Articles
Mark 16 - They Did Not Believe
Mark 16 - They Did Not Believe
Trust is sometimes hard. The apostles had a 3 year association with Jesus. They learned of the events surrounding the birth and all of God’s involvement. They were witnesses of the many miracles that Jesus did. They in particular had witnessed Him raising people from the dead. They not only heard Him teach on many different subjects and debate the religious leaders of the day, but they heard Him announce that He would be rejected, killed, and RISE AGAIN. (Matt. 16:21; 17:23; 20:19).
But as they went through the actual death sequence, that faith withered! When the women returned from the empty tomb and their encounter with the angel, him saying ‘He is risen’, they did NOT BELIEVE THEIR REPORT. Notice:
Mark 16:11 When they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they refused to believe it.
Mark 16:13 They went away and reported it to the others, but they did not believe them either.
THEN, Jesus appeared unto them… and “…He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.” (Mark 16:14)
In spite of their own experiences and Jesus telling them ahead of time that He would rise from the dead, when it happened they didn’t believe. We don’t have a ‘because’ statement for this, that is, we aren’t told WHY they didn’t believe. Difficult situations can make our trust in Jesus weaken! It was not that they hadn’t trusted Him before this, but they just became overwhelmed.
We can experience similar disappointments and difficult days. That is when our faith not only is tested, but it is what can strengthen it. When we hold on, trusting what Jesus says instead of what life seems to be shouting at us, we come out stronger. The trust and courage of these apostles AFTER their being with the resurrected Son of God for some 40 days is a remarkable thing. Are these the same ‘unbelieving apostles’? Yes.
Can we make it through the difficult times? YES. We need to fill our hearts with not only the promises of Jesus but the whole story including his resurrection, ascension, and glory. We need to memorize HIS suffering and rejection and His triumph! We need to sing about it. We need to read about it. We need the fellowship and strengthening that our friendship with other believers gives. We need to constantly renew our strength by worshiping Him. In the words of the old hymn: “Are you trusting Jesus, all along the way?”
Hugh DeLong
