When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses 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.

RESURRECTION                                                              Yeshu has risen to life!                                                                                                                 Why were the women so frightened? It was because they realised that a messenger from God had spoke to them. Why so astonished? Because the huge stone had been moved, and because the shelf inside was empty. Why say nothing at first? If they as eye-witnesses had found it difficult to take in, what would the others think of women’s talk?                                                                                                                                                                                                        ***************************                                                                      Dear Reader                                                                                                                                      If these brave and devoted women could hardly believe because of the awesome reality, and could not speak of it, what happened next? How did Peter hear? and how did the others come to know the news? And was Yeshu seen later by the disciples when they fled to Galilee?                              The story that Mark himself told seems to have its ending here. And the remaining sections of the Gospel seem to be a ‘Longer Ending’ added by other writers who felt that John Mark’s short ending was incomplete. We will add in 4 more posts what these other men wrote.                                         But we ask you, respected readers, “What else do you want to know about the gospel story, and what happened afterwards? Please reply to us.”

And when evening had come, since it was the day of Preparation, that is, the day before the Sabbath, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected memberof the Council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courageand went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Pilate was surprised to hear that he should have already died. And summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the corpse to Joseph. And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalen and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid.

Those who saw Yeshu’s dead body on the cross included a member of the Council who wanted for him the Jewish honour of proper burial; it was an expensive tomb.

Another person was the centurion, the one who was so impressed by the manner of Yeshu’s death.

And, keeping their distance out of fear and in accord with Jewish convention, were the women who watched so that they could return at the right time and fulfill the custom of embalming the dead. Read on to discover the surprise that awaited them.

And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!”           

There were also women looking on from a distance, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.

The centurion was used to seeing men die, but in Yeshu’s case there was no gradual loss of consciousness. Instead, Yeshu with a strong voice proclaimed that his work of providing salvation for mankind was finished. Then it was time to die.

As for the temple, by what means was that great great thick curtain concealing the way into the Holiest Place ripped open?