He said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him."
   - Mark 16:6

For the third time (Mark 16:1; see also Mark 15:40, 47) these three devoted women, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome, come before us. Apparently they had already bought sweet spices to anoint the Lord's body when the sabbath was past. Unbelief thought to find the Lord's body in the grave, and ignorance would seek to retain it there. But the Spirit of God delights to take the precious from the vile (Jeremiah 15:19) and dwell upon their devoted love that led them to purchase the spices and come to the grave at the rising of the sun.

On the way to the grave they say to one another, "Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?" (Mark 16:3). To the reasoning mind of the natural man, there is still a great stone at the grave of Christ. Alienated from God, fallen man finds insuperable difficulty in the truth of resurrection. The Greek philosophers, as indeed the philosophers of today, may profess belief in the immortality of the soul, but they refuse to accept the resurrection of the body. It is pleasing to the mind of man to think that his soul lives on after it has left the body; but if the body is to be raised, it is evident that the power of God must be put forth, and the thought of being dependent upon the God that men hate is repugnant to the mind of man. Leave God out and resurrection is impossible; bring in God and His power, and all difficulties vanish---the stone is rolled away.

Coming to the grave, these devoted women find that God had been before them, and the stone is rolled away; not indeed that the body of the Lord might leave the grave, but that disciples might enter in and see that the place where He had been laid is empty. No stone, however great, could hold the body of the Lord in the grave.

Entering the grave they are at once confronted with a heavenly messenger to assure their hearts and calm their fears, as he tells them, "You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here." They were seeking Jesus, and this being so, in spite of much ignorance and unbelief, all would be well.

What are we seeking? Is Jesus the object of our hearts? As one has said, "It is the consecration of the heart to the Lord that brings light and intelligence to the soul" (John N. Darby). How often our blindness to truth and inability to distinguish between right and wrong can be traced to our lack of the single eye that has Christ as the one Object. We often seek our own will and exaltation rather than "seek Jesus" and His glory. The measure in which we seek Jesus is the measure in which we get light. We may seek many things that are good in themselves but short of Jesus. We may seek souls, seek service, the good of man, and the welfare of the saints; but, if we seek Jesus all else will fall rightly into its place and we shall find light for our path.

Seeking Jesus, these women receive light from heaven and are sent on a service for the Lord.

Hamilton Smith