Understanding Easter

God Hears Her Podcast 

Episode 217 – Understanding Easter 

Elisa Morgan, Eryn Adkins & Vivian Mabuni 

 

[Music] 

Vivian: You are listening to God Hears Her, a podcast for women, where we explore the stunning truth that God hears you. Join our community of encouraging one another and learning to lean on God through Scripture, story, and conversation at godhearsher.org, God hears her. Seek and she will find. 

Elisa: Hey friends, before we get started, feel free to download or print our new Bible study show notes to fill out while you listen. You can find those on our website. Are you guys ready for Easter?  

Eryn: Oh, I mean… 

Elisa: Sort of? 

Eryn: … my husband works for a church and so, we’ve been talking about Easter for three or four months now. So, he does all of the planning. So, I feel like I am… I’m ready… 

Elisa: Good. 

Eryn: I am ready for Easter.  

Elisa: Good. 

Vivian: I feel like Easter kind of gets lumped into all of the springtime. Life is full. So… 

Elisa: The blur. 

Vivian: … Yeah, it is. It feels ablur.   

Elisa: And because it changes the date every single year… 

Eryn: That’s true. 

Elisa: … It’s just… I think, you know, at Christmas we have this advent thing. You know, you get to Thanksgiving, even though that… 

Vivian: Right. 

Elisa: …one kind of changes, and then you just start planning. But Easter, which is really, excuse me, the whole point… 

Vivian: Right, right. 

Elisa: … right? It just plops down in the calendar sometimes. Palm Sunday will warn us… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … we’re like, oh my goodness… 

Vivian: Right, right. 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … Easter’s next Sunday.  

Eryn: And it can often fall where spring break is, too… 

Elisa: Yup. 

Vivian: Right. 

Eryn: … and that’s happened. That happened to us… 

Elisa: Yup, yup. 

Eryn: … cause we have spring break. This… this week. 

Elisa: Well, we’re going to just have a little quiet sit down here together, might not be that quiet as we get going sometimes. But anyway, a little sit down here and actually read one version of the Easter story together and open up our Bibles and see, you know, what does this really mean…? And I think this will get us ready… and if… if we, you know, people watch this after Easter, totally fine… 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … because Easter honestly is every day. 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Eryn: Yep. That’s right. 

Elisa: You know, it really is… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … because Jesus died… 

Vivian: And He rose again. 

Elisa: … and He rose again.  

Vivian: Yes. 

Elisa: We have life, and that’s what our faith is all about.  

Eryn: Yeah.  

Elisa: So, let’s grab our Bibles and we’re going to read Mark chapters 15 and 16, and we’re going to take our time. 

Vivian: Okay. 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: So, what I would love to do is just go around and read it, and maybe after you read a verse or two, just pause and… and let’s respond to it. You know, you can start off, you read a couple of verses and pause and think maybe what question pops up, or did you notice something different in that verse that you’ve never seen? And then we’ll go on through the whole passage this way. It’s kind of a fun way to read the Bible, right? 

Vivian: Yes.  

Eryn: Let’s do it. 

Elisa: Who wants to start?  

Eryn: I’ll start.  

Elisa: Okay. 

Eryn: Okay, so we are Mark 15. And I’m reading, for anybody listening or watching, I’m reading from the ESV version… 

Elisa: Okay. 

Eryn: … So, I know we all have different versions. 

Vivian: We do. 

Elisa: Yeah, we all have different ones.  

Vivian: I have the Christian Standard Bible  

Elisa: And I have no idea. Oh, I have the New Living Translation. Somebody just handed it to me because I left my Bible at home.  

Eryn: I know, I normally have a CSB, but okay. 

Elisa: All right. 

Eryn: “And as soon as it was morning, the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council. And they bound Jesus and led him away and delivered him over to Pilate. And Pilate asked him, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ And he answered him, ‘You have said so.’ And the chief priests accused him of many things. And Pilate again asked him, ‘Have you no answer to make? See how many charges they bring against you.’ But Jesus made no further answer, so that Pilate was amazed.” 

Elisa: Okay. Pause there? What pops out to you?  

Eryn: I think, “Jesus answered him, ‘You have said so.’” 

Elisa: Yeah. What do you do with that?  

Eryn: What do you think He meant by that?  

Elisa: Yeah. I… I did a little study, so I’ve got some notes here in my computer… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: … but… but one thing that hit me is… is that Jesus doesn’t and always say, “I am the Messiah…” 

Vivian: Right. 

Eryn: Right.  

Elisa: … Somebody else will say it about Him, and then He’ll verify it. And in a way, if you picture court of law…. 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Elisa: … it’s a… it’s a kind of a way of getting the witness to testify… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … to your identity.  

Vivian: Yeah.  

Elisa: So, in a way that’s what Jesus was doing. I was really struck by very early in the morning… they bind Jesus and they hand Him over and… and that word hand over means to relinquish and it’s… and it’s a kind of against His will but with His will kind of a verb… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … Okay. Anything else hit you there in that section?  

