Mark 16:1  And 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.
2  And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun.
3  And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?
4  And when they looked, they saw that the stone was rolled away: for it was very great.
5  And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment; and they were affrighted.
6  And 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.
7  But 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.
8  And 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.

Verse 1 again makes reference of the sabbath. This is not the same sabbath as the one mentioned in yesterday’s text. That was a high day. This was the regular sabbath day. The Jews were not allowed to do any “servile” work on the sabbath. The sabbath was designed by God as a day of rest. It was a day for the Jews to reflect on God’s blessings to them and of providing for them in all things.
We see here that Mary Magdalene was present on this occasion. She had been greatly helped by Jesus, and she was simply seeking to show her gratitude for that. There were two other women mentioned here as well. They were all coming to anoint Jesus’ body. They assumed He was still dead in a tomb. As we noted before, they could not grasp the fact that Jesus’ words on this matter would actually come to pass. They did not know that every word of God is pure. There is no lie there.
Thus we see that these women came to the sepulchre early in the morning of the “first day of the week”. This was the Old Testament day when the wave offering was waved before the Lord. That was on the day after the sabbath. These women came to the sepulchre at the rising of the sun. This was not to try to purify some pagan event of those who worshipped the sun. It was simply a fact that Jesus rose early on the first day of the week. It was a new day and yes, there was some very real significance to this particular day. This was the day in which the eternal Son of God, Who is also the Son of Man, rose from the dead, thus giving fulfilment to the many prophecies regarding this event.
In our text, these three women were concerned with the task of rolling away the stone that had been rolled in front of the opening to the sepulchre. That would be a concern under normal circumstances. Those stones were big and thus heavy. This required some strong men to tackle. However, there were no men with these women. The men who knew Jesus were not nearly as brave as some of the women who knew Jesus. The men would need to get a backbone yet. God would see to that.
To the amazement of these women, they noted that the stone had already been rolled away and the sepulchre was open. They entered the sepulchre and saw a young man sitting on the right side in that sepulchre. This young man was clothed in a long white garment but he was not Jesus. Who was this man? These women were affrighted. Who was this stranger and why was he in the sepulchre that Jesus had been laid in, and where was Jesus?
This man knew what these women were thinking and he calmed them with his words. Of course we know this man was not a mere man. He was an angel. Angels always appeared as men in the Bible. For too many years churches have taught that women are angels. Often times girls are used to depict angels. God is not against women. However, He has an order and angels are always presented as men. Thus these women did not discern that this was not a mere man.
This man knew they were looking for Jesus of Nazareth. This man knew Jesus. He also knew He had been crucified. He also knew that Jesus was no longer in that tomb. He had risen and this man showed these women the place where Jesus’ body had laid.
This angel told these women to go and tell Jesus’ disciples that Jesus was risen from the dead. The angel was also directed to mentioned Peter by name. Peter had failed in denying Jesus Christ three times. He had left the trial of Jesus as a broken man. He needed comfort. He needed to know that he would have opportunity to meet his Saviour and Lord soon.
The disciples would meet with Jesus in Galilee. Jesus had promised this and Jesus never lied. The women did not doubt what they were seeing and what they heard. They fled in fear and they were also amazed. They were witnessing some unique things. They were so amazed that they did not say anything to any man at that moment. They would testify to what they had witnessed later.
We need to remember that this was a one time event that was something that was difficult to receive at that time. These women did not have the indwelling Holy Spirit in them. They were believers in God, but this was prior to Acts 2.
Today, those who are saved have the indwelling Holy Spirit in them. Further to that, we will not see what these women saw and heard. We will not meet angels now. We have the completed Scriptures and we have the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ has also declared that He would build His church. He is doing that now. People are being saved across the world. Not many, but some. There is no universal church on earth at this time. There are churches that are established by the Lord Jesus Christ. At the Rapture, all the saints will be caught up to be with the Lord in heaven. There will be one church in heaven. The Scriptures teach us that there are local churches now. The Bible also teaches that born again Christians need to be a part of a true local church.
It seems there are less and less true churches today. It is of great importance that those who are saved be people of prayer and humility. We need one another more than we often realize. Today is the Lord’s Day. It is the day those who are Christians have the privilege and responsibility of reminding the masses that Jesus Christ is risen. He is alive and He is coming back. If you are able, be sure to attend a true church today. We are blessed today in having the internet and using that for live-streaming the Word of God. That should not be a substitute for attendance in a true local church. As we, those who are saved, faithfully attend a true local church we demonstrate our faith in the God of the Bible. We show our neighbours and others that we believe in the true God. We benefit from fellowship with Him and with other saints.
We will see further that we do not need to be in fear today as these women in our text were. They lacked the understanding needed to find comfort in what they were hearing and seeing. We are told that we do not have the spirit of fear.

II Timothy 1:7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Pastor Bartel