Mark 16:9-11 The Dawn of Joy
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: May 13, 2018, Mark 16:9-11
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
After Jesus had risen early on the first day of that week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had driven out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Jesus and who now were grieving and crying. When they heard that he was alive and that he had been seen by her, they refused to believe Mary.
(Understanding the Text) Peter tends to focus on his own unbelief and failures. Here he reveals that he was crying and grieving for Jesus. Peter and the others were devastated not just because a cause that they had followed had been crushed, but because a man that they loved with all their hearts was dead. They were crying for Jesus and missing Him. They were realizing how much they missed their Master and how they wished that they had died with Him. They were filled with emptiness. He had been the center of their lives, yet they had still kept one foot in the world. Now, they were mourning all the what ifs and what should have beens, but most of all they were simply missing the love of their Master.
(Understanding the Text / Revelation of God) Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene. Why? Because she went looking for Him with the other women before anyone else. In seeking to serve their dead Master in any way they could, these women were blessed first with the knowledge that Jesus was alive. However, Mary did not just see an angel. Mary’s grief required Jesus to comfort her. I think that maybe God cannot resist us when we love Him. I think the plan was to announce the resurrection through angels and to meet with the disciples in Galilee, but that maybe Jesus could simply not ignore the grief and love of His followers. Maybe, He then appeared to different people before Galilee to bring faith to the unbelieving disciples. Maybe, I’m wrong, but it’s an idea that seems to make sense.
Jesus rose early on the first day of the week. He was in the tomb on Preparation day and the evening and day of Sabbath, and the evening and early morning of first day. I imagine that the angels were waiting with anticipation for this moment. Their beloved Michael had been gone from them for 33 years. They had had to watch as He walked in enemy territory in the form of a man. They had been amazed at how badly Jesus had been treated by the religious leaders and others yet how miraculously Jesus had drawn sinners away from the enemy’s chains and freed them to be part of the kingdom of heaven again. They had strained against the limitations imposed upon them as they watched Jesus’ last day on earth. Finally, they would have Him back with them away from the enemy and among those who loved Him. Their time of grief would have been on Friday. Sabbath would have been their day of impatience and worry since the Father would have been split at that time. Those hours from Jesus’ death to His resurrection must have been torture for the Father. For Him, it may have felt like forever, yet He chose this because He loved us and was willing to endure agony in order to bring us back to Himself and safeguard all of His creation.
(Understanding the Text) The men refused to believe Mary. This is Peter’s perspective. John may have believed her because it says “Then the other disciple, who arrived at the tomb first, went inside, looked, and believed” (John 20:8). This can be interpreted to say that John believed that Jesus had risen although there is another interpretation. Why did they refuse to believe her? Well, first of all they were not expecting Jesus’ resurrection. In John 20 it says “For they did not yet understand the Scripture that said that Jesus had to rise from the dead” (John 20:9). They simply had not taken in all the times that Jesus had talked about rising from the dead. Second, she was a woman, and they were products of their own society, which did not believe women’s witness. There may have been a bit of ego that thought that if Jesus was going to rise, He would appear first to one of His official disciples. Third, she was only one witness. Their law required two witnesses and this was ingrained into their psyche. Fourth, it was simply incomprehensible to them. They had seen Jesus die in a painful and public way. There was no doubt of His death. They had been grieving for Him for a day and a half. It was difficult to turn that kind of knowledge and emotion around on the say-so of someone else who was not credible and who was the solitary witness.
(Application) My application for myself is that I need to keep putting myself forward to serve God wherever I am shown that there is a need even when it is not comfortable. If I do this, God will place me where I can increase my faith. There, Jesus will meet with me and comfort me and give me strength. I understand the disciples’ lack of belief in Mary as one witness. I would not have believed her myself. It is good to be skeptical to some extent as Satan has many deceptions that he uses on followers of Christ; however, it is important not to take the skepticism so far that I refuse to believe the messages that God Himself is sending to me.
(Prayer) Jesus, lead me where You want me to go. Teach me to believe what You say. Help me to bear the sadness that comes with loving and to embrace the joy that loving You makes possible in my life.