Vivian: I… when I think about this whole… situation where Jesus is being taken and He did not have a… He did not… He was not defensive… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Vivian: … He was absolutely in a… in a space where He was completely grounded… 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Vivian: … He was not… flustered, if I had eyes just to picture what that would’ve been like. I think it’s significant because they were lying…  

Eryn: Yeah.  

Vivian: … and he could have gotten defensive and said, no, you’re… what you’re saying is wrong, but He absolutely was in a space of complete… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Vivian: … control.  

Elisa: That’s really good, Viv… 

Vivian: You know? 

Elisa: … and, you know, He’s silent, some of the translations say He was silent… 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … before them, but that handed over again, you know, it has multiple layers. There… there’s the layer of being taken physically, but there’s also this sovereign relinquishment… 

Vivian: Right. 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … which is what I think you’re getting it.  

Vivian: Yes… 

Elisa: You know, a yielding. 

Vivian: … I mean, so much so that Pilate was amazed… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Vivian: … I mean, to… to have that be noted. So, it wasn’t a passive kind of like… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Vivian: … Oh, well, it’s just going to happen. It was like there was a sense that it was so startling that it… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Vivian: … surprised a high-level leader.  

Elisa: Okay. Let’s pick up and read some more… Viv, maybe in verse 6, and… 

Vivian: Sure. 

Elisa: … read on down to the… maybe through verse 15. 

Vivian: “At the festival Pilate used to release for the people a prisoner whom they requested. There was one named Barabbas, who was in prison with rebels who had committed murder during the rebellion. The crowd came up and began to ask Pilate to do for them as was his custom. Pilate answered them, ‘Do you want me to release the king of the Jews for you?’ For he knew it was because of envy that the chief priests had handed him over. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd so that they would release Barabbas to them instead. Pilate asked them again, ‘Then what do you want me to do with the one you call the king of the Jews again?’ Again they shouted, ‘Crucify him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Why? What has he done wrong?’ But they shouted all the more, ‘Crucify him!’ Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them; and after having Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.” 

Elisa: Again, humiliation, degradation. You know, this particular chapter in Mark starts with Jesus going from the religious leaders to the Roman leaders, and so, that’s what Pilate’s representing. So, Pilate offers this way out, you know, you could release, because it’s the custom and the crowd refuses… 

Vivian: Right. 

Elisa: … “Crucify him! Crucify Him!” And… and what do we know about Barabbas? Anything?  

Eryn: I actually… what do we, what do we know about Barabbas? 

Elisa: Okay. 

Eryn: I don’t know much about him. 

Elisa: What I know about him is he was a murderer… 

Eryn: Yes, yes.  

Elisa: … and he was clearly guilty, all right?  

Vivian: Yeah. 

Eryn: Right.  

Elisa: What strikes me there is that the crowd prefers that they release a guilty man…  

Vivian: Right. 

Eryn: Who murdered somebody. 

Elisa: …who murdered somebody… 

Vivian: Right.  

Elisa: … and kill an innocent man.  

Vivian: Innocent man, yeah. 

Eryn: Who’s known for miracles. 

Elisa: Who’s known for miracles, yeah. So, Romans 5:8 says, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” And then 1 Peter 3 talks about how Christ died for our sins, even for the unrighteous ones. So, to me, this is like a pre shadow. I mean, it’s… it’s actually living that reality out. I mean, can we all identify with a Barabbas, that Jesus… 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Elisa: …died for us… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … you know, we were released by His death… 

Vivian: Yeah.  

Elisa: … Anything else you want to say on that topic? 

Vivian: Well, it’s interesting cause when I think about sin and I think about my… my little life before becoming a Christian, cause I didn’t grow up in a Christian home, my understanding at the time was sin was doing wrong things… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Vivian: … that you’d be in… 

Eryn: Right. 

Vivian: … prison for. Right, a criminal… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Vivian: … In fact, in Chinese the word is often translated zui, which means crime. But sin, as I’ve studied more about sin, is not just doing wrong things… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Vivian: … it’s also knowing the right thing to do and not doing it, that that’s sin, or doing the right thing for the wrong reasons… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Vivian: … is also sin. So, that helps me understand that all of us have sin… 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Vivian: … and fall short of the glory of God. So, even someone who hasn’t done something, like I remember thinking, well, you know, I haven’t started a drug ring, or… 

Eryn: Yeah, right. 

Vivian: … you know… 

Eryn: Extremes, right? Yeah. 

Vivian: Yeah. But that definition of sin helped me to understand that, yeah, we all have sin, we are all prone to selfishness and self-protection like that. So… 

Elisa: I’m really glad you brought that out… because we do get… a lot of us think, well, I’ve been pretty good here…. 

Vivian: Yeah, I’m a pretty good person. 

Eryn: Yeah, right. 

Elisa: But if we… if we look at what Barabbas really sym… symbolizes, he’s all of us… 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … You know, in our hearts, the selfishness… the deception… 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … the spin that we… 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … put on who we are… 

Eryn: Maybe the greed. 

Vivian: And knowing the right thing to do and not doing it, you know? That’s all of us. 

Elisa: Good.  

Eryn: That’s good. Do you want to read verse 16?  

