Marcos 16

VBL · Chapter 16/16

1Cuando terminó el Sábado, María Magdalena, María la madre de Santiago y Salomé compraron ungüentos aromáticos para ir a ungir el cuerpo de Jesús.

2Y el domingo por la mañana muy temprano, cuando apenas salía el sol, fueron a la tumba.

3Se preguntaban unas a otras: “¿Quién rodará por nosotras la piedra que está en la entrada de la tumba?”

4Pero cuando llegaron, vieron que la piedra enorme y pesada ya estaba movida de su lugar.

5Entonces entraron a la tumba y vieron a un joven con una bata blanca y larga que estaba sentado a la derecha, y estaban asustadas.

6“No tengan miedo”, les dijo. “Ustedes buscan a Jesús el Nazareno, el que fue crucificado. Él se ha levantado de entre los muertos. No está aquí.

7Miren, este es el lugar donde lo pusieron para que descansara. Ahora vayan, y díganles a los discípulos y a Pedro que él va delante de ustedes a Galilea. Lo verán allí, tal como les dijo”.

8Ellas se fueron corriendo de la tumba, estaban temblando y confundidas. No le dijeron a nadie porque estaban muy asustadas.

9Cuando Jesús se levantó de entre los muertos el domingo por la mañana, se le apareció primero a María Magdalena, de quien había expulsado siete demonios.

10Ella fue y le contó a los que habían estado con él, cuando ellos estaban llorando y lamentando la muerte de Jesús.

11Pero cuando oyeron que Jesús estaba vivo y que ella lo había visto, no creyeron.

12Sin embargo, más tarde Jesús se le apareció de una manera distinta a otros dos discípulos que se habían ido al campo.

13Entonces ellos regresaron y le contaron a los otros discípulos, pero ellos no les creyeron.

14Después de esto se le apareció a los once discípulos mientras comían. Jesús los reprendió por su falta de confianza y terquedad, porque no le habían creído a los que lo habían visto después que haber resucitado.

15Entonces les dijo: “Vayan por todo el mundo, y anuncien la Buena Noticia a todos.

16Todo el que crea y sea bautizado será salvo, pero todo el que elija no creer, será condenado.

17Estas señales acompañarán a todos los que creen en mí: expulsarán demonios en mi nombre, hablarán nuevos idiomas,

18y podrán manipular serpientes, y si toman algo venenoso no les hará daño alguno; pondrán sus manos sobre los enfermos y estos serán sanados”.

19Entonces, el Señor Jesús, cuando terminó de hablarles, fue llevado hacia el cielo, donde se sentó a la diestra de Dios.

20Los discípulos salieron y predicaron la Buena Noticia en todos lados, y el Señor obraba por medio de ellos, confirmando el mensaje por medio de muchos milagros.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

On the third day, women find the tomb empty and an angel announces Jesus' resurrection, instructing them to tell the disciples; Jesus appears to several followers and finally sends the disciples out to preach the gospel to every creature.

Explanation

The women who go to the tomb to complete the embalming process, interrupted by the start of the Sabbath, find the stone already rolled away and an angel announcing that Jesus 'is risen, he is not here' — the central message of all Christianity. The oldest manuscripts of Mark end abruptly at verse 8, with the women fleeing in fear, and the final verses about Jesus' appearances and the Great Commission are considered by many scholars a later addition, though widely accepted in biblical tradition throughout the centuries. The disciples' initial unbelief in the face of the resurrection account, rebuked by Jesus, shows that faith in the resurrection was not something easily accepted, even by the earliest and closest followers. The final commissioning to preach 'to every creature' closes the gospel with a universal mission, consistent with the direct and urgent tone that characterizes the entire book of Mark.

Fun facts

  • The two oldest and most reliable manuscripts of the New Testament (Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, both from the fourth century) end Mark at verse 8, without the final verses about the appearances — which is why modern Bibles often mark this passage as an alternate ending, possibly added later.
  • Mary Magdalene is highlighted as the first witness of the resurrection, and Mark notes that Jesus had cast seven demons out of her — a detail that underscores her profound transformation before she became one of Jesus' most faithful followers.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Marcos 16:1Anointing a body with fragrant spices was part of the Jewish custom of preparing for burial, since there was no embalming as in Egypt and the smell of decay had to be masked. The women buy these spices as soon as the sabbath ends, showing they considered the burial work still unfinished.
  2. Marcos 16:2Going to the tomb very early, at sunrise, shows the women's urgency to complete the anointing ritual they had not had time to finish before the sabbath began.
  3. Marcos 16:3Their concern about the stone is quite practical: this kind of round stone, rolled across the entrance, usually took several people to move, and they were going alone with no help arranged.
  4. Marcos 16:4The detail that the stone was “very great” underscores just how strange it was to find it already moved away, with no one around to have helped.
  5. Marcos 16:5A young man dressed in white sitting in the tomb is the understated way the gospels often describe a heavenly messenger, without calling him an angel outright. The women's startled reaction is that of people running into something out of the ordinary, not just any young man.
  6. Marcos 16:6The young man offers two things at once: a direct explanation of what happened and an invitation to see with their own eyes the empty place where the body had been laid.
  7. Marcos 16:7Mentioning Peter separately, alongside the other disciples, sounds like special care — after denying Jesus three times, he is given assurance that he is still included in the promised reunion in Galilee.
  8. Marcos 16:8In the oldest surviving manuscripts of Mark's gospel, the book ends exactly here, with the women afraid and silent, an abrupt ending that has puzzled readers for centuries. It is this short ending that later gave rise to attempts to complete the story with a more traditional close.
  9. Marcos 16:9The oldest and most reliable manuscripts of Mark's gospel stop at verse 8; this final section, verses 9 through 20, appears only in later copies and has a different writing style from the rest of the book. That is why most biblical scholars, across varied traditions, regard this ending as a later addition and not part of the original text — yet it made its way into the printed Bible and is still debated today.
  10. Marcos 16:10The account describes the disciples still overcome with grief and weeping, caught up in mourning, at the exact moment the news of the resurrection reaches them.
  11. Marcos 16:11Their initial disbelief shows that the resurrection was not accepted right away or easily, even coming from someone who was part of the inner circle.
  12. Marcos 16:12“In another form” suggests that Jesus appeared in a way that was not recognized right away, an episode another gospel tells in more detail on the road to Emmaus.
  13. Marcos 16:13The disbelief repeats itself: even with two reports of His appearing already on record, the rest of the group still refuses to believe.
  14. Marcos 16:14Only when He appears in person to the eleven does Jesus directly rebuke their unbelief, using the same phrase, “hardness of heart,” already used earlier in the gospel to describe the disciples' lack of understanding.
  15. Marcos 16:15The command to preach throughout the whole world, to every creature, expands the mission far beyond the Jewish audience Jesus had reached until then.
  16. Marcos 16:16The statement links faith and baptism as signs of accepting the message, drawing a direct contrast between two possible outcomes.
  17. Marcos 16:17The list of signs promised to those who believe includes things like casting out demons and speaking in new tongues, abilities the book of Acts later describes the first Christians exercising.
  18. Marcos 16:18The mention of picking up serpents and drinking poison without harm has been read very differently throughout history — most readers take it as a sign of divine protection in dangerous situations, not as a ritual test to be sought out on purpose.
  19. Marcos 16:19The ascension is described briefly, using the same image of “sat on the right hand of God” that had already appeared in Jesus' answer to the high priest back in chapter 14.
  20. Marcos 16:20The closing summary describes the church's missionary activity right after, and the “Amen” at the end is a common closing formula for texts used in worship at the time.

Chapters

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.