And entering into the seplucure they saw a young man sitting on the right side, clothed in a long white garment and they were frightened. Mark 16:5
Who was the young man?
The two Mary's had went to the tomb of Jesus that morning to anoint Jesus's
body with sweet spices. On the way they had wondered who would roll away the stone from the entrance so that they could go in. But when they got there, they found the stone had already been moved. They went in and to their amazement or perhaps confusion, they found he was not there. And then they saw him. A young man, in a long white garment and it had scared them,
What ever we may know about angels of the bible, our first thought might be that he was an angel. But was he? Or was he a man?
The four gospels each explain that situation a bit different. Mathew does not say that they actually went into the tomb, but that an angel descended from heaven after an earthquake and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. He was dressed in clothing as white as snow and when the Mary's arrived, he told them that Jesus was not there, he had risen.
Luke on the other hand does not mention the earthquake, but when they got there, found the stone had been rolled away and there were two men standing beside them in shiny garments
And lastly John describes Mary weeping outside the tomb and as she wept she stooped down to look into it and saw two men in white sitting at the ends of where Jesus body had been laid.
Which one is the truth?
I am sure theologians have debated over questions like that for many of years. And the fact is, we really don't know. The disciples themselves were not eyewitness to that particular event when the Marry's were at the tomb. Some of them did not even believe that that they were even telling them the truth about Jesus, when they went to tell them what they had discovered that morning..
I have no doubt that what they had just witnessed three days before, from his trail to his burial, that all of his friends were grieving because they had not really understood what was happening and when his tomb came up empty, and they finally knew that he had, their grief had turned to the most wondrous kind of joy that could be had.
Not only that, but from one question I had is, how long after he arose were the gospels written. One site I looked up said it was forty years later. And so in that amount of time, or whatever amount of time went by, perhaps memories faded. And the four apostles had to recall that time in their minds.
Adding perhaps to that, even family members can be involved in some event in their lives, and yet at some point later, will recall them quite differently then the other members that had been there.
So who was this young man? Angel or a man?
Inquiring minds want to know. Right?
I believe he was probably an angel. But that is my opinion. That and a couple dollars might buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
The fact is, we don't really know.by just reading the account. And you know what? It really is not all that important. What is important about that part of the story, was that the two Mary's had found the tomb empty. Jesus was gone, and someone-whether angel or man, had convinced them that he was alive and they must go to let his disciples know.
And they did.
Scripture refs:Mathew 28:2, Mark 16 1-:5, Luke 24: 1-4, John 20:11-12
Hello Friends. Thanks for your visit today. Have a great start to your new week. Stay safe and be blessed!
No comments:
Post a Comment