Elisa: Yeah. All right. “The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. Then they saluted him and taunted, ‘Hail! King of the Jews!’ And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. And then they let him away to be crucified.” It’s a horrific scene. We’ve got the degradation and the humiliation, and now we’ve got torture. But taking a purple robe, which is a symbol of royalty… 

Eryn: Of royalty, yeah. 

Elisa: … “Hail! King of the Jews!” And that’s a big deal because this again is Rome. There is no king but Caesar. So, if He were the king of the Jews, even though the civil government would allow Jews to practice various expressions they might not agree with in a civil forum, being a king…  

Eryn: Yeah.  

Elisa: … was a deep offense… 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … to Caesar.  

Eryn: And what is a reed stick?  

Elisa: A reed stick is like… kind of like a strong bamboo pole.  

Eryn: Okay.  

Elisa: Sometimes it would have leather attached to it with… little, small chunks of metal… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: … in it. And they would use this to beat a prisoner… And the crown of thorns, thorn branches woven into kind of a wreath-like shape and scrunched down on His head. And then the mocking worship…  

Vivian: Yeah.  

Elisa: … and you imagine be the God of the universe and having that hurled at you… 

Eryn: You can’t even… yeah. 

Elisa: … And then they lead Him away to be crucified, which is even worse. What do we know about crucifixion before we read this next section?  

Vivian: My understanding is, like, it’s the worst form of… punishment and the most agonizing type of death that a person can experience. And so, it’s not just the idea of having… stakes put through your wrists and through your feet, but it’s actually death through suffocation, which is, like… It’s a slow, painful death because you’re… you’re pushing up to breathe into stakes, and so, it’s just… the Romans found the worst way for a person to die.  

Eryn: Yeah. Correct me if I’m wrong. Was… with crucifixion, like, on a stake, on a… on wood, on a… wasn’t it… weren’t people back then normally tied? Not given like… nails in their hands? 

Elisa: Both… 

Eryn: Okay.  

Elisa: … customs.  

Eryn: Okay. So, I didn’t know. 

Elisa: … Sometimes they were tied and they hung, like Viv’s describing…  

Eryn: Okay.  

Elisa: … usually their feet were nailed.  

Eryn: Okay.  

Elisa: And sometimes the hands were tied.  

Eryn: Were they always on a cross?  

Elisa: Yes… sometimes it was a T-bar…  

Eryn: Okay. That’s what I thought.  

Elisa: … And not this kind of a cross like we’re used to… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: Sometimes it was a T-bar. Sometimes there was a single, like, what do you call… 

Eryn: Like a pole.  

Elisa: … was vertical, you know, bar. But… and before that, as a prelude to it, there’re whipping Him and… these bits of bone or metal in these sticks you were talking about, Eryn. And… one of the purposes was to shorten the duration of life so that it would… it’d be… they’d be already so wounded and depleted by the time the crucifixion came. But anyway, so… but then the spikes were often driven, and that’s what we’re told here, into… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … into the hands. Let’s read this section… Viv, would you get verses 21 down through 32?  

Vivian: Okay. “They forced a man coming in from the country, who was passing by, to carry Jesus’ cross. He was Simon of Cyrene, the father of Alexander and Rufus. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means Place of the Skull). They tried to give him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. Then they crucified him and divided his clothes, casting lots for them to decide what each would get. Now it was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The inscription of the charge… written against him was: The King of the Jews. They crucified two criminals with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by were yelling insults at him, shaking their heads, and saying, ‘Ha! The one who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself by coming down from the cross!’ In the same way, the chief priests with the scribes were mocking him among themselves and saying, ‘He saved others, but he cannot save himself! Let the Messiah, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross, so that we may see and believe.’ Even those who were crucified with him taunted him.” 

Elisa: He’s surrounded by hatred. Okay, a passer by name Simon, who’s from Cyrene, is coming in from the countryside just then, and the soldiers force him, that means they made him, they demanded him… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … to carry Jesus’ cross.  

Eryn: What do we know? Yeah, what do we know about Simon…  

Elisa: Okay.  

Eryn: … of Cyrene?  

Elisa: Do we know where Cyrene is? 

Eryn: No. 

Vivian: I think it’s in Africa.  

Elisa: Yeah… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: … North Africa. He comes from there and the soldiers force him to carry Jesus’ cross. Okay. We’re told that Simon is the father of Alexander and Rufus. We hear about Alexander later, that he was a believer, so most likely these folks are Christians… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: … Interesting, isn’t it? Disciples and… and they’re told to take Jesus to a place called Golgatha, which means… 

Eryn: Place of a Skull.  

Elisa: … What does that have to do with it? Anything? Anybody know?  

Eryn: Death?  

Elisa: It’s actually just a hill that’s kind of shaped like a skull… 

Vivian: Like a skull. 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: …I don’t think it’s like, I mean, that’s what we’d do with it right…? 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … Day of the Dead and all that stuff, but I think it’s in Latin that it’s called Calvary… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: … which means the place of the cross. Okay. 

Eryn: Oh, okay. 

Elisa: Interesting, huh…? 

