Mark 16:3 “And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?”    The awkward moment when you realize you can’t do what you planned to do, happens to all of us. They were already there, and now they happened to think of the stone. Chances…

Mark 16:2 “Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen.”    Notice how specific this is. The sun had risen. The picture here is easy to miss, but don’t miss it. Hebrew time starts the day at sunset for a very…

Mark 16:1 “Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.”    The Sabbath would have been over at sunset on Saturday. But that wouldn’t have been a good time for this activity. So, they waited till first thing Sunday…

Mark 15:47 “And Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses observed where He was laid.”    Mary was a very common name back then, to say the least! Mary Magdalene was a woman Jesus had cast demons out of. The mother of Joses was the mother of James the son of Alpheus. This James…

Mark 15:46 “Then he bought fine linen, took Him down, and wrapped Him in the linen. And he laid Him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock, and rolled a stone against the door of the tomb.”    Many have wondered if Joseph of Arimathea did use the tomb for himself…

Mark 15:45 “So when he found out from the centurion, he granted the body to Joseph.”    Pilate though Joseph might have faulty information and wanted to verify the facts. We might well wonder if it was common for Roman officials to release a body like this. Frankly it likely depended a lot upon who…

Mark 15:44 “Pilate marveled that He was already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him if He had been dead for some time.”    Pilot said this because it was possible for someone to hang on the cross for several days. In fact, the death of the thieves on either side of Christ was…

Mark 15:43 “Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.”    We often forget that there were those among the Jewish leaders who did approve of Christ. Joseph was assisted by Nicodemus.…

Mark 15:42 “Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,”    This means either that the day which was just ending, or the day which was just beginning, was the Preparation Day. This is why there is some debate as to what day Jesus was…

Mark 15:41 “who also followed Him and ministered to Him when He was in Galilee, and many other women who came up with Him to Jerusalem.”    And how exactly did these women minister to Christ? There were many things that would need to be done that the men would have been unable, or unwilling,…