Go and tell!

Mark 16:1-8New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. They had been saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” When they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled back. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man, dressed in a white robe, sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed; you are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has been raised; he is not here. Look, there is the place they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him, just as he told you.” So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

Read that again.

"So they went out and fled from the tomb, for terror and amazement had seized them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid."

Of all the gospels, for my money, Mark has always had the most interesting structure.  It moves in and out of itself, and begins but doesn't end.

Doesn't end?

Way back at the beginning of the gospel of Mark, verse one states: "The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God." 

Meaning, not that the first line is the beginning, but that the entire gospel is the beginning.

So when the women run from the tomb in fear, we are to run after them with the same directions they've been given: that Jesus is going ahead of us and that we are to go and tell.

Go and tell.

Tell what?

The good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

God of good news, give me words to tell of your good news, and feet swift enough to carry it everywhere I go! Amen.