Mark 16:1-8

Mark 16:1-8 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  If you were going to make something up in the 1st century, this is about the last story you would make up.  The testimony of women would have not been culturally acceptable in that day and age, so you would have had some men going to the tomb to show their devotion.  They would have walked up the tomb in bravery, certain of what they were going to find, and when the confronted an angel who confirmed their trust that Jesus would rise from the dead, they would have gone forth praising God, likely converting a Roman soldier or two on the way just for good measure.  If they were going to put together a real hit, maybe they would've performed a musical number with the angel before departing joyfully.
  Instead, Mark records a very different story.  Why does he record it in a way that would have made it suspicious for that day and age?  Likely because this is the way it actually happened.  The women had seen Jesus be crucified, and their experience told them that dead people stayed dead, so they went to mourn and weep, desperate for closure, hoping to see Jesus at peace rather than the victim of Roman violence.  They wanted to care for his wounds and express their love in one final way.
  Instead, they are struck with fear.  The angel tells them not to be afraid, but they have just become the first people to know that death no longer means death -- and they are immediately sent to deliver the news, but they are afraid and astonished.  The Gospel records that they said nothing to anyone, but we know that changed over time --  because word got out.
  I choose to believe the Gospels for many reasons -- these books have been examined and questioned and scrutinized for thousands of years.  We use the rule of embarrassment as one way to conclude they are likely true -- the Gospels are full of things that wouldn't have been written that way if you were making it up.  If you were an apostle, would you record that you abandoned Jesus at the hour of his death?  Would you want to appear clueless throughout the Gospels?  No, unless it actually happened that way.
  The tomb was empty.  The stone was rolled away.  Jesus is risen! 
  Now, how will you react?