REBUKING THE DISCIPLES (Mk 16:9-15)
Prayer:
O Jesus, heal my lack of faith.
Imagination:
Picture Jesus gathered with his disciples at table.
Context:
Mark summarizes the Easter visions. Jesus rose and appeared to Mary Magdalen. She told the disciples. He appeared to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. They, too, announced the good news but the other disciples did not believe. When Jesus comes, he has to rebuke them for lack of faith.
Gospel Text: (Read slowly, possibly aloud.)
Jesus rose from the dead early on the first day of the week, appearing first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils. She went and told his disciples who were mourning and weeping. When they heard that he was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe. Later on, as two disciples were walking in the country, he appeared to them, totally changed in appearance. They told the disciples also, but they did not believe them either.
Finally, he appeared to the eleven as they were at table. He rebuked them for their lack of faith and hardness of heart because they did not believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, “Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Thoughts: (Read all. Ponder those that attract you.)
- Mark recounts Jesus’ appearances so we believe.
- Everyone who saw Jesus told the story to the disciples.
- The evidence mounts up, but they refuse to open their minds.
- Finally, Jesus has to come. He loves the disciples and wants them to have faith.
- At the same time, he must confront their hard hearts which continually stayed closed.
- In spite of this, Jesus chooses them to be his messengers to all the world.
- Their great success in preaching justifies Jesus’ faith in them.
Affections: (When one touches your heart, use your own words.)
- O Jesus, I know the stories of your rising. The evidence overwhelms me.
- Thank you, Jesus, for dying and rising for me.
- You come to me. You sit at table. You give me your Body and your Blood.
- You commission me. You send me. You say “Tell the whole world.”
- I will preach. I will witness. I will tell everyone. Certainly, some will believe.
- Come, Lord Jesus, come soon.
Resolutions: (Possibly you might want to make your own.)
+ I will thank Jesus for the abundant evidence that he rose from the dead.
+ I will also study his many more apparitions, (Sacred Heart and Divine mercy).
Thought for the Day: (To recall your meditation.)
While they were at table, Jesus was revealed to the Eleven.