Vivian: Yeah, that’s really interesting. 

Elisa: … And what is happening in here? People are mocking Him. Specifically who is mocking Him?  

Eryn: Well… well, the prisoners.  

Elisa: Yes. The two on either side… 

Eryn: Right. 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … who’re being crucified. The people passing by, verse 29, shaking their heads. Look at you now. You can get yourself down now…  

Eryn: Right. Save yourself. 

Vivian: Chief… 

Elisa: … Then verse 31, who is mocking Him?  

Vivian: The chief priests… 

Eryn: Yeah, chief priest with the scribes.  

Vivian: … all the religious leaders. 

Elisa: Yeah, all the religious leaders… 

Vivian: All the religious leaders. 

Elisa: … And what do they say? Verse 32.  

Vivian: “Let the Messiah, the King of Israel.”  

Elisa: “Come down.” They’re calling Him what?  

Eryn: The Messiah.  

Elisa: The Messiah. They are calling Him the very thing they accuse Him of calling Himself. Now, I know they’re taunting… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … but it’s ironic, isn’t it…? 

Eryn: Right. 

Elisa: … that that’s what they’re calling Him.  

[Music] 

Mary Jo: Hey friends, I’m popping in to tell you about our seven-day Easter reading plan from Our Daily Bread Ministries. You can find a link in our show notes.  

[Music] 

Elisa: Okay, now we’re going to read on further down in verse 33, and these are kind of long chapters for Mark, cause he’s writes so shortly, so that’s significant, too. Verse 33 down through 41. Eryn, you want to grab those?  

Eryn: Yeah, I may need help with some of these names.  

Elisa: That’s okay, girl. We’ll do it. We’ll do it together… 

Eryn: Cause they’re so complicated. 

Elisa: … We’re here for each other. 

Eryn: Thanks. 

Elisa: Yeah, yeah.  

Eryn: Okay. “And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice,” so He said, “‘Eloi…’” 

Elisa: “‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani,’ which means…” 

Eryn: “‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’ And some of the bystanders hearing it said, “Behold, he is calling Elijah.’ And someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.’” 

Elisa: Okay. Let’s pause for a second… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: … cause there’s a lot of confusing stuff right there… 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Elisa: … All right. The first thing, it’s noon and what’s happening?  

Vivian: Like an eclipse, like a three-hour long eclipse. I’m thinking about… 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Vivian: … I don’t know, it was maybe a couple years back when there was, like, a total eclipse… 

Elisa: Yes! 

Vivian: … You remember that…? 

Eryn: Eclipse, and we all got the glasses. Yup.  

Vivian: … and the glasses, but I mean people… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Vivian: … with their ring cameras and it was complete darkness.  

Eryn: Yeah.  

Elisa: And Viv, you know what struck me watching it later on the news, every single person, really to a point said, “Oh my God. Oh my God…” 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … and I actually wrote in Our Daily Bread about that, thinking how interesting it is that when we have no words for what we’re seeing, we recognize the God we may not even know. 

Vivian: Wow.  

Elisa: And you know, that’s what Jesus says, “My God…” 

Eryn: “My God.” 

Elisa: “… my God.” And… and… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … there’s pretty clear, the… the commentators agree that darkness at noon was… a work of God. And it was a… a revelation of evil being released… 

Eryn: Wow. 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … you know, across the planet; of evil being dealt with… 

Vivian: Wow. 

Elisa: … across the planet. The day of the Lord was day… 

Vivian: That’s beautiful. 

Eryn: I think [inaudible]… 

Elisa: … of darkness like this. Okay. And then there’s bystander or Jesus does this crying out, “Why have you abandoned me?” And then bystanders misunderstood, and they think He’s calling who?  

Vivian: Elijah. 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: Why would they think that?  

Eryn: Yeah, why would they think that?  

Vivian: I wonder if it’s because in the Greek that sounds a little bit like Elijah? 

Elisa: I think that’s a good… that’s a… 

Vivian: Maybe? 

Elisa: … good guess. Yeah, because Eloi, Eloi sounds like Elijah… 

Eryn: Oh, I see. 

Elisa: … Some people think that… you remember who was in the transfiguration, that Mount? 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … Who… who was with Jesus there?  

Vivian: Moses and Elijah.  

Elisa: Yeah, Moses and Elijah. So, a lot of people thought that Elijah would be coming when the Messiah came… 

Eryn: Oh, okay.  

Elisa: … And then some people would say that John the Baptist was Elijah returning. There’s a lot of interesting thoughts here… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: … but you’re not crazy if you go huh when you get to that part there, okay? All right, now here comes another sponge with a drink on it, and this time it’s sour wine. 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: That would not be comforting because that’s a kind of a… it makes you thirsty… 

Vivian: Vinegar. Vinegar, right? 

Eryn: Yeah, vinegar. It dries your mouth.  

Elisa: Yeah. So, that was not super sweet there. Okay, let’s go on reading here, 37, excuse me… yeah, 37 down to 4, Eryn.  

Eryn: Okay. “And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. When the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, ‘Truly this man was the Son of God.’ There were also women looking from a distance, among who were Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the younger and of…” is it José?  

