I love Mark’s account of the resurrection of Jesus. It is no-nonsense. It deals with real world issues, like navigating grief by focussing on the daily tasks (‘Who will move the stone?’). It deals with the reality of life – the women were the first eyewitnesses. It is consistent with the rest of Mark’s biography – after all, Jesus had been very clear that he would rise and meet his close friends in Galilee (cf. Mark 14:28).

And, most significantly, Mark’s account deals with the response to the resurrection of Jesus in the same way he has dealt with any moment when a human being comes face-to-face with the nature and work of God: the women are ‘afraid’ (16:8).

Throughout Mark, this response of ‘fear’ is how people deal with meeting God, and his work. The response of the women is no abrupt, it is not a ‘poor ending’, it does not suggest that Mark didn’t finish his gospel or it has been lost – the response of these women is how any normal real person would respond when they meet the awesome work of God.

Resurrections tend to do that, and especially the first resurrection. Is that your response?