Easter Sunday - B

Commentary

Mark 16: 1 – 7

“He Has Been Raised”

Mark draws our attention to the two sentences with the verbs in the passive voice.  First, “the stone had been rolled back.”  Second, the words of the young man in white robe, “He has been raised.”

The women know about the stone that covers the entrance to the tomb.  Yet, they go there without any plan of what to do with the stone, which is “very large.” 

Without mentioning the actor, Mark uses the technique known as “divine passive” in Scripture writing.  It implies the action of God.

God acts when we, humans, are not qualified, prepared, or up to the task.  God’s action is always beyond our understanding.

And that the stone has been rolled back prepares the readers, and even calls us to a greater act of God – raising Jesus from the dead.

We cannot, and at times, are not willing, to save ourselves from evils and sins.  And certainly, we are not capable of freeing ourselves from death. 

It is God, who our of mercy and love for us, raises us to new life and the raising of Christ from the dead.