Bible Study Mark 16
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Mark 16 · WEB

Resurrection and the Great Commission

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and anoint him.
2Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.
3They were saying among themselves, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?"
4for it was very big. Looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back.
5Entering into the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were amazed.
6He said to them, "Don't be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him!
7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, 'He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.'"
8They went out, and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had come on them. They said nothing to anyone; for they were afraid.
9Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.
10She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept.
11When they heard that he was alive, and had been seen by her, they disbelieved.
12After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them, as they walked, on their way into the country.
13They went away and told it to the rest. They didn't believe them, either.
14Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn't believe those who had seen him after he had risen.
15He said to them, "Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation.
16He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who disbelieves will be condemned.
17These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new languages;
18they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will in no way hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."
19So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.
20They went out, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word by the signs that followed. Amen.
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Summary

Three women come to anoint Jesus' body on the first day of the week and find the great stone rolled away. A young man in white announces, "He has risen," and sends them to tell the disciples — including Peter — to meet him in Galilee. The longer ending records appearances to Mary Magdalene, two travelers, and the Eleven, ending with the Great Commission to preach the Good News to all creation, the ascension, and the disciples going out to preach with the Lord working alongside them.

Themes

  • The bodily resurrection of Jesus
  • Grace toward failed disciples ("and Peter")
  • Fear and faith as responses to the empty tomb
  • The global mission to preach the Good News
  • Jesus' continuing partnership with his church

Key verses

  • Mark 16:15 — “Go into all the world, and preach the Good News to the whole creation.”
  • Mark 16:19 — “So then the Lord, after he had spoken to them, was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God.”
  • Mark 16:6 — “Don't be amazed. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen. He is not here.”
  • Mark 16:7 — “He goes before you into Galilee. There you will see him, as he said to you.”

Context & background

Mark writes for a Roman audience around AD 60-65, and his Gospel ends with the same urgency it began — Jesus going ahead, calling disciples to follow. The tomb was outside Jerusalem's walls (modern Israel), cut into rock and sealed with a large rolling stone. Galilee, in northern Israel, is where Jesus first called the disciples and where he now meets them again, restarting their mission. Most of the earliest manuscripts of Mark end at verse 8, and verses 9-20 (the "longer ending") are absent or marked as questionable in those manuscripts; the early church nonetheless preserved this ending as part of the canonical text, summarizing post-resurrection appearances also recorded in the other Gospels and Acts.

Cross-references

  • Acts 1:9-11 — the ascension to the Father's right hand
  • John 20:11-18 — Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene
  • Luke 24:13-49 — the Emmaus road appearance referenced in Mark 16:12
  • Matthew 28:1-20 — parallel resurrection account and Great Commission
  • Psalm 110:1 — "Sit at my right hand" — fulfilled in Mark 16:19

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What were the three women worried about as they walked to the tomb, and what did they find when they arrived?

  2. Observe

    In the Great Commission (vv. 15-16), what does Jesus tell the Eleven to do, and what does he promise about those who believe and are baptized?

  3. Interpret

    Why does the young man in white specifically say "tell his disciples and Peter" rather than simply "tell his disciples"?

  4. Interpret

    The disciples repeatedly refused to believe reports of the resurrection until they saw Jesus themselves (vv. 11, 13, 14). What does their initial skepticism reveal about the nature of resurrection faith?

  5. Apply

    The Great Commission is given to a group of disciples who had fled, slept, denied, and doubted. How does that context change the way you hear Jesus' call on your own life?

  6. Apply

    Mark 16:20 says the Lord worked with the disciples and confirmed the word by signs. Where do you see Jesus actively working alongside you as you share his Good News?

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