Mark 16

The two Marys went to the tomb of Jesus to anoint His body and found the stone rolled away from the entrance and saw an angel sitting on the stone. Matthew 28:2-7 goes into greater detail, "And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it. His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men. But the angel answered and said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay. And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.' ”

They did go tell the disciples just as instructed, but they didn't believer her.  He also appeared differently to two of the disciples, and when they reported it to the rest, they still didn't believe. Verses 9, 11-13, "Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe...After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either." This should cause us to consider the hard heartedness of man to receive the truth. How many times and in how many ways does God have to speak to us to get us to listen and pay attention? If you suspect God is speaking to you about something, you'd be better off to yield to Him quickly and repent if necessary.

God loves us and if we are His children, He will rebuke and chasten us for our unbelief and disobedience as any good father should.  Revelation 3:19, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent." After two failed attempts to reach the disciples, He goes Himself. Verse 14, "Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen." This is not what we want to hear from our Lord and Savior. We should desire to hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your Lord" (Matt. 25:21). If we love Him, we will keep His commandments. Even when we know to do good and refuse to do it, that is sin also. James 4:17, "Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin."

Jesus gives the Great Commission in Verses 15-18, "And He said to them, 'Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues;  they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.' ” Notice the signs that will follow the believer, not the other way around.  Many in the church will chase after the signs and put their experiences above the word of God, trading in what they know and have been given for the unknown. Signs are good when they glorify Jesus. Acts 4:29-30, "Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”

Matthew 16:4, "A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” A sign should not be a prerequisite for one's belief either, as Jesus has already done enough. The point is if your heart is full of unbelief, no sign will ever convince you to believe. Remember Lazarus and the rich man (in Hades)? The rich man wanted a sign for his relatives of one going back from the dead. Luke 16:29-31, "Abraham said to him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’  And he said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’  But he said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.’ ”