Mark 16:1-8
Your Story
Have you ever experienced something confusing? What did you do?
My Story and the Bible Story
I cannot tell you the number of times that I have said, “Wait. What just happened?” Whether someone said something that didn’t make sense or I witnessed something that didn’t make sense, I was confused and didn’t know what to do. So I asked, “what just happened?” Sometimes I got answers. But sometimes others were just as confused as I was. As hard as we try, sometimes we can’t make situations make sense. There are times when we see amazing things, but we don’t realize it until later. For the women at the tomb in Mark’s Gospel, their experience was confusing. They were afraid and bewildered.
Read Mark 16:1-8.
I don’t know about you, but if I saw an angel sitting in the tomb where Jesus was supposed to me, I would probably be alarmed too. I can imagine that, after listening to the angel, Mary, Mary, and Salome looked at each other thinking “what just happened?” They were so afraid that they ran from the tomb. And Mark tells us that they told no one. I would love to think that if I were in their shoes, I would have shouted from the rooftops that Jesus is alive. But how often do I shout that from the rooftops now? How often to I tell everyone I know that Jesus is alive? It is not as often as I should. And so perhaps, before we judge them for keeping this great news to themselves, we should also remember that we don’t always tell everyone that Jesus is alive either. Why did they keep this good news to themselves? Perhaps it was because they were confused and unsure of what was happening. But Jesus had already told them what would happen.
Here in front of them was the proof that Jesus was real, that everything He said was true, and that He was the Son of God. It’s possible that in that moment, they panicked, knowing that now they needed to practice what Jesus had taught. It’s important to note that at some point, the wonderful news of the Resurrection was told. At some point, they got over their fear and bewilderment to tell everyone about the good news of Jesus. There are times when we, too, may be confused and bewildered by God. God may be doing something that seems strange to us, or He may ask us to do something that doesn’t make much sense. In times of confusion, remember that God will make things clear. If you continue to talk to God, He will show you what to do. You might not understand, but God does promise to talk to us. So when you are confused about what God is doing, talk to Him about it. Ask Him to calm your fears and show you what to do. He always will. The good news of Easter was bewildering on that first Easter morning. And it doesn’t always make sense to us either. But even though we don’t always understand grace, God still gives it to us freely. And that is great news!
Discussion and Prayer
- Has there been a time when you didn’t understand how God was working in your life? As a family, talk about times when what God was asking you to do didn’t quite make sense.
- Talk about things about God that seem confusing.
- If you are confused about what God wants you to do, how can you get clarity? Talk about the different ways you can better understand what’s going on (i.e. read your Bible, pray, talk to a trusted adult who follows God, etc.).
- Pray, asking God for clarity in knowing what He wants us to do and for courage to do it.
Rev. Jessica Asbell is the Minister to Children and Families at First Baptist Roswell, where she has been serving since 2012. She has written the children’s curriculum for Smyth & Helwys’s Annual Bible Study for the books of Daniel; Ezekiel; Luke; Jonah; 1 Corinthians; 1, 2, 3 John and Jude; Colossians; The Story of Israel’s Ancestors: Living toward a Promise; and Where Faith & Family Meet: A Book of Weekly Devotions. She has also written for CBF’s Spark and Form and for Affect in CBF’s fellowship! magazine. Married to Jonathan Oravec, Jessica reads every chance she gets.
