afraid. You are looking for Jesus from Nazareth, who has been crucified. He has risen from the dead; he is not here. Look, here is the place they laid him. Now go and tell his followers and Peter, ‘Jesus is going into Galilee ahead of you, and you will see him there as he told you before.’ ” The women were confused and shaking with fear, so they left the tomb and ran away. They did not tell anyone about what happened, because they were afraid. ______________________________ Verses 9–20 are not included in some of the earliest surviving Greek copies of Mark. [After Jesus rose from the dead early on the first day of the week, he showed himself first to Mary Magdalene. One time in the past, he had forced seven demons out of her. After Mary saw Jesus, she went and told his followers, who were very sad and were crying. But Mary told them that Jesus was alive. She said that she had seen him, but the followers did not believe her. Later, Jesus showed himself to two of his followers while they were walking in the country, but he did not look the same as before. These followers went back to the others and told them what had happened, but again, the followers did not believe them. Later Jesus showed himself to the eleven apostles while they were eating, and he criticized them because they had no faith. They were stubborn and refused to believe those who had seen him after he had risen from the dead.