Elisa: Joseph.  

Eryn: Joseph… Well, this is Joses. Joses…? 

Elisa: Joses, yeah.  

Eryn: Joses? “Joses, and Salome. When he was in Galilee, they followed him and ministered to him, and there were… there were also many other women who came up with him to Jerusalem.” 

Elisa: Okay. Jesus utters another loud cry… 

Eryn: And the centurion… 

Elisa: … and He breathes His last, and a centurion… 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Elisa: … What’s a centurion?  

Eryn: I don’t know.  

Elisa: Yeah. 

Eryn: Is it a… 

Vivian: A soldier, right? 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Elisa: Good.  

Eryn: Okay… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Eryn: I was going to say a guard.  

Vivian: Yeah. 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: Yeah. And I think over, like, a hundred men, a hundred troops… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: … I think that’s right. 

Eryn: And where was he all along? Was he in the crowd? Where… did he just pop…? 

Elisa: Well, in all the movies… [laughter] 

Eryn: Yeah, I know, right? He’d just pop out of… 

Elisa: … he’s just standing right there with his spear guarding, you know, kind of like a security guard over the scene of the crucifixion. That’s the way… 

Eryn: So, he just observed the entire experience.  

Vivian: Right, which to me, when… when I think about it, he’s probably watched a lot of people get… 

Eryn: Right. 

Vivian: … crucified, so… 

Elisa: There you go.  

Vivian: … he had something to compare to… 

Eryn: And how Jesus, just… 

Vivian: … and this was… Yeah. 

Eryn: … was… a…  like, peaceful, like you said.  

Elisa: That’s a great insight, Viv. Yeah. He’s probably seen this before, and this was different. 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … Because his… his response is, “This man truly was the Son…” 

Eryn: Son of… 

Elisa: … “of God.“ So, he saw something different in Jesus than he had seen… 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Elisa: … in anybody else. 

Eryn: That probably wrecked him… 

Elisa: Yeah.  

Eryn: … internally… 

Elisa: I bet.  

Vivian: Wow.  

Elisa: Okay, now we come to something really fun in verse 40… 

Eryn: I know! 

Vivian: Yes! 

Elisa: … and you did a good job trying through… all those words there, Eryn, you know. Some… some women were there watching from a distance. That’s interesting… 

Vivian: Oh, can we go back? 

Elisa: Sure, you want to go back? 

Vivian: This curtain. 

Elisa: Oh, the curtain. We forgot the curtain. 

Eryn: The curtain, yeah. 

Vivian: That’s… 

Elisa: Can’t forget the curtain. 

Vivian: … pretty sig… I mean, that’s pretty significant.  

Elisa: All right, go back to the curtain, Viv, read those… those words. 

Vivian: Yes… Verse 38, “Then the curtain of the temple…” 

Elisa: Yeah, thank you.  

Vivian: “… was torn in two, from top to bottom.” 

Eryn: Now, okay… 

Elisa: What in the world? 

Eryn: … did someone tear this? Did it just get torn, like, in its moment where there… was there wind? I have questions.  

Elisa: And what was the curtain?  

Eryn: And what was the curtain?  

Vivian: Right. 

Elisa: Okay…  

Eryn: What does that mean?  

Elisa: … so, there was a curtain in the temple that separated the regular worshiping area from what’s called the Holy of Holies… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: … and in the Holy of Holies is where the priest would go, Viv, and do what? 

Vivian: The high priest, the… only one priest… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Vivian: … was chosen by lot to go and offer sacrifices… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Vivian: … so, once a year. So, that’s where the ark was… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Vivian: … like, you know, when you think about the ark, the presence of God… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Vivian: … was understood to be in the Holy of Holies, not the holy place, but the Holy of Holies… 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Vivian: … and that… that temple being ripped in half, I don’t think it was wind. I really think that in that moment it was like God saying, Now anyone can enter into My presence… 

Eryn: Old covenant… 

Vivian: …It doesn’t…yeah, it doesn’t have to be the high priest anymore…  

Eryn: Yeah.  

Vivian: … that, to me, is probably one of the most exciting things about what happens on the cross… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Vivian: … because now all have access to be able to… to be with God.  

Elisa: So good. And if you think, you know, the high priest is making a sacrifice. Well, Jesus was the sacrifice… 

Eryn: The sacrifice… 

Vivian: Yes. 

Eryn: … right. 

Elisa: … He is the Lamb of God, right? And… and He does make it possible for all of us to have access. That’s what the book of Hebrews, the writer… 

Vivian: Yes. 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … talks about… 

Vivian: I was going to say, yes… 

Elisa: … “Let us approach the throne…” 

Vivian: “The throne of grace…” 

Elisa: … “of grace with confidence in our time of need…” 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: “…For we don’t have a high priest who’s unable to sympathize with…” 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: “…our weakness, but one who has been tempted just as we without sin…” 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … So, that’s radical, and it’s hugely symbolic. Interestingly enough, two commentators say that it was also… there was also a curtain that separated women from the presence of God… 

Eryn: Huh. 

