Mark Reading Plan – W14D7
Easter Sunday | Mark 16:1-8
Check out all the previous readings here.
Pray
It is resurrection Sunday! Praise God in prayer that Jesus is alive!
Bible Reading (read these verses three times slowly)
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Reflection & Questions
As the women approach Jesus’ tomb to prepare his body for proper burial, they are concerned. Who will move the stone? They aren’t strong enough. They can’t do it. It seems in their grief that everything is against them. Everything has come crashing down.
“But,” Mark writes. What a wonderful word! As they look up at the tomb, the stone is moved!
And there is an angel there who speaks words almost too wonderful for them to comprehend:
“He has risen! He is not here.”
Jesus is alive! Our Servant-King is victorious!
When all hope had been lost, the reality was even better than what was hoped for. Jesus wasn’t the Messiah come defeat the Romans, he came to defeat death and the devil. He wasn’t a Messiah come to bring freedom for life on earth, he is a Messiah who has risen from the dead and offers life everlasting! He has trail blazed the path from death to eternal life and invites us all to join him.
Mark told us in the beginning that he had “good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). And now we see clearly what he was getting at. He told us about Jesus who healed the lame and blind, cast out demons, raised the dead and fed the five thousand. He told us that Jesus taught with an authority and a wisdom that amazed everyone around him. He told us that Jesus welcomed sinners and made all the time in the world for children. He told us that Jesus was betrayed, spat at, punched, and ultimately killed to bring us to God. But best of all, he told us that Jesus is risen from the dead! Our savior is alive TODAY! His power is real, and He is there for us every step of every day and one day will return for all those who are waiting for Him! That is VERY good news!
- Has Mark proven to you that Jesus is the Son of God? If so, what do you need to do about it today, tomorrow and the rest of your life?
- As you look back at the Mark readings, what new perspectives on Jesus have you gained? What new perspectives have you gained about yourself?
- This is our last reading in Mark. What are you going to do to continue reading God’s word? We start a new Bible reading plan tomorrow in Acts – to see what happened after Jesus resurrects. If you’d like to join that, you can text back “Sunday” or “Thursday” (depending on which day you typically attend church services) or sign up at crossroadsgrace.org/bible. There are also hundreds of Bible reading plans you can choose from on the You Version Bible app.
Pray
Thank Jesus for His Word, His resurrection and that He is coming again!
Worship Song
You could use this worship song to worship Jesus today.
Bible Reading
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Reflection and Questions
As the women approach Jesus’ tomb to prepare his body for proper burial, they are concerned. Who will move the stone? They aren’t strong enough. They can’t do it. It seems in their sadness that everything is against them. It seems like everything has come crashing down.
“But,” Mark writes. What a wonderful word! As they look up at the tomb, the stone is moved!
And there is an angel there who speaks words almost too wonderful for them to comprehend:
“He has risen! He is not here.” Jesus is alive! Our Servant-King is victorious!
Mark wrote this book to share “the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). As we reach the end, and look back, we remember Jesus who healed the lame and blind, cast out demons, raised the dead and fed the five thousand. We remember Jesus who taught with an authority and a wisdom that amazed everyone around him. We remember Jesus who welcomed sinners and made all the time in the world for children. We remember Jesus who was betrayed, spat at, punched, and ultimately killed to bring us to God. But best of all, we remember Jesus risen from the dead! Our savior is alive TODAY! His power is real, and He is there for us every step of every day and one day will return for all those who are waiting for Him! That is VERY good news!
- Has Mark proved to you that Jesus is the Son of God? If so, what do you need to do about it today, tomorrow and the rest of your life?
- As you look back at the Mark readings, what new view on Jesus have you gained? What new views have you gained about yourself?
- This is our last reading in Mark. What are you going to do to continue reading God’s word? We are going to start a new Bible reading plan tomorrow in Acts – to see what happens next after Jesus resurrects. If you’d like to join that, you can text back “Sunday” or “Thursday” (depending on which day you typically attend church services) or sign up at crossroadsgrace.org/bible. There are also hundreds of Bible reading plans you can choose from on the You Version Bible app.
Prayer
Thank Jesus for His Word, His resurrection and that He is coming again!
Bible Reading
When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”
But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.
“Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’”
Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.
Devo Focus
“He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.” Vs. 6b
Devo
There’s an old gospel song whose title and lyrics go like this: “I’ve read the back of the book and we win!” And here we are at the end of the book of Mark and that’s what we discover – VICTORY! As the women approach Jesus’ tomb to prepare his body for proper burial, they are concerned. Who will move the stone? They aren’t strong enough. They can’t do it. It seems in their grief that everything is against them. Everything has come crashing down. “But,” Mark writes. What a wonderful word! As they look up at the tomb, the stone is moved! And there is an angel there who speaks words almost too wonderful for them to comprehend: “He has risen! He is not here.” Jesus is alive! Our Servant-King is victorious! Mark set out in this book to share “the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). As we reach the end, and look back, we remember Jesus who healed the lame and blind, cast out demons, raised the dead and fed the five thousand. We remember Jesus who taught with an authority and a wisdom that amazed everyone around him. We remember Jesus who welcomed sinners and made all the time in the world for children. We remember Jesus who was betrayed, spat at, punched, and ultimately killed to bring us to God. But best of all, we remember Jesus risen from the dead! Our savior is alive TODAY! His power is real, and He is there for us every step of every day and one day will return for all those who are waiting for Him! That is VERY good news!
- Has Mark proved to you that Jesus is the Son of God? If so, what do you need to do about it today, tomorrow and the rest of your life?
- As you look back at the Mark readings, what new perspectives on Jesus have you gained? What new perspectives have you gained about yourself?
- This is our last reading in Mark. What are you going to do to continue reading God’s word? We are going to start a new Bible reading plan tomorrow in Acts – to see what happens next after Jesus resurrects. If you’d like to join that, you can text back “Sunday” or “Thursday” (depending on which day you typically attend church services) or sign up at crossroadsgrace.org/bible. There are also hundreds of Bible reading plans you can choose from on the You Version Bible app.
Prayer
Thank Jesus for His Word, His resurrection and that He is coming again!
