God’s Gospel Stages

David W Palmer

(Mark 16:1 NKJV) Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him.

Mark’s account of resurrection morning has some detail not covered in Matthew. It begins the same; the women came to the tomb. They found that the stone had been rolled away. They went inside. Jesus wasn’t there; but an angel was. He showed them the place where Jesus body had been placed and declared to them that Jesus had risen. Then he told them, in effect, to go and be the first preachers of the gospel. Let’s see if they did. This is where Mark’s account begins to add detail to what Matthew wrote:

(Mark 16:7–8 NKJV) “But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” {8} So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.

The Holy Spirit reports that these women “trembled” and “were amazed,” but they didn’t obediently share the good news of the resurrection. Matthew said they ran to bring the disciples word, but according to this account, they didn’t all deliver the message “for they were afraid.” 

So, the first group sent out to preach the gospel to God’s target audience didn’t succeed. Fear stopped the first carriers of the good news of Jesus’s resurrection. Mark goes on to describe the next level of God’s plan to spread the ultimate good news:

(Mark 16:9–11 NKJV) Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. {10} She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. {11} And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.

The other women failed to preach the good news of Jesus’s resurrection as the angel had reported it to them. So then Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene in person. She went and told the [male] disciples, but they didn’t believe her. That’s two attempts to bring the gospel to God’s target audience that haven’t produced the desired outcome. Did God give up? No, he went to stage three:

(Mark 16:12–13 NKJV) After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. {13} And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.

This was the second time Jesus’s disciples had had the gospel preached to them by eyewitnesses to his resurrection, but they still did not believe it. 

Let’s recap; Jesus rose. The angel rolled away the stone. The guard ran away. An angel invited all the women to see where Jesus’s body had been placed and to witness that he wasn’t there. A holy angel from God explained that he wasn’t there because he had risen from the dead. Then, the angel instructed them to go and tell the disciples. Most of them disobeyed because of fear. 

Jesus then appeared to Mary Magdalene; after encountering the resurrected Lord, she did go and deliver the gospel of his resurrection. But the eleven didn’t believe her. So next, Jesus appeared to two men walking in the country. They went back and reported his resurrection, but the eleven didn’t believe them either. 

If you were Jesus, what would you have done after this? You have just tried three times to get the gospel to your chosen disciples; but so far, each attempt has failed. Let’s read on:

(Mark 16:14 NKJV) Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen.

We see that Jesus appeared to the eleven in person. Why didn’t he simply do this to start with? John helps us understand:

(John 20:29 NKJV) Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”