Elisa: … What? I just love that.  

Vivian: Yep.  

Elisa: And so, the… the separation of women from full worship as well Jesus ratified there… 

Vivian: That’s right.  

Elisa: Yeah, changed that there. Redeemed. 

Vivian: And for our listeners and watchers, if you want to do a little dive into the… the curtain idea, Hebrews 10 is a great place… 

Eryn: Okay.  

Vivian: … to go do a little… 

Eryn: Yeah, thanks.  

Vivian: … little reading, yeah. 

Elisa: That’s a good point. Yeah. For after-program reading.  

Vivian: Yeah. 

Eryn: Yeah. Well, I am… I am naive to this. Is it an actual curtain? Like, that’s why I get a visual of like a thick white… 

Vivian: Like a carpet, like, yeah. 

Eryn: … cream curtain. 

Elisa: I don’t know, I think colors… the colors… 

Vivian: Were almost… 

Elisa: … main colors were like a… a deep blue, scarlet… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Vivian: Yes, pomegranate. I mean, it was, like, exquisite. But… 

Eryn: And it was just but torn in half.  

Vivian: … And the high priest, they literally… people couldn’t go into the Holy of Holies, so they would literally… 

Eryn: Wow. 

Vivian: … like, tie a rope around the high priest in case he had sin that he didn’t confess, and he died in the presence of God, they could pull him out… 

Elisa: They could pull him… 

Vivian: … you know? I mean, it was like… 

Eryn: Wow. 

Vivian: … you don’t just go into the… the Holy of Holies.  

Elisa: So, you can go back and read a lot of this… you know, Solomon writes a lot about it… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: … and… Ezra writes about it, anyway, in the Old Testament. Okay. We’re going to keep going through this and let’s focus in on the women… in verse 40, “Some women were there, watching from a distance, including Mary Magdalene,” what do we know about her?  

Eryn: She… was… possessed by seven demons?  

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: Very good. And Jesus had driven them out of her… 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Vivian: And… 

Eryn: Which I just love that… that we make note that she’s there… 

Vivian: Yes.  

Elisa: Oh yeah. 

Eryn: … because it just shows, like, her past did not disqualify her to… 

Vivian: That’s right. 

Eryn: … to witness… 

Vivian: Yeah.  

Eryn: … Jesus dying.  

Vivian: And then in Luke 8, it’s… she’s one of the ones that helped fund Jesus’s ministry with the disciples… 

Elisa: It was… yes.  

Vivian: … so, the fact she… Mary Magdalene gets me… she gets mentioned first in all the gospels. 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Vivian: And I think that’s significant, cause she was a leader.  

Elisa: In fact, she, as other gospel writers will show us, she was the first witness of Jesus resurrection.  

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … So, many say she is the first evangelist. Okay, and then “Mary,” in parentheses, “the mother of James the younger and of Joseph,” who’s that? That suggested that that is actually Jesus’ mother… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … We don’t know positively, but there’s really good evidence of it because of his brothers, named these, and then Salome, who is most likely… 

Eryn: Salome. 

Elisa: … the mother of James and John, who are the sons of… 

Eryn: Zebedee. 

Elisa: … Zebedee. Okay? So, these are really close folks, okay? They had been followers of Jesus and had cared for him while he was in Galilee. Many other women who had come from Jerusalem who were also there, so it was a large group of women. Okay? Let’s pick it up in verse 42, Viv… 

Vivian: Sure. 

Elisa: … and read down to the end of chapter 15. 

Vivian: “When it was already evening, because it was the day of preparation (that is, the day before the Sabbath), Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Sanhedrin who was himself looking forward to the kingdom of God, came and boldly went to Pilate and asked for Jesus’s body. Pilate was surprised that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he had already died. When he found out from the centurion, he gave the corpse to Joseph. After he brought some linen cloth, Joseph took him down and wrapped him in the linen. Then he laid him in a tomb cut out of the rock and rolled a… a stone against the entrance to the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses was watching where he was laid.” 

Elisa: In… interestingly, this is the second mention of the women… 

Vivian: Watching. 

Elisa: … and we’ll see them a third time before we’re finished here. Okay. So, this is all happening on Friday right before the Sabbath, and Joseph of Arimathea takes a risk, or dares, to go and ask Pilate for the body. That’s kind of wild, isn’t it? He seems to have been a man of good standing, great respect…  

Eryn: Yeah.  

Elisa: … a religious leader… 

Vivian: Yeah.  

Elisa: … and a believer… 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … in Jesus. And he takes… he actually puts Him in a grave himself, maybe his… his own family’s grave… He checks out to make sure that He’s dead, there was a danger in those days that they might bury someone before they had died… if they had swooned, or fallen asleep, or in a coma, or whatever… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: … But they did ensure that He was. And now we’re going to look at Mark chapter 16. Pick it up here, and I’m going to read down through verse 8. “Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body.” Interestingly, that wasn’t an embalming. It was just… 

Eryn: Okay. 

Elisa: … a… a… a gesture of great love and comfort to, yes, make a more aromatic moment, but it… there wasn’t… 

Eryn: And honor. 

