They Did Not Believe

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. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. 

Mark 16:9-11 

Unbelief does not change truth. Christ showed Himself to be alive from the dead to Mary Magdalene first. She clung to Him, He conversed with her, and then they parted. Mary went straight to the disciples and told them ‘as they, mourned and wept.’ The crux of our text is, ‘when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.’  Thus, the first witness of the resurrection of Christ met with unbelief.  It has been the case ever since. The Greeks on Mars Hill, in Athens, listened until Paul spoke of the resurrection of the dead. The Jewish leaders divided over Paul’s preaching of the resurrection of the dead. When Festus was explaining Paul’s case to King Agrippa, he referred to the fact that it involved questions ‘about a certain Jesus, who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive.’ Thus, throughout the days since the resurrection of Christ, the messengers have met with unbelief. It is even so today, but it does not change the truth any more today than it did when Mary Magdalene first spoke it. Christ is risen from the dead. He has shown Himself alive by many infallible truths. Unbelief cannot change it. We continue to declare it. 

Our Glorious Living Christ, 
we rejoice that You have risen from the dead. 
We praise You that You have given unto us the privilege 
to declare this message. 

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning