Mk 16:1-8 - When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
This is situation where fear of God and fear of man clash and it looks like the fear of man wins. They are supposed to tell the disciples and Peter that he is going to Galilee. But they told no one. One wonders why they told no one, but you have to wonder if it was because she was a woman, that she was even at the tomb, and that she had a spotty past. Why would Jesus show up first to her? And yet the fear of God had consumed her with trembling and astonishment. We can’t be afraid to do that which the world doesn’t understand, and it will only be a true fear of God and the Holy Spirit’s enablement that will help us be fearless to a fearing world.