Elisa: … going to… no preservative in it. 

Eryn: Okay.  

Elisa: “Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. On the way they were asking each others, ‘Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?’” Which I can see why they’d be concerned about that. How are they going to get in there…? “But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside.” Now, we know that Rome had positioned guards there to watch… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … that because there was always this fear that His body would be taken… 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … and then the Christians would make this crazy claims… 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: “… When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. And the women were shocked, but the angel said,” so he’s an angel, “‘Don’t be alarmed. You were looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body. Now go and tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You will see him there, just as he told you before he died.’” I’m going to save verse 8 and get that in just a second. What are you noticing here? They’re concerned, the women are concerned. They’re nervous… 

Vivian: Yeah.  

Elisa: … They have a task to do. They don’t know how they’re going to get in. They get there and there’s an angel… 

Eryn: They probably don’t want to be blamed too for…  

Elisa: Sorry? 

Eryn: … They probably don’t want to be blamed…  

Elisa: They don’t want to be blamed… 

Eryn: … for like…  

Elisa: That’s good… 

Eryn: … an accusation that’s not… 

Elisa: Yeah, messing with the body… 

Eryn: Yeah, right. 

Elisa: … they get there and there’s an angel, and what does he say to him? “You’re looking for Jesus. Don’t be alarmed.” 

Vivian: Don’t…  

Elisa: … but they are. 

Eryn: But they are alarmed. I would be alarmed. 

Elisa: You’re freaking out. 

Vivian: Okay, but I’d like to point out too, that… Jes- the twelve Disciples or the eleven, cause Judas… Judas is gone already, but they all fled… 

Elisa: Good.  

Vivian: … So, they’re not… 

Elisa: They’re not around. 

Vivian: … They’re not around. It’s the women… 

Eryn: Yeah, yeah. 

Vivian: … who are going… 

Elisa: Exactly. 

Vivian: … I think that’s significant. 

Elisa: And he…and he tells them, “Go tell the disciples that Jesus is risen from the dead.” At first, let’s pause there… He was risen. He was raised… 

Eryn: Yeah, yeah. 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Elisa: … This was an act of God… 

Eryn: Yes. 

Elisa: … It’s not like He’s going to be, or, you know, something’s going to happen. He has been raised from the dead.  

Vivian: Yeah. His body’s not there, which is a great apologetic as far as the…  

Elisa: Good, yeah. 

Vivian: … evidence of… this whole resurrection idea that the whole Christian faith really lands on whether or not this is true… 

Eryn: Yeah.  

Vivian: … And every other religious leader, you can go to their graves and find their bones, but Jesus really did raise from the dead, so He’s alive.  

Elisa: That’s so good… 

Vivian: That’s huge. 

Elisa: … thanks for pointing that out. I think it’s so fascinating that in verse 7, “Tell his disciples, including Peter, that Jesus is going ahead of you to Galilee. You’ll see him there, just as he told you before he died.” 

Vivian: Yeah.  

Elisa: Why does he say including Peter?  

Vivian: I love that.  

Eryn: Yeah. Why does he, because… Was it cause Peter was just a little wild child for Jesus? [laughter] Because I feel like he loved Jesus so much…  

Vivian: He told… and yet he… he had… he had said, like, three times… 

Eryn: “You will deny me.” 

Vivian: … he denied. And so that, and Peter is so… 

Elisa: Isn’t it precious? 

Vivian: … powerful. And you know, Mark was not among the twelve, he was close to Peter. So, I’m sure he had a lot of conversations with Peter…  

Elisa: Good.  

Vivian: … when he wrote, and I think that…  

Elisa: Commentators suggest that Peter was actually Mark’s source in writing this gospel.  

Vivian: Yeah.  

Elisa: Oh, okay… 

Elisa: … So, he was closer and you’re absolutely right. He wasn’t among the twelve, but yeah. So, maybe he spoke… 

Eryn: [inaudible] He’d include Peter, he’s… he’s like, make sure you include my name… 

Elisa: … including Peter, my… my source…  

Vivian: I… I… I was the source… 

Eryn: Yeah, I’m the source, yeah. 

Elisa: Yeah, yeah. 

Vivian: But I think that that’s so kind of that angel to say, you know, even when you’ve blown it… 

Elisa: Yes. 

Vivian: … especially, like, you are restored. You are restored. And…  

Elisa: Specially named. 

Vivian: Yeah.  

Elisa: Verse 8… 

Eryn: Specially named. 

Elisa: “… The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, and they said nothing to anyone because they were too frightened.” What? The end. [laughter] 

Vivian: Come on, Mark… 

Elisa: Wait. 

Vivian: … What’s going on here? 

Elisa: You know what? The earliest manuscript of Mark ended right there. And that just… it’s like happy Easter. [laughter]  

Eryn: Yeah, right. 

Elisa: He has risen. He has risen indeed. They were terrified. So they didn’t… but then there are these other verses that were discovered in later transcripts that were then added in. And so, if we go on, I… I want to pause here and go, these women were freaked out. But if you read the other gospels too…  

Vivian: Yeah.  

Elisa: … the story doesn’t end there… 

Vivian: Right.  

Elisa: … You’re going to see in Matthew and in Luke that the women ran to tell Peter and all the disciples. And the disciples thought they were talking nonsense… 

Vivian: Yup. 

Elisa: … you’re going to see in John chapter 21 that Mary, the first eyewitness, went and told them as well… 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … you’re going to see that they fulfilled it. But let’s read these next verses… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … that did become included in the book of Mark… do you want to start Viv?  

Vivian: Sure.  

Elisa: Verse 9.  

Vivian: “Early on the first day of the week, after he had risen, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. She went and reported those who had been with him, as they were mourning and weeping. Yet when they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe it. After this, he appeared in a different form to two of them walking on their way into the country. And they went and reported to the rest, who did not believe them either. Later he appeared to the Eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table. He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who saw him after he had risen. Then he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes; if they should drink anything deadly, it will not harm them; they will lay hands on the sick, they will get well.’” 

Elisa: And then in verse 19, “When the Lord Jesus had finished talking with them, he was taken up into heaven and sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And the disciples went everywhere and preached, and the Lord worked through them, confirming what they said by many miraculous signs.” You know, it’s… what’s interesting is these last verses, about 10 of them or so, really are reflective of the endings of the other three gospels… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Vivian: Yup. 

Elisa: … You know, the trip to Emmaus, the Upper Room, the Great Commission, these words that we’ve seen from other… What’s your takeaway? Okay, He has risen. He has risen indeed. What are you going to do with it, and what does God want us to do with it?  

Eryn: Well, okay. I really connect with how the women were scared and they didn’t know what to do. But then I just, I wonder what happened after that, if Jesus was like, all right, I got to go up here in front of Mary Magdalene. Like, I love that He was like, she needs to see it.  

Elisa: This script… this particular Scripture doesn’t tell us exactly what happened… 

Eryn: I know, I’m paraphrasing it all… 

Elisa: … but John does… 

Eryn: … I’m just having a visual in my brain… 

Elisa: … John 21 does… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … it tells us exactly that He appeared to her and He is, you know, “Woman, why are you crying…?” 

Vivian: Yeah. 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … And, you know, “Don’t look for me. I am risen.” You know, He… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Elisa: … He has the conversation with her. And you’re right, Eryn, and that’s a fabulous takeaway. He rose for all of us, and he rose for each one of us. And he turns to each of us in our fear and trembling and says, woman, woman, woman, what do you need? Here I am. I am risen. I am in your life. I am alive.  

Eryn: Yeah.  

Elisa: What hits you, Viv?  

Vivian: Well, I’m… I’ve… I still love the fact that the first people he appeared to were women, and that women didn’t run and scatter. They actually went to try and find His body… 

Eryn: Yeah. 

Vivian: … I think the way that Jesus honors women is significant because back in that time, women could not give testimony in a court of law…  

Eryn: Yeah.  

Vivian: … so, that he would choose to use… 

Eryn: Yeah, right. 

Vivian: … I mean, if you wanted to try to build a case of, like, okay, Jesus really rose from the dead… 

Elisa: Yeah. 

Vivian: … you would try to pick someone really prominent like a… a strong leader in a high position to be able to… 

Elisa: Sure, sure. 

Vivian: … state the truth, and He chooses women I think in part because He understood that women were faithful to Him, and He wanted to honor their faith, too.  

Eryn: Yeah.  

Elisa: That’s beautiful. 

Eryn: Value them, yeah. 

Elisa: And our… my takeaway is the ongoing call that He has on our lives in verse 15, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to everyone.” 

Vivian: Yeah.  

Elisa: And that’s what we do here, right here. You know, just… it’s not like something fancy that you have to be ordained to do as a minister, you know? We have been changed by Jesus’s death and resurrection, and we walk in newness of life. We talked about maybe we weren’t… weren’t murderers, maybe we have murdered, but the reality is God calls us forward to new life. He died on a cross for all of our sins that we could live with Him and have eternal life. But even in this moment, we can have the kind of life that is rich, and meaningful, and powerful, and we don’t need to be afraid. And He lives it with us. And praise God, Jesus Christ is risen.  

Vivian: He is risen indeed. 

Eryn: He’s risen indeed. 

Elisa: Amen. Happy Easter guys. Happy Easter. 

Eryn: Happy Easter. [Music] Well, friends, be sure to check out our website to subscribe to our email list, read the newest blog article, or check out the God Hears Her books and devotionals. Find all that and more at godhearsher.org. That’s godhearsher.org. 

Elisa: Thank you for joining us. And don’t forget God hears you, He sees you, and He loves you because you are His. 

[Music] 

Vivian: Today’s episode was engineered by Anne Stevens and produced by Jade Gustman and Mary Jo Clark. 

Mary Jo: We also want to thank Tori and McKayla for all their help and support.  

Elisa: Our Daily Bread Ministries is a donor-supported nonprofit ministry dedicated to making the life-changing wisdom and stories of the Bible come alive for all people around the world. 

[Music]  

Eryn: God Hears Her is a production of Our Daily Bread Ministries.